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Samsung BD-UP5000 Dual-Format High-Definition DVD Player

Samsung was the first company to place a Blu-ray high-definition DVD player on the market, in mid-2006. In April 2007 it announced that it planned to market a dual-format HD DVD and Blu-ray player.

According to the announcement:

Samsung’s Duo HD player (BD-UP5000) will fully support both HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats and their interactive technologies, HDi and BD-Java. With the Duo HD consumers can enjoy additional studio content such as trailers, director’s comments, more elaborate interactive menus and behind the scene footage.

The release date was stated as "in time for the holidays". No price details were given.

Engadget noted:

LG beat 'em to the punch with the BH100, but Samsung is promising that the Duo HD BD-UP5000 will have full support for HD-DVD (including support for HDi), something LG hasn't been able to offer with its player.

The Hollywood Reporter wrote:

Dongsoo Jun, executive vp of the Digital AV Division at Samsung Electronics, said his company also "is flexible to market a stand-alone HD DVD player whenever consumers demand it."

"Our main concern is not technology but consumer choice," he said. "Consumers are hungry for more HD content but are currently confused about competing formats. Samsung's Duo HD player will allow consumers access to every HD movie title available regardless of the authoring format. Samsung is committed to making life simpler through technology and will market next-generation DVD products that will satisfy the consumer and market requirement."

The announcement was hailed by Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment and a key Hollywood supporter of the HD DVD format. The fact that Samsung, which for so long has been an exclusive Blu-ray supporter, is going the dual-format route "is an acknowledgment of the tremendous value that HD DVD brings to the early adopter of high-definition-packaged media," he said.

According to Digital Home:

In making the announcement, the company seemed to take a conciliatory stance in the battle between the two high definition optical formats and is now focusing on selling more hardware rather than supporting one format over the other.

In a written statement Dongsoo Jun, Executive Vice President of the Digital AV Division at Samsung Electronics said "As a member of the DVD Forum and contributor to the DVD Industry, we recognize that both HD-DVD and BD formats have merits. As such, we have decided to market a dual format player. Samsung is flexible to market a stand-alone HD-DVD player whenever consumers demand it. Our main concern is not technology but consumer choice”

Gearlog commented:

A price hasn't been announced, but since the LG SuperBlu BH100 costs between $1,000 and $1,200, shelling out $1,000 or so seems likely. Very little has been announced in the way of features.

We've tried to keep track of the sales of HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs, and so far Blu-ray seems to be consistently holding the lead. I'm pretty conservative by nature, however, so a hybrid format still appeals to me. Paying $1,000 for the privilege doesn't, though.

I suppose we all can dream that Hollywood would subsidize the cost of one of these babies so that we all could afford one. Sounds like the plot of a great movie. I'd cast Willem Dafoe as the kindly old studio exec. (Or is he?)

(And finally, can we come up with an accepted shorthand for these systems? "Hybrid DVD" players has a nice ring to it, and it's short; "combination next-generation high-definition DVD players" is slightly more accurate, although the combination of "next-generation" and "high-definition" is probably redundant. It's all very annoying.)

April 20^th, 2007