Samsung confirms Blu-ray, HD-DVD combo plans

KOREAN GIANT Samsung confirmed it is preparing a combined Blu-ray and HD-DVD player later this year.

See Samsung prepares Blu-ray, HD DVD combo drive.

Samsung was first to market with a Blu-ray player, the BD-P1000, which is available now in some places and will appear in the US next week.

Samsung told reporters in South Korea that it has begun working on a combo drive that will play both Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD formats.

"We don't have a plan to make an HD-DVD-only player but are considering a universal player," Samsung's home platform spokesman Kim Du-Hyon said. "We are preparing HD-DVD now, and if we launch a universal player, it will be the end of this year or early next year."

Kim reckons the Blu-ray format will trounce HD-DVD when it comes to consumer preference but his company looks set to hedge its bets by producing a combo player. µ

L'Inq
cio.com