Review: Samsung BD-P1000
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted Aug 9th 2006 9:09PM
posted Aug 9th 2006 9:09PM
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.
Can someone tell me if the Samsung Blu-ray player only plays R1 DVDs. Or can it play DVD's from all regions. Thanks.
What about the menus? Someone told me navigating menus is notibly slow. Is that true?
I went to Best Buy to check out this unit, and noticed that a couple of these units had been returned and were now being sold at a reduced 'open box' price. This seemed like a bad sign.
Tube,
The menu are not slow at all.
They do seem to have alot of returns, but so do HD DVD players. I guess alot of people buy them to check them out and return them.
Hmm, I haven't seen a returned unit on either platform. I guess too many consumers are buying open-box items. Still, its a weighty 1080i-only vs. soft on-screen presentations regardless of the costs.
See that doesn't bother me, because I don't have a 1080p set yet, and probably won't have one for a while. As far as I'm concerned, 1080i looks pretty damn good!
I don't want it, cause of twice as expensive as the competing HD-DVD player; very few titles available at launch; video quality on initial titles less impressive than HD-DVD versions; slower load times; some operational bugs.
Ben,
Does this unit upconvert regular DVDs? If so, does it do a good job compared to a $200 unit?
Thanks,
Joe
Blow it out your a**! "Don't get us wrong the quality was very good, but we look forward to what Blu-ray can offer." HA! If HD DVD looked like Blu-ray you would have buried it ten feet under. When review after review of Blu-ray movies (on a Sony & Samsung approved (fixed) players, state something to the effect of "looks good, and almost reaches HD DVD quality" face the music and admit it. The blu-ray camp has problems, and don't tell me that because they have so many supporters, so many studios, that it will succeed. I agree that that power could make it succeed but who needs another VHS when Beta or Laserdisc was better. If blu-ray succeeds it will not be for quality. It will be for the publics stupidity. And you are at the lead.
Mark: Calm down
As Ben has stated numerous times before, without side-to-side comparison between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD you'd be hard-pressed to notice many of the faults in the initial releases.
Deny it all you like, but Blu-ray has the potential to match (and even exceed) the PQ offered by HD-DVD. So if Blu-ray succeeds, it will be because they manage to show the full potential of the format (i.e. "what Blu-ray can offer") on dual-layer disks, and eventually far exceed the number of quality new releases.
Sure, there are problems NOW, but that's no reason to expect that they wont be fixed. Banging on about the observed difference in PQ in early releases is irrelevant considering that BOTH formats are a fair way from achieving much of a market penetration. When that day comes, I'm sure we'll be able to make new comparisons between HD-DVD and (dual-layer) Blu-ray on 2nd (or 3rd) generation hardware.... which would be a much more worthwhile comparison.
From DVD Talk:
A Review of Robocop on Blu-ray DVD
Holy crap in a can, this disc looks horrible! I've written a couple of previous Blu-ray reviews where I'd called certain discs the worst High Definition image I'd ever seen, thinking HD couldn't possibly get any worse, but here Sony just keeps lowering the bar for the format. The Robocop Blu-ray is U-G-L-Y. And before you write in to chastise me that, "The movie is 20 years old. What'd you expect?" or "It was a low-budget movie. It can't look much better", save your breath. Those are bullshit excuses and dead wrong. The problems with this disc all stem from the video transfer and the Blu-ray authoring. Robocop is not supposed to look like this. No movie is supposed to look like this.
From DVD Talk:
A review on Aeon Flux HD DVD:
Æon Flux boasts the most jaw-droppingly impressive video I've seen from any HD source to date. I haven't viewed anything that even approaches being in this same league -- its diverse, cranked-up palette looks amazing, black levels remain robust throughout, and the image is impossibly sharp and detailed, looking spectacular even standing an inch or two away from the screen. No compression hiccups or even the slightest imperfection in the source could be spotted.
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All I can say is that if I waited (and almost did) for Blu-ray and the pressings looked as they do, I'd have returned it. I don't care what anyone says about "How it can be". It is what it is right now and people are shelling out $999. and $20 plus bucks a DVD for crap!
I have over 30 HD DVD's and 70% of them make my jaw drop from the quality.
Not one. I repeat, not one Blu-ray DVD review I've read says that.
Nuff' said.
M
ALSO----
Has anyone read or heard from Sony that they were releasing Blu-ray but "it won't be that good. But maybe next year it will get better".
Hell NO!
'Has anyone read or heard from Sony that they were releasing Blu-ray but "it won't be that good. But maybe next year it will get better"'
No one's read or heard that because you made that quote up out of thin air.
Mark, your arguments are completely illogical and ignore almost all of the points I made.
You are comparing the very worst Blu-ray transfer to the very best HD-DVD transfer. What exactly is the point in that? Aside from hugely slanting your HD-DVD bias like the average fanboy does of course.
For those of us who are waiting to see how things pan out, it is entirely relevant to talk about how things can be. You want to be an early adopter, fine. I'd rather sit on the fence for now and wait to see what people say about the releases from both sides next year.
Oh, and there have been some very good Blu-Ray transfers. I have read some good things about "Good night and good luck". Check out High-def digest for their review.
In regards to number 12, I simply was saying "Hell No" you haven't heard that statement because I did make it up out of thin air. My point is, Sony never said it, yet it seems that every pro blu-ray person is saying it.
I am not sitting on the fence. I have been enjoying HD DVD since April and have every right to say how great I feel it is. I was going to buy Blu-ray as well and always believed it was going to be better. I've seen it. It isn't. It isn't even close.
I'm not a fanboy, just a logical person.
Have you seen the new Sony Blu-Ray slogan?
"Blu-ray DVD...it's not that good now but maybe it will get better"
lol
it seems to me, that in test after test, hd dvd equits itself better then blu ray, but instead of giving hd dvd credit, reviewers seem to give blu ray more chances to get good. and hd dvd is 500 cheaper!
thank you toshiba for lighting a fire under sony's ass.
honestly steevie you sound more like a blu-ray fanboy than anyone else. just like sony dais, we are paying for potential- who wants to hear that crap when you just blew a grand on a dvdd player that makes you say "is this it?".
I'm rooting for hd-dvd. anything that sony does not have have its hand in imho has a better chance to succeed. All the blu-ray disc look like crap but yoou and other blu-ray fanboys wont accept it. sony is evil dude, as much as i love thier tv's, and thier emotion engine's, and all the other promises that have made out of greed.
When these so called journalists interview sony on the bu-ray format problems so far they just say "we are workign with many companies and things will happen." Why do the writers accept that garbage? Sony wrote the specs for the format, and it is set in stone- so then why all this crappy, mangled content coming on blu-ray?
a grand for "potential" is completely worthless. Stop making excuses for sony,as usually when that happpens its called payola.
wise up, so called writers.
-am
I thank you other readers for coming foward on this. I might have sounded a little pissed off, but frankly I was. I had just finished listening to Ben's Podcasts (the last two) and the one with the Pioneer guy made me want to scream.
Ben,
Hear me one last time on this (no guarntee on that).
1. Why spend $1,000 for a bad Blu-ray player now, and $20 plus a movie for Bad Mpeg 2 pressings when you could be enjoying a half price HD DVD player and fantastic jaw-dropping pressing of movies now. Not a penny wasted on a bad investment.
2. When and if Blu-ray gets it's act together with dual layer MPEG4 pressings and better players, the price will most likely be half of what it is today. A year from now Blu-ray players will probably sell for $500 or less!
3. So, the most logical choice for an HD fan now is to buy HD DVD and enjoy, wait a year or less and if Sony gets it together, buy Blu-ray (if you need to). You would have spent the same dollars you just did on one crappy Blu-ray machine and not have wasted money on bad pressings.
Ben, it's just logical. Be realistic. You worry that HD DVD is a bad investment, and you just blew over a grand on a bad Blu-ray player and worse pressings. Oh, that makes sense. "Gotta support the team, man". Give me a break!
The problem is that the quicker that the studios release blu-ray movies, the higher percentage of the blu-ray library will be fundamentally flawed. There's nearly 100 movies already out on single layer MPEG2 blu-ray discs, thats potentially 100 high-def movies in your library that are always going to look naff.
I can't imagine the studios getting away with re-releasing blu-ray movies if they ever manage to get dual layer blu-ray discs working.
The problem is that the blu-ray camp WAY underestimated the quality of HD DVD, which was released first. Sony have quite a hurdle to clear if they are going to make any headway in this battle.
Have we confirmed the issue is the transfer and not the Samsung player? For some reason I feel people are making sweeping comments regarding Blu-ray as format based on the Samsung player. That is like saying ethanol is a poor gas alternative because the Ford F150 breaks down all the time. When the other players hit the market this could be a different story. Regardless, Blu-ray is the superior format for one simple reason, capacity. Video Compression 101, the less you compress video the better it looks. The less you compress video the larger the resulting file. Blu-ray has 25GB of capacity on a single layer HD-DVD has 15GB. Regardless of how poor of a job the studios did on the initial titles there is more upside to Blu-ray than to HD-DVD.