Surprise! LG to debut dual format Blu-ray & HD DVD player at CES
by Richard Lawler 
posted Jan 4th 2007 at 1:42AM
LG's on again / off again combo HD DVD + Blu-ray player is -- at least for this week -- on again. To recap: After showing the BD199 Blu-ray player at last year's CES, the company abruptly shelved it and promised a combo player to end the high definition format war. Then this fall the company backed off those plans, reaffirmed its status in the Blu-ray camp and even showed off the BD100 Blu-ray player in London as recently as November. Now LG promises that not only is the dual format player coming, we'll be able to see it next week at CES. No word on if it contains any of the hybrid hardware we've heard so much about in recent months, but the company has promised details on pricing and availability in Las Vegas. With neither format projected to make a large dent in declining DVD sales this year, perhaps an end to the format war is just what they need to get things rolling... or cause more confusion and hesitation amongst potential customers.[Via CE Pro]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
hmurchison @ Jan 4th 2007 1:59AM
This, along with rumors about Warner's Total HD HDDVD/BD hybrid discs, would be a game changer.
I'd buy a second generation Universal player and I don't mind the idea of a hybrid HDDVD/BD disc.
xavier @ Jan 5th 2007 12:14AM
I agree with you hmurchison. I would not care about a hybrid HDDVD/BD disc if I have a universal player. It would be uncalled for, unless you were all gun-ho and bought one of the formats already during this war. Anyone who did that has got big kahunas! And for the people out there that say HDDVD and BD is a waste of time and we do not need another format don't have a t.v. that is 1080p capable. I just bought one 2 weeks ago and when you watch sports in hi-def, it is amazing. The current dvd's don't play that clear and that is why there is a new format war. I have an upconvert dvd and it still does not compare to watching a movie on HBO in high-def. That is what you will get when you watch a movie in the new format! I will be getting the universal player when it comes out. This will end the format war period. We don't care as consumers what format we get hd movies in, as long as it is hd and it looks good and the quality is there! Bring on the Universal Players!!
wsteeter @ Jan 5th 2007 2:33AM
well this should resolve some feuds.
Joseph R @ Jan 5th 2007 1:29AM
Unfortunately, the Wall Street Journal report today indicated that LG's HD-DVD/Blu-ray combo player will retail for around $1200. Mainly due to the expensive chipset/software - which I think was developed by Ricoh engineers last fall.
Looks like HD DVD stand-alone units will still be the most popular. The WSJournal article stated that to date, only 15,000 Blu-ray stand-alone players have been sold, vs. around 80,000 HD-DVD stand-alone players (includes XBox 360 $199 add-on drive).
PS3 units (over 200,000 sold to date) are primarily used for game software (not Blu-ray movies), although Sony hopes this will change, looking to see more Blu-ray movie discs being purchased in '07.
Mark @ Jan 6th 2007 1:27AM
"Mainly due to the expensive chipset/software"
I personally think this should have read
"Mainly due to Blue-Ray licensing costs"
IMO, Sony's BR has more to lose than the HD-DVD camp with the arrival of a combo player (most corporate/media interest), so why not 'stick it' to anyone supporting a combo player in the form of mandating the highest licensing costs possible. Just my theory.
markvan @ Jan 7th 2007 1:19AM
I have an HP Pavilion s7525a desktop pc that I trying to connect to my LG Plasma (42PX50-AB).
The operating manual for the LG advises that the resolution of the pc should be set to 1024 x 768 60Hz, but when I do that, no picture is displayed. The only resolution that displays on the plasma is 640 x 480. Any other resolution results in a blank screen.
How can I overcome this?
The video card in the HP is an ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M Series.