LG sheds more light on their combo Blu-ray/HD-DVD player
No
mention of "Ultra-Multi", but LG
has confirmed their plans to build a combination HD-DVD/Blu-ray player, and make it available this fall. What this will
do for the next generation DVD market however, is unclear. The analyst quoted in the article sounds thrilled, but how
many early adopters will get burned if the format battle drags on endlessly? Theres also the question of how much such
a player will cost, after including both technologies plus licensing fees. The more I think about it, the more pessimistic I get; a "holy grail" device that comes to market late, heavy on price and short on features is the usual outcome. Maybe we're just reading into the possibility of high profile technology busts too much, anyone care to provide a glass half full perspective?
Filed under: LG
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jake @ Mar 17th 2006 7:30PM
Im not entirely sure why you are pessimistic about this. Yes, a device like this drags out the format war, but a longer format war actually helps early adopters and consumers over all: the losing side gets greater longevity from their loser device-and both EAs and consumers overall get more movies, dropping prices, etc, with respect to both formats. A short format war is worse for the losers: they buy high, spend out the nose for titles and media, then 6 months later learn that the studios have canceled support. Hello Betamax.
A long format war actually creates the potential for an *indefinite* format war. If prices keep dropping, people keep buying both technologies, studios keep finding reasons to maintain and increase support, then it might be possible for the formats to coexist until the next gen comes along (HVD, baby, HVD100GB+, 500MB/s on an optical-sized disk!)
Jeff Johnson @ Mar 18th 2006 12:54PM
Hmm - i think there is a 3rd possible outcome, where both formats survive, HD-DVD being the walmart crowd and blu-ray being the higher-end crowd, the same bunch that really have HDTV's because they can afford them.
I recall 1997 when i stood in line to pay 500 bucks for a DVD player... i will not do that again, i will wait for the PS3 and a BD/RW for my computer. If it were not for the PS3, then Sony for sure knows, this would be a very possible Betamax redux.
Matt P @ Mar 19th 2006 12:58AM
It still is a betamax redux, Sony's just goint to let the technology sink their last really profitable market. Who's been cutting into that PS market recently and is sitting in the HD DVD format's corner? You think the next XBOX release will not be HD-DVD compliant? The 'high-end' consumer, maybe will realize BDs have more storage. But LCDs are getting cheaper, HD broadcasting is booming, and 'low end' people tend not to educate themselves until they realize the difference that the technology makes in their own living room. As the HDTV market grows, and these 'low-end' consumers (in which I count myself) have the HD-AHA! then realize they need better DVD players, they'll opt for similar quality picture in a lower priced player. These folks won't care about the difference in storage capacity. They'll be puzzled that the DVD player costs nearly as much as their new TV.
Ben Drawbaugh @ Mar 19th 2006 11:59AM
Matt,
I think you may be giving too much credit to HD-DVD.
HD-DVD is supposed to be out 2 months before Blu-Ray and Blu-Ray has already annonced more hardware and more titles than HD-DVD.
If things keep up at this pace HD-DVD won't make it through the first year.
They can make due with one player but 3 titles from one studio isn't going to cut it.
I wouldn't be surprised if the studios leave toshiba in the cold holding the bag.
Mark Kawakami @ Mar 20th 2006 6:51PM
In all honesty, I think that the hybrid player will become the defacto standard. First of all, it's not going to be that hard to make them, I think. Maybe in the first six months to a year before miniaturization really kicks in, but then otherwise, it should be a snap. I mean, any consumer player, whethter HD-DVD or Blu-Ray will be backwards compatible with DVDs, CDs, probably VCDs, MP3 cds, JPEG cds, all recordable flavors of the above, and possibly DivX as well. What's one more format? Especially one that is, in all honesty, not really that different from the other.
I think the consumer would rather have a player that works regardless of who wins, which makes me think the hybrid players will do will, even if it's not the most mainstream of mainstream companies manufacturing them. And as soon as the big guys see the little guys cannibalizing their products, anyone without a real reason to care (meaning everyone except Sony and Toshiba) will go hybrid. Then it's hybrids all around.
LG has done the math, and they know the right horse is agnosticism.
HD Obsessed @ Jun 13th 2006 5:00PM
I don't understand why most people insist that the last format war was the vhs/betamax war. In fact, the last format war was the proliferation of dvd r-/+ rw-/+ DVD RAM (am I forgetting a format?) And what of CD vs. MP3 - not to mention DVD vs. CD. And now we have DVD players that play all DVD formats, CD's, mp3s, jpeg files. They do everything but serve you breakfast in bed. And let's not forget about computer DVD/CD drives as well.
In the last 5 years we have had a proliferation of all kinds of formats and the market place has shown us that people want a simple solution - a DVD drive (whether stand alone or computer) that accepts all formats - and one that accepts not only movies, but also computer files, pictures, song files, etc. Go into J&R and check out the stacked boxes of DVD players, you'll see what I mean. They'll play anything you throw at them. And why not? I sure as h--- wouldn't buy one if it didn't. Would you?
I believe that this notion of a "winner" of the HD format war is one that has been promoted by backers of both formats. It's propaganda. In fact, if we look at history and the market place, co-existence is a much more common phenomenon (but one that neither Blu-Ray nor Toshiba like!) than a dominating format.
I'll be waiting to buy my next gen DVD player when a reasonably priced dual format player comes out - then I won't care who wins this silly war.