Denon's goal is to make a true universal player (Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, DVD-Audio, SACD)
Denon remains format-neutral
LU: Why did Denon go with Blu-ray rather than HD DVD?
JT: We decided to go Blu-ray because we found a partner that we can work with at this point in time quicker than we could to do HD DVD. We're not picking one format over the other — we want to make that very clear. We happen to have a partner that we've worked with for years, and they wanted to work with us first, and so it just was like a nice marriage. The door is wide open for HD DVD, and as many have said, the market's going to tell us where we need to go. In our particular instance, our goal is to have a true universal audio/video player. All audio formats, including SACD and DVD-Audio, as well as HD DVD and Blu-ray video.
LU: So you would consider doing a combo player with Blu-ray and HD DVD?
JT: That's probably our number one consideration at this point in time. They're just starting to come out from some of the major players — obviously, Samsung has introduced theirs. They'll be out this fall, while the LG player, you know, it's not a true HD DVD player — it's not a licensed HD DVD product. LG has to make their own logo, it doesn't display menus for movies, and all this other stuff. So Samsung's going to be the first true combo player. And hats off to them.
LU: Just to make it clear, the DVD-3800BDCI does not support DVD-Audio or SACD.
JT: Correct. We've gotten some criticism from some of the forums and some e-mails for not supporting those formats. As I said before, though, we’re working towards a true universal player; it's just that to get this Blu-ray player out at this point in time, we had to leave something out.
Denon remains format-neutral
LU: Why did Denon go with Blu-ray rather than HD DVD?
JT: We decided to go Blu-ray because we found a partner that we can work with at this point in time quicker than we could to do HD DVD. We're not picking one format over the other — we want to make that very clear. We happen to have a partner that we've worked with for years, and they wanted to work with us first, and so it just was like a nice marriage. The door is wide open for HD DVD, and as many have said, the market's going to tell us where we need to go. In our particular instance, our goal is to have a true universal audio/video player. All audio formats, including SACD and DVD-Audio, as well as HD DVD and Blu-ray video.
LU: So you would consider doing a combo player with Blu-ray and HD DVD?
JT: That's probably our number one consideration at this point in time. They're just starting to come out from some of the major players — obviously, Samsung has introduced theirs. They'll be out this fall, while the LG player, you know, it's not a true HD DVD player — it's not a licensed HD DVD product. LG has to make their own logo, it doesn't display menus for movies, and all this other stuff. So Samsung's going to be the first true combo player. And hats off to them.
LU: Just to make it clear, the DVD-3800BDCI does not support DVD-Audio or SACD.
JT: Correct. We've gotten some criticism from some of the forums and some e-mails for not supporting those formats. As I said before, though, we’re working towards a true universal player; it's just that to get this Blu-ray player out at this point in time, we had to leave something out.
