Westwell gives date, price for ‘no-name’ Blu-ray player

By Chris Nicholls

SYDNEY: Westwell has announced a launch date for what will likely be one of the first ‘no-name’ Blu-ray players to land in Australia – August – and set the recommended retail at $499.

Announced at CeBIT yesterday, the Olin-branded Blu-ray player will be Profile 1.1 compatible, output via HDMI 1.3 and is compatible Dolby True HD and DTS HD 7.1 channel high definition surround sound standards.

The player will also upscale DVDs to 720p, 1080i or 1080p.

Questioned on the pricing, given JB Hi-FI recently advertised a Sharp Blu-ray player for $499, Westwell business development manager, Peter Wakefield, said the Sharp model was previous generation and did not come with Profile 1.1 technology, while the Olin model did.

Wakefield said the $499 price also included a “generous margin” for retailers.