Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

I'm aware of the reported problems with some of Samsung's previous Blu-ray players, so I was expecting much less from the BD-P1500 than the stellar performance that I have seen and heard so far.

I picked one up at my local Wal-Mart for only $348.00 + tax. I've owned both Sony and Panasonic Blu-ray players and now own a PS3. Here are my initial thoughts on the Samsung 1500 after playing several discs.

I can confirm that it does bitstream Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD MA to my Yamaha RX-V663 receiver. The picture is gorgeous, certainly as good as and, to my eyes, even a bit sharper than the PS3. I do not have a Blu-ray test disc to actually look at resolution patterns, but it looks very sharp with great colors. My TV is a 60" Sony SXRD.

The biggest surprise? The disc loading times are much faster than I expected. I did not actually time them, but the discs I put in loaded at least as quickly, and, I believe, even more quickly than what I remember the Panasonic BD30 load times were. Even "slow-loading" titles such as Ratatouille loaded in a very acceptable amount of time.

If the BD-P1500 continues to perform this well, I'm considering returning my somewhat noisy PS3 and keeping the Samsung.

I'm looking forward to other reviews that would verify or nullify my observations, especially about the load times.

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

Jay,

Are you refering to the PS3 as noisey due to sound noise (ie: fans etc.) or noisey picture?

Also, how does this Samsung stack up in upconverting SD-DVDs?

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

Hi Scott,

I was refering to the fan noise from the PS3.

I've only had time to look at one SD-DVD, so it's difficult to judge, but I'd say it looked at least as good as on the PS3. Of course it's all somewhat subjective.

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

Does it internally decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD MA? If it does, I just may invest in it.

Thanks.

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

It internally decodes and also bitstreams Dolby TrueHD. It only bitstreams DTS HD MA. As seems to be the pattern, internal DTS HD MA decoding is promised in a future firmware upgrade.

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

Does it have MCH analogue outputs for audio?

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

No, it does not have MCH analogue outputs.

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

As long as it can be added in a future update, doesn't sound bad at all.

Thanks.

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

Does it forcibly stretch 4:3 SD-DVDs like the 5000 does?

Doug

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

Am I missing something here? I thought this player wasn't coming out until June.

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

Wow, I didn't know some players did that. That would be a deal breaker for me. I know it is off topic, but does the PS3 do this?

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

As far as I know many DVD players when used with most widescreen HD displays upscaling 4:3 frame DVD's, the result is the picture is stretched. Play the DVD at 480 and the aspect ratio should be correct and I assume that is the case with the Samsung BD-UP5000 and BD-P1500. I know it is with my BD-P1200. I don't know whether the blame is on the display or the player, but there are always ways around it. I have never watched a 4:3 DVD stretched and I own the PS3 and the BD-P1200.

Chris

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

Play the DVD at 480 and the display shouldn't stretch. Also some displays have the ability to take the incoming upscaled HD signal and maintain 4:3 aspect ratio. You probably won't find any big issue with not upscaling 4:3 DVD's.

Chris

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

Please answer me this.............

The Samsung 1400 decodes AND streams DD True HD BUT,
the Samsung 1500 does NOT decode DD True HD ???

Is that right??

Thanks !!

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

The Samsung 1500 DOES decode and bitstream Dolby TrueHD.

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

I hope you're right, but I have seen 3 charts at various websites that show it as streaming, but not decoding DD TrueHD.

They all show it as decoding DD+ & DTS HR, but streaming only DDTrueD & DTS MA.

Since I need the decoding for my older reciever, I now need to see a review or revews that show that it at least decodes the DD TrueHD. I mean they are selling them at some Wal-marts already & I'd snap one up at $348 if it did the decoding.
i can't beleive some lucky folks have them and I still haven't see a review!

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

Now I'm reading at another site that it DOES decode DD TrueHD----IN TWO Channel !!!!!

Please somebody review this!!!

Thanks.

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

In the manual, it states that by setting the audio output to PCM "You can enjoy Primary, Secondary and Effect audio together. You can also enjoy Dolby TrueHD sound even if your receiver cannot decode Dolby TrueHD". It does not specify if this is 2 channel or 5.1 channel Dolby TrueHD. Boy, Samsung needs a rewrite to make their manuals clearer!

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

Most of those articles that I've seen that say it doesn't decode the True Hd were from several months ago. Most of those charts were based on those articles and it seems that perhaps some things have changed since then.

Maybe once Samsung actually gets the 1500 on their website, things might be a bit clearer.

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

Thanks guys very thorough, but the wording of the manual seems phrased carefully to avoid saying that it decodes TrueHD in 5.1...........why would they phrase it that way if it decoded it in full 5.1 glory?

I'm a little more worried, that I'll have to wait for the Sony 350 or 550 to get DD TrueHD decoding rather than call around to every Wal-mart right now!

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

If the player properly output the DVD at the correct AR, you wouldn't need to change the settings. Most players do it properly, including DVD players I've owned over the past few years.

Back to my question: does the 1500 do it right?

Thanks,
Doug

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

No; the PS3 outputs 4:3 correctly. Other Samsung models don't (including 1400 and 5000).

Doug

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

I've tried a couple of 4:3 SD DVDs in the Samsung 1500, specifically, Criterion's "The Third Man" and Universal's "Cocoanuts". They both display in the correct 4:3 aspect ratio on my Sony SXRD. They are not stretched. I have the 1500 set to output 1080p via HDMI.

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

Another Marx Bros. fan! Thanks for the response, Jay.

Doug

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

My comment was in response to your statement that the BD-UP5000 results in a stretched 4:3 DVD. I believe that issue is display dependent anyway as many (maybe most) HD displays expect a 16:9 format when receiving a 720p or 1080i signal. With a display that does this, it may be the only way to overcome it is to send a 480 signal from the player. I don't know if the BD-P1500 has the ability to overcome the issue or not but I know I can send an upscaled 4:3 signal from my BD-P1200 and my Philips 30" CRT displays it at the correct aspect ratio and my Panasonic PT-AE900U does not so I output 480 with the AE900U to avoid stretching.

I doubt that most upscaling DVD players pillar box 4:3 DVD's upscaled for displays that stretch the signal otherwise, I would bet most do not.

Chris

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

I don't know if most players pillarbox 4:3 or not, but three of them that I've owned do it properly: Pioneer 59AVi, PS3, and Oppo 980H. We shouldn't have to change the AR of the player or display for different types of SW.

The major issue that I have w/ the flaw in the 5000 is that neither changing the player settings nor changing the display's AR works for me. Changing the output of the 5000 to 4:3 or to 480 doesn't have any effect; changing the TV to 4:3 squashes the image to a 4:3 window, but not properly. The edges are cut off and the image is still slightly stretched.

Chris, I know you're trying to help, but this is a valid issue and can't be dismissed as a workaround for everyone. It should be addressed by the player manufacturers. Samsung has told us that it's not an issue and they won't fix it w/ the 5000, but they apparently thought it was enough of an issue to change their design for the 1500.

Regards,
Doug

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

Well the Best Buy site clearly states that the 1500 decodes TrueHD in TWO CHANNEL.
So, probably, that settles that.

Funai/Magnavox no analog out and quality a gamble to spend $298.
Samsung 1500 $400 no TrueHD/DTS MA decoding.
Panasonic BD50 $700
Pioneer 'budget' models $600 & $800 & require firmware update for DTS MA decoding.

I guess my last chance for 2008 is Sony 350 or 550 if they can keep the price $500 & under.

Who'd bet they will?

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

I am not disagreeing that the issue is something that is important to you or others, I am sure it is. I only responded to your comment that you can't get the BD-UP5000 to display 4:3 DVD's without stretching. I am certain I could with my displays and just offered the way I do it with the BD-P1200. I also own about a dozen other upscaling DVD players including several from Samsung including some that utilize the feature they call EZ View so I have a lot of experience with this annoying issue which is the reason I disagreed with your comment that most players overcome the issue without changing a setting. If Samsung has improved the BD-P1500 design so your display can accept a 4:3 input and automatically not stretch, then that is important of course and I never stated otherwise.

Chris

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

We agree, then. I love you! Isn't this getting a little sentimental?

Seriously, thanks for clarifying, and I apologize if I misunderstood.

Doug

Re: Samsung BD-P1500 - Pleasantly Surprised!

To anybody who owns this model...............

Any chance you could post an image of the rear hookups ????

really would be helpful..........thanks.