LG May Develop HD-DVD / Blu-ray Combo Player

[Clint DeBoer]

<A href="http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/LGBDHDDVDcomboplayer.php"><IMG style="WIDTH: 121px; HEIGHT: 100px" alt=[hdbd] hspace=10 src="http://www.audioholics.com/news/thumbs/hdbd_th.jpg" align=left border=0></A>Fresh from the rumor mill: LG will drop production of the BD199 Blu-ray Disc player as it considers developing a combo HD DVD / Blu-ray player. If uncertainty in the format war between the next optical formats isn’t enough reason for consumers to adopt a wait-and-see attitude, a recent memo from LG should. The memo was sent to LG dealers from its Consumer Electronics Sales VP Bob Perry. It said that the BD199 (announced back in Jan at CES) would not ship as planned for this spring. It goes on to say the Seoul, South Korean electronics firm is planning a late summer or early fall release of a dual format player. This new device will playback both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc, which would make it the Holy Grail of HD optical players.

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[TheLaw]

Didn't take long for someone to come up with that did it? That could potentially be a huge profit for LG, depending on how long the battle between the two formats lasts.

[Khellandros66]

Two companies that haven't announced support for either format are Denon and Yamaha, which I feel they are looking to do as LG is seeking a Universal Player.

~Bob

[Spiffyfast]

its about time someone figured out how to do it, just curious how long it will really take to come out

[racquetman]

Samsung said they were going to make a combo player a long time ago. I wonder what they are up to?

[Buckeyefan 1]

As was mentioned in the article - that will definitely kill the sale of early single format HD players - specifically HD-DVD players.

[mtrycrafts]

As was mentioned in the article - that will definitely kill the sale of early single format HD players - specifically HD-DVD players.


Competition:D That will drop the prices in a hurry:)
I guess history lasts 15 minutes?

[BMXTRIX]

Last I heard the Samsung model was forced out of development because neither BD or HD-DVD is allowing their technologies to be licensed with the competitors product. Unless this policy has changed somehow, the product announcement from LG is already dead in the water as it is already something that was announced, and shot down, by Samsung.

If it DOES manage to come out, then it will definitely be a hot seller over the single format players and would be much more likely to end up on my shelf. Right now though, I only have a space reserved for a PS3. Buying one format only at this time seems like it may end up being a waste of money.

[Sheep]

I thought of this the second I heard about the 2 formats. But, it's not as simple as taking 2 formats and applying glue, I guess.

I would opt for the combo unless the market picks a clear winner.

SheepStar

[morkys]

What an annoying waste the software is going to be. So many titles released on one title or the other or both. Duplicates. Nothing new for the dvd industry I guess with its many re-releases of special, collectors and ultimate editions of regular dvd's...

What a pain in the arse this could be. Why do I also get the feeling that there is a risk that more players or more titles will be released on the technically inferior format, just like what happened in VHS...

Oh well, at least a universal player will be a safe place for people to find refuge from the stupid format war :)

[Wayde Robson]

Last I heard the Samsung model was forced out of development because neither BD or HD-DVD is allowing their technologies to be licensed with the competitors product. Unless this policy has changed somehow, the product announcement from LG is already dead in the water

The article mentioned:

"It was only two months ago Peter Weedfald, Senior VP of Marketing at Samsung North America said; "...there is nothing we can do about a universal product (http://news.com.com/A%20DVD%20combo%20Dont%20hold%20your%20breath/2100-1041_3-6024875.html?part=rss&tag=6024875&subj=news)."

[Clint DeBoer]

Oh well, at least a universal player will be a safe place for people to find refuge from the stupid format warSafe, but likely very expensive... We'll see what the MSRPs shake out to be after the PS3 is released and Microsoft ships an external drive option to the Xbox 360.

The conjecture is almost ludicrous at this point. :)