LG staying format neutral for the time being

LG staying format neutral for the time being
Contrary to other decisions by major companies, the manufacturer LG has announced it will not be dropping HD DVD and will instead remain format neutral.

"LG believes that at this present moment in time, it is necessary to provide a player which supports both formats and therefore create simplicity and convenience for the existing HD DVD consumer," read a press statement.



LG is one of only two companies to offer a dual-format player, the somewhat popular LG BH100.

Daniel Aziz, marketing manager for LG Electronics added, "With the recent announcement from Toshiba, Blu-ray will now be the format that will pave the way for High Definition movies, however this does not rule out HD DVD immediately as there are still a number of consumers who have chosen HD DVD and begun to build a HD DVD collection."

"The previous confusion in the high definition market [HD DVD vs. Blu-ray] is now clearer and LG welcomes this as it will provide confidence for the end user, to the retailers and overall the home entertainment market."

"Overall LG is still excited about the future of this market, LG has always set out to lead high definition players and will continue to do so with more technology evolutions and hybrids which will launch in due course."


For those that have HD DVD films but want to move onto Blu-ray, LG is the company for you.



Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Feb 2008 18:41
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  • 13 comments
  • Pop_Smith

    Thank you LG for not abandoning HD DVD! Sure, the format war is over but until ~June movies are still coming out on HD DVD and for those of us with HD DVDs not being able to play them would be a nightmare.

    I don't own either format, I refuse to own Blu-Ray due to its DRM filled life and, while I don't really like HD DVD either, its going to be impossible to get movies on that format in the near future.

    I sat this war (or should I say skirmish) out and I will continue to do so for quite sometime.

    22.2.2008 18:50 #1

  • neo1000

    Now if only they could make a cheaper HD-DVD player then we might have an excellent upscaling dvd player that could also play HD-DVD movies for those that bought them and they wouldn´t have to throw them away.

    22.2.2008 19:29 #2

  • vinny13

    Switching seems to be the new trend... I think they should follow along...

    22.2.2008 19:29 #3

  • domie

    Quote:"LG believes that at this present moment in time, it is necessary to provide a player which supports both formats and therefore create simplicity and convenience for the existing HD DVD consumer," in other words - "we see a closed niche market which has no chance of growing but at the same time has a loyal established customer base that no other elctronics giant wants to touch it with a ten foot pole so we will corner the market and make a killing"

    absolutely nothing wrong with that and i'm pleased for HD-DVD buyers that they can have that support - especially when the big HD-DVD daddy has completely pulled the plug and left them high and dry overnight (Toshiba)

    I just wish LG didn't have to be so patronising in making themselves out to be the noble and virtuous saviours of the HD-DVD fan - it's all for money - we accept that - why not just tell the truth for once ! they sure aren't doing it to lose money just to help out the HD-DVD crowd.

    22.2.2008 19:35 #4

  • locobrown

    At least LG is providing a solution to all HD-DVD owners and allowing such owners make a less painful transition instead of having to purchase two separate players. In my personal opinion, HD-DVD has better codecs and in terms of picture quality I believe HD-DVD was superior.

    Look at it this way. A console manufacturer in the near future could adopt the HD-DVD format and press games using these discs. It wouldn’t require any firmware updates nor provide consumer support, no one would be able to pirate them because blank media and recorders would not exist, except for the recorders that exist now but these recorders are compromised anyway. Toshiba can still profit from this format in a smaller scale since the manufacturing costs of these discs are relatively small in comparison to blu-ray. The format is useless for the movie industry, movie studios created such outcome but HD-DVD can be used in other ways.

    Maybe but just maybe, by a long short near impossible of Sega might resurrect itself by using this dead format; It’s possible even though it is stupid to believe it would actually happen.

    22.2.2008 22:16 #5

  • limelight

    hd-dvd is still a viable format. I dont see why it cant be adopted for other things like data backup or even gaming, since its obviously cheaper to manufacture than blu-ray. I mean, if a game is only 20gb developers can save some cash by producing them on dddvd as opposed to bluray (for now).

    Im not going to use a 4gb dvd to back up 500mb of data, thats why cd is a good choice. same thing for the hdddvd and bluray.

    22.2.2008 23:10 #6

  • locobrown

    That's what I'm tying to get across. It can be used in game consoles, no one would be able to pirate their games since blank discs and recorders would not be avaiable.

    22.2.2008 23:18 #7

  • vinny13

    Originally posted by locobrown: That's what I'm tying to get across. It can be used in game consoles, no one would be able to pirate their games since blank discs and recorders would not be avaiable.LAME!

    23.2.2008 00:14 #8

  • locobrown

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Originally posted by vinny13:
    LAME!
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    That would be your point of view if are in favor of pirating games. No one likes their games pirated, If I were a new up and coming console manufacturer I wouldn't either, I would look into the possiblity of using the HD-DVD format.

    23.2.2008 11:09 #9

  • DVDBack23

    Originally posted by locobrown: At least LG is providing a solution to all HD-DVD owners and allowing such owners make a less painful transition instead of having to purchase two separate players. In my personal opinion, HD-DVD has better codecs and in terms of picture quality I believe HD-DVD was superior.

    Look at it this way. A console manufacturer in the near future could adopt the HD-DVD format and press games using these discs. It wouldn’t require any firmware updates nor provide consumer support, no one would be able to pirate them because blank media and recorders would not exist, except for the recorders that exist now but these recorders are compromised anyway. Toshiba can still profit from this format in a smaller scale since the manufacturing costs of these discs are relatively small in comparison to blu-ray. The format is useless for the movie industry, movie studios created such outcome but HD-DVD can be used in other ways.

    Maybe but just maybe, by a long short near impossible of Sega might resurrect itself by using this dead format; It’s possible even though it is stupid to believe it would actually happen.
    Well said :)

    23.2.2008 16:16 #10

  • Hunt720

    Quote:there are still a number of consumers who have chosen HD DVD and begun to build a HD DVD collection.My dad started a nice Betamax collection a while back too.

    That didn't stop VHS.


    Good point LG [/sarcasm]

    26.2.2008 12:25 #11

  • borhan9

    Quote:"LG believes that at this present moment in time, it is necessary to provide a player which supports both formats and therefore create simplicity and convenience for the existing HD DVD consumer," read a press statement.See thats what i like reading a clear logical statment. What amazes me is that it is comming from LG a brand that i do not think very highly of. Just goes to show me that maybe there is more to the brand than i thought.

    10.4.2008 09:50 #12

  • L-Burna

    I think even though HD-DVD is said to be dead not literally I agree that it could be brought up for other uses.If you look at the next gen game consoles the Nintendo Wii is using Dvd.There is no high definition for the Wii,and it could be possible in the near future that Nintendo could use this format.I don't agree with the point that it can't be pirated though,because Blu-Ray movies and so forth are being pirated I bet.When it comes to games though its different,because they have a different layout.It wouldn't matter what format is available there will always be a way to copy it.I like LG since they are sticking with both formats,because I wouldn't say the format is dead either.




    ...........................:SiG cReAtEd By Phantom69:............................

    10.4.2008 16:09 #13

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