Blu-ray/HD-DVD Combo Player Debuts

[Galactus]

Posted: Thursday January 4th 2007 12:26am
Source: Assorted Sources
Author: Garth Franklin



The high definition disc format war looks like it might come to an unofficial end next week with electronics manufacturer LG firing the killing salvo.

The company has announced in a press release today that it will be showing a dual-format player capable of displaying both HD DVD and Blu-ray titles at next week's annual CES convention.

LG did not give many details on the technology used in the player, or how much one will cost, but said it expects the unit to be available for purchase in the United States in early 2007.

It's also got high ambitions for it, saying in the release that "LG expects this technological breakthrough to end the confusion and inconvenience of competing high-definition disc formats for both content producers and consumers".

Further details will be announced next week. The success of the unit will rely significantly on the number of units that can be manufactured and their planned price for it.

If it is low enough then expect that item to become one of the most in-demand pieces of electronics all of next year.

 

[L.A.]

Damn I was about to post this! But anyways I think its a great idea! Good thing I returned my hd-dvd

 

[Apollo]

i want one now!

 

[Prognosticator]

this will be an interesting development to follow.

way to go LG, "You're the Company!"

 

[LostSon88]

Can they do that? LOL.

 

[GhostPoet]

Eh.. I really have no interest in moving to a new format. I'm totally fine with my DVD's. They are already crystal clear. I don't need to see every single strand of hair :P

 

[LostSon88]

But the thing is in a couple years, Standard DVDs will become obsolete...thats the whole reason for this "war" to see which will become the new standard.

 

[SolidSnakeMGS]

A couple of years? NO! More like 5 to 10 years. Things are only obsolete when people no longer want them. People decide what is the standard format, not corporations.

Look at DVD Audio and SACD. Same. Exact. Thing. Did that take off?

And this war is more harm than good. It undermines the public's trust, causes confusion, and draws out the adopter process. VHS was around for -- what, over 20 years? You see how long that took to people to upgrade to DVD, and it was reluctantly. You think people are going to upgrade again so soon? Absolutely not. DVD hasn't been standard long in relative terms, and its still perfectly fine for like 90% of the population. Plus when people realize how much more they have to spend to reap the benefits of HD, plus factor in costs of replacing their library they JUST built up, it makes them to the point to where they don't even consider upgrading.

 

[BatMatt]

I've got a PS3 but have no plans on buying blu-ray right now. The best tv available to me is 720p but I rarely have a chance to watch it so they are no good to me, same with HD-DVD. Now if a blu-ray disc came out for a movie i cherish that came with extras no dvd had I would then buy it.

 

[superadam87]

this might make me seem completely ignorant, but i haven't been following anything about the blu-ray or hd players.

what's the difference between the 2. i get that the picture on both is suppose to be incredible, but what else... and which one is better?

 

[L.A.]

Here's some interesting news:

Warner has come up with a disc format called "Total HD", which can play in either player!

"Total HD movies will carry movies that can be played on high-definition DVD players that use technology backed by Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray format, as well as players using Toshiba Corp.-backed HD-DVD format."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070104/media_nm/timewarner_dvd_dc

 

[LostSon88]

Oh great...

 

[MurphyMan]

"A couple of years? NO! More like 5 to 10 years. Things are only obsolete when people no longer want them. People decide what is the standard format, not corporations."

Actually Corporations are very powerful,too powerful and if they wanted to eliminated the standard and replace it they could. Watch a great Documentary called... "The Corporation" and then you'll see how powerful they are, but totally should not be!

 

[SolidSnakeMGS]

Actually Corporations are very powerful,too powerful and if they wanted to eliminated the standard and replace it they could. Watch a great Documentary called... "The Corporation" and then you'll see how powerful they are, but totally should not be!

Come on.

Corporations wanted us to buy discs that we could only view for a short period, then we would have to pay again to see it later on. We could unlock these discs for a substantial fee for unlimited viewing. Guess what? This format bombed because people didn't want to do that.

That's a mere example. Yes, corporations are powerful, but not as powerful as the people with the tinfoil hats think.