Toshiba is preparing to offer a Blu-ray disc player, according to reports in Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun.

The reports cited unnamed sources as saying that Toshiba will release a player which reads both Blu-ray and standard DVDs.

Releasing a new line of Blu-ray devices could prove bittersweet for Toshiba, which was once among the format's toughest opponents.

The company had pushed its own HD-DVD standard as an opponent to Blu-ray. The two formats and their respective backers engaged in a heated battle until January 2008, when film studios formally endorsed Blu-ray as the eventual successor to DVD.

Toshiba ceased production of its own line of HD-DVD players in February 2008.

No word was given on any possible plans to use Blu-ray in any of Toshiba's other systems.

While video remains the dominant use of the Blu-ray format, the 50GB capacity of Blu-ray could make the format attractive as a removable storage medium.