Samsung announces dual format hd-dvd blu-ray player.

[louthewiz]

It looks like the christmas season will have new goodies for us good little boys and girls,
Here is the scoop:

http://www.cepro.com/news/editorial/18273.html

[Ron-P]

Nice that it will support future audio codecs, iHD and BD-J. More and more will start making machines like these. I'll pick one up when the second or third gen models hit the $400 range.

[AndyGwis]

Me, too. Glad to see there is light at the end of the tunnel. I would love a player that could handle both.

But, seeing as the HD-DVD players I have only have HD-DVDs to worry about and still take 1+ minutes to boot, load movie, etc., I will likely wait till a 2nd or 3rd gen combo player as well.

No more buying DVDs. Only the high def stuff for me from now on.

[polkatese]

that's encouraging news, indeed! the only combo LG BH-100 player has been getting negative review, so the news is a welcome alternative. Btw, the LG player has been dubbed a BR player with SOME HD-DVD playback functionality. I am surprise the big boys (PE, Sony, et.al.) have been very quiet on rolling out combo players. Any speculation on why? without competition, I am afraid the combo players will be priced at a premium for awhile.

[Shizelbs]

Rad. I want to see more and more of these.

Personally, I want to see Denon and Oppo release a combo unit.

[Ron-P]

I'm sure they will. Once this stuff starts to sell big everyone will jump on the bandwagon. Denon and Oppo and the like are just waiting for others to step up first and then they'll follow.

[Pepi28]

RAD??? Isn't it the year 2007 and not 1975? Just had to ask.

[Bill Ayotte]

I was thinking 1980's, like when the movie was released. I use it, and I'm only 24.....Maybe I am just lame.

[GV#27]

Good News ,I hope this is the start of a trend with other manufacturers.

[LuSh]

It could also mean the kiss of death for both formats as yet another manufacture has no confidence a clear winner will be made, the way the studio's have aligned themselves a winner must be declared if classic's like The GodFather, Star War's, and Indiana Jones ever hope to be released.

While I understand that alot of people have invested money in these units I can't help think that this format war is more or less DVD-Audio vs SACD all over again...I remember people were excited when combo players came out for those formats as well.

Sorry to piss on everybody's parade. =(

[Ron-P]

this format war is more or less DVD-Audio vs SACD all over again...I remember people were excited when combo players came out for those formats as well.

Not even close and I wish people would stop comparing the two. The people that want hi-quality audio are very few and far between, always have been, always will be. Those formats never had a chance, people want their music portable. The people that want hi-def video is doing nothing but growing more and more everyday and it will continue to do so. The war between Blu-ray / HD-DVD and SCAD / DVD-A are nothing alike.

[LuSh]

I think they're everything alike. I think most people are buying televisions because they're flat and want it on the main floors as much or if not more then the attraction of having better picture quality.

DVD was every bit as successful because there were basic advances that even grandma and grandpa could enjoy; no re-winding of tape, no wear upon multiple viewings, cool scene selection...hi-rez is trying to appeal to a market that wants quality when the market has already said they don't care. HD is selling because it's flat.

We'll see...only time will tell...lets see where this conversation is April 2008...

[Monster Jam]

I guess you could equate this format war to DVDA - SACD, except that the format war died before it started. In this regard, I agree with Ron. The average consumer seem to be very apathetic about higher bit rate sound - as Ron stated, the smaller the file size the better. It takes some effort to hear the difference between a CD and DVDA or SACD. Some would argue that the improvement is insignificant.

Video is different; the consumer can see the difference, and it takes no effort to detect this difference. The improvement is not insignificant - in fact, the improvement is dramatic.

And its funny that Lush remarks about where this conversation will be in April 2008. Search the threads on HD DVD and BlueRay and you'll find a thread where I was accused of "watching too much Sci Fi" by suggesting that BOTH next-generation formats will be short lived as we will be downloading the movies to our media centers. Yes, lets see what April 2008 brings us.....

[krabby5]

I think they're everything alike. I think most people are buying televisions because they're flat and want it on the main floors as much or if not more then the attraction of having better picture quality.

DVD was every bit as successful because there were basic advances that even grandma and grandpa could enjoy; no re-winding of tape, no wear upon multiple viewings, cool scene selection...hi-rez is trying to appeal to a market that wants quality when the market has already said they don't care. HD is selling because it's flat.

We'll see...only time will tell...lets see where this conversation is April 2008...

I don't know, man..

When I finally bought a 720p tv this month, I couldn't believe how good HD content looked..

When i threw in a dvd that I have upscaled from a Denon 1730, i immediately could see that it wasn't as sharp as the HD cable broadcasts...

So I immediately thought how cool it would be to have HD dvd's...

before I bought the HD tv, I didn't think HD-DVD and Blu-ray would be that big of a difference..or a difference that I would ever care about...I was wrong..dead wrong..i want HD dvds now..:mad:

I commented to my wife, as we were watching a regular dvd, that they don't look as good anymore, now that I've seen HD broadcasts....all she said was, "it never ends with you, does it?":D

[Sansui]

I'm just curious how much this unit is going to cost. A blank check? :D

[Ron Temple]

A good upconversion from a decent DVD is not that far off from the blu-ray disks I've seen (only 2). There's no doubt the color depth and detail are greater, but it's not night and day on my 1080p set upconverting from 1080i Oppo 971.

[louthewiz]

I also have an Oppo and I have dish hd and the difference is minimal,
I also had an hd-dvd player and it was nice but not that different from the oppo but i think it has alot to do with my tv's internal scaler as well so I guess I wall wait until the dual player comes out before taking the plunge.