Digital Trends

LG BH100

May 15th, 2007 | by Dennis Barker

Conclusion

LG has come under fire for its introduction of the dual-format high-definition optical disc player. Apparently, some folks are not happy that the player does not include all of the interactive features of a full-blown HD DVD player. I just don't get it.

I, on the other hand, applaud LG for their forward thinking. As the company noted at their press conference at CES 2007, originally, the player was supposed to play back only Blu-ray Discs, but it was modified so that it would also play HD DVD discs. LG had the foresight to say, "Hey, wait a minute," and went back to the drawing boards to make their offering "a player for all formats." If the BH100 is successful, I'm sure that the second-generation model will feature full HD DVD interoperability. 

Let's face it. As of right now, there's no clear winner or loser in the high-definition disc format race. While it's true that Blu-ray has seven out of eight movie studios producing their discs, there are only four that are completely exclusive to BD. The other studios are producing discs in both formats. On the HD DVD side, Universal is exclusive to HD DVD and is not producing any BDs. On top of that, Microsoft is behind HD DVD (besides Toshiba). Nothing is clear cut here except the propaganda coming out of each camp. 

Is the player perfect? Obviously, I wish that it had more HD DVD functionality. Yes, it's true that you could buy a stand-alone Blu-ray Disc player and stand-alone HD DVD player for about the same price, but you would not get the ease-of-use factor of having one component instead of two. Buying this player allows you the opportunity of enjoying both formats, which offer superior HD picture quality. And just because the suggested retail price is $1,199 USD, that doesn't mean that's what you'll actually pay for it at retail. Like other consumer electronics products, I would expect that you could get it for well under $1,000 USD. And while there's a lot of hype from both the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD camps, there is still no clear winner in the "Format War" right now. Although BD player sales seem larger than HD DVD right now, it's only because of the PlayStation3; gamers are traditionally a demographic that wants games, not movies. In terms of stand-alone player sales, HD DVD is ahead. So, to hedge your bets, the BH100 makes perfect sense, allowing you to enjoy high-definition movies from all studios in all formats.

Pros:

• Plays back both HD DVDs and Blu-ray Discs
• 1080p screen resolution (in Blu-Ray and HD DVD playback)
• Easy to use
• Simplified remote

Cons:

• Does not have full HD DVD interactive menus and interoperability
• HDMI version 1.2a, not HDMI version 1.3
• Pricey
• No 1080p upconversion
• Poor backlight on remote