CES 2008: Samsung puts "emphasis" on Blu-ray moving forward

Continue to support HD DVD but not main focus

7 January 2008 18:43 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Samsung has further added to Toshiba's woes at CES in Las Vegas by confirming to Pocket-lint its plans for HD DVD.

Anthony Marbella, Chief Marketing Officer for Samsung has told us that Samsung "Will support all formats, but with the news from Warner Bros we will put an emphasis on Blu-ray. We will make what consumers want".

The news could mean the end of the line for the company's Duo player that allows users to watch both HD DVD and Blu-ray movies from the same unit.

When asked whether consumers wanted the Blu-ray over HD DVD, Marbella simply responded:

"Yes, especially with the shift in content to come."

Samsung has just announced its latest, and possible now last Duo player at this year's Show.

The new player, the BD-U5500 was announced on Sunday promises to play Blu-ray and HD DVD discs and offers HDMI 1.3 connection, latest BD-Java and HD DVD interactivity available, and an ethernet connection for firmware upgrades later down the line.

The BD-UP5500 also offers support for the latest audio decoding with 7.1-Ch PCM, DTS-HD High Resolution and Master audio, and Dolby TrueHD Bistream and unlike the first HD DVD and Blu-ray player from LG, the Samsung model is also a fully-functioning DVD and CD player.

We will keep you posted.