Samsung BD-P1500 1080p Blu-ray Player

Samsung BD-P1500 1080p Blu-ray Player

plays Blu-ray high-definition discs (selectable output resolution: 1080p signals available through HDMI output only; 720p/1080i signals available through HDMI or component video) * plays BD-ROM and BD-R & BD-RE * plays DVD-Video and DVD-R & DVD-RW * plays audio CD and CD-R & CD-RW * selectable 720p/1080i/1080p video upconversion for DVD (upconverted video available through HDMI output only) *

Great Blu-Ray Player!

I hooked this up to my 37 inch 720p/1080i Vizio, and I was surprised at how much crisper the picture was compared to the HD signal I receive from my cable. I wasn’t sure it would make a big difference since I don’t have 1080p, but Blu-Ray discs look much better than my upconverting Panasonic DVD recorder when it pays commercially bought DVDs or DVD-RAM.Also, the Samsung BD-P1500 says it doesn’t play DVD+R discs, but it plays discs that I made on my Panasonic DVD Recorder (DMR-EZ 28) just fine. Panasonic DMR-EZ28K 1080p Upconverting DVD Recorder with Built In Tuner

Excellent player, great audio options

While I wish the player had analog audio outputs for my 7.1 compatible non-HDMI receiver, I am most pleased with the available audio options on this player given it was under $200. While providing the standard PCM and bitstream output options, I struggled to understand how I would benefit from either of these using the optical output from the player to my receiver. Enter the bitstream re-encode option, which re-encodes the PCM Dolby TrueHD stream into DTS bitstream. It works perfectly with my current 6.1 setup and the audio is crisp and dynamic (In case you are wondering, I use a Pioneer VSX-812 receiver and Bose 201 and 161 speakers). For those of you who are worried that you won’t be able to take advantage of the lossless audio with your current setup, take a serious look at this player. It will help you bridge the gap between now and when you eventually upgrade to an HDMI receiver. The audio is notably better than even the DTS streams from standard DVDs. Make sure you set the player to Dynamic Compression OFF as it is enabled by default and significantly reduces the quality of the audio.

Video quality through HDMI as well as Component is excellent with few artifacts on playback. Load times are relatively quick as is menu navigation. The BD Live (Profile 2.0) firmware update is out, and it is only a matter of time before the DTS-HD Master Audio firmware update comes out as well. I can’t recommend this player enough, as it is an excellent player for a very reasonable price.

Great into to Blu-Ray

I had been waiting to jump into the HD media fray until a winner was declared and of course, that happened earlier this year. A lot of people recommended to me to get a PS3 for my blu-ray player but, for a variety of reasons, I decided I wanted a standalone player. After a lot of research, I settled on the Samsung BD-P1500. I had heard a lot of negatives about how Samsung had not been supporting their previous generation units but I was willing to get them a 30 day trial. I’m glad I did.

I purchased this over memorial day weekend so I’ve had it over a month. In that time, I’ve played maybe a dozen blu-ray discs and 3 or 4 DVD’s. The only problem I’ve experienced that is attributable to the player is several extremely brief audio dropouts while watching Ratatouille. However, I updated the player’s firmware last weekend and watched several scenes that would previously cause the dropouts and observed none.

I love the fact that it has an ethernet port for firmware updates and future BD 2.0 features. The player loads discs quickly in comparison to stories I’ve heard about other players. Picture and sound quality are outstanding (I’m able to use the HD audio features and it’s frankly amazing).

This is a really good player and the only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because there are VERY few products that would rate 5 stars in my book. Most things have at least a couple of areas to improve on. For the price, this is a really good player.