CES: First Details on LG’s Blu-ray/HD DVD Dual-Format Player | High-Def Digest:
Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 05:04 AM ET
As announced late last week, LG Electronics officially debuted its Super Multi-Blue dual-format Blu-ray/HD DVD combo player, the BH-100, at the Consumer Electronics Show on Sunday.
The much-anticipated new player, which LG says will retail for $1,199, is capable of playing both HD DVD and Blu-ray discs, with output up to 1080p via HDMI 1.2.
The first such dual-format player to hit the market, the company developed the deck as a solution to what it perceived as growing consumer frustration over the high-def format war, as well as indications that neither Blu-ray nor HD DVD would be going away anytime soon.
“Sometime last year, we recognized that the two formats are here to stay,â€? said Michael Ahn, president and CEO, LG Electronics USA. “It [the BH-100] will be much more convenient to our consumers. They are confused by two formats and hesitate to buy a player — we [are giving] them a solution.â€?
The new player is expected to hit stores early February. We’ll keep you posted as any further tech specs for the BH-100 come in. Stay tuned!
I’m not sure Ahn is right on the both formats being here to stay, and I *thought* there was a licensing issue w/ someone being able to pull this off, but if it’s coming, and it’s from a big company, I have to think that this is going to further delay the demise of one format or another.
I’ve personally bought the hd-dvd addon for the 360, and it’s amazing. As many of you know, my wife & I are divorcing, and as she was the one who picked up most of the dvds, I didn’t have any problem w/ her taking them. As luck would have it, that means that starting my own collection of movies is unhindered by the guilt of re-buying movies, since I’m starting from scratch.
At any rate, I don’t want to buy movies on both formats:Â I want the industry to get their shit together and settle on one fucking format.
2 Comments
Tony Schieffer
On another topic (iPhone):
The Penny Arcade guys are at CES. I LOVED what he said about the iPhone and its effect on Microsoft.
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I wonder what the mood is at the Microsoft booth over at CES – I would imagine that it is apocalyptic. I’ll be down there soon, so I’ll know for myself. I’ve imagined the following scenario:
Young men and women are seated on low red couches, their eyes glistening, the blood gone from their face. Their badges identify them as Microsoft employees. Many of the kiosks are empty, but there is a devastated young man standing like a statue near an Xbox 360. The monitor connected to it is turned off. From the intensity of his stare, he is either deep in thought or has discerned some secret message woven into the carpet.
I approach him.
“So,” I say.
There is no response.
“Hey. is the, um…” I feel like he really needs a friend right now. “Is the Xbox, you know… I mean, is the Xbox cool?”
He doesn’t speak so much as the word just falls out of his mouth.
“Yeah,” he mumbles. “I guess.”
Dork
Heh. I don’t feel too badly for the other phone manufacturers: they’ve had their time in the sun.