Well, we've all heard the story from Sansung and LG.

But now that they've broken the "ice" in this "cold war", who'll be rolling out the next set of Hybrid HD/BD dual formats players - possibly as early as November!

Put your votes in now! In only a few short months we'll be able to see how things are shaping up.

I don't think that we'll see any of the above manufactuers release hybrid players...only Samsung and LG. And I will buy one of them.

Denon and Onkyo baby

Denon and Onkyo baby
When?

The seven jokers who voted for Panasonic must be smoking some good sh*t! They are every bit as pro Blu-ray as Sony is.

When?

I'm hoping Onkyo delivers one late this year and Denon by summer 2008

Q4 for Onkyo, Middle of Next year for Denon and Integra (Onkyo Gen 2) me thinks. Meridian, Panasonic and Philips are all very unlikely.

what about sharp, now that they are mass producing the combo tiny laser?

I don't understand this poll. :) No one KNOWS, we're all just guessing, which is pointless.

Does anyone KNOW who might be releasing dual format players in the future?

I know I heard one person say that Denon was *not* going to do a dual format player anytime soon. Something to the effect that they weren't happy with how much they spent developing their current crop of universal machines for how big the SACD and DVD-A markets never became.

I don't understand how the graph works...totals equal more than 100% and an option with 8 votes has a longer line than an option with 20 votes -- never mind, just my sucky computer at work not showing graphics correctly.

Meridian will probably release an extremely expensive extremely high end dual format player. I have no sources to back up my guess, but why not? A dual format player which can actually play all of HD DVDs special featires! It would probably even have 7.1 analog outputs

I picked all of them because it will be really difficult for stand alone player manufacturer to compete with the SP3 and the A2/A20/XA2 price and performance.

I hope they all do to... The more the merrier! :)

[QUOTE=rdjam]Well, we've all heard the story from Sansung and LG.

But now that they've broken the "ice" in this "cold war", who'll be rolling out the next set of Hybrid HD/BD dual formats players - possibly as early as November!

Just saw this over at dvd review:


Sharp ends the high def wars?

Sharp has made quite an amazing announcement, and one that has slipped almost completely under the radar.
Sharp has just announced the release of a new optical disc player that will allegedly be the smallest player ever produced. In and of itself, this is mildly interesting. But more interesting is that it is capable of playing CDs, DVDs, Blu-Ray and HD DVD. That's right a dual format player, that could potentially eliminate the need to worry about formats. Thre press is very vague on the availability of this on a consumer level. But the player, be it a consumer item, or component is expected to cost less that $100 and begin shipping next month. If this is indeed a cross platform player, the news will certainly appear here soon.

Meridian will probably release an extremely expensive extremely high end dual format player. I have no sources to back up my guess, but why not? A dual format player which can actually play all of HD DVDs special featires! It would probably even have 7.1 analog outputs

Unlikely I think. Merdian Supported DVD-A only to this day, they are quite strong willed when it comes to single format support. Then again, they did own patents on MLP/DVD-A.

[QUOTE=rdjam]Well, we've all heard the story from Sansung and LG.

But now that they've broken the "ice" in this "cold war", who'll be rolling out the next set of Hybrid HD/BD dual formats players - possibly as early as November!

Just saw this over at dvd review:


Sharp ends the high def wars?

Sharp has made quite an amazing announcement, and one that has slipped almost completely under the radar.
Sharp has just announced the release of a new optical disc player that will allegedly be the smallest player ever produced. In and of itself, this is mildly interesting. But more interesting is that it is capable of playing CDs, DVDs, Blu-Ray and HD DVD. That's right a dual format player, that could potentially eliminate the need to worry about formats. Thre press is very vague on the availability of this on a consumer level. But the player, be it a consumer item, or component is expected to cost less that $100 and begin shipping next month. If this is indeed a cross platform player, the news will certainly appear here soon.

Do you have a source to back that info up? Smells like BS to me. :D

I think that that "announcement" is just the drive and not the complete player. So it could be used in a standalone player or a PC. Several of these already exist and have been announced.

Where is the "None of the above" or "no universal players released" option?

Denon and Onkyo babyThis 2 gets my vote.

Looks like Onkyo is a sure bet now...

Looks like Onkyo is a sure bet now...

So when will it be available?

Meridian will probably release ... a dual format player. ... It would probably even have 7.1 analog outputs

It would probably even have 7.1 digital outputs (for connecting the DSP speakers) :p

The question I have is when will there be a dual format player for $500? I'll buy it.

Aside from those listed - Denon, Onkyo and Meridian (all of whom I am confident are working on dual format players albeit not to any immediate timeline) - I think Hitachi and Liteon are two likely to go dual sooner rather than later.

Hitachi quietly mentioned last CES that it was planning a dual player. And it makes sense given their close working relationship with LG.

Liteon have announced HD DVD and BluRay burners. How long before they consolidate that into a single Super Multi Blue drive and then into a CE device? Not long I think.

Where is the "None of the above" or "no universal players released" option?
Probably in your dreams... :p

I'll jump into HD-DVD/Blu-Ray when Denon finally comes out with the mother of all universal players.

But it better also have SACD/DVDA or I'll be pissed.

NAD have also said that they are working on a dual-format player.

Hmm I’d rather not say I haven’t the first clue for starts as I haven’t really been following the “format war” but if a manufacture can produce an affordable model under or around £450.00 UK then I’d might show interest at least if one format dies miserably I’d still have something to play.

OK. Purely a rumor, I guess, but my BB Sales Rep yesterday said Denon's will be coming out, and that's what he is waiting for - but it will cost $2,000. We all know how reliable rumors from a BB Sales Rep are. Although he seemed like a knowledgeable, non-pushy guy.