LG unveils second-gen Blu-Ray/HD DVD player

LG on Wednesday kicked off the advent of the CEDIA entertainment show with the BH200, the second generation of its Super Blu Player that plays both Blu-Ray and HD DVD movies from the same device. The overhaul gives the player a much-needed upgrade to feature support for either disc standard: HD DVD now picks up the missing HDi interactive features, while the Blu-Ray half of the player adds the support for just-introduced interactive features that use Java, such as live storyboards. The Ethernet connection onboard the BH200 is also usable by HD DVD right away for Internet features and will be used by Blu-Ray once BD-Live titles reach shops, LG says.

Playback performance also receives an upgrade with HDMI 1.3 and deep color support on certain movies and HDTV sets, 1080p playback at a film-level 24 frames per second as well as 30 and 60 for most other sources, and CEC support that gives the Super Blu minor control over other devices that fit the standard. Legacy support for DVDs is also part of the design and upscales their video to 1080p.

With the second iteration of the player also comes a price cut, LG says; the BH200 will sell for $999 when it drops in mid-October, $200 less than the first version's original asking price early this year.