Samsung Cancels Blu-ray Player, Delays Dual-Mode Unit

Samsung confirmed Wednesday that it was canceling one of its Blu-ray players, while delaying its dual-format model until the end of the year.

The Blu-ray-only BD-P2400 was set to debut at a price point of $649 USD. However, the device was essentially the same as the $100 cheaper BD-P1400, save for the addition of HQV video processing.

In an increasingly muddied market for high-definition players where there appears to be no apparent winner for the foreseeable future, Samsung's move might not be all that surprising. It could be making this move to focus on getting its own dual-format player out, the BD-UP5000. While the player was originally supposed to be released in October, the company now says it will not be released until mid- to late December.

Another reason could be that Samsung wished to ensure its set-top box was BD Profile 1.1-compliant, which is a requirement of all players after October 31. While the unit will not ship with the new code, a firmware update in January will enable playback of discs that fit that profile.