VIZIO Gets into Blu-ray Player Market

Consumer electronics manufacturer VIZIO, best known for their low cost HDTVs available in shops like Costco, is busting down the Blu-ray price barrier by introducing its own player at CES. It is the VBR100 and pricing is set around $200.

The VBR100, said VIZIO, does the standard 1080p HD video and offers selectable 720p/1080i/1080p video up-conversion for standard definition DVD discs. It has HDMI 1.3 video output, supports BD-Live content and will be available in April.

Other features of the VBR100 include a slim design, audio decoding for uncompressed audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, 7.1 channel analog audio output and playback of MP3 CDs. It isn't necessarily a glorious player, but the price and VIZIO name means more price-focused consumers may consider jumping into Blu-ray as a result.