Ricoh shows off their Blu-ray/HD DVD/DVD/CD capable laser at Interopto 2006

by Richard Lawler posted Jul 12th 2006 at 1:59PM

As previously mentioned Ricoh is working on a way to read all four formats with a single adjustable laser, and they came to Interopto 2006 to show it off. Of course with their panels written in Japanese it's a little hard to understand the details, but the idea is clear. They claim they will be able to provide samples to OEMs this year, but don't anticipate players on shelves until the end of 2007. Of course some people think the Blu-ray and HD DVD format war could be over by then, and we still have the unknowns of license restrictions and price to deal with before this is a realistic alternative to existing standalone players and recorders.

Tags: blu-ray, combo, format war, FormatWar, hd dvd, HdDvd, hdtv, high definition, HighDefinition, laser, ricoh, tech

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

D.J.J.S @ Jul 12th 2006 2:38PM

Gosh I really Hope This End the Format Wars..
I'm Getting Sick of HD VS Blue Ray .. Crap..

Neutral

Jim @ Jul 12th 2006 5:41PM

This does not mean that hybrid players are not going to show until late 2007. It just means that any hybrid players launched before that will need multiple pickups/heads or whatever. One to read Blu-Ray, another to read HD-DVD, and I'm guessing a third to read CD/DVD.

I'm willing to forgo the CD/DVD capability if it means a lower price.

Neutral

Ben Mishoe @ Jul 13th 2006 7:32AM

I see products like this as *delaying* the end of the format war. There's no incentive for a unified format if everyone is buying players that can do either/or.

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