LG Electronics announced it plans to sell the world's first DVD player capable of playing rival high-definition DVD formats: HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc standards.

The player will be unveiled at next week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and will end the "confusion and inconvenience" of competing disc formats. The DVD player will go on sale in the U.S. in early 2007, LG said.

"LG is a supporter of Blu-ray and is now considering a dual format player for later this year," said John Taylor, a U.S. spokesman for the Korean company.

Korean LG Electronics last week became the second high-profile Blu-ray supporter after Hewlett-Packard to announce that it would also support HD DVD.

Blu-ray is backed by Sony and Panasonic along with a long list of electronics makers and achieves a capacity of 25GB on a single-sided disc. HD DVD’s main backer is Toshiba and the format also has broad support in Hollywood. A single-sided HD DVD disc can store 15GB of data..

Both use blue lasers to achieve a storage capacity several times that of existing DVDs(4.7GB). Combined with advanced video compression systems they offer enough space to store movies in high definition.

Richard Doherty, analyst with Envisioneering, said that a dual player would be a win for both retailers and consumers who will likely face months or years of frustration and confusion in a standards war.

"While LG is the first to announce a dual player, we're sure it will not be the last system that gives consumers what they expect - high definition discs that play with no questions asked," he added.

written by Cristian L.