Samsung to Show 23mm-thick Blu-ray Disc Player

Samsung Electronics has developed a Blu-ray Disc player that's just 23 millimeters thick, and plans to unveil it at next week's International Consumer Electronics Show, it said Tuesday.

The slim player supports 3D Blu-ray content and includes a function to convert conventional 2D content into a quasi-3D image, Samsung said. The player can also connect to the Internet and display content from sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter on a TV screen.

Samsung provided no other technical specifications of the player, but claimed it would be the world's thinnest 3D Blu-ray Disc player when launched.

Pricing and launch information was not disclosed.

Samsung will be launching the player at a time when consumer interest in 3D Blu-ray Disc appears to be rising.

The method for encoding 3D content onto Blu-ray Disc media was standardized during 2010 and players compatible with the format are beginning to appear on the market.

During the recent "black Friday" sales-promotion period in the U.S., Blu-ray Disc player sales more than doubled compared to last year at over 400,000 units, said NPD Group. 3D-compatible players accounted for 15 percent of those sales.

Samsung is one of the world's largest manufacturers of Blu-ray Disc players and has used the previous two CES events to emphasize the design and form factor of its players. In 2009 it launched a model that was 39 mm thick and in 2010 it showed a model 29 mm thick.