Samsung ups the ante with two new HD players

Philip Wong | Jun 08, 2007

It's going to be an interesting Christmas this year, HD-wise. We just received insider news that two more Samsung high-def players will be heading our way in Q4 2007. And forget about the latest BD-P1200 as we will be getting a stepped-up BD-P1400 instead! But what got us really excited was confirmation on the impending arrival of its dual-format BD-UP5000. This is a full-featured universal disc player that plays back both Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats and their interactive technologies. Pricing and specifications were unfortunately not available at press time.

On a separate note, the recent debut of the second-generation Toshiba HD-E1 HD-DVD player has prompted a deep price revision for Samsung's BD-P1000 Blu-ray player, from a cutthroat S$1,999 (US$1,434.83) down to a reasonable S$999 (US$717.05) tag. But even at this pricing, it still pales in comparison to the Sony PlayStation 3 which delivers videophile-grade 24Hz 1080p visuals and wireless multimedia streaming capability.

So what other next-gen players are in the pipeline? From the HD-DVD camp, we will probably be getting a souped-up 1080p model by end of the year. As for Blu-ray, expect another possible market revolt when Sony launches its highly affordable US$599 BDP-S300 some time in Q4. That leaves vendors such as Pioneer, Panasonic and LG sitting on the fence without firm indication of a possible Asian entry for 2007.

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