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BD-UP5000 Duo HD Player  (Source: Samsung)
Samsung serves both HD format with its new BD-UP5000 Duo HD Player

"Can't we all just get along?" That seems to be the consensus at Samsung when it comes to the next generation high definition (HD) disc format wars. The company yesterday announced its BD-UP5000 Duo HD Player which can playback both Blu-ray and HD DVD content.

The BD-UP5000 Duo will serve as the company's flagship HD player, will feature a built-in Hollywood Quality Video (HQV) processor, upscales standard DVDs to 1080p and has support for the HDMI 1.3 video/audio interface.

"Samsung is excited to introduce a new line of high-definition players that will enrich the theater experience at home," said Samsung VP of Digital AV marketing Reid Sullivan. "From the top-of-the-line BD-UP5000 to the entry BD-P1400 to the company's first home theater system with Blu-ray disc playback, Samsung offers a range of products at different price points to suit the growing consumer demand."

Unlike the first hybrid Blu-ray/HD DVD player to hit the market, the LG BH100, the BD-UP5000 Duo supports not only BD-Java but also HDi-based interactive menus.

Samsung says that the BD-UP5000 Duo will be available in time for the holiday shopping season at a price of $1,049 USD.

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Um...
By daftrok on 7/26/07, Rating: 0
RE: Um...
By Spuke on 7/26/2007 6:16:41 PM , Rating: 3
Honestly, if I had the money, I buy one. Since there is no light at the end of the tunnel on which format will win (if there is a winner), I'd rather just have both. But $1000 for a dual player is too much for me.


RE: Um...
By leexgx on 7/26/2007 6:53:51 PM , Rating: 2
i just get the PS3
no point in haveing 2 HD players when both will result in the same qulity PS3 you can play games on it use internet and Play HD on it as well

-----------
side note the PS3 is Sooo quite as well as i was at custmoers house and it was running and it was makeing less noise then the TV (Xbox360 turbo fans running away)


RE: Um...
By Spuke on 7/27/2007 1:08:27 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
i just get the PS3
Don't want a console. I'd rather have a consumer device or a HTPC that looks like one.


RE: Um...
By masher2 (blog) on 7/26/2007 7:45:58 PM , Rating: 1
> "So until they make these Hybrid players what they're really worth (600-800 dollars) no one should buy them. "

You could easily buy a car, a sailboat, and a pogo stick for $30,000 for all three. But a single vehicle that could double as any of those would be considerably more expensive. Or how about a swiss army knife, which is pricier than buying a penknife, a small screwdriver, and a tootpick separately?

You pay for the convenience of getting multiple functions in a single package.


RE: Um...
By Zandros on 7/26/2007 9:34:01 PM , Rating: 2
Is that really the case here? If we take the two separate players, I assume that there's lot of similar things in there, so in a combo player, you could use the same upscaler, the same decoder (for AVC content at least) etc. With the synergy effects, wouldn't the end result likely be cheaper than two standalones.?


RE: Um...
By xphile on 7/26/2007 11:56:09 PM , Rating: 4
Maybe, but the way some people drive, there's quite a lot of similarity between a car and a pogo stick in many cases too :-)


RE: Um...
By masher2 (blog) on 7/27/2007 12:06:43 AM , Rating: 3
> " With the synergy effects, wouldn't the end result likely be cheaper than two standalones.? "

Or very close to it. But you have to remember that both Toshiba and Sony are pricing their players below what they otherwise would, simply to garner market share for their respective formats. If that wasn't the case, I think you'd see these combo players priced a good bit closer to parity.


RE: Um...
By GoatMonkey on 7/27/2007 10:46:08 AM , Rating: 2
Of course it should be. But this is like any other new technology. They want to recover development costs. The early adopters pay for that, then later the price drops like a rock. In a couple of years this thing will be $250 or less.


RE: Um...
By StillPimpin on 7/27/2007 9:20:11 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
So until they make these Hybrid players what they're really worth (600-800 dollars) no one should buy them.


Not necessarily. First of all, someone who has a grand to buy one of these will probably have a pretty decent Hi-Def setup anyway so they will be willing to spend the few extra bucks for convenience.

Second, you have the whole too many devices cluttering up my Entertainment center thing.

Third, this product is not going to be marketed to US cheap bastards who would buy 15 different devices that do the same thing to save $250.

/Pimpin Out


RE: Um...
By xzourska on 7/27/2007 8:56:26 PM , Rating: 2
Yea getting those combinations is much nicer but personally I wont purchase either format until one wins or a hybrid 1080p players comes out for under $400.


HQV?
By DamnBrit520 on 7/26/2007 5:41:45 PM , Rating: 2
Sorry to be lazy and not look it up myself, but HQV really stands for hollywood quality video?




RE: HQV?
By TomZ on 7/26/2007 5:56:22 PM , Rating: 4
I'm wondering, is "Hollywood quality" a feature or disclaimer/warning? With the quality of some of the movies coming out of Hollywood these days...


RE: HQV?
By oTAL (blog) on 7/30/2007 10:15:17 AM , Rating: 2
Can we please have a 6 here?
;)


RE: HQV?
By Anh Huynh on 7/26/2007 6:10:20 PM , Rating: 3
HQV is a technology from Silicon Optix. The Reon HQV chip is an upscaler, the best there is for upscaling and de-interlacing to 1080p. A lot of the high end players such as the Samsung BD players and Toshiba HD-XA2 feature the chip for DVD upscaling.

Home theater receivers such as the Denon 5306CI and Onkyo 875 feature the chip to upscale various sources to 1080p.


RE: HQV?
By abhaxus on 7/26/2007 11:03:28 PM , Rating: 2
There is a higher chip in Silicon Optix's catalog, the Realta. The Reon VX is the chip in most high end 'normal' consumer level stuff, seen in the onkyo 875/905 as you said.


Happy Dance
By therealnickdanger on 7/26/2007 5:34:47 PM , Rating: 5
Awesome! Now for the obligatory comments about making it $100, which format will win, no format will win, holographic media will win, studio support, HDMI spec?, UHD makes these both dying formats, PS3 vs Xbox360, etc...




RE: Happy Dance
By Fallen Kell on 7/26/2007 5:38:14 PM , Rating: 2
As for HDMI spec, 1.3 is the one you want. The full 1.3 has deep color support, as well as surround sound digital audio feed, however I believe the digital audio is limited to 5.1, and not the 7.1 that is possibly used on the HD/BluRay disks.


RE: Happy Dance
By Kefner on 7/26/2007 5:42:09 PM , Rating: 2
Check out HDMI specs here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI


RE: Happy Dance
By AlexWade on 7/26/2007 10:57:46 PM , Rating: 2
I'm doing a semi-happy dance. Yes, we finally a universal player that meats HD DVD's strict guidelines, but at a price that I cannot afford. All that being said, I believe this player will do well, and both Blu-Ray and HD DVD will be around for many years. Good thing too, HD DVD is much more consumer friendly than Blu-Ray (BD+).


By Fallen Kell on 7/26/2007 5:35:46 PM , Rating: 2
For being a high end player let us hope they also include 7.1 analog outputs, optical/coaxial/firewire digital audio connection(s), as well as component video out, but I doubt we will see that...




Nice features
By mdogs444 on 7/26/2007 6:00:30 PM , Rating: 2
The only thing its lagging, in my book personally, is the Divx Ultra capability. I have Divx on my regular DVD player and love it. It also has a USB port that allows me to hook up an external HD or USB Thumbdrive and play movies right off of them. That would top it off as a great Home Theater player - the ability to mix & max HD formats as well as PC formats. It would be a Win-Win for the consumer, and go knows it wouldnt cost much at all because my $50 philips has it.




What if both win?
By liquidaim on 7/27/2007 1:20:38 PM , Rating: 2
I see a lot of discussion on how these two formats are really great for the consumer because of lower prices, but what if both formats win?

HD-DVD wins in Europe and Blu-ray wins in the U.S. - extrapolation based on some of the articles I've been reading on this war.

Then the movie studios will really get what they want, and that is control over what content is shown in what region and at the price they want you to pay for it.

I haven't jumped into HD because I would rather not spend the money to buy two players.

I think the number of people on the fence right now is highly underestimated. If not for the two formats, HD would have been adopted much more quickly. With economies of scale, the prices for producing the players in just one format, IMHO, would be much lower than supporting two formats while both sides bleed money through all their orifices.




What if both win?
By liquidaim on 7/27/2007 1:20:52 PM , Rating: 2
I see a lot of discussion on how these two formats are really great for the consumer because of lower prices, but what if both formats win?

HD-DVD wins in Europe and Blu-ray wins in the U.S. - extrapolation based on some of the articles I've been reading on this war.

Then the movie studios will really get what they want, and that is control over what content is shown in what region and at the price they want you to pay for it.

I haven't jumped into HD because I would rather not spend the money to buy two players.

I think the number of people on the fence right now is highly underestimated. If not for the two formats, HD would have been adopted much more quickly. With economies of scale, the prices for producing the players in just one format, IMHO, would be much lower than supporting two formats while both sides bleed money through all their orifices.




$850 Combo Player
By BMFPitt on 7/30/2007 10:49:18 AM , Rating: 2
I'd like to announce my new lower cost combo player. It's a PS3 duct taped to a Toshiba HD-A2.




"Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be." -- Steve Ballmer











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