Samsung this week made official its plans to introduce two new, 3rd generation Blu-ray Disc players as well is its highly anticipated <I>Duo HD</I> combi player, which will play both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs.
Reports circulated around the web today that Samsung has canceled the release of its upcoming high-end Blu-ray Disc player, the BDP-2400, and that its BD-UP5000 Blu-ray/HD DVD combi player will be delayed until December. And this is not all bad. Let me explain.
<I>TWICE</I> has reported that Samsung is now shipping 1080p rear projection televisions that use that use an LED array instead of a UHP lamp as a light source. The first model on the streets is the HL-S5697W, a 56" RPTV with an MSRP if $4,199.
Samsung sent over information earlier today confirming its plans for its next-gen disc players throughout this year. The BDP-2400 Blu-ray Disc player has been officially "removed from the 2007 Holiday Line-up," but the BD-UP5000 Duo HD Blu-ray/HD DVD combi player remains on track for a mid to late December debut.
After months of legal wrangling and no-shows at trade shows, Toshiba and Canon ended the suspense late last week and announced that the introduction of the SED (Surface-conducting electron-Emitter Display) flat panel TV is postponed indefinitely.
I've never been all that impressed with the picture quality of LCD flat panels. I'm primarily a nighttime, controlled light environment movie watcher, and the poor blacks and lack of contrast just do me in with these things. On top of that, many LCDs have a "painted" digital look that never suspends disbelief, and the worst of the bunch have response time issues that make motion blur.
Reviewing Sharp's '62 and '92 series AQUOS sets has been an amazing experience- and I'm not even talking about image quality yet. As soon as web entries came up here and at our sister site for <I>Home Theater</I> magazine, declaring these reviews on the way, the emails started. The response to this news was a startling statement on the power of the flat panel. I've never received so much email about any pair of reviews, let alone two that weren't even written yet!