IFA 2007: Samsung Blu-ray Players and Home Cinema
HomeIFA 2007: Samsung Blu-ray Players and Home Cinema
Posted September 10, 2007 11:30 AM by Webmaster
Samsung, which featured Blu-ray products throughout most of their displays, also had one of the most diverse line-ups of Blu-ray products at the show, including multiple Blu-ray players, a Blu-ray home theater system as well as a dual-format player.
Samsung's BD-P1400 Blu-ray player, which is their new entry-level player, features 1080p/24, HDMI 1.3, HDMI-CEC, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital+, DTS-HD, BD/DVD/CD playback, 5.1-channel surround sound, as well as an Ethernet port for firmware upgrades. The BD-P2400 model comes with all the same features as the BD-P1400, but in addition offers 7.1-channel surround sound and a HQV video processor to enhance the upscaling capability of the player. The BD-P1400 and BD-P2400 will be released in the US in October for $549 and $649 respectively. As for Europe, the two players will be introduced later this year for €599 and €699 respectively.
Despite the market for dual-format high-definition disc players only representing 2-3% of the overall HD player market Samsung felt compelled to introduce a dual-format player, perhaps as a response to South Korean arch-rival LG's introduction of the BH100 earlier this year. The BD-UP5000 Duo HD player, which supports both Blu-ray and HD-DVD, is basically a BD-P2400 with HD-DVD support added to it. We spent some time talking to a Samsung representative and were able to confirm that the BD-UP5000 will support Profile 1.1 (picture-in-picture functionality), but unfortunately we weren't able to get a definitive answer about the other players. The BD-UP5000 Duo HD Player will be released in Q4 2007 and will retail for $999.
We also checked out Samsung's HT-BD2 Blu-ray Home Theater System, which comes complete with an 1,100-watt receiver and a 7.1-channel surround speaker system (five tower speakers, two rear satellites and a powered sub). Similarly to the BD-P2400 it offers 7.1-channel surround sound, but lacks the HQV video processor for upscaling. It's also worth mentioning that the player comes in a new design and has a completely different look than the other Blu-ray players. The HT-BD2 Blu-ray Home Theater System will be available in the US in Q4 2007 for $1,499.
After spending some time talking to Samsung representatives about Blu-ray we were lucky enough to be treated to a screening of Samsung's new 1080p single-chip DLP projector the SP-A800B by none other than Joe Kane. He's been been working together with Samsung as a consultant and helped them with the development of the projector for the past couple of years. He was very excited to tell us about the projector and show the picture quality. To start things off he showed us some test-patterns to demonstrate that the projector was able to show the tiniest details down to each individual line and pixel perfectly and true to the original. However, it wasn't until he started playing Phantom of the Opera that we realized just how impressive the picture truly was and it left us wanting to take it back home with us. The projector should be on the market later this year for €5,999 and Joe feels that for this quality at this price Samsung is practically giving the projector away.
Samsung's BD-P1400 Blu-ray player, which is their new entry-level player, features 1080p/24, HDMI 1.3, HDMI-CEC, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital+, DTS-HD, BD/DVD/CD playback, 5.1-channel surround sound, as well as an Ethernet port for firmware upgrades. The BD-P2400 model comes with all the same features as the BD-P1400, but in addition offers 7.1-channel surround sound and a HQV video processor to enhance the upscaling capability of the player. The BD-P1400 and BD-P2400 will be released in the US in October for $549 and $649 respectively. As for Europe, the two players will be introduced later this year for €599 and €699 respectively.
Despite the market for dual-format high-definition disc players only representing 2-3% of the overall HD player market Samsung felt compelled to introduce a dual-format player, perhaps as a response to South Korean arch-rival LG's introduction of the BH100 earlier this year. The BD-UP5000 Duo HD player, which supports both Blu-ray and HD-DVD, is basically a BD-P2400 with HD-DVD support added to it. We spent some time talking to a Samsung representative and were able to confirm that the BD-UP5000 will support Profile 1.1 (picture-in-picture functionality), but unfortunately we weren't able to get a definitive answer about the other players. The BD-UP5000 Duo HD Player will be released in Q4 2007 and will retail for $999.
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Blu-ray Home Cinema System |
Samsung's Blu-ray Home Theater System HT-BD2 | ||
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| Home Cinema demo |
Samsung's BDP-2400 Blu-ray player |
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Four different home theater setups, all featuring a BDP-1400 for Blu-ray playback |
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Samsung's BDP-1400 Blu-ray player |
CD/DVD/BD combo writer | ||
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Samsung's combo player BD-UP5000 |
SP-A800B demo | ||
We also checked out Samsung's HT-BD2 Blu-ray Home Theater System, which comes complete with an 1,100-watt receiver and a 7.1-channel surround speaker system (five tower speakers, two rear satellites and a powered sub). Similarly to the BD-P2400 it offers 7.1-channel surround sound, but lacks the HQV video processor for upscaling. It's also worth mentioning that the player comes in a new design and has a completely different look than the other Blu-ray players. The HT-BD2 Blu-ray Home Theater System will be available in the US in Q4 2007 for $1,499.
After spending some time talking to Samsung representatives about Blu-ray we were lucky enough to be treated to a screening of Samsung's new 1080p single-chip DLP projector the SP-A800B by none other than Joe Kane. He's been been working together with Samsung as a consultant and helped them with the development of the projector for the past couple of years. He was very excited to tell us about the projector and show the picture quality. To start things off he showed us some test-patterns to demonstrate that the projector was able to show the tiniest details down to each individual line and pixel perfectly and true to the original. However, it wasn't until he started playing Phantom of the Opera that we realized just how impressive the picture truly was and it left us wanting to take it back home with us. The projector should be on the market later this year for €5,999 and Joe feels that for this quality at this price Samsung is practically giving the projector away.