LG Announces Dual Format Player

[b2bonez]

Original posting by Rob Zuber over at AVS

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&&#post9348368

Link to article...

http://pr.hankyung.com/read_sub.php?...=&eflag=&spno=

Quite a shock... I didn't think they could do one before end of 2007. No mention of MRSP.

b2b

[Blue]

This maybe true, but let's wait for the offical announcment before we get too excited, as their have been announcements that Samsung was going to make a dual player - only to be denied by Samsung. Fox and Disney to release in HD-DVD only to be denied by both companies.

[b2bonez]

Originally Posted by Blue

This maybe true, but let's wait for the offical announcment before we get too excited, as their have been announcements that Samsung was going to make a dual player - only to be denied by Samsung. Fox and Disney to release in HD-DVD only to be denied by both companies.

Looks pretty official to me.. Here is the link from Korea PR news wire.

http://www.newswire.co.kr/read_sub.p...&rg2=&rg3=&tt=

b2b

[JTK]

CES is this Sunday, so we'll know soon enough for sure, but honestly: How many more times are we going to see and hear about this?

LG is one of several companies I've seen people take all over the map by now: Blu-Ray. HD-DVD. Both. Neither.

Gee whiz...

That does look pretty official.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised if it does happen. I guess this format war, such as it is, is going to be going on for a bit longer.

[GaS]

I have never understood the idea behind the combo. So what does a neutral company like warner or paramount do if combo's become the norm? They certainly don't continue releasing on both formats. Whom do they choose?

[JTK]

Maybe I'm way off on this, but IMO at least, the downside I see of a combo goes like this:

Welcome to SACD vs. DVD-A II. <- That's my concern long term.

Short term? A company like LG can make what they usually do, which is a relatively cheap POS...throw out it out there, and see what happens. They aren't going to lose money on it and they may even make a decent profit.

This just doesn't make sense anymore. If the status quo were still where things had been in July, where you had fumbling BD quality and that had never been rectified, I could have seen a margin of error to play with there.

All this for Universal movies? Because that's all HD-DVD has going for it now. Everything else is either in the BD camp or on its way there.

Am I way off here folks?

[jason]

43% of the movie industry for one of the 8 major studios is a huuuge chunk.. weinstein is starting out pretty good too...

now for the dual format would be for us whom own both formats and want a single player, like it or not LG is a good company, never had problems with them. Being a smaller company with a great idea these days gets you bashed, its a shame too.

Also want to vent a little now that jtk mentioned ces, I live in the freakin vegas area and I cant even go to it WTF!!!??? lol I need some connections or a real job so I can see all the fun new toys.

[b2bonez]

Originally Posted by GaS

I have never understood the idea behind the combo. So what does a neutral company like warner or paramount do if combo's become the norm? They certainly don't continue releasing on both formats. Whom do they choose?

The scratch resistant BD ones that Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and Netflix don't ***** about...

b2b

[sticks]

Originally Posted by Blue

This maybe true, but let's wait for the offical announcment before we get too excited, as their have been announcements that Samsung was going to make a dual player - only to be denied by Samsung. Fox and Disney to release in HD-DVD only to be denied by both companies.

Yup, can't see dual disks or players without an increase in price and I won't pay more than thier already taking me for.lol.

[JTK]

If all of the things in this thread truly get confirmed and come to pass, then we're well on our way to SACD vs. DVD-A II, IMO.

Winner of the format war by default: DVD.

It's amazing to see how much effect propoganda, FUD, misinformation, and just plain being ignorant and a cheapskate can go as far as all of this.

I just wish the BDA had issued some more killer deathblows in the early goings and especially during Christmas time then they did.

It doens't help things when you see the NY Times and Time Magazine utterly blast the PS3, among other things. Those rags may not have any credibility with me personally, but unfortunately they do with a whole hell of a lot of other people.

And on and on and on...

I guess DVD is going to be the only real "winner" out of all of this.

[WriteSimply]

The problem that LG will face with this combo player, or practically any CE manufacturer dare enough to go there, is that unlike universal players (that plays SACD and DVD-Audio) the anti-pirating technology between the two are different. There are also the interactive feature that is different (HDi and BD-Java).

Any glitches off normal playback needs a new firmware. That includes every glitch in interactive features.

If LG releases such a player, they must be ready to face a huge amount of customer feedback. First off, try the set-up menu.


fuad

[JTK]

Originally Posted by WriteSimply

The problem that LG will face with this combo player, or practically any CE manufacturer dare enough to go there, is that unlike universal players (that plays SACD and DVD-Audio) the anti-pirating technology between the two are different. There are also the interactive feature that is different (HDi and BD-Java).

Any glitches off normal playback needs a new firmware. That includes every glitch in interactive features.

If LG releases such a player, they must be ready to face a huge amount of customer feedback. First off, try the set-up menu.


fuad

Oh yes, there's all sorts of potential technical bugaboos and headaches that even I can conceive of off the top of my head.

Hell, good luck to both Warner and LG. These aren't going to be easy tricks to pull off, that's for sure.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...6307#post36307

I really thought you hit the nail on the head with posts 17 and 23 here.

In light of all of this...your concerns are quite valid but it may already be too late.

[Blue]

Originally Posted by JTK

If all of the things in this thread truly get confirmed and come to pass, then we're well on our way to SACD vs. DVD-A II, IMO.

Winner of the format war by default: DVD.

That depends, if it's just LG that does a dual player there will be little impact. If we start counting all the players either HD-DVD or Blu Ray out there including 360 add on and PS3 that is where the momentum will come from. If everyone starts making dual players well then yes chaos - then again many movies will have trouble fitting on HD-DVD. OK Deci lower the bit rate! All the players have had teething problems, this one is about twice as much as anyone else. The Warner and their multi disc's (if single sided are likely to confuse the hell out of it) here comes the first firmware patch. Another interesting thing is most of the HD-DVD world don't seem that enthusiastic nor the BD, it may br rejected by both. No matter what it's going to be an intersting year.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Blue

That depends, if it's just LG that does a dual player there will be little impact. If we start counting all the players either HD-DVD or Blu Ray out there including 360 add on and PS3 that is where the momentum will come from. If everyone starts making dual players well then yes chaos - then again many movies will have trouble fitting on HD-DVD. OK Deci lower the bit rate! All the players have had teething problems, this one is about twice as much as anyone else. The Warner and their multi disc's (if single sided are likely to confuse the hell out of it) here comes the first firmware patch. Another interesting thing is most of the HD-DVD world don't seem that enthusiastic nor the BD, it may br rejected by both. No matter what it's going to be an intersting year.

Agreed.

So no one gets me wrong: I'm not worried...I'm just very annoyed at the prospect of more stalling and delays and I just really feel like the BDA as a whole could have and should have issued some more killer deathblows, especially around Christmas time, then they did.

I guess slow and steady wins the race and all that.

It doesn't change anything for me personally. I have my PS3 and I'm going to continue to buy nothing but BD discs for as long as I possibly can.

[Zinn]

Gizmodo claims that LG will announce the worlds first hybrid BD/HDDVD player at CES 2007, anyone has any info??

[GTP]

Will beleive it when I see it as both LG and Samsung had announced dual players in the past 9 months.....and they were shut down for one reason or the other.
Even if this did happen...it would have to be an Onkyo/Denon player to get me interested....certainly not an LG.

[Chris Beveridge]

I was wondering when the leaks of announcements for CES would start. I expected it earlier in the week.

Not surprised to see LG going this route. Again. Will it pan out? Dunno. Will it be affordable? I'd guess not but hey, they may want to break even or lose money on it to gain mindshare.

A dual format player to me isn't a big deal, because I don't see the exclusive studios using BD to use it. They're optimizing their releases, more often for BD-50 than not, which means they want the greater space. I can't imagine them wanting to add two workflows for releases (not dual titles, just some going BD and some HD DVD) because each has its own issues.

I still think dual format is bad in the long run. Not only do the CE companies need to shut up and put up for their format of choice, but so do consumers. Rather than being on the fence, if you have a side you prefer, support it and leave it at that. I only got my HD DVD player at launch for potential review purposes. I haven't bought a disc since launch and even that I've tossed out since it came out on BD as well. All of my support is behind BD.

[crunchy]

I thought the blu-ray association had a stipulation that blu-ray technology could not be inside a dual format drive until 2008??????


can anyone explain how LG got around this?????

[Blue]

Merged threads as they are the same

[dialog_gvf]

It wouldn't surprise me if LG announced something. But, they still have to accomplish it. And, last I looked, the track record getting complex players for ONE FORMAT out on time is ZERO. They were ALL delayed.

What I find funny is the HD DVD fanboys and universal player paradox. It goes like this:

Combo players will sell huge, and dominate. This will allow the studios to abandon BD and release everything on the "far cheaper" HD DVD. But, that eliminates the need for combo players to exist, and the extra expense of the paying for the BD side would be wasted. So, if people believe the logic why would combo players dominate?

Gary

EDIT: There is the announcement. Early 2007? As in the next few months?!