If price is the battleground where the war between Blu-ray and HD DVD will be fought, then Philips and Lite-On Digital Solutions fired a new salvo on Tuesday, with the announcement of a $199 drive.
Unfortunately, the internal PLDS DH-4O1S drive is not the official answer to the $99 Toshiba HD DVD player that went on sale at Wal-mart last week. The DH-401S is an internal drive for the PC that simply plays back Blu-ray, DVD, and CD discs, although the manufacturers noted that a PC equipped with the drive could be connected via an HDMI cable to a TV.
The Blu-ray format desperately needs some price competition, however. A Blu-ray DVD burner from Philips costs
just under $480, and a similar search of
Blu-ray players at the same retailer fails to turn up a price lower than $400. (The Toshiba HDA2 HD DVD player
costs $269, at least from Newegg.) If consumers simply view the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray battle as one based on price, HD DVD appears poised to overcome the lead Blu-ray holds and start buying market share.
Spec-wise, the drive reads either single- or dual-layer BD-R/RE/ROM discs at up to 4X speeds, while single- or double-layer DVD±R or DVD-ROM discs can be read at 12X and single or double-layer DVD±RW discs can be read at 8X speeds.
DVD, Single-layer or Double-layer media at 4X maximum. Single Layer DVD ±R or DVD-ROM can be read at 12X max, while Double Layer DVD±R and Single Layer DVD±RW can be read at 8X max. CD-R/RW/ROM has a maximum read speed of 32X.
"With the increasing availability of Blu-ray Disc movies and other video content, consumers now have an affordable way to view the brilliant picture quality Blu-ray technology offers right on their personal computers," says Christine Hsing, a marketing manager at PLDS, said in a statement. "Beyond that, the BD-ROM can serve as a playback device to their HD TVs by connecting an HDMI cable from the PC to the TV. This would save consumers hundreds of dollars on the purchase of a standalone Blu-ray player solely for that purpose."
The drive ships with the Cyberlink PowerDVD software bundle.
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November 13, 2007 10:05 PM
Yeah right! Commoners would handily know how to connect their PCs to their TV...Blah! If I want to watch HD content from my PC i'll just download it (via legal means) rather than by an internal drive.
November 14, 2007 11:52 AM
I agree with burito, most users don't even know how to setup their tv with a dvd player... sony needs to get off their high horse and start listening to consumers, maybe give in and move to next generation, which is ultra-violet HD-DVD, movies play better when they are not compressed. I don't see consumers giving up their dvd collection just for blue-ray. HD-dvd is heading in the right direction-supporting both formats dvd and hd-dvd on the same disk. Remember "there are more poor folk than a handful of rich one's."
November 14, 2007 9:27 PM
Taco Bell, Is that true, that HD-DVD disks are recorded with both HD and SD programs. I thought that they are HD only.
Both BluRay and HD-DVD players will play back their own HD formats and a selection of CD and DVD formats.
Instead of installing this player in a PC, it could be installed in a cheap external enclusure and plugged into a PC or home theater using a USB cable. Most likely, third parties will be selling the unit pre-installed in a case with their name on it!
November 15, 2007 8:25 AM
But on the other had people like me that are tech crazy already have a home made dvr system hooked to there tv and would love to have this
November 15, 2007 12:17 PM
I just want to comment on the question posed by PFC, it is indeed true that most HD-DVD's have both HD on one side and standard def on the other. Simply look at almost any HD-DVD box and you will see this is a standard (and welcomed) feature. As far as I know, Blu-ray doesn't have this feature, but I can't speak from personal experience (unlike HD-DVD, of which I own a few titles and rent on Netflix often).
November 16, 2007 10:56 AM
The double-sided HD-DVD is just a gimic. They just want you to commit to that format without having to buy a player now. The playback of standard definition DVD by either of the two competing formats has nothing to do with the formats themselves...they just add a regular dvd pick-up head alongside the high-def head to allow playback of standard dvds and cds...essentially two drives in one. I'm still waiting for the blu-ray burner prices to go down further, but i most certainly won't be buying the HD-DVD format media...it's too small for my backup needs. It's good enough for consumer electronics, but it's outdated when applied to PC technology today.
November 16, 2007 1:46 PM
As For MJ comments about storage, yes he can backup his 50GB porn collection- onto one Blue ray disk (compressed of course). James D, There are three versions of HD DVDs: single- or dual-layer HD DVD-only discs; twin-format discs (with a standard dual-layer 8.5GB DVD on one side and a 30GB dual-layer HD DVD on the other); and hybrid discs (a single-sided disc with a standard 4.7GB layer that plays on any DVD player as well as a 15GB HD layer). The advantage of the hybrid and dual-format discs is that you get backward compatibility of a sort: watch the movie in high-def on your HD DVD player in the living room, but use the DVD version in your bedroom or portable player. Video qualities of both Blue-ray and HD DVD discs generally have identical video quality. I was a blue-ray enthusiast, but I lost faith in the big company.
November 18, 2007 2:31 AM
Hey! What about Fox Ent. that sells Blu-Ray formated
DVD diskettee with "CC"? We are waiting to have "CC" on blu-ray format - not count on Subtitle which is big difference. Ignore it? HD-DVD needs that feature, too. Hold your horses until
Audio=Pix=CC=AV(for blind watchers) when DVD is relasing at that time. Sam
November 19, 2007 1:52 AM
The Walmart (and Bestbuy according to the Consumer Electronics Association) deal was a scam. My local Walmart told me they only had 10 for this 'secret in-store sale'. Somehow, I doubt anyone but managers and well heeled tech-employees actually got them for $99. I'd like to hear from anyone who actually got one for that price (that doesn't work for Walmart).
But you have to admit, for the employees it was probably a nice perk.
January 3, 2008 1:21 AM
blu-ray wont play from your pc to your tv via hdmi or rgb copyright wont allow it.
January 27, 2008 11:56 PM
I have a PC from HP with the LG dual-format drive pre-installed. Mine is the Pavilion m9060n, which is still available at Amazon (1 left), PCMall and TigerDirect.
You can add the HD-DVD/Blu-ray player to many HP systems at their Home & Home Office site. It's $250.
April 22, 2008 11:43 PM
$199 for a player is not cheap, can we reduce it to under $100 ? I'll wait till that day
April 28, 2008 3:23 PM
I think they will only get cheaper as time goes on now that blu-ray is the winner of the format war.