Sharp Electronics is showing off their new BD-HP50 Bonus View Blu-ray Player. Available in May for $699, the player will decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD. The player will also support Aquos link to control your Sharp TV with the same remote and Quick Start for fast loading movies.
Sharp will continue to sell the BD-HP20 until April when they decide whether to make another entry level player or enter the high end market. A BD-Live player is in the works, possibly by the end of the year.
Good to see another Blu player coming to the market. But I am afraid the price is very high and it will
not make as big an impact as I'd hope it would.
I think we may all expect player prices to go up a little due to the WB announcement. Let's just hope Blu-Ray will gain mass addoption sooner rather than later so prices will come down.
Look, I'm all for more Blu players on the market but we need Joe-six-pack prices damn it. If Blu wants to cement this victory and flood homes with players then let's see some decent entry level players. 1080p and profile 1.1 for $300 or less is all the entry level HD adopter needs. Most HD newcomers won't have a HDMI reciever so True HD or HD-MA isn't needed for the entry level stuff. If we can get tier 1 name players (Sony, Pioneer, Panasonic) at everyday prices I'm sure homes will have 2 or more players each instead of fighting to get 1 into a home. Please don't let my first stand alone be a Sylvania, PLEASE !!!!
I have a Sharp Aquos, and although it would be cool to use 1 remote for TV and blu-ray player, it's not $699 worth of cool. I like my PS3 and blu-ray remote just fine!
***JUST TO LET YOU ALL KNOW........***It has been reported in the financial times in the UK that Paramount is about to start releasing again on Blu Ray, It stated that there was a clause in the contract that said they could withdraw from HD support if Warner did, don't know if its true and Don't know how to start a forum topic so thought i would put it in here....sorry for inconvinience but thought you would all be interested. It has also been mentioned on www.empironline.com.
Paramount in HD DVD blow
By Matthew Garrahan and Mariko Sanchanta in Las Vegas
Published: January 8 2008 02:49 | Last updated: January 8 2008 02:49
Paramount is poised to drop its support of HD DVD after Warner Brothers’ recent backing of Sony’s Blu-ray technology, in a move that will sound the death knell of HD DVD and bring the home entertainment format war to a definitive end.
Paramount and DreamWorks Animation, which makes the Shrek films, came out in support of HD DVD last summer, joining General Electric’s Universal Studios as the main backers of the Toshiba format.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Blu-ray sales show lead over rival - Jan-08Editorial Comment: Betamax’s revenge - Jan-07Lex: Sony and Blu-ray - Jan-07Blu-ray deal hits Microsoft and Toshiba - Jan-07Warner plumps for Blu-ray in format wars - Jan-04Price war could break DVD deadlock - Dec-19However, Paramount, which is owned by Viacom, is understood to have a clause in its contract with the HD DVD camp that would allow it to switch sides in the event of Warner Bros backing Blu-ray, according to people familiar with the situation.
Paramount is set to have a bumper 2008 with several likely blockbusters, including the latest instalment in the Indiana Jones franchise.
Paramount joining the Blu-ray camp would leave HD DVD likely to suffer the same fate as Sony’s now obsolete Betamax video technology, which lost out to VHS in a similar format war in the 1980s.
Warners decision last week to throw its weight behind Blu-ray saw it join Walt Disney, 20th Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as backers of the Sony format.
The Warners move gives Blu-ray about 70 per cent of Hollywood’s output, although the format’s grip on film content will increase further when Paramount comes aboard.
It is unclear whether DreamWorks Animation has the same get-out clause in its contract with the HD DVD camp.
However, Paramount and DreamWorks have a close relationship, with Paramount distributing DreamWorks Animation films. The two companies also signed their HD DVD contracts at the same time. Meanwhile, Universal has declined to comment on its next-generation DVD plans since the Warners move.
Sir Howard Stringer, chief executive of Sony, on Monday held out an olive branch, saying the company would be “open to dialogue” with the HD DVD camp to “grow the market”. The move came as new figures showed that Blu-ray had opened up a decisive lead over the rival home entertainment format.
Sir Howard said: “We are not going to push people around. We’ll talk to anyone ... we have a lot of work to do to grow the market. We’ll be systematic and open to dialogue at all times.”
He added that Sony still had “a lot of work” to do to get Blu-ray “widely accepted” among American consumers.
“With Warner’s support you saw billboards going up in different places and you saw television commercials getting more and more sophisticated and that’s what we’ll continue doing,” said Sir Howard
Sharp Electronics is showing off their new 
