
Nothing like a little false hope to brighten your Saturday, right? Of course, we hope the current stalemate in the Blu-ray / HD DVD war actually yields a
combo player, but after the
on-again /
off-again (and
again) love affair with the idea, we're not holding our
collective breath. Nevertheless, it seems that the current state actually doesn't have one format trouncing the other as many believed would happen after a few months unfolded. Essentially, consumers are "generally indifferent" to the two, and considering there's just seven more HD DVD titles currently available than BD titles, it doesn't look like one or the other will win on sheer studio popularity. While we've seen the Blu-ray-equipped PS3 outsell Microsoft's HD DVD drive
5 to 1, there isn't much substance in such a statistic, but apparently Taiwan-based manufacturers are rethinking their
previous denials of unleashing a player that handles
both discs.
DigiTimes has it that Samsung is "planning to offer dual-format recorders that can record and play back BD and HD DVD movies," while Hitachi (a devout member of the BDA), is also "considering production of dual-format devices." They also went so far as to point out the obvious when noting that a "dual-format device would be more expensive than a single-format unit" -- but hey, it's likely cheaper than buying one of each, eh?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jeff N. @ Dec 16th 2006 6:27PM
I thought Warners had invented a way to put both a Blu-ray and a HD-DVD all on one disc. Now that would be the way to go.
hmurchison @ Dec 17th 2006 2:27AM
Just shutup and do it. How many times have these companies flip flopped? Especially Samsung. I'll believe it when I see it.
GhostDoggy @ Dec 17th 2006 9:15AM
Considering both first generation players used the Broadcom chip that outputted the same 1920 by 1080 in interlaced form (Blu-ray players employed another chip to deinterlace), I should be that dang expensive for a universal player. I think there should be laws that other inhibit manufacturers by force exclusivity conditions which prevent them in the first place.