Whether you have or are planing on buying a Samsung Blu-ray player, we have some good news for you! Samsung launched a new website dedicated to their Blu-ray products. The site is divided in two areas “Blu-ray Owners” and “Looking to Buy”, consumers visiting the site will easily be able to access the information pertinent to their Blu-ray needs. Samsung offers FAQs, new product and firmware introductions, as well as the opportunity to chat live with a Samsung Blu-ray support specialist. Also, every week they will start a new “Topic” on the site to provide Samsung’s opinion on current Blu-ray product issues and to further educate consumers on the advantages of Blu-ray. This week’s topic is: How do I get the most out of my Blu-ray player?

“Now that Blu-ray is the future of HD, Samsung recognized the need to develop a single online location where current Blu-ray owners and those seeking more information can go to address their Blu-ray needs,” said Reid Sullivan, Vice President of Audio/Video & Digital Imaging at Samsung Electronics America. “With answers to nearly every Blu-ray question and access to trained Samsung tech support, we believe the Blu-ray Resource Center will help consumers maximize the performance of their Samsung Blu-ray player, pre or post sale.”

As far as Blu-ray is concerned Samsung always seems be a little ahead of the competition, releasing the first player, releasing the first HD-DVD/Blu-ray combo players and now this “Resource Center” website… They do a good job!

Popularity: 16% [?]

Rumors have surfaced about a new Samsung player arriving in September. I really hate rumors! Specially when they arrive out of the blue and with no back up whatsoever. According to a French forum the Samsung BD-P2500 is a profile 2.0 (BD-Live) player that will have the Silicon Optix (HQV/Reon VX) video processing chip for optimal DVD upconversion, and decoding support for both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. For those of you without HDMI receivers, the player will feature 7.1 analog outs. Priced at 449 Euros, this possible Samsung player will be competing head to head with the Panasonic DMP-BD50.

I really don’t know how true this is since Samsung just released their BD-P2400 which is BD-Live ready and only need a firmware upgrade to bring it up to profile 2.0. As soon as we get more information we will post it.

Source: Blu-ray.com

Popularity: 67% [?]

This is no Hoax! For a very limited time amazon is offering the Samsung BD-P1400 for only $269.68. Is it my perception only or we are starting to see a small price war among several retailers? Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Amazon are just a few names of the retailers offering major discounts for the past 2 weeks. This is great! The consumer is the one to win. The Samsung BD-P1400 particularly is part of the High-Def week at amazon.com, going on only this week (6/2-6/6)! They also have the Die Hard Collection, which has all 4 Die Hard Blu-ray Movies for only $56.99.

Click here to go to Amazon’s Gold Box page! Unfortunately, this is only a preset number of players, so hurry!!

This is a great sign and we hope it will continue for a while to drive Blu-ray prices down so more people will start adopting the new technology!

Popularity: 48% [?]

Finally, after some delays the Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player is available for any one who wants to spend $399.99 on a profile 1.1 player that has an ethernet port for a possible future upgrade to profile 2.0.We do however anticipate the price dropping or at least some promotions after a couple of weeks.

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If you have questions or want more details on this player you can download the owner’s manual here!

You can order your Samsung BD-P1500 from Amazon here!

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Popularity: 42% [?]

If you have a Samsung BD-UP5000, life is not all that bad! Yes, your player won’t be seeing many HD-DVDs anymore but you now can upgrade your player to profile 1.1 with the new firmware v1.3 Samsung released. Even though you bought a Combo player compatible with Blu-ray profile 1.0, you can upgrade it to profile 1.1 (BonusView). The firmware was released 2 days ago and it is available!

This is a list of changes you will get with the new firmware:

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1. Upgrades current BD-UP5000 to profile 1.1
2. Upgrades BD-UP5000 with HD audio bit-stream output function.
3. Updates User interface based on BD profile 1.1
4. Improves playback compatibility in some movies

Click here to get the BD-UP5000 v1.3 firmware!

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Popularity: 54% [?]

Samsung and LG will no longer produce players that are capable of playing both HD-DVD and Blu-ray Discs as of this fall. This move will help both companies to cut costs.

Here is what they have to say about this piece of news:

“Surely, it is a very tough decision for us to halt the production of the combos, however, we will stop manufacturing the Super Blu series from the second half of this year,” said a spokesman from LG Electronics.

“Since February this year, we have no longer been producing combo players that support the playback of HD-DVD and Blu-ray high-definition discs,” a spokesperson from Samsung Electronics told The Korea Times, Monday.

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So basically if you have HD-DVD discs, you are now on your own if something happens to your current player. Once the players that are available on the market now are gone, you can kiss HD-DVD bye bye…You see? That’s what you get for choosing a format that has no future!

You can find combo players here as long as inventory lasts. After that - Try E-Bay!

Popularity: 12% [?]

Samsung has exposed a few more details on the previously announced Blu-ray player. This will be the company’s fourth generation player which keeps getting pushed back, at first it was supposed to hit the market in April, then in May and now June… The drive is 1080p-capable, and has an HDMI 1.3 output with CEC support, allowing control through home theater systems. Also present on the unit are an upconverter chip — which scales to maximum resolutions. It will include Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TruHD and DTS-HD High resolution (scheduled to available later this year via firmware update). From the picture it will have a slick look.

The BD-P1500 is only loaded with BD profile 1.1 firmware, but is said to be ready for BD-Live. That means that, at first, it will not support web-enabled features included on certain discs. However, it will carry an Ethernet port for a possible 2.0 firmware upgrade.

Specs

Playable Media

• BD-ROM, DVD-ROM, DVD-R(V mode only), DVD-RW (V/VR mode), Audio CD, CD-R, CD-RW

Video

• Blu-ray playback at content native HD resolution of 1080p/1080i/720p
• 1080p 24 Fs / 60 Fs
• Selectable DVD upconversion (720p/1080i/1080p)

Audio

• 2.1 channel output
• Coaxial and optical digital audio outputs
• Dolby® Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD,

Features

• HDMI 1.3 digital interface (1080p/1080i/720p)
• MPEG2, VC-1, H.264, HD JPEG decoding
• BD Java
• HDMI, Component Video, S-Video outputs
• HDMI CEC
• Ethernet port

Via: BusinessWire

Popularity: 12% [?]

Samsung BD-P1400 is currently available with a list price of $500, but selling for less than $300 online. If you are looking for an affordable blu-ray player, the Samsung BD-P1400 is a great choice. On the contrary of what you may think and in spite of the the low price point, this is not a piece of garbage. The player clearly doesn’t have all the most current available technology but it delivers on what it has. It has excellent support for high-resolution audio soundtracks, 1080p output at 24 frames per second, and an Ethernet port for upgrading the firmware. We can vouch for solid image quality on Blu-ray discs.

As mentioned before the BD-P1400 does not have the latest and greatest. It only supports Blu-ray Profile 1.0, which means it will NOT play some special features such as Bonus View (PiP) and BD-Live. But overall, the BD-P1400 represents something buyers have been longing for: an affordable, standalone Blu-ray player without a deal-breaking flaw.

The good: Great image quality on Blu-ray movies; terrifc soundtrack support with onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD High Resolution and bitstream output for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio; relatively low price compared to other standalone Blu-ray players

The bad: Only Blu-ray Profile 1.0 compliant, so it will not play some bonus features on some newer discs; below-average performance with 1080p output at 24 frames per second; some annoying small operational issues.

The bottom line: The Samsung BD-P1400 delivers a mostly capable Blu-ray player at an affordable price.

Compatibility

• Playback Media- BD-ROM/DVD-ROM/DVD-R/DVD-RW/Audio CD/CD-R/CD-RW
• Playback Formats- VC-1/MPEG2/H.264/HD JPEG/MP3

Specs

• DVD Upconversion of 1080p
• Dolby Digital Decoder
• DTS Decoder
• Dolby Digital Plus Decoder
• 1.0 Profile
• HDMI CEC
• Composite Video Outputs
• Component Video Outputs
• S-Video Outputs
• 1.3 HDMI Outputs
• Optical Digital Audio Outputs
• Coaxial Digital Audio Outputs
• Analog Audio Outputs
• Network (for SW Upgrades only)

Popularity: 12% [?]

Samsung BD-UP5000 is a duo HD player, which means it plays both Blu-ray as well as HD-DVD discs. This is a great solution for those who made the mistake of buying the wrong format before the war was over and now are stuck with HD-DVD movies! Not many duo players were released and I am sure pretty soon they will be discontinued. So if you are one of those people stuck with HD-DVD, I would suggest to get moving and buying one (Only if you don’t plan on throwing your defunct discs as Frisbees out of the window of course!). Warning: Make sure you read all the specs thoroughly as this player won’t play BD-E or BD-RE. Also make sure to read more about the player because from my research it needs a firmware update to work properly.

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Compatibility

• Playback Media BD-ROM, HD DVD, DVD-ROM, DVD-R
• Playback Formats MPEG2, VC-1, H.264, HD JPEG decoding

Specs

• A/V Quality DVD Upconversion- Selectable DVD upconversion via HQV
• Dolby Dital Decoder
• Dolby Digital Plus Decoder
• DTS HD Decoder
• Dolby True HD Decoder
• HDMI CEC
• 1 Composite Video Output
• 1 Component Video Output
• 1 S-Video Outputs
• HDMI Output 1.3
• 1 Optical Digital Audio Output
• 1 Coaxial Digital Audio Outputs

Popularity: 13% [?]