LG showcases the BH100 Blu-ray / HD DVD player LG electronics has displayed their hybrid DVD player BH100. The device is capable of playing both Blu-Ray and HD DVD media. This device is the first one of its kind in the market to support both the next generation formats. Sony is the force behind Blu-Ray format which [...]

It's Day Two of our pre-CES merriment and tonight promises to be... well, it promises to be. There's a bunch of stuff going on that we figured you would want to know about. So what's on Giz's plate this fine night in the desert?
Tonight is Digital Experience, a kind of side show to CES where companies show off their latest goods. It's there to whet your appetites even further before the real show kicks off. Supposedly there's a pirate theme going on at this event, which is being held at Caesar's Palace. We'll be there to get all the latest gadget intel. And to drink like pirates. Parlay?
HP is also throwing a little fiesta at a local nightclub to thank the industry for forgetting about its penchant for spying. There's an HD-DVD press event that at least some of us will be going to (wearing Blu-ray hats, of course.) Verizon is showing some press love at the tower of the Palms hotel. Hopefully, the "Can you hear me now?" guy will be there so we can pants h...

CENTERPIECE: Super Multi Blue: Blu-ray/HD DVD combo player that's launching end of January. Available first week of February.
PRICETAG: $1,199
SPECTACLE: 1080p LCDs/Plasmas playing Blu-ray movies of oil and water being poured onto high-definition semi-nude girls and vegetables. Lots and lots of vegetables.
ACHILLES HEEL: Blu-ray discs take 25 seconds to start up. Fastest startup? PS3 was pretty fast. Doesn't support all the IHD features in discs. Blu-ray is ok. The computer-based drive handles both.
WHAT THEY DIDN'T SAY: Which one looks better.
BEST SPEC: Optical Pick-up technology (two laser diodes) that can read both HD DVD and Blu-ray and both Red (DVD) and optional RED (CD). Blue diode has two components. One to read BD one for HD.
RANDOM STAT: LG's the #1 producer of flat-panels. They make 20-71 inches, and the huge 100-inch LCD they have on display in their booth.
OVERHEARD: "Ouch, only HDMI 1.2?"
REMINDS US ...

Filed under: CES, HDTV
LG has set the price for its BH100 combination Blu-ray and HD DVD player at $1,199. Available in the first quarter of this year, the company thinks it can resolve buyer confusion and push both high-def formats using Broadcom's chipset. 1080p and DTS-HD audio support are present and accounted for, but no word yet on other features, like 1080p24 or HDMI 1.3, but for more information check our live coverage of LG's press event and demonstration.

Update: Home Theater Blog found more official pics of the unit on Best Buy's website. Continue on for shots of the back and remote.Continue reading LG's BH100 hybrid Blu-ray & HD DVD player: $1,199
 
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Gaming
Alright, so you've had due time to squabble over Microsoft's reasoning for apparently readying an Xbox 360 v2 -- supposedly prepared with a 65-nanometer CPU, 120GB hard drive, and an 1080p-pumpin' HDMI port -- and now XboxScene has dug up photos of what appears to be a prototype board sporting the coveted new HDMI port as well as a new "HANA" scaler. The materials on the PCB certainly seem to match up with what we saw yesterday, and moreover, the direct comparison shot between the current model's (presumably analog only) "ANA" scaler and the forthcoming version's "HANA" model adds a bit more consistency to the whole story. Indeed, if the current machine's scaler can't even output digital 1080p signals, it certainly helps to explain the missing HDMI cable that one would've thought went hand-in-hand with all this HD DVD hoopla Microsoft has got itself into. So be sure and hit the read link for a few more high-res shots, and click on through for the YouTube proof -...

Flat-panel LCD, plasma TVs boost Best Buy and Circuit City, Blu-ray-HD DVD tiff crimps sales, and U.K. pop chart to incorporate downloads.

Though we've already seen a few drives that are capable of writing to BD-R media, Toshiba's SD-H903A is the first drive that can read and write to single and dual-layer HD DVD-R discs, albeit at an "I'd rather watch paint dry" speed of 1x. The drive, which will debut next week at CES, can also tackle all types of DVD and CD media. Pricing hasn't been disclosed, so chances are you may not be able to afford it anyways.
Press Release [Toshiba]

Blog: The battle for high-definition movies continues to get more and more confusing.Both Blu-Ray and HD DVD have their supporters,...

Just when we thought our living rooms would be the only places to benefit from that Blu-ray/HD DVD love that LG surprised us with yesterday, news comes of a new LG drive that will let us play both flavors of high definition discs on our PCs (along with traditional DVDs). As if that weren't enough, the new GGW-H10N will also be able to record 50GB of data on dual-layer BD-R/BD-RE media. The drive will be available in March, though we suggest sitting this one out considering its "under $1,200" price tag. – Louis Ramirez
LG Electronics Unveils New Super Multi Blue Dual-Format Drive [Home Toys]

Filed under: CES, HDTV
LG is already bringing 1080p content and a hybrid Blu-ray / HD DVD drive to CES, and it just wouldn't make sense not to have brand new displays too, so the company plans to unveil a slew of new plasmas next week. The literally biggest news, however, is that the company's 71-inch 1080p plasma HDTV that started shipping early last year, will drop its MSRP from $70,000 to a mere $14,999.95 (we can assume losing the 24 carat gold paint helped drop prices a little). Since not everyone can take out a wall to fit their new plasma TV, LG is prepping many smaller models for next week's show. Each and every one is capable of "full HD", ready to accept and 24, 30 or 60 frame rate 1080p source you throw at them. The 42- and 52-inch PC5D series represent the "vanilla" HDTVs, including Clear Filter Pro technology to reduce reflection, Extreme Contour Compensation to improve color transitions and LG Simple Link connectivity to control compatible HDMI-CEC devices. The PY3D l...