Hybrid HD player from Samsung and Toshiba ??

EricRWem · 06-28-2006, 03:01 PM

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/06...g_and_toshiba/

http://tomshardware.co.uk/2006/06/21...mat_hd_player/

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Blu-ray or HD-DVD? Just like VHS and Beta there is the question of who will survive and who with wither away unto death? This question is even more uncertain, now that Samsung and Toshiba have joined forces to create a hybrid player.

The player will include both Blu-Ray and HD DVD capabilities. The device is planned for later this year or early 2007. Samsung and Tosh both manufacturer their next-gen optical players at the same plant, a joint venture between the two.

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Interestingly, it appears that Samsung is calling Sony's bluff - under the licensing agreement for Blu-ray, parters aren't allowed to dabble in HD-DVD. It seems that Samsung is testing whether Sony will really push that.

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Toshiba so far has been quiet about a possible hybrid or Blu-ray only player; however, if business needs dictate the production of such a drive, there is little doubt that the company will have easy access to the technology and will be able to bring a player/recorder to market within a few months.

The plot thickens...

I put ?? in the title for the sake of fairness, although the language in these articles sounds pretty definitive.

If this really gets confirmed beyond any shadow of a doubt, I'll trust the mods to edit the title of this thread accordingly.

I've been told by some and I quote:

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'Fraid not. Old news regarding the named players being grafted onto the recent Samsung redacted statement, is not journalism, but rather seems to be another shot at fueling speculation from our 'reliable' friends at the TGDaily factory.

Hope someone can sift through this and get us the truth one way or the other. Hence the ?? in the title.

Austan · 06-28-2006, 03:19 PM

Those articles were dated Jun 21 & June 22... Days later on June 23, Samsung back pedals:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-ente...yer-182876.php
Then on June 27, Toshiba throws a curve ball:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsar...BA.xml&src=rss

It's all a guessing game on what goes behind corporate closed doors. But I think these subjects have been discussed on multiple threads.

Scott Calvert · 06-28-2006, 03:27 PM

Meanwhile, I just noticed the Best Buy website has removed the "order now" option for the HD-A1. This coupled with reports that Best Buy is refusing to sell the A1 to customers in it's stores is troubling.

This sucks...Toshiba needs to do something and do it now. Even with lackluster quality so far Blu-Ray is going to smoke HD-DVD with Best Buy pulling this kind of crap.

Austan · 06-28-2006, 03:30 PM

Just when I finished posting... Here's the latest and greatest on Samsung stance dated June 28:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=3059

EricRWem · 06-28-2006, 03:34 PM

This whole thing's peculiar...

I'll say this much: I'm definitely on the side of format unification.

I also was/am on the side that was against a format war to begin with.

**HTF Ads**

Shawn Perron · 06-28-2006, 03:42 PM

Last summer was the last opportunity for a combined standard. Sony is too far along with the PS3 to change anything as major as the standards it uses. Any movie that will be played with the PS3 will have to strictly adhere to the current Blu-Ray specs. For the $500-$600 dollars they will be charging for the PS3, movie sales will have to play a large part in it's overall success if it's to stand any chance of convincing consumers it's worth a $200 premium over the XBOX 360.

The only way Sony would even begin to agree on a new standard would be if it is using the physical BD standard since the PS3 will be shipping in under 5 months. Unless the blue laser pickup in the current HD-DVD players can read Blu-Ray discs, then Toshiba would have to abandon all the current players sold. How can Toshiba even consider obsoleting all the players it has sold? I would be fairly angry if I paid for a product and barely 3 months later Toshiba is already talking about bailing on it.

Austan · 06-28-2006, 04:05 PM

There is no such thing as "Unification" when dealing with this Format War. Please use one of the following terms, "Surrender, Concede, Submit, Forfeit, Yield, Succumb, Acquiesce, Comply, Concur, Obey, Observe, or Conform".

Seriously, this is not DVD+R vs DVD-R where both formats can read the format that SD DVD movies are produced. Think of it as a physical media battle like VHS vs Beta. A Universal player would mean 2 different hardware components and studios only want to produce 1 physical media. So it wouldnt matter if you have a both Beta/VHS slots or both HD-DVD/Blu-Ray lasers. Bottom line is the studios will produce 1 HD media format.

Peter Overduin · 06-29-2006, 01:37 AM

How about..."assimilate?"

or the old adage..."Peace, through superior fire power." So far, BD is firing blanks.

In the end, the consumer will get shafted, much as it has on DVD-A and SACD, both abysmal failures from a market point of view.

Eugene Esterly · 07-09-2006, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Calvert

Meanwhile, I just noticed the Best Buy website has removed the "order now" option for the HD-A1. This coupled with reports that Best Buy is refusing to sell the A1 to customers in it's stores is troubling.

This sucks...Toshiba needs to do something and do it now. Even with lackluster quality so far Blu-Ray is going to smoke HD-DVD with Best Buy pulling this kind of crap.

Well, some people including me believes that Sony probably paid off Best Buy to not sell HD-DVD players. There was a good story online at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=691699 from someone who mentioned about how Best Buy employees are forcing Blu-Ray on people.

If Sony is forcing Best Buy to do this, it doesn't really surprise me espically since Sony is notorious for forcing stores to put the Playstation 2 stuff in the front of their stores & their competitors stuff in the back.

Ron-P · 07-09-2006, 01:42 PM

BB is still selling HD-DVD players, they've never stopped.

Travis Hedger · 07-10-2006, 10:04 PM

Check the Amazon.com rankings of the Toshiba HD-A1 and compare with the Samsung BDP-1000

http://www.amazon.com/gp/comparison/...N.5=B00078GLJY

Ugh, stupid long URL...anyway.

Toshiba HD-A1 #429 in Electronics
Samsung BDP-1000 #4,227 in Electronics