LG Says No HD DVD/Blu-ray Deck For ’06

By Steve Smith -- TWICE, 7/26/2006 6:34:00 AM

New York — LG Electronics confirmed that it had no plans to introduce a dual-format HD DVD/Blu-ray Disc player this fall.

In advance of its Thursday night press conference to be held here, an LG spokesman commented the company has been a “strong supporter of Blu-ray” since the development of the format. When asked if such a dual-format player might be introduced in 2007, the spokesperson noted, “We have not finalized our 2007 product plans as yet.”


In March the company notified dealers that it dropped plans to ship a Blu-ray Disc player, its first LCoS rear-projection HDTVs and Portable Media Center products that were set for retail sales in the spring.

The Thursday evening press event will feature new large-screen LCD TVs, as well as introductions in its major appliance and cellular phone product lines.

I believe when you sign the agreement to make a Blu-Ray player, you agree to not make a dual Blu-Ray / HD-DVD player.

Good.

Not good for consumers.

I think HD-DVD / BRD will end up being like DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RAM, DVD+RAM, DVD+-r etc. A bunch of different formats but it won't matter to 90% of people.

yes it is.

Dual-players are moronic, at best. If there are dual-players, there's no need for two formats.

One should die and that's that.

Moronic? ok. Duel format players are not good for ending the format war, but they absolutely are good for consumers. Consumers go to Best Buy and buy one player that plays everything. That takes all the confusion away from the non-technology educated. So saying they are moronic is a bit silly.

1 format = less confusion for customers.

Completly agree, but since Sony and Toshiba can't seem to agree on that, combo players are the best solution to the problem.

..and then all the millions of dollars invested by the respective camps, touting their own signature technolgies, and that spent on licensing agreements and rights to movies, will have been for absolutely nothing. It's a battle for supremacy. Convenience isn't more important than competition.

I'm enjoying how the camps are standing their grounds. It's fun to watch what unfolds.

1 player means there's no point to even calling them different names. And at the moment, there's no point to BD.

If they make a unified player, BD pretty much can call it a day.

Recordable formats are just not comparable to prerecorded formats. Minidisc tanked as a prerecorded format, but did well as a recordable one. Many other formats (microcassettes, VHS-C, DV tapes, Memory Sticks, SD cards, Compact Flash cards, etc.) survive without anything available prerecorded.

Or:

1 player = less confusion for customers.

So? They ought to take a hit for this silly war. And any silly marketing they do. (I know, "silly marketing" is redundant)

But the news isn't surprising. I don't think we really expected a combo unit this year.