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zippyjuan
04-13-2007, 04:08 PM
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multimedia/display/20070413070605.html

Now that I have an HD plasma, I am more tempted by some sort of HD DVD player, but I still think they and the movies cost too much for me. Not even sure if there are any titles available I might be interested in, but this is a step in the right direction.

Samsung Set to Launch Hybrid Blu-Ray/HD DVD Player.
Samsung’s Duo HD Player to Become Available This Summer

Category: Multimedia

by Anton Shilov

[ 04/13/2007 | 07:07 AM ]


Samsung Electronics, one of the world’s leading producers of consumer electronics as well as microchips, on Friday said it would release the Duo HD player capable of Blu-ray disk (BD) and HD DVD playback this summer. Originally promised almost two years ago, Samsung’s BD-UP5000 will enable consumers to watch high definition movies regardless the disk type they are released on.


“We are very pleased to announce the upcoming release of our Duo HD player. 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. 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,” said Dongsoo Jun, executive vice president of the digital AV division at Samsung Electronics.

Samsung’s Duo HD player (BD-UP5000) will fully support both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats and their interactive technologies, HDi and BD-Java, something that the currently shipping LG’s universal player lacks. Samsung decided to remain tight-lipped over specifications of the player as well as its peculiarities.

The competition between the Blu-ray and HD DVD has cost consumer electronics makers hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars already and it seems that LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics do not want this fight to continue going forward. Back in January last year, the Consumer Electronics Association predicted that more than 600 000 high definition DVD players, worth $484 million, would be sold in 2006. However, delays of shipments and manufacturing issues have twice caused the organization to lower its forecast, and it expected back in November that U.S. sales would reach only 200 000 players, worth $181 million, by the end of 2006. Analysts, however, claim that high definition DVD players that use blue lasers fell short off expectations because consumers were uncertain regarding which format will eventually win and decided to keep away from both.

Besides promising to release the universal player in time “for the holidays”, Samsung also said that if market demands HD DVD player from the S. Korea-based maker, who already sells notebooks with HD DVD drives, the company will release an appropriate device.

“As a member of the DVD Forum and contributor to the DVD Industry, we recognize that both HD DVD and BD formats have merits. As such, we have decided to market a dual format player. Samsung is flexible to market a stand-alone HD DVD player whenever consumers demand it. Our main concern is not technology, but consumer choice” said Mr. Jun.

shocky123
04-13-2007, 06:54 PM
Any thoughts on this?

From what I've heard, BR is currently outselling the hellz outta HDDVD in terms of media sales.. Honestly, even though most would consider me a sony fanboi, I'd go with, and I think a lot of people will go with whomever gets the prices down the quickets, $35 for a movie that I already spent $15 on at the theatre...

Who knows.

ShawnLee
04-13-2007, 07:11 PM
I'm willing to wait for one over the other instead of getting this hybrid. As nice at it is, this unit is having to pay twice the licensing costs to build, and I'm willing to hold out on that.

LPMiller
04-14-2007, 05:49 AM
while blueray is outselling HD DVD, it's still in such incredibly low numbers. Frankly, it's too soon to call the battle. I think blueray will win, eventually, but we are talking like .07 percent of the market is made up of bluray and hd combined. Neither format has taken off at all.

zippyjuan
04-14-2007, 09:27 AM
blu-Ray has higher disc sale numbers in large part because they gave away a free movie (Caladaga Nights) with each PS3 game along with a coupon for $15 off your next purchase. Even with that, they have just a slight lead. In machine sales, the HDDVD in Europe has 85% of the European market http://www.neowin.net/index.php?act=view&id=38643 and if it stays the lower price, most likely will come out on top. BUt it should be noted that the PS3 was only released in Europe in the past month.

In the old VHS- Beta video tape wars, it was the less expensive VHS machine that came to dominate over the technically superior Sony Betamax machine. People will vote with their wallets- especially if the differences are as confusing as this battle. Many consumers don't see the need to upgrade their DVD players and the limited releases availible for either does not offer them more encouragement to get the latest technology. They are waiting to see what happens before plunking down their money. Sounds like most of the folks here- with probably a higher tech awareness than the average consumer are waiting too.

shocky123
04-14-2007, 09:41 AM
as I said early, I'll wait..... my brother works for BestBuy, and at least here, BR is outselling HDDVD 10:1.. but as you said, its an insignificant portion of the market at this point..

ray
04-14-2007, 05:44 PM
HD DVD costs less to manufacture, so those savings will eventually be passed onto the consumer. Even though BR is "winning" right now, I think HD DVD will prevail in the end.

Skidude
04-16-2007, 08:52 AM
Any thoughts on this?

From what I've heard, BR is currently outselling the hellz outta HDDVD in terms of media sales.. Honestly, even though most would consider me a sony fanboi, I'd go with, and I think a lot of people will go with whomever gets the prices down the quickets, $35 for a movie that I already spent $15 on at the theatre...

Who knows.

There were 2x as many BR movies released than HD-DVD. This summer that number will come back to a nearly 1:1 basis.

This whole fight will be about cost. You can find the Toshiba HD-A2 online for a tad over $300, the closest BR is 50% more. Personally, I think the first company to go under $200 and drop media down to just under $20 will win. The first under $100 will certainly win.

DVD didn't really take off until players became affordable and media was sold at decent prices. HD-DVD has a huge lead there.