Yamaha to unveil first Blu-ray player

Yamaha waited for the HD format war to see who'd win, and thus now is Yamaha getting ready to jump into the Blu-ray market with its BD-S2900 player, according to a leaked report, pre-empting the player's expected release at the CEDIA show at the start of September. The unofficial specifications have the BD-S2900 compatible with the Profile v1.1, allowing users to view extra BonusView content without turning to their PC's Blu-ray drives, capable of 1080p/24fps HDMI video output, and upscaling of standard DVDs.

The player will also sport an SDHC-compatible SD Card slot for quick viewing of photos and movies captured on digital cameras and camcorders. For clean integration into a home theater set-up, the S2900's design will mimic that of the company's flagship A/V receivers, while an RS-232C serial port integrates it with home automation gear.

On the audio side, the 192kHz / 24-bit audio DAC will deliver high-quality digital sound, while Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, as well as Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio will be supported.

Pricing is not official, but is expected to be in the $1,200 range, while availability pegged at soon after CEDIA.