Gizmodo: combo player

Second-Gen LG Blu-ray/HD DVD Combo Player Shipping Now For $999

Jason Chen — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 14:16:58 EST

We just met with a high-ranking source inside LG, who tells us that their second-generation Blu-ray/HD DVD combo player is shipping now for the MSRP of $999. Think that's too much when you can get separate Blu-ray and HD DVD players for the grand total of less than that? Well, just wait until after Christmas, when it officially drops to $799. (This is the MSRP too, the street price could be even less.) Not too shabby for the privilege of saving one cabinet slot on your home entertainment setup.

NEC, Trying to Call a Cease-Fire in Absurd HD Disc Format War, Creates Bi Chips

Charlie White — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 13:49:31 EDT

NEC announced plans to ship a pair of chips that will make it easy to read Blu-ray discs and HD DVDs on the same player. The processors will reportedly cost the same as single format chips do today, and NEC vows to ship 300,000 of these bi-lingual parts by next April. To whom it will ship these chips, the company didn't say.

As the competing BD companies hold their breath until they turn blue in this idiotic format war, perhaps astute consumers will stay away in droves. Meanwhile, the stubborn contestants will hear the sound of crickets and see a tumbleweed blowing by, whining, "Okay, okay NEC. Maybe we should have a look at those chips, mkay?" By then, it'll be too little, too late. Pathetic. – Charlie White

NEC moves toward a Blu-Ray-HD-DVD combo [Akihabara News, via CrunchGear]

Ricoh Announces Blu-Ray/HD DVD Combo Player

Charlie White — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 10:09:49 EDT

First we hear that Ricoh has developed an optical device for playing back both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs, and now at Interopto 2006 in Tokyo, the company has officially announced a player using the device. Details are sketchy at this point, but Ricoh says the player supporting its 3.5mm diffraction plate will be available at the end of 2007, with a multiformat burner following soon thereafter.

This late 2007 ship date is rather disappointing, when we heard earlier that Ricoh's multiformat optical device would be available to OEMs at the end of this year. Does it really take an entire year to develop a player from this technology? Must be more complicated than we thought. Plus, this is just an announcement—you can announce anything you want, shipping product is a whole 'nother matter. Late 2007? That's about a dozen dog years away. – Charlie White

Ricoh first HD-DDV/BR player recorder at the Interopto 2006 [Akihabara News]

Ricoh Develops Optical Device for Blu-ray/HD DVD Combo Players

Charlie White — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 10:09:18 EDT

As companies such as Toshiba, Samsung and LG allude to dual-format Blu-ray and HD DVD players, Ricoh jumps in with a tiny optical device that makes a goes-both-ways player easier to execute. The company said it has created a 3.5mm diffraction plate that can rock pretty much any format, including Blu-ray, HD DVD, DVD and CD without the need for multiple pickups and lenses. Ricoh will offer the technology to all takers by the end of this year.

A spokesman for the company also said this diffraction device, which will sit between the laser and objective lens, will make it possible to not only build switch-hitting players that can deal with all the optical formats, but recorders as well. Ricoh said it will offer the device for players first, and burners will come along later as soon as blue lasers with higher power are rolled out. By then, hard disks will be so cheap the entire issue of burning data onto slow, removable media—regardless of its format—will be irrelevant. – Charlie White

Optical device could help read most disk formats [EE Times, via digg]

Toshiba Wants Combo HD Player

Charlie White — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 09:27:14 EDT

Toshiba president Atsutoshi Nishida weighed in today with his opinion on a dual-format HD DVD/Blu-ray player, joining the chorus of other manufacturers who have edged ever closer to a unified format for high definition DVDs. Nishida said to an annual shareholders meeting:

"We have not given up on a unified format. We would like to seek ways for unifying the standards if opportunities arise."

These electronics manufacturers are probably growing weary of this costly format war, which looks more like the VHS/Betamax debacle every day. Samsung just last week vacillated on its plans to put together a combo player, where a middle manager first said the company would make a combo player and a couple of days later Samsung's PR-meisters beat a hasty retreat. Other manufacturers such as LG have also expressed interest in a truce as well.

We're thinking it's inevitable that a combo player will arise and become the new standard. The question is, how many consumers will be suckered into buying into one format or another before this unification takes place? – Charlie White

Toshiba wants unified DVD format [Reuters]

Samsung Backpedals on Combo HD DVD/Blu-ray Player

Charlie White — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 09:21:43 EDT

Despite Samsung middle manager Kim Du-Hyon speaking out on Tuesday about how the company is considering a universal player, now Samsung appears to be backpedaling away from embracing the idea of a high-definition disk player that will handle both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats. In a terse, two-sentence statement to the press, Samsung beat a hasty, yet subtle retreat:

"Samsung Electronics is fully committed to the Blu-ray format and currently only has plans to introduce a Blu-ray player to the market. Samsung is looking forward to a very successful launch of the BD-P1000 which will be available on retail shelves, June 25th for a $999 MAP price in the United States."

Notice the word "only" in there, suggesting that Samsung might be a bit jittery about placing its flag over on the HD DVD side, even if it was just evidenced by an offhand remark uttered by a middle manager.

Will there still be universal players? There's still LG which publicly announced it would manufacture a player that goes both ways, and those in the know are saying other companies are sniffing around the possibility, too. We're thinking it's inevitable. – Charlie White

Samsung's Interesting Statement about Blu-ray to the Media [I4U News]