LG's BD100 Blu-ray player makes its debut in London
After raising eyebrows by having no Blu-ray plans to show at its dealer show in Orlando a few days ago, LG finally announced its new BD100 Blu-ray player at the Best of Stuff show in London yesterday. The BD199 player shown previously was cancelled abruptly, and for a moment LG seemed ready to replace it with a dual format HD DVD / Blu-ray player, but the company later backed off those plans. The BD100 will include HDMI, component, composite, coaxial, and S/PDIF outs, whether 5.1 audio output via analog is included is unclear. 1080p Blu-ray playback and DVD upconversion is definitely part of the package, plus DivX, WMA and MP3 compatibility. LG officials refused to commit to a price or launch date, only that it would be "competitively" priced. Whether that means competitive in Australia, relative to the Toshiba HD-E1 HD DVD player (£499) or the Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray player (£1000) -- both were also on display at the show -- is unknown.
[Via Cnet UK & Stuff Mag]
[Via Cnet UK & Stuff Mag]


















Yeah!
Take !that! dvd (of any kind) :D
People get Xbox 360 HD DVD NOW!!! here's why... the package cost $200 King Kong is free -$40, the media remote is free -$30 and shipping is free -$10 so you actually be paying $120 for the HD DVD!!! Plus, if you apply for the Amazon Visa you'll get $20 off!!! so you actually be paying $99!!!
No thanks, blu-ray might be better. Cos it is cheaper movie than HD DVD for UK.
But really $199!!
The player didn't make its debut, the ANNOUNCEMENT made its debut. Making a debut implies that the player is for sale. That's like saying the Sony BD player has made its debut. Or the Panny BD player has made its debut... It's all just vaporware until it's released, especially given the dismal release schedules of the BD players to date.
a) Blu-ray players cost twice as much as HD DVD players, many brand more so.
b) most movies look better on HD DVD, best Blu-ray "look as good as HD DVD". No Blu-ray movie looks better than an HD DVD one. If the best it can do is look "as good" why pay twice price?
c) Blu-ray has region codes, anti consumer practice to keep prices high in places like Europe and UK. HD DVD has no region encoding, you can buy discs from anywhere.
Meaning many "Blu-ray exclusives" are only exclusive in USA, buy the European HD DVD version on the internet instead. :)
d) you can burn your own HD DVD discs with a regular DVD burner in your PC/Mac, 4.5GB and 9GB DVD can be formatted as HD DVD and used for playback of TS files. Archive your HDTV shows to HD DVD format, today! Blu-ray isn't so "enthusiast" friendly.
So how is Blu-ray better and cheaper?
Your B and C points are wrong.
A: The Blu-Ray players are better thats why more expensive.
D: There are no PC/MAC burners while Blu-Ray have more than 10 different brands ...
A: how are they better? Lack of audio output options shows them to be aurally inferior, but yet more expensive.
You can't possibly mean the crappy chip that turns the MPEG-2\AVS\VC-1 decoder's 1080i output into 1080p can you?
B: I said "regular DVD burner", i.e. you DON'T HAVE TO BUY AN EXPENSIVE HD DVD or BLU-RAY BURNER. You can make 4.5GB and 9GB (i.e. single layer DVD and dual layer DVD) format discs. Which is enough for an hour-long episode of broadcast HDTV, so you can archive 'Lost' or whatever.
Dave:
A. Please offer some examples as to why The Blu-ray players are better thats why more expensive
There are numerous sources/reviews throughout the Internet that would show that HDDVD and Blu-ray players are marginally different as far as performance and at times HDDVD marginally ahead.
D. Vanillacide was referring to burning HDDVD video files (high def tv shows is what hes referring to) to standard dvd discs for playback on HDDVD players.
Youve referenced 10 different brands of blu-ray burners which ones? Im only aware of a few thats been released thus far.
Vanillacide:
Rebutting to Daves posts is usually pointless since a lot of what he posts is never backed up with any sort of examples, proofs or evidence.
Here:
Count carefully !
Samsung
Panasonic
Pioneer
Plextor
Primera
Philips
SONY
LG
BenQ
Daewoo
Links:
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=2615
Stop spreading misinformation HD DVD fanboys!!!
Dave,
I was looking for something more concrete than a list of brand names here or at the Blu-ray web forum you linked to such as links to actual available products. Like I said, Im aware of them, just not the amount youre claiming thats why I asked.
You seem like more of a fanboy then I. I only support what I believe is the right format for movies and that at the moment is HDDVD. The only thing that has been said by the Blu-ray side that remotely makes Blu-ray a better movie format over HDDVD is studios and manufacturer support (and I dont consider those huge points it seems that studios loyalties are already beginning to shift, to be followed by manufacturer support). If studios continue to shift their loyalties the rational person would see that HDDVD really is the right movie format (even though it might not be the right pc format. storage capacity) since Blu-ray doesnt make economical sense in this areana. The only thing that would make Blu-ray an appropriate movie format is a drastic price reduction equal to or even surpassing that of HDDVD. That has yet to happen nor does it seem like it is anywhere on the horizon (new players releasing at or above the initial debut release... for example http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/10/14/panasonic-dmp-bd10-blu-ray-player-reviewed/
http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/10/31/pioneers-bdp-hd1-blu-ray-player-also-delayed-until-december/#comments).
It seems like a lot of wishful thinking on the part of Blu-ray supporters that since its so well suited for pc use (for the few that can actually afford to use it as such right now), it should also be used as a movie media. Although that would be the ideal solution, this is anything but an ideal world. Price is usually more liberal in the pc industry the same cant be said for the movie media market. Price is king in this arena; this is why HDDVD is doing so well even though it started out with little manufacturer or studio support.
"I only support what I believe is the right format for movies and that at the moment is HDDVD."
No, it isn't. Half of the hd dvd format (the 15GB variants) is useless as it cant store modern movies, the 30GB version is full to its max. This was discussed many times...
If hd dvd was good, why you think that most of the movie studios does not support it? Why companys (except Toshiba and this crappy no-HDMI no-games xBox addon) support it? Because hd dvd is dead!
The lies that the first Blu-Ray player low PQ has been crashed and so stop saying that hd dvd have better PQ!
Just search http://forum.blu-ray.com/ or EVEN "the HD DVD lair - AVSForum" to confirm this!
The life of hd dvd is over, its dead is now irreversible! Its just a matter of time, short time, for hd dvd to slowly fade away...
I am just having fun with the last of the Toshiba glitch-machine fans!
http://www.disneybluray.com/
http://foxbd.com/
Dave:
No, it isn't. Half of the hd dvd format (the 15GB variants) is useless as it cant store modern movies, the 30GB version is full to its max. This was discussed many times...
Its already storing modern movies with extra features...
And for the rare lengthy features, you also do realize that movies can be released on multiple disc (like it sometimes is on DVD) movie on one disc and bonus stuff on another (on a DVD encoded with HDDVD files even) or even double sided. Discs cost a small fraction of what movies are sold for so cost to make that second disc (for the few movies that would need them) or second side is well less than the cost premium of going with Blu-ray. Now if every single movie was extra long and needed this, than I might agree that it wasnt economical. The trend is shorter films and since were not surpassing 1080p anytime soon, capacity isnt as big of an issue.
Youre still thinking of the formats in terms on what they can do for the computer industry. Im not denying that Blu-ray is far superior in that respect, but it falls flat in competition to HDDVD when it comes to movie media. The technical advantage it provides is grossly overshadowed by its cost.
If hddvd was good, why you think that most of the movie studios does not support it? Why companys (except Toshiba and this crappy no-HDMI no-games xBox addon) support it? Because hd dvd is dead!
Again, studio support wouldnt be wavering to a dead format would it? Youve read the news as well as I have. Im sure youve heard of the studios that will be releasing (or already have) on both formats. If HDDVD was dead, why would they need/want to? HDDVD hardware and movies outsell Blu-ray hardware and movies by a very large margin (go to amazon.com and browse through the sales ranking). At launch, HDDVD had only one studio supporting it, which is no longer the case. The Blu-ray exclusivity armor is already damage and will be completely destroy as hardware manufacturers shift loyalties.
As for hardware manufacturers my guess is that they were initial promised much larger profits than that by the HDDVD side (Blu-ray machines bring in a larger profit margin than HDDVD machines. Its probably obvious why). With the release of the PS3, theyll have to either drop their prices or risk having their units sit on the shelf, Im sure thatll make a lot of the manufacturers happy. Though I doubt they would need to make that decision anytime soon considering PS3 supply issues that probably wont be resolved till summer/fall of 2007. That and the fact that the X360 HDDVD add-on exists is why I dont consider the PS3 as a threat to the format war. If it didnt, than yes, I would agree with Blu-ray fanatics that PS3 is the swing vote. Since it is not the case, I dont. The two equalize each other.
The PS3 strategy is also assuming prices remain static on the HDDVD side for the upcoming year. They rarely are in the electronics arena. Like Ive said before, if Sony achieves its 4 million US launch than I might have given the PS3 Trojan horse a chance, but it doesnt look like that is the case and any advantage that would have been gained as it is will be neutralized by MSs add-on.
The lies that the first Blu-Ray player low PQ has been crashed and so stop saying that hd dvd have better PQ!
Just search http://forum.blu-ray.com/ or EVEN "the HD DVD lair - AVSForum" to confirm this!
The difference there is one forum is a BLU_RAY forum while the other is a general forum. The fact that the subscribers just happen to like HDDVD makes them a lair for HDDVD? Spoken like a true fanatic.
You as well as others reading this already know the circumstances surrounding picture quality; the whole VC1 vs MPEG2. Since you bring it, Ill comment on that to
To summarize... Initial Blu-ray titles were 25GB single layer using MPEG2 while initial HDDVD were 30GB double layer using VC1. The PQ discovered by a lot of early adopters was better on HDDVD than Blu-ray. Now that Blu-ray is releasing 50GB discs (encoded with MPEG2) the PQ is close to or matching that of HDDVD.
Where again is the advantage of Blu-ray? With almost 2x the storage space of HDDVD, and almost 2x the price, shouldnt you get almost 2x the PQ?
The life of hd dvd is over, its dead is now irreversible! Its just a matter of time, short time, for hd dvd to slowly fade away...
I am just having fun with the last of the Toshiba glitch-machine fans!
That sounds like a fanatic statement. I guess sales figures and shifting loyalties are meaningless right...
If a BD player.... has a "blue" laser to read BD discs, and has the ability to read DVD discs (via read laser, but has all the required technology to read DVD's format), why couldn't it also read a HD-DVD disc? Answer: There is no reason why it couldn't.