It was bound to happen: In the mess known as the high-def format wars, eventually, it was clear a manufacturer would cross party lines and release a single player capable of handling both Blu-ray Discs and HD DVD discs. The question wasn't if; it was a question of when.
LG Electronics is the first to cross that line: The company has just announced it will be launching the first dual-format high-definition disc player at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week. The LG press release issued in Korea early Thursday morning is short on details--the player will launch in "early 2007", but beyond that, we have no information on pricing--but that's of little consequence for now. I imagine the details will become clear by Sunday, when LG holds its press conference at CES.
LG stated it was considering a dual-format player at the CeBIT show last March, but the company has been quiet about its progress until now. The company is the first to formally announce a dual-format player; prior to this, Ricoh and NEC had both announced they had developed components that could read both Blu-ray and HD DVD media, but neither had announced actual products. Samsung had also made rumblings about coming out with a dual-format player, but the company backtracked on those reports early last year.
The LG announcement dramatically alters the competitive landscape for Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD. The mere announcement of a dual-format player could stall the market for high-definition players and discs, as consumers anticipate the dual-format player's arrival. A dual-format player would offer consumers a hedge against obsolence, in the event one of the disc formats dies out over time.
And once the dual-format player does come out, it could ignite the market for high-definition players and discs, a market that's still in its infancy.
Price will likely play a big role, though, in the dual-format player's success. If the player is expensive--and, certainly, I expect it to carry a premium over a standalone player, at least at launch--its high price may deter consumers from buying right now. However, if the dual-format player's premium is an acceptable one to consumers, then the player could take off--in turn driving consumers to buy movies in high-definition, without having to worry about which studios are backing which disc format.
However, while a dual-format player will help consumers worried about buying into the wrong format, it won't help content producers. Dual-format players will remain a rarity, for at least the next year. If dual-format players do become the norm, studios will be faced with a quandary: Continue to support both formats, a costly endeavor, or release new and catalog content in just one of the disc formats--thereby foregoing support of those early adopters who bought into whichever disc format falls by the wayside.
Are you itching to buy a high-def disc player? Does news of a dual-format player make you more likely to buy a high-def disc player in the next year?
I plan to buy a PS3 (at least when they are more readily available and at the regular price) which has a built-in BluRay player. I am a proponent for whichever format has the highest capacity (whether its for games or movies) and BluRay wins hands down. I don't want to buy a new player and replace my entire movie collection of dvds for just a "step" in technology... it can only be justified for a "leap" in technology. HD-DVD is the "step" (it can only hold the equivalent of 3 dvds) and BluRay is the "leap" (it can hold the equivalent of 5 dvds), which is 67% more storage! That is more room for higher def movies, uncompressed audio of up to 7.1 channels, longer movies, more features, etc... If you are going to reinvent the dvd, you had better do it right! In the light of a clearly superior BluRay technology offering immensely more capacity, HDDVD is an insult to consumers and is NOT a worthy, respectable successor to the dvd. I will ONLY buy BluRay movies and games! 67% More Free!
Brilliant attempt to turn the article about the announcemnet of LG's combo player into a personal crusade in favor of your personal favorite of the two HD formats.
Of course the article is 'not' about which format is better now is it "quick37silver", and while 'you' may prefer one over the other, I count myself amoung enthusiasts unwilling to invest in either, until either 1 format wins universal media support from all major studios, or a "combo" Blu-Ray/HD DVD player comes to market.
I couldn't be more excited by LG's announcement. While I will still be waiting for a 2nd gen combo player, at (hopefully) an affordable price point, I am now seeing a bright future for HD media formats.
As predicted by so many, the consumers drive the industry and the industry is now beginning to take steps in the right direction. In the coming months, I expect even more manufacturers to move toward a neutral point with hardware supporting both formats.
I agree with SpenceJT. Whats important is that you can buy a unit that supports both formats and don' t have to worry about which format finally win's out. As with most technologies I am sure the price will be high a first but within a year or two it will rapidly decrease as more vendors make the same units.
I have been wanting to buy a new game console (XBOX 360 or PS3) but at the same time I wanted to watch HD movies. If I go with XBOX360 (better graphics than PS3 hands down) then I would be going with HD DVD but If I went with PS3 then I would go with Blu Ray (better than HD-DVD since more movie studio support). Big dilema. Now that there's a dual format DVD player, I could not be more excited... That means that I will most likely go with XBOX 360 and wait for the dual DVD player (but I expect it to be expensive).
yeah...but remember the superior picture from Beta? I was selling both at a then unique "video" store. The VHS camp was giving them away practically. The early JVC was superior also.
Dear readers, it seems as though many different views are on display here. I do not think that the format wars will end up with a clear winner. Both formats should be supported so consumers are not left with an expensive dust catcher. You have to ask yourself what you will be consuming as entertainment. TV shows - you will download these, streamed, from torrents or over the air, Movies, again the same choice. I love movies, but I am tired of having to repurchase my favorites every time they up the quality. I bought Alien widescreen video, then laserdisc, then remasted Laserdisc, then DVD, then new directors DVD. OK, Star Wars came out on new editions every 5 minutes. Our bandwidth is increasing all the time, so we will subscribe to content and then have it locally on a hard drive. Removable media will be great for this so we can back up paid for content. Maybe a purchase of physical media will be made as a gift. But to be sure the new Dual format machines/discs should win out.
It would be great to have movies on flash drives. Just imagine the player having a USB port on the front you plug in the flash drive and watch the movie. The flash drive movies could be stored in DVD style boxes for easy shelving. I'm dreaming on this type of format in the future!