The electronics producer LG announced this week the development of a single drive that has the ability to play both of the next generation disks: Sony’s Blu-ray and Toshiba’s HD-DVD. The development of the product is almost finalized as a full featured demonstration is intended at this month’s CES (Consumer Electronics Show); this entitles us to hope we will be able to purchase a version in just a few months (late Q1 or early Q2 2007).

The war between the two formats has divided the Movie Industry and the news of a device that will play HD-DVD and Blu-ray disks comes as a relief for every consumer that doesn’t want to take sides. For the time being there is no clear winner although the Blu-ray has an advantage because it was forced on all the PlayStation 3 buyers therefore we advise you don’t throw away your DVD players for now.

To calm the waters on the war front Warner Brothers also announced a compromise to help the consumers with this awkward situation. Apparently they are trying to develop a new type of disk that will contain both formats and they announced today that they have found a way for compressing HD-DVD and Blu-ray on opposite sides of a disc and they are branding it Total HD.

For now the informations on this devices are scarce and little is known on the solutions picked for playing both type of disks but it is almost sure that the price will most likely top the price of both Blu-ray and HD-DVD drives. As more data regarding the format war keeps emerging don’t forget to visit our site as we will keep you informed with everything happening at CES this year.

Filed under Home Entertainment, News