LG BH100 Hybrid Blu-ray / HD DVD player almost didn’t make it to market this week. A flaw was discovered soon after the joyous CES announcement that a high priced combo player was coming. It seems the BH100 isn’t compatible with a certain HD DVD feature called iHD.

iHD is the feature that allows an HD DVD player to navigate its special menu system. The feature is critical to accessing precise features on HD DVD. The iHD feature is so important that without it the player can’t properly be called an HD DVD player. However, the player will still playback an HD DVD movie when you pop it in.

It was initially feared LG’s BH100 player wouldn’t be released as promised in February. The DVD Forum is the body that defines HD DVD standards. It seemed likely this might go to litigation considering the courts are just as much a part of technology as research and development these days.

Alas, DVD Forum has decided that it’s not going to sue LG but instead will simply require that LG remove the HD DVD logo from its BH100 player. So, it’s going to ship on time according to LG – minus the HD DVD logo of course. It’s still going to be a $1,200 combo player that doesn’t allow you to access the HD DVD menus. I wonder if this will do something to the price. Expect price drops on this product pronto after LG polishes up its firmware and fixes the iHD issue.

Still $1200 for a disabled disk player doesn’t seem like a deal to me. Just wait a year and you’ll see combo players aplenty that can do iHD better than your momma.