LG Promises New, True Hybrid High-Def Disc Player
By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews
September 5, 2007, 6:37 PM
We've been down this road before: Covering CES last January, BetaNews was the first to report that LG Electronics' long-promised hybrid Blu-ray/HD DVD disc player wouldn't actually be able to play the full content of HD DVDs, due to its lack of support for its iHD interactivity layer - the part that gives you menus and on-screen features.
LG originally promised a hybrid player as far back as March 2006. Now, at the CEDIA custom electronics show in Denver, the company is showing off a new prototype that it claims will play both iHD and BD-J interactive content, and will sell for $999.
The promised release timeframe for this round is October, and today's LG announcement made extra efforts to appear forthcoming and sincere. Still, the CEDIA show is targeted primarily at homebuilders, which include those who might buy home entertainment equipment to install in the new homes of premium clients.
So it is not a "launch" quite yet - which might not be bad news, especially for a company that redefined the concept of "launch" in 2006 to mean something that doesn't necessarily require forward motion.
LG's previous BH100 had already won major CES awards in January before those handing out the awards got a chance to read the spec sheet or try actually playing an HD DVD in one.