Samsung: dual-format player in development
Hi everybody. Sorry for the slowdown in posts as of late (no, I didn’t go camping again, there just wasn’t really much in the world of video that I deemed newsworthy). This story I found at Techworldnews.com, while not earth-shattering, is certainly worth mentioning, however.
Of course you all remember the format war going on between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. Sony leads the Blu-Ray pack and Toshiba is pushing HD-DVD. Well, another manufacturer, Samsung, is the first to tout the much sought-after hermaphrodite player. That’s right, Samsung has announced a player that will be compatible with both dueling formats.
“It helps future-proof, to some extent, the consumer’s purchase,” Martin said. “If a unified format is developed, it will probably be supported by the player, or if one is a de facto market winner, the consumer hasn’t lost out.”
On the one hand, it seems like a win/win. On the other hand, a player that supports both formats is going to be mucho expensive. On the mystical third hand (the “center hand” that the Indians call kobhatibaravabati), the consumers that would benefit from an HD format DVD have already spent a lot of money on HD TVs, and may be more apt to shell out cash for a sure bet like the Samsung GLBT player.
One other consideration in the format war is companies like Netflix/Blockbuster Online. These online rental services will likely only buy DVDs in one of the two hi def formats. If they want to have copies for regular consumers, HD-DVD consumers and Blu Ray consumers, they’ll need to buy TRIPPLE the number of DVDs. The next-gen DVDs will likely be more expensive as well (particularly Blu Ray). So Hi-Def consumers may want a player that will account for both formats, in case only one is instituted by Netflix et al.
Still, whoever wins the format wars, only a small percentage of consumers will actually purchase a player, especially since most are completely satisfied with DVDs. By the time next gen DVDs become viable to everybody, who knows where we’ll be looking to get our kicks from?