Samsung Plans Hybrid Blu-ray/HD DVD Player

Samsung has announced plans to roll out a high-definition disc player that handles both HD DVD and Blu-ray discs...just in time for the holidays.

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics has announced its BD-UP5000 Duo HD Player, a high-definition unit which will support both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats, as well as their interactive technologies (BD-Java and HDi, respectively). Although Samsung hasn’t released any details regarding pricing, the company is promising the unit will be available to consumers "in time for the holidays."

"Consumers are hungry for more HD content but are currently confused about competing formats," said Dongsoo Jun, executive VP of Samsung’s Digital AV Division, in a statement. "Samsung’s Duo HD player will allow consumers access to every HD movie title available regardless of the authoring format. [..] This is a big win for the consumer."

In mid-2006, Samsung said it was pondering making a movie player which could handle both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats, it said it was planning to wait until the end of 2006 before making a decision. The end of 2006 has come and gone, but Blu-ray backer Samsung has apparently decided that offering support for HD DVD titles is a worthwhile business proposition, perhaps taking some air out of Sony’s claim the high-definition format war is already over. And Samsung isn’t the only company to cater to both the HD DVD and Blu-ray crowds: competitor LG already has a hybrid player on the market.