Daewoo shows off Blu-ray Profile 2 player at IFA

Straight from IFA 2007 in Berlin comes Daewoo's surprise entry into the Blu-ray camp with the company's first player, the DBP-1000. Interestingly, even though Daewoo is probably more well-known for their Trutech ODM devices -- or even their autos -- this player supposedly supports the full 2.0 Profile for Blu-ray Disc, including BD Live internet functionality, picture-in-picture, and local storage. Pricing and availability are nowhere to be found, but it won't be soon enough for Blu-ray fans to see players with that interactive functionality built-in like competing HD DVD players have. Another picture after the jump.

[Landlocked @ Aug 30th 2007 3:03PM]

How about the most important spec...how long it takes to load/play a disc?? :)

[Mak @ Aug 30th 2007 3:14PM]

It's can't be any slower than a Toshiba HD DVD player!!

I would say 20-30 secs at most. My PS3 is about 15secs from pushing the on button to the movie starting.

My old HD DVD player, before I sold it, was about 2.5 minutes (seriously!!), about a 90 seconds to boot, another minute from inserting the disc.

[sr1329 @ Aug 30th 2007 3:26PM]

So where the hell is Sony in any of this. They let Daewoo put out the first Blu-Ray player to support the full standard? They better release a firmware update on the PS3 supporting this.

[Mak @ Aug 30th 2007 5:18PM]

Of course they will, PS3 has all the required hardware, it's a relatively trivial update to support Profile 2.0

I do think the Engadget article is misleading, as Blu-Ray Profile 2.0 is vastly superior to anything HD DVD can offer.

[Dave @ Aug 30th 2007 4:54PM]

It's vastly superior? What are the advantages?

[Dave @ Aug 30th 2007 6:55PM]

Thought so.

[apeguero @ Aug 30th 2007 3:34PM]

"or even their autos" That was cold, he he he

[Blake @ Aug 30th 2007 4:08PM]

Nothin like a Deawoo product lol...

[timatl @ Aug 30th 2007 4:40PM]

what is sad is this is the best looking blu-ray player that i have seen

[KC @ Aug 30th 2007 8:05PM]

If it's cheap (as in as cheap as entry level Toshiba HD-DVD players), and it gets launched worldwide....

....Then this is as big a news story is almost as big as the Paramount/Dreamworks Animation announcement.

All that did was level the playing field, if this player is priced right it will put the advantage right back to Blu

Full spec + cheap = advantage Blu-Ray

[AG23 @ Aug 30th 2007 10:21PM]

Um, Blu-Ray still has the advantage. Even with losing Paramount/Dreamworks they still have more studio support and have almost every major hardware manufacturer on their side. Not to mention they have at least a 2:1 edge over HD-DVD.

People seem to think that Blu-Ray is dead because HD-DVD has a cheap 200 dollar player coming in a few months. Blu-Ray backers are not just going to sit their and if you have watched the format war pan out since the beginning, people should know that every time HD-DVD counters with a price drop, so does Blu-Ray.

This format war is far from over(unlike many believe here and at engadgethd) and I still personally think Blu-Ray will win.

[Dave @ Aug 31st 2007 1:10AM]

Full spec + cheap?

It's got neither of those "advantages" yet. When/if that happens, then you can begin boasting.

[julian @ Aug 30th 2007 10:28PM]

dave seriously. you do not under stand hd dvd(microsofts) hdi or ihd w.e its called and bd-j you know bd-java java the thing that most phones run in the world aproximently 1 billion! u know java also an operating system(solaris) like think about it any plat form in the world that has over a billion useres id trust to show me movie in a cool way or do some neat tricks and more . but u know what if u l ook at scripting for ihd and u look at its programs and such we have pritty much seen the extent of ihd u know some little games pip secondary audio some online things and you know what thats all u will see with ihd nothing major nbew will come like the games wont turn like into a game boy game. but with bd-j anything you can do with java u can if code is adopted rite do u on a blu-ray player so u know like most scripting on the web java script ya that can all be done on a blu-ray player on hd dvd player u better trying to buy a hd dvd version of pirates

[Dave @ Aug 31st 2007 1:21AM]

Not only do I know something about Java--I also understand grammar and punctuation. As far as Java is concerned, I have my SCJP and a BS in Computer Science--so I've dabbled. Java is a great language--but it's not the best solution for every problem. Also, it's not as though BD-J is the same thing as Java SE--which is not the same as J2ME. Every side-by-side code comparison of BD-J and HDi shows that HDi is a much simpler and more elegant solution. It was designed specifically for HDM authoring--and it was approved by the DVD Forum.

Also, any DVDs authored in the future, with 1.1 profiles, will not be compatible with stand-alone 1.0 players currently on the market. When 2.0 comes out, they will not be compatible with 1.1 or 1.0 players. It's a mess, actually. So don't tell me it's better.

As far as finding an HD-DVD version of Pirates, why don't you go get Heroes, Knocked Up, Transformers, The Matrix, Battlestar Galactica, Dawn of the Dead, Serenity, Bourne Identity, etc. on Blu-Ray? Good luck.

[Dave @ Aug 31st 2007 1:48AM]

It may not be clear in my rant above--but I didn't mean to make it sound as though those with 1.0 players won't be able to watch movies authored for 1.1 or 2.0. They just won't be able to take advantage of all the extras.

[gabriel @ Nov 28th 2007 1:44PM]

dave, do you have kids? It's a shame you'll have to introduce them to standard definition Cinderella dvd's, or Cars :/... Oh sorry I really meant to mention the whole Disney collection you'll be missing out on. This is just a scratch of the surface...

So the advantage of blu over hd? You mean aside from further development beyond 50gb dual layer discs? Yum. Now that'll be great, not that HD would know anything about that :). Oh wait how about the 200gb 8 layer blu discs... Imagine the possibilities.

Only a complete fanboy would see extra profiles as a negative on blu's side. If anything it's something to look forward to, it's not like 1.0 players won't be able to play the flicks, but those with the upgrades rather will be able to enjoy a few more extras. It's far more than HD is offering that's for sure, and it's only a matter of time before Blu's continued support is noticed by the regretful studios backing the hd-dvd camp.

[pimpdee976 @ Aug 31st 2007 11:46AM]

According to a published report, Venturer has revealed pricing for its recently-announced SHD7000 HD DVD Player.

As we first reported yesterday, budget electronics manufacturer Venturerplans to release a value-priced HD DVD player ahead of the holiday shopping.
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Today, DVD Town is reporting that according to a Venturer rep, the deck will be made available at a record-low suggested retail price $199.

As we've previously reported, the player's announced specs include 1080i video output via HDMI and Dolby TrueHD support.

No word yet on a release date, nor whether the deck will be carried by Wal-Mart, Venturer's largest North American retail partner. Stay tuned...

[HDDVDnet @ Oct 22nd 2007 9:10AM]

Considering that Profile 2.0 remains optional for Blu-ray its hardly worth any studio providing any features using this profile when 100% of all currently available players are not compatible with it. Why even bother offering something the majority can not play and will likely cause compatibility issues like we are now seeing with the BD+ titles.