Sharp Boasts Industry's First Blu-ray Recorder

While there's been a decent amount of activity in the continuing battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray players, one area that hasn't seen much action is in allowing consumers to record HD content to a disc in addition to playing pre-recorded content. Sharp on Friday announced plans to change that through the March introduction of its $1,200 BD-HP1 in Japan that will enable consumers to record TV programming to 25 GB Blu-ray discs - about two hours' worth of HD content. The device will hit U.S. store shelves later this spring.

If you're thinking that the $1,200 price tag maybe isn't as big as you might expect for that kind of functionality, there's a catch: the Sharp Blu-ray Disc recorder will only work with Sharp Aquos TVs!

That's right, you have to get Sharp's version of the combo meal to make the BD-HP1 work. The reason is that it relies on the tuner built into the Aquos LCD TV or an Aquos HD Recorder to eliminate the need for a second tuner in the Blu-ray Disc recorder. That cuts costs, which is good for consumers, but it forces you to buy an Aquos LCD TV with built-in tuner -- not a bad TV to be sure, but a bit limiting if you prefer plasma displays, DLP TVs or Sony's LCDs.

Look for a plethora of package deals combining an Aquos TV with the BD-HP1 to crop up once this thing's available in the U.S. It'll be interesting to see if this helps Sharp capture LCD market share from industry leaders Sony and Samsung or whether it's a mere blip as consumers wait for the format war to resolve itself.

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