Review: Samsung BD-P1000
We know it is a little late, but we are sure some of you are interested in our review of the Samsung Blu-ray player, well mine anyway. Lets start by stating this is NOT a Blu-ray Vs. HD DVD post. Although it is impossible to talk about one without comparing the other, if you are looking for great A/B comparison you are going to be disappointed. If you are interested in another review of the first Blu-ray player from Samsung read on.
After reading all of the previous reviews, our expectations were pretty low. Right out of the box things changed, the packaging was nice and created some excitement, the accompanying accessories were ample. The BD-P1000 comes with everything you would expect, like a manual and a remote, but on top of the S-Video and composite cable( yeah we don't get that either) it does include a HDMI cable, which is a nice touch. The remote is pretty nice, but for $1000, is a back light too much to ask?
Connecting everything up was just like a DVD player and since we are using component, the directions were needed to learn how to set the appropriate output, because a disc playing will prevent you from changing outputs. Next we used the menu to set the resolution to 1080i.
The player was very solid and besides slow load times it was everything you would expect from a high end DVD player. The build quality was top notch and had no noticeable problems with usability. We don't see anyone having any problems with the way the player operates.
The Picture quality was without a doubt High Definition, we were not able to do a direct comparison to HD DVD. There did seem to be a few scenes that were either soft or had excessive film grain. The picture quality was anything but consistent, which leads us to believe there is plenty of room for improvement and is by no means a reference for the format. Don't get us wrong the quality was very good, but we look forward to what Blu-ray can offer.
The bottom line is that we liked it and it is no doubt better than DVD. While we hope that the Blu-ray Disc Association can work out the kinks, there is real promise in the format. Things can only get better as more studios release titles, more manufactures release players and mastering techniques are perfected. We look forward to enjoying our favorite movies like never before.
