In Berlin this week at IFA 2007, the announcements of various Blu-ray devices came fast and furious. Announcements were made by Sony, Phillips, Samsung, Sharp and Daewoo, according to Softpedia on Friday.

Sony introduced a slightly higher end Blu-ray player, the BDP-S500. It is distinguished from the lower end BDP-S300 -- which is priced at US$499 -- by supporting Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD as well as HDMI 1.3 output and 1080p/24. The BDP-S300 only has HDMI 1.2 output. The BDP-S500 will ship first in Europe in October for €899.

Phillips also announced a 1080p/24 Blu-ray player that also supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD audio. Sharp and Daewoo also introduced new, high end Blu-ray players.

In addition to its dual format player, Samsung also introduced two new Blu-ray players, the BD-P1400 and BD-P2400. The high end BD-P2400 features include, according to Sofpedia, "HDMI 1.3 output to 24 frames, Dolby Digital and DTS audio playback, HDMI CEC (Anynet+) technology that allows consumers to use a single remote control to operate the BD player, TV and other A/V products from Samsung. Additionally, each model is able to up-convert standard DVD discs to full HD 1080p resolution via the HDMI connection. The devices also sport the built-in Hollywood Quality Video (HQV) processor, a powerful unit similar to those used by Hollywood production studios, which enable true 1080i to 1080p HD de-interlacing."

While the HD DVD/Blu-ray price war continues to force prices down for low end systems, and there will be some real bargain basement systems in the headlines for Christmas, the Blu-ray players introduced at IFA this week affirm that videophiles in the market for a Blu-ray player should look at the specs very closely. Only the fairly expensive systems seem to be designed to give the critical customer all the high end video and audio specifications they’ve been looking for.