Straddle both sides in high definition DVD war

Here's a way to enjoy the best of both worlds. Refer to the following link or the infromaton posted below.

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The Samsung BD-UP5000 Duo HD Player, centre, plays both competing full-featured HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs as well as DVD and audio CDs. HD-DVD movies, top, can show extra scene-related information like the makes and specs of cars or the geographic location in a chase scene, while the movie plays in the background, as shown in the Bourne Identity movie.Steve Makris, The Journal


EDMONTON - Confused about who will win the high definition movie disc format war? Here's a way to enjoy the best of both worlds.
Samsung's new BD-UP5000 Duo HD player, $849 with $50 rebate, plays both Toshiba's HD-DVD and the much-favoured Sony Blu-ray discs.
Unlike other players, the Samsung Duo plays both formats in full 1080P resolution, supporting full features. This is good news to those wanting to play both formats, even though HD-DVD is clearly losing support from the movie industry.

What are full features?
HD-DVD, for example, lets you see and hear additional information on a smaller picture window, while the movie continues to play on the main screen. This varies with every movie release.
When watching the Bourne Identity, for example, I could simultaneously access cast interviews appropriately timed to each scene.
You might ask who needs all that extra stuff anyway, but after watching a great HD movie a few times -- in lifelike clarity -- it's nice to experience it again in different ways.
Like how about a Global Positioning Screen map that shows you where the car chase is happening or a brief description of the cars involved?
Some HD-DVD movies can connect you online via the player's Ethernet cable to your home Internet connection for more movie-related features.
In comparison, Blu-ray discs can hold more information for more content in future movie releases.
Most disc players today are upgraded by downloading a file on your computer, burning it on a CD and "playing" it on the player.
But the Samsung Duo can also update the player's firmware, by going directly online, with more features, fixes and player functionality.

Does Samsung Duo perform?
Without a doubt, it is an impressive player that also plays DVDs and audio CDs (including 99-song playlist capability) but not the many other niche movie formats that originate from today's computers and the Internet.
It uses pricey hardware HQV video processing from Silicon Optix, not found in most other players, that improves all video quality on your TV screen. This includes upscaling or bumping up a DVD movie closer to HD quality.
The HD-DVD in this player starts movies just as fast as the best dedicated HD-DVD-only models.
DVDs look far better on large flat panel TVs, so there's still some life left in your aging DVD collection. HD-DVD discs can hold a movie in traditional DVD format on one side and HD on the other, making it a future-proof buy.
The backlighted remote control is well laid out but narrow, so big fingers will have to adjust.
There's oodles of connections in the back including optical and coaxial for best sound, 7.1 speaker surround sound and more.
The onboard decoding for many high resolution audio formats like Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio is smart for older stereo systems that don't recognize newer sound formats.
Parental controls can be set based on the standardized movie rating.

Should you buy it?
If you have not invested in the HD movie disc scene and want to take advantage of both HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats and have a few bucks to spare, yes. You can buy separate dedicated players, with fewer features and lower chip power for less money, but the overall value of one expensive player running on steroids looks attractive.