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Korean electronics makers are effectively killing off the rivalry between the Blu-ray and HD-DVD disc formats, by creating disc players that support both formats.
LG debuted its dual format player at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. Now Samsung has followed suit with its own player, the BD-UP5000, which it plans to start selling in October. It is likely to sell at a $400-$500 premium over disc players that support just one format.
The advantage of these dual-format players is that consumers aren't restricted to one disc format when it comes to buying movies.
While it's yet to be seen whether consumers will pay extra to remove the compatibility issues around disc playback, the dual-format players are likely to drop in price fairly rapidly, just as multi-format DVD players did.
www.samsung.com
