It seems like there are frequently listings in our news-folder about new DF drives being developed by various entities, then why are there so few proposed DF players on the market? Is it that cost-prohibitive, is it just CEM politics?

Please don't shoosh this tread to the DF folder where it will surely die due to the fact that there are only a whopping 2 DF players to speak of, and zero traffic.

It seems like there are frequently listings in our news-folder about new DF drives being developed by various entities, then why are there so few proposed DF players on the market? Is it that cost-prohibitive, is it just CEM politics?

Please don't shoosh this tread to the DF folder where it will surely die due to the fact that there are only a whopping 2 DF players to speak of, and zero traffic.

The cost difference with all things being equal is about $20 plus the additional license fee . . as far a BD players being made into DF player.

Much more expensive for HD DVD players to go DF.

This IMO is why we are seeing so many BD players. If the war does end in a stalemate than the DF player will become more important so jump in - sell a few players and start paying for the tooling and such.

My guess would be that it is tough enough to make a df player and with no end to the war, no confirmation that it will be df forever, companies are just a little hesitant to dive into production.

Maybe manufacturers are banking on an end to the format war (whichever format that may be)? Perhaps they don't want to throw money into a DF player if Blu/HD-DVD eventually wins?

Just surmising...

Well it's already hard enough for manufacturers to make a single format player and keep it working through all of the constant changes to the format (interactive profiles, DRM, increased capacities, etc...). This results in relatively frequent (and very necessary) firmware updates for pretty much every player out there in order to allow it to play all the discs it should. This difficulty is multiplied by two with a dual format player.

That, along with corporate allegiances among the biggest player manufacturers (like Sony to BD and Toshiba to HD-DVD), is why I think you don't see more DF players. The only companies that can even think about making a DF player are the smaller manufacturers, and they don't always have the resources or business need to try.

I guess since we have kinda, sorta had one for a year already (the LG), I was hoping that after the final-spec date this fall, Pioneer would enter the ring (and be a name I trust).

What are the chances of some Ventura-like label(s) showing up the majors, and forcing their hand?

many of us are really counting on some good news monday at ces. stay tuned.

many of us are really counting on some good news monday at ces. stay tuned.

+1

actually, with the warner bros. news, i no longer feel i MUST get a dual format player.

if there is no "blow me away" DF player announced at CES, i'll just demo and hopefully buy the upcoming Denon BR player (which should have absolutely everything i require, ie: analog settings), or another BR player from another manufacturer with similar specs.

the need for DF for me is not as strong as it was yesterday, although i'd still like to be format neutral.

i am now looking forward to the new BR players at CES, whereas before i was only interested in the DF offerings.

Frankly, I didn't see the point in a DF format player when it cost the same as 2 individual players combined. I could have seen putting a premium of up to, say, $100 on having access to the other format, but that was it.

i would have easily paid $800 for a quality player that decoded TrueHD and DTS-HD MA and outputted it via analog (and had sufficient speaker adjustments in the player).

the fact that the sammy would play both formats would have just been a bonus (much like the reon chip, would would have also been nice to have).

even less of a nice bonus now with yesterday's developments (warner and apple).

first blu-ray or DF player to do the things i just mentioned gets my $$. looks like it might be the upcoming denon 3800BDCI if i like it after i demo it.

There are about to be an awful lot of HD DVD owners looking to get blu-ray AND have HD DVD for their current collection. Not all of those can use two players.

1. Not enough HDMI or component connections on AVR or TV.

2. No HDMI 1.3 on AVR and want full sound. Need to use 5.1 or 7.1 analog inputs on AVR to get high rate PCM from players. Obviously this cannot be shared among two players.

Now one could replace the AVR, but the cost is easily over $1000 to get, say, 4 HDMI 1.3 ports. At least 3 are needed with a STB, BD & HD.

So, there's a need for some for a good, full-featured dual-player, which is allowed to cost more than separate players. As much as $500 more, perhaps. But at any rate, given the Panny @$400, $750 for the Samsung isn't out of the question. Of course, it has to have those added codecs....

Two weeks ago my HD DVD A2 died and I had to decide on the Samsung, or buy an A3 and hope HD DVD would survive and win, or get two players and a new amp. I went with the Samsung. Assuming that those codecs come out as advertised, it will be the right choice for me.

So, don't think there's no market for dual-format. There's a million HD DVD owners who are going to need some compromise soon, and some will be forced this-a-way as I was.

(And probably some folks hoping to cash in on really cheap HD DVDs for a bit.)