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Dual-format Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD player coming October/November

Although sales of high-definition movies on Blu-ray and HD DVD make up less than one percent of the numbers that DVDs put up, there is the perception of a fierce battle between the two optical formats. Those looking to jump into the 1080p era are usually faced with the choice of either picking sides, or going neutral by buying players of both formats.

Thus, the idea of a dual-format player seems to be a simple one, though in practice it appears that bringing such a machine to market isn’t an easy task. Samsung is up to the challenge, and in April announced a duo player, dubbed the BDP-UP5000, that will be supporting both formats in one box.

“Consumers are hungry for more HD content but are currently confused about competing formats. Samsung’s Duo HD player will allow consumers access to every HD movie title available regardless of the authoring format,” said Dongsoo Jun, executive VP of the Digital AV Division at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung is committed to making life simpler through technology and will market next generation DVD products which will satisfy the consumer and market requirement. This is a big win for the consumer.”

At an event in Germany, Samsung is reported by Heise as saying that its dual-format player will be ready to hit market in October or November. Samsung is expected to display the product at the IFA tradeshow this August.

Samsung won’t be the first with a dual-format player. LG has the honor of being first, though its BH100 is less than perfect in its support for HD DVD. Besides compatibility issues with HD DVD titles, the LG machine’s $1,199 price tag outruns the cost of buying machines exclusively for each format.

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Price
By Suomynona on 7/13/2007 12:45:46 PM , Rating: 2
What exactly is driving the price of these players? Is it licensing or hardware? I would assume that it would be hardware, as HD movies take a lot of processing power to decode. It doesn't seem to make sense that it would cost twice as much to do both formats seeing as they can both share most of the hardware necessary to decode them.




RE: Price
By Gatt on 7/13/2007 1:21:52 PM , Rating: 2
The difference is in the laser, BR's laser is a much narrower beam than HD-DVD's so the same laser technically cannot do both.

There was an announcement by someone(Can't remember who) that claimed to have developed a refracting plate that would allow one laser to handle both beam widths. They claimed that some companies were talking to them about using it, no idea what came of it.

So the problem is most likely you need two seperate lasers to handle both types of media ATM. There's already silicon that'll handle both types, so that's not a problem.


RE: Price
By GlassHouse69 on 7/16/2007 1:36:04 PM , Rating: 3
er.... just put two or three freakin lasers on their heads...

rotating arm that puts whatever is needed once read. cant be that complicated for all the work done in electronics.


This is somewhat good news
By DeepBlue1975 on 7/13/2007 11:03:25 AM , Rating: 2
The only downside by now is the price.
I guess we won't have to wait long till more oems jump on the dual format bandwagon.

Once they are enough in quantity, the first adopters who like the bleeding edge (in this case, wallet bleeding edge might apply better :D) will be going to buy these, starting the pressure on the demand side, driving manufacturers to produce more and then the price will be able to start falling down once the production platform costs get amortized.

And by then, when these are cheap, dual format, fast, and there are plenty of titles, I will take my wallet out of my pocket, stick a $50 note out and ask the reseller to give me the reminder with candies. :D

I'm sometimes first adopter, but optical drives just don't drive my "first adopter adrenaline" quite enough.




Price
By timmiser on 7/13/2007 1:29:10 PM , Rating: 2
If they can debut it at $499 this could be good.

The price of both HD-DVD and BR players is dropping pretty steadily now and by this holiday season, I expect HD-DVD to be around $199 and BD to be about $399 when this is released.




Dong So... What?
By 16nm on 7/13/07, Rating: 0
For the Rich.
By Mitch101 on 7/13/07, Rating: -1
RE: For the Rich.
By omnicronx on 7/13/2007 10:02:56 AM , Rating: 2
ya for sure..
xbox premium: 399
ps3: 499
hddvd: 199
=1100

being able to buy both consoles and both high def formats for less than a dual unit that can not even play hd-dvds correctly = priceless


RE: For the Rich.
By awer26 on 7/13/2007 10:35:02 AM , Rating: 4
The point is that it's possible, and it's here. First-gen technology always costs an arm and a leg, that's why most people don't buy it. We all know that a dual-format player will be much cheaper in the coming years (assuming both types are still alive), but this is a step in the right direction.


RE: For the Rich.
By omnicronx on 7/13/2007 10:55:34 AM , Rating: 2
Oh for sure it is, I justed wanted to point at, at this juncture you can get everything for cheaper than one unit ;)

I just wonder how long it will take to drop in price.
I also wonder does the technology use 2 different lasers? as both formats use a blue laser, or does the current method involve swapping lasers depending on what disc is inserted, because with the price of bd diodes i could see these staying expensive for a while if so.


RE: For the Rich.
By hubajube on 7/13/2007 12:59:29 PM , Rating: 2
How much is the Samsung unit?


RE: For the Rich.
By AlexWade on 7/13/2007 1:17:02 PM , Rating: 2
Rumor has it that it will cost $600 or less. I don't remember where I saw, but I saw it in several places. The Register might have been one site.

On another note, this player is what people have been waiting for. People will buy this, then other companies will see they aren't selling their exclusive units, and Blu-Ray and HD DVD will live side by side for a long time.


RE: For the Rich.
By Dreamwalker on 7/15/2007 2:38:13 PM , Rating: 2
RE: For the Rich.
By glynor on 7/13/2007 1:14:37 PM , Rating: 2
The PS3 is only $499 for a short while to clear out existing stock of the discontinued 60GB model, apparently...

http://www.dailytech.com/No+More+60GB+PS3+Consoles...


RE: For the Rich.
By BladeVenom on 7/13/07, Rating: 0
"I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For [Paramount] to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks!" -- Movie Director Michael Bay

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