LG Backs Away from Offering Dual-Format Next-Gen DVD Player

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060731-7388.html' target='_blank'>http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060731-7388.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"With the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD format war just getting started, it is by no means clear which format will emerge as the ultimate victor or if both will thrive. One way for manufacturers to hedge their bets is by selling hybrid players capable of playing both formats. Samsung and LG had both announced plans for hybrid players, but LG has apparently had a change of heart. Instead, it will revert to its original intention of making a Blu-ray only player, but with no indication of when it will ship. LG currently manufactures HD DVD players for other companies and showed off its own HD DVD player at CES, but has decided to throw the weight of the LG brand behind Blu-ray. The fate of Samsung's hybrid player is unclear as well. The company is on record that its hybrid player—while in development—will only see the light of day if HD DVD proves to be as successful as Blu-ray."</i><br /><br />I wonder if this is a technical limitation, or a political one, as in the Blu-Ray camp is pressuring LG to support only their format? The more I see, the more convinced I am that HD-DVD will be the champion in this war. Does anyone think Blu-Ray will triumph?

[Jason Eaton]

Can we have a vote for both fail? :D

While I can't stand here and say Blu-ray will win I do think the reporting has been rather harsh. I am not dismissing some of the set backs that Blu-ray has had but rather I don't think it is fair to compare it against something that is still vapor.

Who is to say that when HD DVD gets out those players won't have their set backs, or that the device manufactures change their game plan when they start to get product specs and parts in hand. People are harsh on Blu-ray because it is the only thing they can really review.

The one thing I do see in the Blu-ray camp as a positive that could be the deciding factor is amount of storage. With the large broadcast push of HD by 2007 in the U.S. we might see a turning point where large storage is needed. Right now Blu-ray offers an advantage that no one needs, but what happens when we increase the amount of storage that we need, where will HD-DVD be then? Will it hamper what we see? Will consumers even care?

I am not writting out Blu-ray yet, it isn't necessarily how you fall but how you get back up and finish the fight that matters.

---

Odd fact: Did you know that when CD specs were being created the length of 74 minutes was choosen so that the President of Sony, Norio Ohga, could hear Beethoven's 9th Symphony on a single disc? The original proposal from Philips was for a 11.5 cm disk instead of the 12 cm disk we have today.

[Felix Torres]

I am not dismissing some of the set backs that Blu-ray has had but rather I don't think it is fair to compare it against something that is still vapor.

Who is to say that when HD DVD gets out those players won't have their set backs,?

Huh?
How is HD-DVD, which has been shipping for three months, vapor?
They haven't gotten to your neighborhood yet?
Just wondering; I thought national distribution meant national distribution.
:?

Anyway, the reason BD-ROM has gotten harsh reviews is that folks have compared their shipping movies to the HD-DVD shipping movies and the HD-DVD product blows the BD-product out of the water. Maybe the BD movies are just poorly mastered or there are bugs in the Samsung player or something, but so far the matchup of shipping products is favoring HD-DVD...

[Jason Eaton]

Wow, egg on my face. I retract (but will leave the bad post above as history).

Guess I missed something, as I have yet to see one of these in person. Maybe my local stores have them buried somewhere but I haven't seen one. Nothing in the flyers and no big displays or push from the sellers.

Added note: Not one HD DVD player is available in Connecticut through the Best Buy look up at the time of this edit. Circuit City do not list it either. Guess your area must have them all. They do list the Blu-ray however.

[saru7755]

Anyway, the reason BD-ROM has gotten harsh reviews is that folks have compared their shipping movies to the HD-DVD shipping movies and the HD-DVD product blows the BD-product out of the water. Maybe the BD movies are just poorly mastered or there are bugs in the Samsung player or something, but so far the matchup of shipping products is favoring HD-DVD...

can u please provide an article link to read about this?

Thx

[Felix Torres]

Anyway, the reason BD-ROM has gotten harsh reviews is that folks have compared their shipping movies to the HD-DVD shipping movies and the HD-DVD product blows the BD-product out of the water. Maybe the BD movies are just poorly mastered or there are bugs in the Samsung player or something, but so far the matchup of shipping products is favoring HD-DVD...

can u please provide an article link to read about this?

Thx

It would have to be a dozen links or more, most pointing to avsforum.com and a few other high-end video sites, since at current prices neither is exactly a mainstream product.
I'll see if I can track a few specifics in a day or so...
In the meantime, the Major Nelson podcast referenced a bit lower here nails most of the technology challenges Blu-ray has to overcome to catch up with HD-DVD...

[Felix Torres]

Added note: Not one HD DVD player is available in Connecticut through the Best Buy look up at the time of this edit. Circuit City do not list it either. Guess your area must have them all. They do list the Blu-ray however.

S'alright; what I was about curious is how prevalent blue laser player availability is. Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy all have them for sale on their web sites, along with a dozen or more online electronics vendors.
Normally these products tend to reach market from the coasts in, so by the time the midwest gets them, everybody else has them.

Locally (suburban ohio), BB has had them on open display since the official release dates. The Toshiba HD-DVD has been hooked up to a 42" westinghouse 1080p lcd and the Samsung to a variety of large screen Samsung displays. The visible quality difference between the two demos tend to favor HD-DVD, but its not clear where it comes from.

[Felix Torres]

[quote=Felix Torres]

can u please provide an article link to read about this?

Thx

Okay, try these:
http://www.projectorcentral.com/blu-ray_2.htm
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa122.html

Or, for decidedly (but amusingly) biased debate:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=690034
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=690106