Yea, the Engineer said no-go, while Amir was saying it was possible at the time.

Anyway, I asked Amir if they could do DL 34 gbs discs and he said that it made sense. I get the feeling that the problem with TL discs has been getting the laser to read the third layer. In theory, we might at least get 34GB DL if 51 is a no-go.

I don't get how they would work in current players though. It has already been stated that the TL disc needs to be read at 1.5X speed, which the current players can only do 1X.

Robert Heron of DL TV is saying the LG player won't have some of the interactive menu features of HD DVD, no networking functions for hd dvd, and doesn't even have the official hd dvd logo on the player because it doesn't meet certain requirements. He says its more of a blue rayer player with hd dvd slapped on it. I'm not sure that I want it now. I'll just get the 360 hd dvd drive and a ps3 later on.

WTF?!?!?!?!?!

Well, as Darin said over on AVS, Amir said "I believe". We don't know what the speed is for sure. Could still be 1x.

Remember the pics that showed it as only a Blu-Ray player? That is what it was designed as. HD-dvd solution was thrown in just recently and the top of the player must have been changed.

I share your feelings.

You can download the podcast at dl.tv to listen for yourself. it's episode 128 on the frontpage.

Never said I didn't believe it.

What's the point of charging $1200 for a crippled player?

But then again, I guess you could be asking that of (all?) BD players.

Mod Note: Didn't we have this discussion about this already? We get that the price of this dual format player is a bit high. But you're WELL AWARE of no cheap shots at BD (or HD DVD) in this forum. -namja

Hey man, I totally agree with you. He squashed all my excitement I had for the product.

Can anything go right in this format war? just one?

Fryinpan had already posted this earlier today:

LG's hybrid Blu-ray/HD DVD standalone drive coming soon:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/09/...ve-coming-soon/

Not to be outdone with just a combination set-top Blu-ray/HD DVD player, LG has also announced the GGW-H10N combo standalone drive for computers. The drive -- which presumably incorporates the same Broadcom integrated chipset as the BH100 -- can read both blue-laser formats, but only writes to Blu-ray or standard DVDs and CDs. According to the LG press event from Sunday, the PC drive will support all iHD functionality for HD DVD titles, whereas the set-top box will not due to hardware limitations. The SATA drive is set to be released before the end of January for $1200.

And yet they're the same price.

How fucking stupid.

All of this makes me want to go back to regular dvd.

I've sat this war out thus far digital, and I'm getting my share of hd movies on cable. Granted the quality isn't as good as a hd or blue ray with loseless audio and 1080p, but it will keep me sustatined till we get a winner in this format war.

Motley Fool had a humerous take on the LG player today ...

A High-Definition Yawner

Ugh...that wasn't a cheap shot at BD at all. I was being serious in that there are players (all??) that cannot deal with certain interactive features or sound options on BD discs. Isn't it all first gen players? Someone back me up on this...

You're referring to the lack of unified specs in all first gen players, most of them missing the ability to play DolbyTrueHD or DTS-HD MA, and many unable to handle BD-J and most especially BD-Live, I presume.

Thank you.

MODERATOR NOTE, AND THIS GOES FOR EVERYONE:

Using words like cripple or overpriced is NOT something we're willing to tolerate when you are generally talking about players of a particular format. If you have nothing nice to say, then say nothing.

Also, whether you like it or not, the dual format is a big step in HD. Like all new technology, this will be expensive and not complete in capabitilies. That does not necessarily make it cripped or overpriced. That's almost like calling a Porsche crippled and overpriced because it lacks trunk space and is very expensive.

namja
Moderator, DVD Talk Forums

dammit, you guys made me compare this player to a porsche.

I'm sorry, namja, I think the inability to play HDi, which every single player from every other manufacturer has been able to play without a hitch, is a problem in a $1,200 player. I think a more apt comparison would be if somebody gave you something with the body of a Porsche, but the guts of a Gremlin, and charged you the price of the Porsche. I mean, isn't the Pioneer BD player $1,200? And this isn't a slam on BD, it's a slam on LG for not being able to meet the basic spec of an HD DVD player, and then charging the price of a top of the line BD player for it. Call it what you want, but it's not a fully operational player, and I think it's fair to address that.

On that note this just in ...

The DVD-Forum, led by MS Kevin Dunn, is considering taking legal action against LG for using HD-dvd logo or attempting to sell a * "less than fully featured" HD-dvd player. They are not happy with the format being represented without HDi while Blu-Ray would be presented with BD-J. The first step would be to not pass this player for certification.

* Can I say "less than fully featured"?

Edited to add story links:

LG Hybrid Blu-ray/HD DVD Player Cannot Be Sold As Is


A little, dirty detail about LG's combo HD DVD/Blu-ray player

There you go. I think, at this point, it's fair to discuss this issue as a problem.

LG seem to be trying to launch this player before it's really ready for prime time. Goldstar don't have the best repution in most AV circles, so if they were looking to improve their standing this probably isn't the best way to go about it.

Didn't figure this player would be worth buying, but it is a step in the right direction. In a year or two the combo drives may be the norm and done right by other companies. Let's be honest though, for the same price you can already own a HD DVD player and a PS3, so all this player was doing was saving you shelf space. Until the combo players are more advanced I would rather stick with two separate HD players.

Lucky Goldstar has never been a brand I would want, but I think they have at least opened the door on the future of combo players. Like with DVD-R/+R, in time HD DVD/BD may not matter at all. You buy either one and it works fine in your player.

Yeah, the fact that there is one in existence is a decent sign...I'll still probably break down at some point this year and buy a PS3 but its a small step in the right direction.