Samsung's HD DVD / Blu-Ray combo player, just in case

First it was on, then off, and now wouldn't you know it, Samsung's dual-format HD DVD/Blu-ray player might see the light of your home theater after all. Too true, at least according to Digital World Tokyo who caught up with Kim Du-Hyon, the assistant (to the assistant?) manager in Samsung's home-platform product planning division, who said that Sammy is already working on a dual-format, "universal" drive which could launch by the end of the year if HD DVD is as successful as Blu-ray Disc. Hmm, big-ass assumptions aside, it's not really a surprise to find a consumer electronics powerhouse with R&D capital to burn hedging their next-gen, optical disc format bets, especially since Samsung is already in bed with Toshiba (the big mama of HD DVD) on a storage technology joint-venture. And you know Samsung execs are just itchin' for another "world's first" placard. Still, the timing of such a statement couldn't be worse with Samsung's fledgling BD-P1000 Blu-ray Disc player just days away from US launch signaling the first shot across the bow of the already entrenched HD DVD camp. Now someone please get Sim Hong Woo on the horn to teach those Samsung execs middle-managers how to talk some smack and declare war properly on the competition. Sheez.

[Via HD Beat]

[tcc3 @ Jun 21st 2006 10:22AM]

How will the get around the Bluray licence agreement? No ones supposed to be able to do that, which is why every one got so quiet about dual platyers months ago.

[Jwin @ Jun 21st 2006 10:44AM]

i bet this will fall back slightly cuz neather camp is gonna share

[hmurchison @ Jun 21st 2006 10:58AM]

Samsung should have done this a while ago. Sony totally gave them the "no vaseline" treatment with Single Layer MPEG2 discs that have artifacts (HOFD,Hitch, TFE). Universal Players make sense

[Special_K @ Jun 21st 2006 11:24AM]

Meanwhile, I'll be over here, looking for an HTPC case with 3 drive bays (BR, HDDVD, HDD).

[gio @ Jun 21st 2006 11:27AM]

I would certainly wait and get a Universal player. When it goes down to $299 at Best Buy. Hmmmm in 2008?

[Enzo @ Jun 21st 2006 11:28AM]

I'm usually an early adopter, but at this point I don't want to spend $500 on an HD-DVD player and another $1000 on a blu-ray player. I would gladly pay $1000 for a universal player though, and I'm sure so will a lot of people that have been hesitant.

[jgoforth @ Jun 21st 2006 11:54AM]

To tell you the truth, this is exactly what I am worried about with the whole next gen media battle. In the old VCR/Betamax days the media was in completly incompatible physical forms, and since people didn't want to buy two devices, one format eventually one out. Now, physically all of our media is coming in the same basic physical package, which means there is this possiblity for supporting several standards in each piece of hardware.

At first you might think this is a good thing, but the problem is that since neither format wins the battle universal players become the standard, much like the DVD+R/DVD-R battle ended up with everyone supporting both standards. In any case, putting support for two standards in the box is always going to be more expensive than putting one in the box. So in the end, what I see happening here is that neither group of standard pushers win and the customers, us, lose.

[Anthony @ Jun 21st 2006 1:35PM]

If people were smart, nobody would buy either a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player until they release universal players. That way, there would be no format war, other than both formats slashing prices so that we buy their particular disc to play on our universal machine. The reason this ridiculously, standard-less merchandising exists is because people are dumb enough to be early adopters of tech which is divided into two competing and mutually exclusive standards.

[Sgt. Bilbo @ Jun 21st 2006 2:01PM]

I work for a retailer that shall remain nameless...but we're running the Samsung Blu-Ray player on demo right now and last night the damn thing locked up 4 times, then once I got it running, the HDMI output was all sorts of screwed up. Took 20 minutes of unplugging and restarting to get it running again. Honestly, after seeing both players running, there was no visual difference between the HDDVD and Blu-Ray discs. Plus, the Toshiba does a better job of upconverting. How many drugs would you have to take to see both players and decide"...ahhhhh..ah...I gotta have the $1000 Blu-Ray!" ?

[Ferny @ Jun 21st 2006 3:39PM]

:0 engadget said ass

[Twist @ Jun 21st 2006 5:00PM]

Universal-DVD drives are the answer. Content providers get to use whichever media they fill best suits their needs and us consumers don't have to worry about incompatible formats. If U-DVD drives were the standard next-gen DVD product then BR and HD could co-exist in the marketplace.

[ethana2 @ Jun 21st 2006 6:35PM]

Now's time for another one of my pseudo-socialist remarks regarding our pathetic capitalistic system.
Sovreign centralised democracy. People decide, people vote, stuff done accordingly. What we should have done numerous times already, is take a secure popular vote. Public says blu-ray, HD-dvd dies, or vice versa, end of story. HD-dvd sells patents to blu-ray camp for blu-ray 2.0... or whatever. It's not a full system makeover, but for what you're talking, its what needs to be done. Blu-ray looks better to me. Through which organisation are we going to exert our popular muscle? Or maybe... we'll never have that kind of power. In which case, we can watch history repeat itself once more... then again in seven more years... then again.... Eman out.

[joba @ Jun 21st 2006 8:49PM]

A universal next gen format would never see the light of day. Primarily, Sony will in no way, shape, or form grant rights to allow its IP outside of the company from the onstart. Too much has been invested currently. Sony's strategy is to get Blu-Ray to market and see if it floats. After reading engadget today, getting players to market on-time is becoming difficult for Sony. I believe what Bilbo has to say in an earlier post is true. Too many issues are plaguing this product. Which I know with out a doubt these problems will affect early adopters also.

[Beefthing @ Jun 21st 2006 9:34PM]

I don't get it...I thought that HD DVD was never meant to be put together with BD. Would Sony and Microsoft both agree to this idea?

[Chuck @ Jun 21st 2006 10:24PM]

Unfortunately, I do not have an answer, though I would like to point out a few flaws in the universal-only and the hd-dvd or blu-ray only crowds.

If we as consumers were to agree on one format, we are giving in to one organisation who can set their price for us to pay. I know we don't have to buy, but through competition comes innovation and lower prices.

If we went for universal only players, we are paying for technology (extra lasers) we don't need.

It may seem stupid, but perhaps the either/or/and capitalistic method works and gives people the choice to go cheap and enjoy fewer movie titles to choose from or go all out.

[Julie Chadwick @ Jun 25th 2006 5:08PM]

Really...universal/combo drives are the way to go. I can't see spending money on one of these two formats when half of the movies will be in the other format. No thanks. Give me a combo!

[Leroy Vargas @ Sep 14th 2006 11:04AM]

Sweet! a Samsung HD-DVD/Blu-ray combo player!

Now I just hope they also do HD-DVD/Blu-ray drives for computers. And preferably in SATA format, 'cause IDE/PATA is long dead...

[BB KIng @ Apr 2nd 2007 2:15AM]

As long as the univeral players can upconvert standard dvd better than an oppo i'm sold.