Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray Disc Player
Unraveling the mysteries in a great Blu-ray adventure
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The Short Form |
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| $999 / 17 x 12.8 x 3 IN / 9.3 LBS / samsung.com / 800-726-7864 | |
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Plus
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| •Excellent upconversion of regular DVDs •Mostly glitch-free operation •Nice industrial design |
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Minus
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| •Inconsistent picture quality from Blu-ray Discs •Challenging remote control •No Internet port for future interactive discs |
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Key Features
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| •Plays high definition Blu-ray Discs •1080p output capability •Upconverts regular DVD to 720p, 1080i, or 1080p video format •Memory card slots for playing photos or music •Outputs HDMI, component video, S-video, composite video, SPDIF digital audio (optical and coax), 5.1-channel analog audio, 2-channel analog audio •Price $999 |
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In-Depth:Features & Hook-up
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| If you've read our review of the Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray Disc player - the world's first - you know what we thought of the picture and sound quality with the first batch of Blu-ray discs. But there's a lot more to this box than what comes out of it. Here's a run-down on some key features and few details you should know about hooking it up. — by Rob Sabin Read More... |
According to executives at both companies, Samsung engineers worked with Sony Pictures for several days, eventually identifying a video-scaling chip in the BD-P1000 that, for better or worse, was affecting picture quality. This chip has an optional video-noise reduction circuit that had been programmed at the factory to default to full-on. "It was an engineering decision to set the chip for a high level of noise reduction," explained Samsung senior marketing VP Jim Sanduski, who suggested that those looking at the prototypes felt it was a better choice to smooth out the picture somewhat than to expose all the inherent grain in the source material. Admittedly, Sanduski noted, that's a subjective call for each viewer. "On the plus side, the aggressive noise reduction takes out film grain, but the downside is that the picture can look softer," he said.
Sony's tests — which compared digital masters to the outputs of a stock Samsung player and one with its noise reduction turned off — also suggested that this processing might have contributed to those crawlies Al and I were seeing. "Film grain, when it goes through noise reduction, doesn't look like grain anymore," Eklund explained. "It reduces it, but also causes it to take on a somewhat mottled look."
Unfortunately, the Samsung player had no menu option to adjust or defeat this feature. So, in a startling move, Samsung announced just a month after the BD-P1000 went on sale that it would modify future production of the unit to either turn off the noise reduction or allow users to defeat it themselves. Though the details weren't settled as we finalized this story, Samsung executives said new units made as of August would reflect these changes. They also confirmed that players already in people's homes will be upgradeable to the new version via a disc-based firmware update. No timing was given for that.
A couple of days after Samsung announced its upgrade, engineers from Korea delivered to our lab a modified BD-P1000 with its video-noise reduction turned off, allowing us to be the first to test this reworked sample.
So — drumroll, please — what difference did we see? You can get more from Al in "Blu's Clues," but the short answer is: not too much. Indeed, we struggled for 3 hours, in the presence of Samsung's engineers, to spot any obvious distinction between the original and modified players. It was only after the engineers had left and we spent several more hours A/B-ing a range of titles that we began to get a handle on some subtle but promising improvements. (For another take on the Samsung's image quality prior to the update, see Josef Krebs' review of four Blu-ray titles.)
