News and New Products

Universal player could break Blu-ray/HD DVD deadlock

By Richard Wilson -- Electronics Weekly, 1/5/2007

The first high-definition DVD player capable of playing both rival Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD formats will be launched in the U.S. in the next few months by LG Electronics.

LG will give first details of the dual-format player at next weeks' International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

According to the company, it expects the dual-format player "to end the confusion and inconvenience of competing high-definition disc formats for both content producers and consumers."

Blu-ray has been championed by Sony and Philips, while HD-DVD is championed by Toshiba. The major content providers, the Hollywood studios, have lined up behind one or other camp with some saying they will release content on both formats.

Electronics Weekly is the London-based sister publication of Electronic News, part of the EDN Network.