Ultimate AV: Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray Disc Player

Ultimate AV: Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray Disc Player: "The battle is starting to heat up. HD DVD has been out for just two months. Two weeks ago Samsung launched its first Blu-ray player, the BD-P1000 ($1,000), the subject of this report.



The player is certainly a vital link in the introduction of any new format. In our 1997 coverage of the DVD launch (then under the Stereophile Guide to Home Theater banner), we had several different players from different sources on hand simultaneously. But in the case of Blu-ray, more players will trickle out starting in early fall. Samsung has released its Blu-ray spinner at least two months ahead of everyone else—for now it's the Lone Ranger on the blu side of the format war.

I won't be discussing the technical details of Blu-ray in this piece. For more on how Blu-ray and HD DVD bring high-definition to a DVD-like optical disc, go here.

First Reports
HD DVD, in spite of its clunky failings in the operation of its player (though there are a few different models out there, they are all essentially the same Toshiba design), has been a smashing success in the all-important video and audio departments. We couldn't have hoped for better.

I won't beat around the bush here. Many reports from the field have expressed disappointment with what is being seen from Blu-ray in these early days. Ultimate AV's technical editor, Shane Buettner gives his thoughts on the launch, and what he is seeing from the format so far, in the July UAV eNewsletter, which goes out to subscribers this Tuesday, July 18th. (If you haven't signed up, go here to do so. You'll get it every month, and it's free). My take is a bit different than his, but it was not arrived at easily. After two months of hanging around in the other camp of this gradually building format war, my first reaction to Blu-ray was, "Where is their ammunition?"

When a new video format hits the market, however, there are more variables involved in what shows up on our screens and what comes from our speakers than the format itself. Can what we're seeing and hearing be a credit to (or blamed on) the player? With one player, it's hard to tell.

The software is an even more complicated issue. It includes the quality of the original photography, the film to high-def master, and the compression to HD video (including the video encoding scheme). Last but not least are the technical capabilities of the format itself. So if you're looking for a "the war is over, XXX has won" you won't read it here. With just one player, a dozen or so titles, and little in the way of test patterns native to the format, definitive conclusions will have to come later. What I will report on here is simply what I've seen and heard to date. Anything stated on the "why" side of the ledger remains strictly speculation." More...