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LG Super Multi Blue Player BH100

The LG Super Multi Blue Player (BH100) is a 'format-agnostic' player which will service both HD DVD and Blu-ray, but the question is: will people want to play both?

Headshot of Ty Pendlebury
Headshot of Ty Pendlebury
Ty Pendlebury Editor
TV and home video editor Ty Pendlebury joined CNET Australia in 2006, and moved to New York City to be a part of CNET in 2011. He tests, reviews and writes about the latest TVs and audio equipment. When he's not playing Call of Duty he's eating whatever cuisine he can get his hands on. He has a cat named after one of the best TVs ever made.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Ty Pendlebury
2 min read

For the sake of keeping things 'nice', we're not going to mention the 'war'. Suffice to say that the clumsily named LG Super Multi Blue Player (BH100) will play pretty much any format that you wish it to.

Upside

Got boxy? The LG sure has. It's a large black and grey blob. But where it Shines -- pun intended -- is in the onboard controls. They appear to be touch capacitive in the same manner as LG's own Chocolate phone.

This is the first machine to support both HD DVD and Blu-ray, and we're licking our lips in anticipation as it supports several other features such as 24fps and 1080p. It will also support DVD, though CD support is as yet unconfirmed.

Downside

Jack of all trades, master of none? While we can't comment until we run it through the labs, there is a chance that by trying to be everything to everyone, the LG becomes nothing to anyone.

The box is very cheap and there are inevitably some compromises in building a box to a price, especially when it needs to install three different laser systems -- one for Blu-ray and HD DVD, one for DVD, and one for CD.

Outlook

We're intrigued by LG's Super Multi Blue Player (BH100), but we don't think that it will do much for the contest between the two formats at this point. The industry has tried 'format-agnostic' before in the tussle between DVD-Audio and SACD, but look how that turned out -- no-one cared. Except for audio enthusiasts, of course.

At this early stage, we think that Blu-ray is shaping up as the victor, and so in the next year or so, players like this may not need to exist. But, we're happy to be wrong about this one if the LG measures up.