LG to unveil world's first second-gen 'Super Blue' Blu-ray/HD DVD hybrid drives

LG unveiled its world’s first second generation ‘Super Blue’ Blu-ray/HD DVD hybrid drives during KES 2007.

Company plans to launch dual-format drive at the same time

At CES this week, LG Electronics announced what could become the first of many similar products -- a hybrid Blu-ray and HD-DVD all-in-one player. Called the BH100 and the GGW-H10N, LG establishes the units as part of a line that it refers to as the "Super Multi Blue" line of players. LG said in its original press release that there's great confusion and consumer frustration in the high definition market right now.

Many consumers are definitely applauding the direction that LG is heading in and are hoping that other manufacturers follow suit. Sony’s Blu-ray format has seen a fair share of problems that HD-DVD did not have, making the later a format that was sought after more quickly. According to LG:

LG Electronics offers flexibility to consumers in the next generation in optical disc drives. The GGW-H10N is compatible with both Blu-ray Discs and HD-DVD formats. The Super Multi Blue drive is compatible with Blu-ray Disc, DVD, CD read/write and HD-DVD-ROM (read), offering consumers with the most universal unit available.

Besides a set-top player, LG is also launching a Super Multi Blue drive capable of reading both HD formats. The two products marks first in the industry. The drive will be able to write to recordable Blu-ray discs in both single layer and dual-layer formats, stacking in roughly 25GB and 50GB respectively. The drives are fast too, being able to burn a single 25GB Blu-ray disc in about 25 minutes.

In a statement to the press, Dr. Hee Gook Lee, president and chief technology officer of LG Electronics said, "we’ve developed the Super Multi Blue Player to end the confusion caused by the current competition between Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD. Customers are no longer forced to choose between the two formats.

Anyone who was planning on buying LG's hybrid high-def player may wanna sit down for this one. As we reported from CES, the BH100 fully supports Blu-ray discs, but since it lacks support for HD DVD's iHD, you can't access an HD DVD's interactive menus, you can only see the movie straight through.

So as a result, the DVD Forum might sue LG for falsely using the HD DVD logo and for falsely saying that their hybrid player plays HD DVDs when in fact it doesn't play them the way they were intended to be played. Microsoft was also a bit miffed at LG for...

not giving them a heads up before announcing the BH100. So it looks like LG's baby won't see the light of day, which is a damn shame. Both sides have valid points—we just hope they manage to work something out because all this does is make me wanna stick with my old school DVDs even more.

It took a long time for dual-format DVD-R and DVD+R drives to arrive on the computer market, but thankfully things are speeding along in the Blu-ray and HD-DVD battle. Expect more electronic giants like NEC, Pioneer and Matsushita to announce and launch dual-format readers in the future.

I would not care about a hybrid HDDVD/BD disc if I have a universal player. It would be uncalled for, unless you were all gun-ho and bought one of the formats already during this war. Anyone who did that has got big kahunas! And for the people out there that say HDDVD and BD is a waste of time and we do not need another format don't have a t.v. that is 1080p capable. I just bought one 2 weeks ago and when you watch sports in hi-def, it is amazing. The current dvd's don't play that clear and that is why there is a new format war. I have an upconvert dvd and it still does not compare to watching a movie on HBO in high-def. That is what you will get when you watch a movie in the new format! I will be getting the universal player when it comes out. This will end the format war period. We don't care as consumers what format we get hd movies in, as long as it is hd and it looks good and the quality is there! Bring on the Universal Players!!
viaAving.

HITACHI to unveil a future concept of remote controller

HITACHI unveiled a future concept of remote controller during CEATEC 2007, which features intuitive user interface.

As CEATEC goes on, the weirder ideas find their way onto the web. Here's Hitachi's concept RC device with an intuitive user interface. Below the bump is a pic of the prototype that they're currently working on. I can't decide whether it looks more like an MP3 player or a sex toy.

For everyday uptime improvement and rapid recovery in the event of an outage. Hitachi maintains research and development departments in all branches of the company which are continually working on the improvement of products and technologies. Synergy effects are specifically used in product policy. As a result, many components for Hitachi products are produced within the company itself.via Aving.

KDDI Infobar 2

KDDI is back to show LG, Apple, and Samsung that a keypad totin' candybar can still bring the sex-ay. Meet the Infobar 2 for KDDI's CDMA-based au network, first peeped as a concept back in November as a possible follow-up to the wildly popular (in Japan anyway) first generation Infobar launched in 2003. Measuring 47 × 138 × 15.5-mm / 104-grams, it packs a 2.6-inch 240 x 400 pixel OLED display, stereo speakers, microSD expansion, EZ FeliCA support, 2-megapixel camera, and built-in 1Seg mobile TV tuner. It'll squeeze in about 290 minutes of talk time or 350 hours of standy when these hit Japan in November. Call us spoiled, but we still can't help but to think that it would look better without those dedicated keys.

Subscribers of Japanese carrier KDDI will be able to pick up the INFOBAR 2 candybar handset when it is released soon, and this Naoto Fukasawa-designed cellphone retains the same basic philosophy as its predecessor, bringing minimalism to the table in a smooth surfaced form factor. The keys are large enough for convenient and quick dialing, while other features include a 2.6" OLED display, the customary 2 megapixel camera with autofocus, and a microSD memory card slot for expansion options. The INFOBAR 2 is tipped to be released this November in red, green, beige and silver colors.
via Aving.

LG 71PY1M 71" Plasma TV Review

Almost every television manufacturer these days is in a rush to bring large flat screen display units to the market. Advancement in technology and fierce competition makes these giant TVs go on sale quickly. Take for instance this 71" LG Plasma TV which came into the market recently with a price tag of $15,399.95! You can now find it at some retailers with a price reduction of almost $3,000.00. When a new model is introduced people start looking at the previous models with a mind that they may not work anymore or be current with technology. If this was true then your Grandma's TV which is probably older than you would not work today but many still do. It is true there are rapid changes in technology these days but that doesn't mean the electronics become obsolete right away. As a matter of fact if you find these high end display units at a sale price and know how to connect them properly, you can enjoy a Full High Definition picture and your electronics can go a very long way.

The LG 71PY1M™ is Full HD 1080P 71" Plasma HD Monitor by LG Electronics®. The monitor may not be 100% up to the new technology but it has many advanced features which can help you in enjoying a big picture in the comfort of your own home. This elegantly designed TV is now less than 4" deep. It can be used in a lobby, living room, club house and of course in a dedicated Home Theater.

HDMI, the new Savior
HDMI™ is a new standard for digital connections and sending and receiving uncompressed audio and video transmissions over a single digital cable. Lots of money can be saved by replacing all those audio and video cables by one HDMI digital cable. Space behind the monitor can look clean. HDMI is supposed to make life easier and simple. On the contrary people don't fully understand its benefits. They get more confused when they hear words like HDMI version 1.2 or HDMI version 1.3. Don't worry the new version is coming soon. These are simply new editions which allow more functions while retaining the old ones. In terms of technology HDMI is backward compatible. So when people think or say, �It's not gonna work", just think again and ask an expert.

Performance
The picture out of box is good. Analog sources also produce very good pictures as the on board XD Engine®, the scaler does a good job in mapping the incoming sources to the monitor's native resolution. Pictures fed in through Blue-Ray™ DVD looks well but don't give a Cinema-like look. In the case of Cinemascope movies the unused black bands on the top and bottom of the picture are not completely black. They have a slightly shiny look. This degrades the picture quality and reduces the contrast in the displayed image.

Pros and Cons
The monitor has 2 HDMI inputs but these are under 1.2 versions which means though they will accept Full 1080P HD signal, they will not be able to process DeepColor™ information. The video signals can go in 60 Hertz or 24 frames per second. The best solution to enjoy Full 1080P picture from an HD DVD player will be to send the picture @60 Hertz. If you want to enjoy lossless sounds such as Dolby TrueHD™ then send the Digital Bitstream from HD DVD player to the HDMI receiver such as the Onkyo TX-SR605™ under 1.3 version and then simply send the picture to LG monitor through HDMI 1.2 version in 1080P @60 Hertz. For other Dolby Digital sounds such as from a satellite receiver you can feed the HDMI signals directly into the monitor and then send the audio signals to the back speakers through the external speaker outputs.

The brightness and contrast ratio as compared to other high end plasma televisions is lower on this monitor and the contrast ratio is only 2000:1. You still get a nice and bright picture in 10 bit processing through HDMI. So the overall picture is good and it allows the HD pictures to be displayed in their full bandwidth.

Some other important features it lacks are Cable Card, V-Chip for parental control and an HD Tuner.

Specs
LG 71PY1M™ is a 1080P High Definition flat panel Plasma Television. Resolution is 1920x1080 pixels. Brightness is 300cd/m² while the Contrast Ratio is only 2000:1. Native Aspect ratio is 16:9 and an on board scaler, XD Engine® scales the incoming signals to the monitor's native resolution.

The TV has screen functions such as Picture in Picture and Split Screen. The life of Plasma Screen brightness is 60,000 hours and after that it is decreased by 50%.

The monitor comes with a table stand and it can also be wall mounted with an optional wall mount. For installing it on the wall please hire a professional as the monitor weighs 191.1lbs. The design and looks of the monitor are elegant as it is only about 4" deep. The connection panel for the input terminals is at the bottom of the TV so that you can reach the desired plugs easily when it is wall mounted. The input terminals include 2 HDMI under version 1.2, 2 Component Video inputs, 2 Composite Videos, 1 S-Video, 1 15 Pin VGA, 1 DVI and speaker out for external speakers.

The viewing angle on the TV is 160° that means it can be watched without any stress from corner to corner.

Manufacturer's Warranty on Parts and Labor is 2 years. LG provides in-home service.

Evaluation
This is still one good large sized plasma television that you can hook up with HD DVD player, HD Satellite system and high end 7.1 digital surround sound system. It will be a good choice for a family entertainment center if you can find a good sale price on it. As far as the advanced technology is concerned it will still go a very long way.