Samsung announces combo player - Page 3

Chris S · 04-20-2007, 06:15 PM

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Originally Posted by ppltd

That is assuming the average buyers gives a crap about either HD format. After watching this battle go on for the last year, my guess is that which format to buy is not even on the remote scope of any of these buyers. At this time, they just could care less, and I am not sure they ever will. Maybe when SD DVD players disappear from the market, and only HD and/or BD players are available.

I think the average person who has spent the money on an HD set would be at least somewhat interested in HD disc media. And once they are then it becomes an issue of confusion. I have a lot of friends and family who own HDTVs and almost all of them have asked me about HD media. Sad thing is none of them are buying anything because of all these dual format issues. Which to me signals that we're not likely to see this get past the level of LaserDiscs if there is not a clear winner, and right now I don't believe there will be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ppltd

Currently, the biggest interest from the general public, as shows with the massive sales, is low quality portable video devices, not High Def devices. They want their movies on their IPod. As a person that travel in excess of 4000 miles a week, I have seen the steady growth of these devices, as less and less travelers pull out their IPods or equivalent to watch movies on, not their portable DVD players or laptops.

It's hard for me to agree because my own experience says otherwise. I don't travel extensively and that may play a factor in my perception of portable media. I also have faulty eyesight (another factor) and truly can't imagine watching 25 minutes worth on content on a cell phone size screen.

Rob_Walton · 04-20-2007, 07:23 PM

the apparent failure of umd would suggest that portable video is not a particular interest of the general public. while g3 phones have been a disaster for many mobile companies, in terms of the licenses they've been forced to pay governments for the bandwidth rights, vs the return on outlay they've received from joe public.

Sanjay Gupta · 04-21-2007, 06:23 PM

Personally I have no problem at all with the idea of 'HD' remaining a niche market like Laser Disc. I think that would insure that 'HD' does not get dumbed down to satisfy the masses. The most dreadful thought I have with HD going mainstream is that the studios might start releasing 'Fool Screen' releases of all 2.35:1 and/or wider than 16:9 movies.

Kevin C Brown · 04-22-2007, 01:55 AM

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as to the importance of dual format players, they become increasingly irrelevant as time goes on and more and more single format players are bought.

Really? Is that why it's almost impossible to buy a standalone SACD player, or a standalone DVD-A player, but there are quite a few manufacturers out there with universal players?

Or, look at this way: how many of us use our DVD players to play CDs? CD existed for over 20 years before DVD came on the scene. Yet players that play both CD and DVD vastly outnumber CD-only players now. Yet there were literally millions of CD-only players out there first.

A lot of people want one machine to play everything. I only want to have to deal with one set of audio and video connections between any of my gear. That is impossible without a combo player. Rack space is another valid concern as well.

Frankly, I don't understand the opinion of combo players being a bad thing. More discs of both formats will sell.

Rob_Walton · 04-22-2007, 11:30 AM

and how many millions of dedicated sacd or dvd-a players were sold before uni players became commonplace? the situation is not particular analoguous.

as to the cd and dvd convergance, that's an older tech being incorperated into a new one as a feature of occasional usefulness. cd licenses are now out of date, so there's no ongoing cost to the consumer to this inclusion, beyond some increadibly cheap optical focusing. not sure how many people play cds on their dvd players though, most i know listen to music on the go, or in clubs.

ppltd · 05-01-2007, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob_Walton

the apparent failure of umd would suggest that portable video is not a particular interest of the general public.

The failure of UMD has little to do with portable video and more to do with the platform.

LarryH · 05-01-2007, 11:49 PM

I wholeheartedly support dual-format players! I have a pile of disks in each format and am tired of switching connections because I have only 1 HDMI input and because my receiver is across the room and I want to run only one long audio cable. In the best of all worlds all players will be format-neutral and if Universal and the Sony Camp want to be parochial, then who cares? Maybe it will eventually force Sony to make multi-format players

. That would be a real selling point: "This player plays ALL HD disks while that one won't play some movies you might like." Best of all, that would obviate the need for Warner's combo disk, which I fear may have a multitude of drawbacks.

ppltd · 05-02-2007, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LarryH

Best of all, that would obviate the need for Warner's combo disk, which I fear may have a multitude of drawbacks.

I was frimly in favour of the Warner THD disks until I started having problems with Universal Combos (COM, etc.) While the problem may not be the Combo, I am beginning to believe that Combo DVD/HD or BD/HD just adds additional complecation to the manufacturing process that lends itself to addition problems. I am with you, for me the fix is a Combo player. I am running out of HDMI ports.

Tim Glover · 05-03-2007, 12:55 AM

I agree that the input saving and the rack issue is something a combo player provides.

ppltd · 07-05-2007, 11:40 PM

If the price comment is correct, this could be an exceptional buy.

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Washington, D.C. (July 5, 2007) -- Samsung yesterday announced that it will launch a dual format High-Definition player in late fall.

The company hopes that the set-top, which will play both Blu-ray discs and HD DVDs, will appeal to consumers confused about which format to choose in the high-def war.

Samsung's player (model: BDP-UP5000) will be the second on the market, following LG's dual format player which was introduced earlier this year.

But unlike LG's player, which carries a whopping $1199 price tag, Samsung said its player would cost less than $600, according to several online reports. Full report

And it looks like it will support all HD and BD features.

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Unlike LG's already released BH100 dual-format player. Samsung says its BDP-UP5000 will support all features of both formats (including BD-Java and HDi, as well as web-enabled supplements on both formats, via an Ethernet connection). More Details