CES 2007: LG launch dual bluray/HD-DVD player

Convergence seems to be the first thing that LG want to stress in this morning's press conference. A hint of Bluray/HD-DVD player perhaps? Yes, it seems LG have bitten the bullet and cracked the technology issues and will be putting a dual player on the market in February. They're the first in the world, although with various other manufacturers making announcements today, their unique position might be short lived. They're calling it the BH100, or their Super Multi Blue Player.

I know I'm not the only one who has shied away from even thinking about picking a side in the latest Battle of the Formats, but it hasn't been the same for the manufacturers. LG has historically been in the Bluray camp, but it seems they've decided that both formats are here to stay. Good news for us. The new player has a single tray, so there's no need to know anything about which format you're picking up from Blockbusters. Pricing seems relatively reasonable, at $1,199 from the first week of the February. It'll provide true HD, at 1080p, as well as playing all your now defunct DVD. (That's if you can bear to watch anything in standard definition).

Having seen the demo, the interface is smooth, the menu easy, and the picture pretty damn good. Even when you're sitting 12 rows back in a press conference. You can also navigate the menu whilst the film is in progress, so there's no missing the action. This includes things like scene selection, as it just appears as a bar at the bottom. One issue that's still to be overcome is access to all the interactive features that come with both formats. LG have all the history of manufacturing Bluray technology, so it's not a problem with the Bluray format. The same can't be said for HD-DVD, unfortunately. Subtitles, scene selection and other simple operations aren't a problem, but you won't get the full experience with this player. It also won't play CDs, although the number of people who actually use their DVD players for that I think is slim.

Funnily enough, there was a question about when the player would become 'reasonably priced'. Apparently Americans aren't happy paying $1,199 (about £600). Little do they know that in England, we're still paying £800 for just a Bluray player. Welcome to our country.

Check out the rest of our CES coverage.