Sharp BD-HP20S launched

More news from the IFA 2007 in Berlin - Sharp announced the launch of their first dedicated Blu-Ray player outside of Japan. The BD-HP20S will appear in Europe sometime in the autumn and in the US not long after, presumably in time for it to be found in a number of Christmas stockings across the country.

In terms of spec there’s nothing amazing in the BD-HP20S, just the usual suspects, 1080p res, 5.1 audio, HDMI 1.3, support for Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD etc. It plays well with other Sharp devices that conform to their CEC control standard and offers ‘Quick Start’ which provides playback ‘within seconds’ - this is to counter the oft touted ’slow start’ criticism of Blu-Ray players. The sucker has a nice slim line look to it, measuring a mere 2.7 inches from top to bottom and should fit snugly into most entertainment units.

Unfortunately there’s no pricing available but I would imagine that this puppy won’t be setting you back too much and could be added to even the most frugal of Christmas present shopping lists.