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Samsung Blu-ray Disc Player BD-P1000 Hardware Review By Mark A. Rivera

Samsung Blu-ray Disc Player BD-P1000 - Specifications:

While the release time table for both HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc changed considerably over the first half of 2006, Toshiba did eventually release it’s high definition optical disc format on April 18, 2006 and a little more than two months after the launch of HD-DVD came the debut of the first desktop dedicated entry level Blu-ray disc video player along with software to support it through Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, which has included Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment Blu-ray disc titles and Lionsgate Home Entertainment. However the Sony backed competing high definition optical format player was first represented at retailers in the States by Samsung, which officially released the BD-P1000 on Sunday, June 25, 2006. Like HD DVD players, if you looked around on or offline enough you could find retailers already selling Blu-ray disc players before the official street date. In fact that was how I purchased mine. Having read that the item was already for sale at a major retail chain outlet online and then confirmed that it was indeed in stock, I quickly rushed to pick one up and almost did not get to go home with it that day. It appears that putting the players out on the floor was a mistake, but thankfully the manager and sales associates allowed the purchase because it was not my fault that the website listed the player as being in stock and I traveled there with the approval of a sales associate who had already agreed to set one aside for me. While the suggested retail price for an entry level Blu-ray Disc Player at $999,99 is quite steep, especially when you consider that Toshiba’s high end first generation HD DVD player HD-XA1 cost $799.99 in comparison, the reality is that while both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD are very similar, the cost to produce software on HD DVD is less and the infrastructure to support Blu-ray Disc is still developing stateside at the time of this writing.

Much the way a dog will forget about the toy he or she is chewing on if you pick up another doggie toy, within minutes of purchasing the Samsung Blu-ray Disc Player BD-P1000, suddenly other consumers where stopping me and sales people asking questions. I began to think that despite having completed the purchase transaction, I might never be able to walk out of the store with my Blu-ray Disc player. As it was the rest of the units on display were removed from the sales floor. So I got out of the shop and caught a cab back home where I had a few Blu-ray disc titles waiting for me. Now I have a little rule I follow, which is rather than rush to open a product I just purchased like a DVD player or computer for example, I prefer to wait until I am fully relaxed and ready to even open the box so I left the player unopened in my home office and tried to relax. Unfortunately I ended up not even being able to consider opening up the box for over a week because of two family members becoming ill and my need to be there for them. Thus even the website went unchanged for some time in June. However, thank God, everything seemed to work out okay and I got back to doing what I do, which included hooking up the Blu-ray Disc player and watching some movies on it.

The Samsung Blu-ray Disc Player BD-P1000 comes in a premium style packaging complete with photographic outer box artwork and a self-contained kit that includes a 6.25' HDMI cable, a 70’ component video cable, and a 70’ RCA composite video cable with red and white stereo composite audio cables attached. Also included with the player is a 00057A wireless remote control, two ‘AAA” batteries, owner’s manual, quick startup guide, product registration card and an important note on setting the video output correctly. Despite what some may have read online at another technology website, the Samsung Blu-ray Disc Player BD-P1000 does not include a complimentary copy of Memento on Blu-ray Disc. It would have been a nice gesture for Sony to have provided Samsung at least for the initial wave of players that were sold a complimentary copy of the film as an added sales incentive, but there is not even a coupon good for a free or discounted purchase or rental of a Blu-ray Disc movie title so be sure to bring some extra cash to buy a few discs to play on your new player when you get it home.

The unit itself is glossy and cool in appearance with a nice blue lighting that highlights certain parts of the machine’s front console when powered on and set up is a synch. There is an easy to access button right on the face of the unit that allows the user to choose their desired video output to TV. The unit will also detect an HDMI connection within 10 seconds and set a default start resolution. If you expect to be able to watch Blu-ray discs you have to use either component or HDMI cable, which are provided and if you expect to view programming in 1080p then you must use the HDMI option since the machine will only output up to 1080i via component video output. The default setting out of the box is 720p. Since most people have high definition televisions that are capable of 1080i resolution max, there won’t be too much of a problem viewing HD films on Blu-ray Disc with either HDMI or component video, but if the video distributors should decide to enable advanced copy protection codes on select software titles, then the only way to view a Blu-ray Disc in true high definition is through using the HDMI cable. The same is true with HD DVD players too. Despite the fact composite AV cables are also included, Blu-ray disc titles will not play on a television at 480i regardless if it is a high definition television or not. However if you own a high definition TV, why would you want to watch a high definition optical disc like Blu-ray in 480i anyway?

According to the quick setup guide, the Samsung Blu-ray Disc Player will playback Blu-ray Disc video titles or what is simply referred to as BD, and the player will playback DVD-Video titles and can up convert them to 1080p through HDMI to create a virtual HD like viewing experience using standard definition DVD-Video, and the unit also supports compact disc digital audio or what we all know as audio CDs. In addition the unit is supposed to be able to playback BD-ROM, BD-RE, BD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD-R, CD-RW, CD-R, MP3 CDs, and JPEG photo discs. Blu-ray Discs other than Region A, HD DVD discs, DVD-Videos other than Region One, 5 inch 2.6GB and 52GB DVD-RAM, 3.9 DVD-R used for Authoring, and DVD recordable/rewriteable/random access memory disc not finalized in standard DVD-Video recording code, DVD-ROM, CD-ROM, VCD, CD-I, and CD-G will not work in the Samsung Blu-ray Disc Player BD-P1000. The backward compatibility with DVD-Video offered by both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD players is not unlike the VCD backward compatibility offered on many DVD players, but with DVD being the dominant home video format at the time of both high definition optical disc format’s release, the need for backward compatibility to include VCD or even SVCD, is not really necessary since most American titles available on VCD as an import from Malaysia or China are now available with superior picture and sound quality on DVD.

The Samsung Blu-ray Disc Player BD-P1000 will also playback media like photos on memory cards in one of two slots located under a hatch on the front panel of the unit. The left slot will run Compact Flash Card and Micro Drive while the right slot will accommodate Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro Duo, Secure Digital Multi Media, Mini SD, and RS MMC. An adapter is required in order to play back media on Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro Duo, Mini SD, and RS MMC. Since an adapter for these formats is not included with the unit, I could not test out this feature using Memory Stick Duo media on my Sony PSP. To take advantage of the uncompressed PCM 5.1 Surround Sound found on Sony Blu-ray Disc titles, one must use composite audio cable to accommodate connection from analogue 5.1 output on the player to 5.1 analogue input on the receiver. Stereo audio output is also available, but in order to hear Dolby Digital or DTS from a DVD-Video, you must switch the setting to bitstream and have either a fiber optic or coaxial digital audio cable connected into the receiver. Results seem to vary though according to receiver. For example I played back a standard definition DVD produced by Anchor Bay Entertainment and the 5.1 analogue audio output sounded fantastic and despite what I read in the documentation, the audio seemed to be PCM 5.1 too. Testing Blu-ray Disc titles like Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s Ultraviolet: PG-13 Theatrical Cut and Lionsgate Home Entertainment’s Saw yielded excellent sound playback that in my opinion seemed superior to the audio playback I heard on the HD DVD player. There is an issue with the first released Samsung Blu-ray Disc Players that I read is being addressed for both current users and the next wave of machines being released. Personally while I found the colors to definitely be more vibrant using component video output, the HDMI output worked fine as well and did not seem especially muted.  

While I found the up conversion video quality of standard DVDs to be sharper on my HD DVD Player, the Samsung BD-P1000 delivered a smooth image and it handled films recorded on DVD-R and RW better than the HD DVD player. The remote control is a bit light feeling and the buttons are very small. A backlit remote would have been appreciated, especially given the cost of the unit. Perhaps it is a matter of perspective, but in terms of playback speed, I did not find the Blu-ray Disc player to be extremely slow at all and the machine is definitely more responsive to remote control commands on the fly than my HD DVD player.

In terms of overall value, I can be quoted as saying I would never spend $1000 dollars on a Blu-ray Disc player, but I did. I like both formats and to compare both machines as one being better than the other would be wrong because as far as I can tell, they both are quite nice and deliver on a promise to bring high definition programming better than ever before using optical disc technology. At the time of this writing, the Samsung Blu-ray Disc Player BD-P1000 is the only set top entry-level system on the market. Sony will release an entry level Blu-ray Disc player later this year at the same price point as the Samsung BD-P1000. All of the other BD units to be released this year will cost more and the only BD capable unit that will be available this year for less than $1000 dollars will by the PlayStation 3, but I expect those to be difficult to purchase unless one pre-orders and even then there are no guarantees and whether or not it will have the features of the set top dedicated BD movie players, including the Samsung BD-P1000 and at the same level of quality remains to be seen.

If you are an early adopter then you already have both a Samsung BD player and a Toshiba HD DVD player like me and every other person who reviews media professionally, but if you are unsure, I am not going to hit you with a hard sell. Personally I like the Samsung Blu-ray Disc Player BD-P1000 and think overall it is a great machine. Owning one is important to me since I will be publishing Blu-ray Disc reviews in addition to HD DVD, DVD, and UMD reviews. Go to a locale retailer with a display model and ask questions, see how it handles various films and then if you want one, you can buy it now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Samsung.

© Copyright 2006 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.

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Buy The Samsung Blu-ray Disc Player BD-P1000 By Clicking On The Icon Below!