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Although Sharp’s main focus is its LCD flat panel televisions, it also has some interest in the Blu-ray Disc market. Sharp’s new BD-HP50 Bonus View Blu-ray Player will be available in May for $699, which is well above the sub-$500 pricing of some Panasonic players. If the price will hold against the fierce competition remains to be seen. The player includes the Bonus View function (video picture-in-picture commentary), internal decoding of both the Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD high resolution audio formats, and outputs a 1080p video signal via HDMI.
Sharp’s second-generation player will fall under the Aquos umbrella however this will be the company’s first Blu-ray player to feature Profile 1.1, which is already supported in certain Panasonic players and Sony’s PlayStation 3. Aquos Link will be available on the BD-HP50, allowing the player to work seamlessly with other Aquos products. It will also feature Aquos Link and Quick Start to load movies faster.
Sharp will continue to sell the BD-HP20 until April when they will decide whether to make another entry level player or enter the high end market. A BD-Live player is in the works, possibly by the end of the year.
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