After numerous delays, Sony Electronics is finally shipping its highly-anticipated Blu-ray disc player, the BDP-S1, to customers, marking availability of the third Blu-ray player on the U.S. market.

The BDP-S1 player from Sony, which features HDMI, component, S-video and composite video outputs, optical, coaxial and analog audio outputs, was delayed from May to August, then to October and then to December. The player can be currently purchased for $999.95 from SonyStyle online store.

Earlier it was reported that Sony was stockpiling Blu-ray lasers for the highly-anticipated PlayStation 3 game consoles in an attempt to produce more gaming machines. This does not seem logical, because the first batches of consumer electronics components that cost about $999 are not generally large. For example, Toshiba was only estimated to ship about 30 000 HD DVD players in the first three months. According to some other estimates, 10 000 to 15 000 units have been shipped in the U.S. to satisfy this first wave of demand. Moreover, computer makers – including Sony itself – started to integrate Blu-ray drives into computers. Finally, Blu-ray disc players are much cheaper – and more lucrative – to manufacture than to make PlayStation 3.

Traditional single-layer DVDs allow consumers to watch movies in 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL) resolution with Dolby Digital audio. The blue-laser discs will provide consumers 1920x1080 resolution as well as DTS or Dolby Digital Plus audio along with some additional interactive features.

Blu-ray and HD DVD formats compete for replacing the DVD standard. HD DVD discs can store up to 15GB on a single layer and up to 30GB on two layers. Its competitor, Blu-ray, can store up to 27GB per single layer and up to 50GB on two layers, but Blu-ray discs are more expensive to produce.

The HD DVD is pushed aggressively by Toshiba, Intel, Microsoft and Nec as well as being standardized at the DVD Forum, which represents over 230 consumer electronics, information technology, and content companies worldwide. Blu-ray is backed by Sony and Panasonic, which are among the world’s largest makers of electronics. Among Hollywood studios HD DVD is supported by New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Blu-ray disc is supported by Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox , Universal Pictures, Walt Disney and Warner Bros.