LG to announce Universal player @ CES

[hmurchison]

Linky 1

SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) -- LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's electronics giant, said Thursday that it has developed the world's first DVD player that supports two competing disc formats -- Blu-ray and HD DVD.

The dual-mode player will be launched next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the company said in a statement.

Global companies remain divided over which disc format they should choose for next-generation DVD players.

Created by Japan's Sony, the Blu-ray format is supported by Samsung Electronics, Hitachi, JVC and Toshiba, while the HD DVD, invented by Toshiba, is backed by Microsoft, Intel and NEC.

Discs based on the two formats can store much more data than ordinary DVDs, allowing for seamless and vivid video images.

LG Electronics said that its dual-mode players will ease confusion among consumers planning to buy new DVD players.

The new model will hit the U.S. market during the first quarter of the year, the company said, adding the exact timeframe and prices will be announced at the exhibition.

Linky 2

t 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?

War over

[Pat H]

Awesome! Great news for Blu Ray, even better news for HD DVD.

[hmurchison]

More info from Blurry

LG Electronics announces dual-format player

[Pat H]

HD DVD will announce new vendors and models

New vendors? Unless they are simply talking about LG, maybe we will see some more hardware suppliers!

[gtyper]

I'm not sure how this is better news for HD DVD than it is for BluRay? Color me confused.

The way I read it is that with a dual player you'll be able to buy DISCS in both formats. If Blu-Ray has MORE TITLES (thus more discs), then Blu-Ray will crush HD DVD.

I don't expect a dual-format reader to be mainstream though.

[hmurchison]

If Universal players got traction the winning format would be the one that is cheaper. Right now that's definitely in HD DVD's favor.

[Pat H]

Originally Posted by gtyper

I'm not sure how this is better news for HD DVD than it is for BluRay? Color me confused.

The way I read it is that with a dual player you'll be able to buy DISCS in both formats. If Blu-Ray has MORE TITLES (thus more discs), then Blu-Ray will crush HD DVD.

I don't expect a dual-format reader to be mainstream though.

1. It's better for HD DVD because Blu Ray currently has more manufacteres making players

2. Who says Blu Ray will have more titles? I really hate when Blu Ray supporters play this card. Just because Blu Ray announced titles before CES doesn't mean HD DVD will.

[gtyper]

Originally Posted by Pat H

1. It's better for HD DVD because Blu Ray currently has more manufacteres making players

Yeah ... and? The rest of the issue is that they'll now be competing against the other library.

2. Who says Blu Ray will have more titles? I really hate when Blu Ray supporters play this card. Just because Blu Ray announced titles before CES doesn't mean HD DVD will.

I'm not a Blu-Ray supporter.

But, the simple fact is that the BR studios have an advantage in that each of them can pop out 1 title a week and to match HD DVD's studios would have to do about 2 a piece. Simple mathematics says that eventually Blu-Ray should have a larger library. Whether the library is better ... who knows?

[Blurry]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

More info from Blurry

LG Electronics announces dual-format player

Yeah, you posted yours a little after mine, but you sourced a better article.

[hmurchison]

More info

Originally Posted by tsd2005

Well I got an email from our LG rep....

1. Cost will be between $800 and $1500.

2. LG will not be releasing a BD player.

3. The player has been in the works for over a year and is about ready for release. We might be able to order them rather quickly after CES.

4. Because the player has been in the works for so long he claims PQ should be equal to anything BD has out now.

1080p/24 w/ HDMI 1.3 is also what he said he'd heard but has no specs yet.

I hope they can keep costs around a kilobuck so that second generation units can fall down in price to around $600

[Kenshiro]

They will definately need to price this competitively if they want it to make any difference in this war, especially since its LG.

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by Kenshiro

They will definately need to price this competitively if they want it to make any difference in this war, especially since its LG.

People paid a cool grand for Samsung so as long as they keep the price in that area and the performance is solid on both sides I could see them having success.

[Blurry]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

People paid a cool grand for Samsung so as long as they keep the price in that area and the performance is solid on both sides I could see them having success.

definitely.

[Kenshiro]

If they can keep it around a G then I'd say that it would be a successful. If they go 1.5K, I'd rather have two stand-alones from more reputable brands.

[Blurry]

Originally Posted by Kenshiro

If they can keep it around a G then I'd say that it would be a successful. If they go 1.5K, I'd rather have two stand-alones from more reputable brands.

I don't disagree, and you just watch the prices drop rapidly after that - economies of scale (just like happened with SACD and DVD-Audio).