Blu-ray/HD DVD combo still on ice

The dream of many gadget fanatics these days -- a box that can play both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD movies -- may come some day, but it doesn't appear likely in the near future.

Earlier in the year, Korean electronics giant LG indicated it was considering such a product, but now says it doesn't have such a device on its current road map. Other major electronics makers had already decided to pursue single-format players for now, so LG's indicated direction gave hope to some analysts that the format war might be bridged this year.

"We have had discussions about having such a device, but there are no official plans at the moment," said John Taylor, a spokesman for LG in the US. "The product in question was never really fleshed out in a lot of detail publicly."

LG has already released Blu-ray products this year.

According to many, building a home player that could read discs from either high-definition format is technically feasible. The problem is cost, according to, among others, Stan Glasgow, chief operating officer of Sony Electronics. Both HD DVD and Blu-ray players are just going into mass production this year and thus remain expensive. Stand-alone HD DVD players sell for around £500, while Blu-ray players cost about £1,000. (The price of Blu-ray players, however, will drop by around 50 per cent by next year, Glasgow said).

Others have noted that the licensing agreements also make coming out with a combination device difficult. The companies that contributed intellectual property to the standard will also probably earn revenue from licensing royalties. Licensing royalties to CDs lead to millions in revenue for the companies behind the standard.

A ray of hope in the standards war, however, is a disc touted by Toshiba that could be played in either type of player.

Blu-ray and HD DVD are formats for storing high-definition video. The first films based around the formats came out this year. In surveys, consumers have said that they may hold off buying Blu-ray or HD DVD systems until the format war is resolved. The fight over the format is similar to the old Betamax-VHS conflict but has greater consequences.

If consumers bought Betamax, they got stuck with a player and some movies on a dying standard. PC makers already include Blu-ray and HD DVD drives in PCs, so picking the wrong standard could also mean that consumers need to upgrade their computers.

Sony, Philips, LG, Samsung, Dell and a host of movie studios back Blu-ray. HD DVD is backed by Toshiba, Microsoft, Intel and a few studios, with some studios and PC makers supporting both standards. HD proponents claim the format has better backward-compatibility with existing DVD technology and that the players cost less.

Steve Baker, an analyst with The NPD Group, said the lack of a combo player this year won't be a big deal. "These are early-adopter products. It is fine if there is a fight right now," he said.

Baker added that Pioneer has ditched the idea of coming out with a combo player.