Reading first impressions of Samsung player in US (1 Viewer)

[Dave H]

I agree. Besides, how many times over the years have we read about the great specs of a CE only to see it not perform as well as one would expect?

 

[orestes]

I am not an expert, but this weekend I saw the blu-ray samsung player, and I was not impressed by the picture. I was only able to see house of the flying daggers, a movie I own on DVD, and I could not see any picture quality beyond what I remember when I watched the DVD version of this movie in my Toshiba HD TW40X81 unit.

I guess I will not be buying either the Toshiba HD-DVD or Blu-ray players any time soon.

Sorry, but I just walked into Sony Style at Metreon in San Francisco, and I saw a Sony Blu-ray player displaying some demos. However, I was not impressed either by the quality of the picture on the screen. I wish they had a DVD player in synch with the Blu-ray player in two different screens to do a more objective comparison. Anyway, I don't think there is a lot here to make me buy either a Sony, Samsung, or Toshiba player any time soon. Sorry if I repeat myself.

Regards,
orestes
P.S. I will not even buy the $600 PS3 until sometime at the end of 2007!!!

 

[Lew Crippen]

The demo I saw on the Samsung yesterday, did have a side-by-side comparison on several shots.

Buy or not buy==obviously up to you and what you see, but you might want to look at the demo before you decide that there is no difference (that you can detect).

 

[TedD]

I saw it yesterday too. Another simulated demo. If you think the DVD side was an accurate representation of actual DVD quality, I have a bridge for sale at a real good price.

Seriously, the Samsung split screen demo's representation of DVD quality makes the Toshiba split screen demo that some were criticizing look much more believable.

Ted

 

[Dave Moritz]

IMHO if you want to have a credible and accurate demo that shows the differnece between a new format and the previous one. You need to have both players hooked up to identical video monitors. I am not a fan of the simulated demo that shows the differnece between formats.

 

[Ryan-G]

Well all,

I saw the Samsung BR player at BB today. It was hooked up to a Samsung 40" 1080p LCD screen, though I didn't see what connections were used.

It was running what looked to be a Demo disc, started with a band, went to a display of "Features" like slide shows. I walked away for a bit at this point, and returned to catch a trailer for Manchurian Canidate and then Sahara.

The Band scene was hit and miss, some portions looked just like SD DVD, others looked so-so high-def, I could see details I'm not used to seeing, but the HD-DVD demos were clearer.

The Manchurian Canidate was a little better, I could tell the whole thing was High-def, but again much of it still looked a little...blurred. Some parts like a zoom in on someone's hand were incredibly clear, but most of it was blurred.

Then the Sahara demo came up. Again, High-def but looked blurred. Again, some parts were crystal clear, but they were fast moving shots with little going on in the shot.

I admit, the HD-DVD demo is more impressive. What I saw today wasn't all that great. I'm assuming it's from the use of MPeg2, but have no way of knowing for sure. I'm still leaning towards BR, for a large variety of reasons, but I want to see what it does with VC1 before I make a purchase. If I had to do it today, I'd go HD-DVD, but VC1 compression on BR may push me back over to BR.

 

[Grant H]

If you haven't been back to the Bits to see the follow-ups on the Samsung, I HIGHLY suggest you do so. I'm really glad there has been such excellent follow-through since I know the first impressions created a bit of a shockwave.

All is not lost. Also, look to Dave Boulet's posts for some rather even-handed looks at HD-DVD and BluRay quality.

From what I've read, MPEG2 has little to nothing to do with the problems and it's mostly problems with the Samsung itself (the HDMI output) and some shoddily mastered titles that are marring the format's reception.

Sounds like BluRay can (and in some cases does right now) look just as good as HD-DVD, but hardware problems and some lackluster software are disguising that fact. You have to know what to play and how to play it.

Sad that there are these setbacks, but there's nowhere to go but up. I think HD-DVD is soaring pretty good right now, but if BluRay's wings mend, it can go the distance.

DVDs took years to evolve into the quality we take for granted now, and even today some of the software is disappointing in quality. My guess is HD-DVD is going to be very, very nice from the get go, but BluRay has the potential to get better and better over time just like our beloved DVD. HD-DVD can no doubt improve as well, but it's set to reach its maximum potential quicker. I don't wish either format a quick death because both need time to prove themselves. BluRay just has to hit its stride while it has a chance to do so if I'm to be proven correct.

The fact it's competing with crippled discs right now (single layer, possibly not even the whole surface used) says something. When the dual-layer discs start being replicated ok that will make life a lot easier. They're not even using the more efficient codecs yet and STILL it can look great.

It might take some care to see the forest through the trees, but it could be worth it in the end.

And could I USE more metaphors and cliche's today?

 

[Paul_Scott]

I dunno, Grant- I'm just not seeing the benefit of having Bd impeding the adoption of an HD standard while it takes its time getting its act together so that someday, possibly, it can "go to 11". The concensus seems to be that HD DVD delivers the best HD people have seen so far- and yet that doesn't seem to be good enough for most people? HD DVD may only marginally improve over the years (having started out at a higher level of quality and consistency to begin with) and that's somehow seen a negative compared to the spoiler competiton which has a farther way to go to improve (and prove) itself.
But one simple fact seems to be forgotten- Once dvd and Mpeg2 matured, it then became more a matter of what each studio brought to the table in regards to transfers and resotration/element care that made the most difference in the end product. On the one hand you have Warner taking pains with original elements to take the time and expense to provide a digital restoration (ala the Ultra resolution titles) and then on the other you have Sony taking a worn, unrestored From Here To Eternity, giving it a DTS track, stripping the disc of extras and calling it a superbit.
The potential may be there in the future, but until it is realized Bd is big "whatever" to me- and worse, it's an impediment to something that is actually high quality and actually here now. And what difference will al l the extra space and higher bit rate potential make if a given studio releases transfers from lousy elements with the justification that a double dip is inherent at some point anyway?

suppose none of this really has anything to do with the actual subject of the thread though...

 

[Roger Mathus]

I have the Samsung player and 11 Blu-ray titles. For the past three days I have spent considerable time viewing the discs and making minor adjustments to my system. Overall, I am quite pleased with the result.

My system:

Marantz DV12-S2 Projector
Stewart Firehawk 8 ft screen
Theta Cassanova Processor
Krell amps
Marantz DV 9500 upconverting DVD player
Samsung Blu-ray Player
M&K THX 150 speaker system

The Marantz player, with its many set-up options, connected to the Marantz projector makes even less than the best standard DVDs look good. Blu-ray output easily exceeded the best standard DVDS.

HDVI vs Component.........At 1080i setting I can see little to no difference in picture quality

Loading.......no loading problems with any of the 11 discs

Dropouts..........none detected on any disc based upon chapter by chapter sampling

Disc Evaluation......They vary with I think the quality difference based upon source material or mastering. I detected no digital artifacts or edge problems.

Sound.....the Lions Gate have both DTS and DD options. Sound level required nlttle or no adjustment when goingg from normal DVDs to the Blu-ray discs. T2, however, was slightly lower. T2 is THX certifed with a killer THX lead in.
On the Sony discs, I could not get the PCM 5.1 uncompressed to deliver 5.1. My Theta processed it as Stereo and selected Matrix. I called Theta and they indicated I would only get 5.1 out of it from the analog outs. Digital 5.1, they said, would be later after HDMI 1.3 is finalized and chip sets made available.
I don't have the analog board in my Theta so could not verify.

General Picture Quality (after tweks to my system)
- Very vivid color
- Almost no background noise on most content
- excellent blacks and shadow detail
- Sharpness & detail varied by scene and disc from superb to very good but always better than standard DVD upconverted. Fifth Element, in particular, had too many soft scenes.

Player Operation........I have found absolutely no glitches or functions that don't work. Operation is easy and set up went well. From out of box to 1080i delivery in 5 minutes. Out of the box, the default is to 720p. Easy to change mode at the player.

Best Buy demo.....the local Best Buy has player connected by HDMI to Samsung 1080p 40 inch LCD set. Picture was beautiful but the demo disc with lots of different material has some problem I think not related to Blu-ray or the hardware. Chicken Little was incredible but some clips were soft and I saw a few artifacts in one clip. I was surprised that they would use a less than perfect demo disc. It appeard that the Best Buy employees had been well trained on the Blu-ray player.

Upconversion of Std DVDs.......Based upon limited checks, I could not tell much difference from the expensive Marantz 9500.

BOTTOM LINE.........I have experienced no problems and I am very impressed with most discs after I tweked my projector settings.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Roger,
Great review and very happy that you're pleased with your Blu-ray player. I'm having a blast watching HD discs in both formats as I spend more time with my HT than I have in many months.




Crawdaddy

 

[rodney_g]

The demo disc I saw at BestBuy was very poor. Chicken Little had big square artifacts, almost like tiling which I haven't seen before but in local ota HD feeds. They were most noticeable on dark green backgrounds. When the picture had bright colors, it looked pretty good. They were playing it on a 60" DLP Samsung display. Don't know what the resolution of the display was, but they tried both 1080i and 1080p output from the BD Player, both with same results.

 

[TonyD]

best buy i saw this in had the player hooked up to a samsung was about 40 inches or so.

i cant really give a good thought on it though because the color and bright was pumped up and the menu was locked out so i couldnt adjust it.