According to reports, the BH200 will have HDi support, 1080p output at 60Hz and 1080p upscaling of standard DVDs. It will be able to play audio CDs, and go online for bonus HD DVD content. It can also access a full complement of Blu-ray interactive features—where available—such as BD-Live, Blu-View or Picture-in-Picture.

At a similar price and feature set as Samsung's BD-UP5000 Duo HD, and now similarly bearing both the Blu-ray and HD DVD official logos, we'll be watching both of these mofos when they are available. Now tell me, why would you want a disc player that only plays one kind of HD disc? [Electronic House]

Good job, Best Buy. This is a smart move in light of the cheaper single-format players that have come to market, like the Toshiba HD-A2 going for $300 on Amazon. Before you dive in, read our review of the player, as it's not perfect. [Best Buy, thanks Brett]

To be clear, there's now officiallya format war between the two solutions to the format war. Hilarious. Even The Onion couldn't make up a better joke. Mossy's video review post jump.

–Brian Lam

Mossberg on the LG BH100 [WSJ]

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–Travis Hudson

So if you buy a LG BH100 instead of the Toshiba HD-A1 and the Samsung BD-P1000, you save shelf space at the expense of cash ($1200 vs. $600 + $400).

More after the jump.

– Jason Chen

Thanks to Sizeasy!

Right off, I'll tell you that the rumors that the HD-DVD compatibility is half-assed are absolutely true. One of HD-DVD's strongest points is its interactive menus and video features, like the ones we wrote about in our Fast and the Furious HD-DVD review. This player didn't support the menus on this movie, and some of the special features, like being able to repaint a race car in the movie, were only found when I manually skipped to the chapter. Even then, the only thing you can depend on is that the movie will play. Which may be enough for many, but not enough for those who want the most from both formats.

Secondly, I could not get the player to engage its 1080p mode via HDMI with the Sony XBR3 I'm testing. 1080i was all she would do.

But beyond that, she did play both discs. And the boot times were in the 30-40 second range for both HD formats. That's a step in the right direction compared to many of the 1st gen disc players that took about a minute. Strangely, the boot times were around 30 seconds for DVDs, too. A little long, but this is still the only way to get both formats in your home with one piece of gear. (Until those dual format discs pick up.)

Generally, if a player like this works, its quality is good enough for 95 percent of the population. But with a price tag of 1200 bucks, before tax and shipping, I had to test the player's visual qualities. Without an adequate HD synthetic benchmark, I used the tried and true HQV test DVD that gives quantitative scores for a DVD player's video processor quality with clips that aggravate jaggies, noise, moire, and frame rate cadence. The disc is the equivalent to Marine Boot Camp, so when the player scored a 55 out of 130, I wasn't too dissapointed, but I was not impressed, either. By reference, the XBox DVD player scored a 40. So, the LG is "OK".

This is a weird thing to bring up for a set top box review, but did you notice how gorgeous the case is? the matte-finished aluminum top proudly displays compatibility logos, and 5 buttons, for power, eject, play/pause, stop and menu that with softly glowing halos. On the front, there is merely the disc tray, the monochrome LCD and the glowing LG logo. It's basically the cleanest set top box I've ever seen. There is a flaw in this design: With the buttons on top, you're forced to put the BH100 in the top of a shelf, or be stuck using the remote. Seems fine. But like the PS3 and its rounded top, the BH100's design seems to scream to be at the top of your AV stack. Either way, if Chen were here, he'd try to stick it in his pants.

Extras: The player came with a bunch of crappy RCA and component cables, a nice universal remote,and a polish cloth. But no HDMI cable, the jerks.

Here's the official LG release. I've got full screenshots and angles, including the back panel, remote, and accessories, in the gallery.

Would I buy this? I'd can't recommend it if you're a videophile, or already have an XBox or PS3 to use as a player. Remember, the cost of the box is actually more than one of those cheaper 2nd gen Blu-Ray players + an HD-DVD player. And you're not getting the full shazaam when it comes to the HD-DVD interactivity. So, I'd personally pass, unless you have a very strong aversion to having two HD disc boxes instead of one. Just wait. There'll be more of these. –Brian Lam

Previous BH100 Coverage [Gizmodo]

Here's a look at some of the mud-slinging that took place during his sit downs.

HD DVD on Blu-ray

Support for Blu-ray isn't as rock solid as they would like. Samsung for instance has released a laptop (the M55) with an HD DVD drive. Sure, they got 50GB discs, but there's no movie out there that requires that space. As for the PS3, they're buying it for the games, not for the movies. In 2007 we'll have 600 HD DVD titles.

Blu-ray on HD DVD

The only support HD DVD has is coming from Universal, Warner Bros, and the porn industry [amen to porn—Ed]. We have the content. Their players are cheap for a reason. In the end it's a numbers game and we have the numbers. As for LG's BH100, that ain't gonna solve anything.

CE Pro HD DVD
CE Pro Blu-ray [via AVS Forum]

Unboxing of the LG BH100 Hybrid Player [Gadgetaholic]

LG Super Multi Blue HD Player [AVS via Electronista]

PRICETAG: $1,199

SPECTACLE: 1080p LCDs/Plasmas playing Blu-ray movies of oil and water being poured onto high-definition semi-nude girls and vegetables. Lots and lots of vegetables.

ACHILLES HEEL: Blu-ray discs take 25 seconds to start up. Fastest startup? PS3 was pretty fast. Doesn't support all the IHD features in discs. Blu-ray is ok. The computer-based drive handles both.

WHAT THEY DIDN'T SAY: Which one looks better.

BEST SPEC: Optical Pick-up technology (two laser diodes) that can read both HD DVD and Blu-ray and both Red (DVD) and optional RED (CD). Blue diode has two components. One to read BD one for HD.

RANDOM STAT: LG's the #1 producer of flat-panels. They make 20-71 inches, and the huge 100-inch LCD they have on display in their booth.

OVERHEARD: "Ouch, only HDMI 1.2?"

REMINDS US OF: Their PC-based Super Multi Blue drive that's also $1,199, plays back BD and HD, but can write BD discs (BD ROM/R/RE read/write, BD Dual layer read/write, BD R X4 speed read/write)

SNAP JUDGMENT: We love the price, but how many Korean babies was sacrificed to license both Blu-ray and HD DVD in a player that's only $1,199? Apparently IHD and HDMI 1.3 (only has 1.2) were left out.

MADE US LOL: [After the Superman Returns demo] We feel Superman, with his red and blue, was a perfect spokesman for our red and blue laser system.

YOU'LL WANT ONE BECAUSE: You don't want to buy both HD and BD players.

YOU WON'T WANT ONE BECAUSE: You're waiting for the price to drop below $1000 and LG (or other manufacturers) to add in missing specs, such as IHD special features, HDMI 1.3.

GRADE: A-

– Jason Chen and Adam Frucci