CES: Blu-ray, new categories in D&M launches

FROM TWICE: Player will be first "premium" BD hardware

By Joseph Palenchar of TWICE -- Video Business, 1/10/2008

JAN. 10 | FROM TWICE: LAS VEGAS— D&M brands came to International CES with multiple announcements, including ship dates and pricing for Blu-ray Disc players from Denon and Marantz, plans by Marantz to reenter the multichannel separates market, and the launch of what Marantz believes is the industry’s first A/V tuner/preamp with the ability to stream video from a networked PC.

The BD players “will be the first premium Blu-ray products on the market,” said Joseph Stinziano, Denon’s senior sales and marketing VP.

The first model available will be a Denon Blu-ray/DVD/CD player/transport at a $999 street price, down from an originally planned $1,200. It ships this month and must be connected via HDMI to Denon A/V receivers to decode video and surround formats. It will be followed in February by a Denon player at a $1,999 street price, which features HDMI output but also performs all A/V decoding internally.

Read the full story on TWICE.com.