LG's dual-format disc player hits stores

LG said Monday that its second try at a dual-format next generation disc player is now available at retailers.

Unlike the company's previous player, this unit has been certified by both HD DVD and Blu-ray, and will be upgradeable to the new BD Profile 1.1 when those discs become available next year. Like its predecessor, the BH200 will retail for $999 and support up to 1080p resolution. LG's announcement follows that of Samsung, whose player will sell for $200 less when it becomes available later this month.

The electronics maker first showed off a prototype of the new model at the CEDIA show in Denver back in September, which fixed several issues of the first player. The first model did not support HD DVD's iHD -- this one does. HDMI 1.2 was included in the first player, however version 1.3 can be found in the BH200. While it was originally supposed to debut the following month, unspecified production delays pushed the BH200 release to now.