Sony released an upgrad efor its first Blu-Ray burner, the BWU-100A, which add support for BD-ROM playback. The BWU-100A Blu-ray Disc rewritable drive is a multi-format burner that can record up to 50 GB of data on double layer 50 GB BD-RE recordable media. It can also record DVD and CD discs. The CyberLink PowerDVD software that is presently bundled with the drive can play back Blu-ray Discs that you record with the BWU-100A (BDAV format BD-RE discs), and even traditional DVD video discs. However, playing commercial Blu-ray Disc content (BD-ROMs) requires your PC to become part of a secure playback environment because the content is protected with AACS copy protection.

The BWU-100A is capable of playing back commercial Blu-ray Disc movies (also known as BD-ROMs), however an upgrade to the CyberLink PowerDVD software is required to make it BD-ROM compatible. Additionally, hardware upgrades to the PC may be required for full BD-ROM support.

Sony provides purchasers of the BWU-100A Blu-ray Disc Rewritable drive with an upgrade to the CyberLink PowerDVD software which will provide BD-ROM compatibility.

This upgrade, which has been previously unavailable, is offered free of charge as an electronic download.

Note that you only have one opportunity to download the PowerDVD upgrade electronically. If the download fails for any reason or the download is abandoned by the customer, a physical CD-ROM version of the upgrade will be available for a nominal charge by contacting the Sony technical support department in the country from where you purchased the BWU-100A product.

Some BD-ROMs (depending on the Hollywood studio) may restrict video output to be standard definition or prohibit analog video output at all. As a result, Sony recommends that digital HDCP-compliant environment should be implemented for optimum compatibility and viewing quality.