Earlier this week, LG announced a dual-format high-definition video player that would support both Blu-ray and HD DVD. The LG BH100 will not be cheap at $1200 USD but it will allow consumers to avoid the format war currently taking place. It will support 1080p for both formats as well as the MPEG-2, VC-1, H.264, MPEG1/2 audio, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital+, DTS, and DTS-HD audio formats. It will come with 2 trays, one for each format.
The LG dual-format player as well as a PC drive (combining a Blu-ray writer and an HD DVD reader) will ship this quarter.
Meanwhile, Warner has announced that it will offer dual format discs. The single disk will be playable in both HD DVD and Blu-ray players. Unfortunately, Warner’s Total Hi Def format is proprietary but it is considering how to share it with other studios.
It is clear from both announcements that companies are worried that the high definition video war will slow down adoption rates and hurt company bottom lines. Both are attempts to deliver solutions that will let consumers jump on the high definition bandwagon without fear of seeing expensive equipment end up being worthless very quickly.