Blu-ray and HD-DVD players on sale soon in UK

The battle between Sony and Toshiba to dominate the market for the next generation DVD players will reach its next phase this autumn, when the first models go on sale in the UK.

With the major movie studios announcing the release of blockbuster movies on Sony's Blu-ray and Toshiba's HD-DVD formats this autumn, visitors to the IFA international consumer electronics show in Berlin, were treated to previews of players offering either Blu-ray or Toshiba's rival HD-DVD format.

Philips' was plugging its range of Blu-ray players ; with the first model, the TripleWriter SPD7000, going on sale in the UK this autumn.

This internal optical drive can record and playback all disc formats and features a 2x read and write speed for BD-R (recordable) and BD-RE (re-recordable) discs.

The SPD7000 comes out in November and is expected to cost £538 with 25GB and 50GB discs ranging from £10 to £18 respectively. In early 2007, Philips will bring out, the BDP9000, its first standalone Blu-ray player for high definition-ready TVs.

November will also see Toshiba put its first HD-DVD players on sale in Europe. As in the US, Toshiba will sell two models in Europe. A £599 model will be available from November and an £899 model will go on sale a month later, the company said at IFA.