Samsung plans dual high-def player
Will release Duo HD to market in the fourth quarter
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 4/13/2007
APRIL 13 | Blu-ray Disc backer Samsung Electronics will market a dual HD DVD and Blu-ray player this fourth quarter.
Dubbed the Samsung Duo HD player (BD-UP5000), the unit represents the most functional high-definition hybrid yet. The Duo HD plays both HD DVD and Blu-ray discs, as well as supports both HDi and BD-Java interactive technologies.
Streets dates and pricing have not yet been set.
The market’s first dual HD DVD and Blu-ray player, LG Electronics’ comparable Super Multi Blu HD player, is not guaranteed to be compatible with all HD DVD titles’ featured HDi elements. LG’s players became available in stores at the end of January.
Later this month, Samsung will launch a second-generation model of its current stand-alone Blu-ray player. The first-generation model from Samsung was the debut Blu-ray player in stores when it launched in spring 2006.
Samsung also is open to producing a stand-alone HD DVD player in the future “whenever consumers demand it,” said Dongsoo Jun, Samsung’s executive VP of the Digital AV Division. “Our main concern is not technology but consumer choice.”
Warner Home Video, which supports both formats, applauded Samsung’s decision to release the dual-format player.
“We welcome Samsung’s Duo HD players as another solution in the marketplace that will help reduce consumer confusion and buyer hesitancy toward [high-def] media,” said Ron Sanders, WHV president. “This is an innovative product that can move us closer to mainstream consumer adoption of [high-def] technologies.”
“Consumers are hungry for content but are currently confused about competing formats,” said Jun. “Samsung’s Duo HD player will allow consumers every [high-def] movie title available regardless of the authoring format. As a member of the DVD Forum and contributor to the DVD industry, we recognize that both HD DVD and BD formats have merits. As such, we have decided to market a dual-format player.”
