Well, I got the Samsung up and running, but no Blu-ray discs! (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

I played around with it this morning. At first glance I like it better than my RCA HD player as far as the looks of each player. However, I actually prefer the RCA's remote as well as menu selection more. The load time is a little faster on the Samsung.

I played a DVD-R that had a movie I recorded from TCM and both presentations were very similar. I couldn't really tell any difference between the two players with that DVD-R being upconverted to 1080I through the component inputs.

I played one dvd on both players which was the latest release of October Sky and really didn't see any difference between them. Of course, both players won't allow you to upconvert to 1080I unless you use HDMI.

Anyhow, that's my first impressions of the Samsung, I will post some more thoughts as I go along. I'm going to make the rounds and see if I can pick up a Blu-ray disc from somebody. I'll probably won't have any luck doing so, but you never know I might get lucky.







Crawdaddy

 

[Rob_Walton]

Well, be sure to let us know about your experiences with the BD discs when you get hold of them, ok?!

BTW nice idea on the two forums. And please be more rigorous in enforcing your rules than they've been on AVS. That place is shocking at how far it's gone!

 

[Larry Sutliff]

My Samsung player should be arriving today via Fedex. I ordered some Blu-Ray discs from DVD Planet, so I'm looking forward to enjoying the format. I guess I'll have to eat lots of peanut butter sandwiches for the next week. This hobby sure gets expensive!

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Mine gets here on Monday, unless Fedex surprises me today (it has been known to happen). But with no media until next week, it won't much matter on the HD evaluation. As for upconverting, I have a highlights disc which should do the job. and I think I'll make a backup (cough) of a certain Superbit title and do an A/B against the maligned HD transfer that all of five people seem to have seen but no one seems to like.

In a week we'll all know more, and there will be some reliable reviews of the hardware and software... the waiting is the hardest part!!!

Let me echo Rob's compliment on the new areas... what would really be nice is if the software areas were reborn in the same mold, and then maybe a bitch/moan/debate sub-forum could be created where all the hostility/point-counterpoint/debate B.S. could reside. Just a thought...

- Steve

 

[GlennH]

So, are you saying that the players can upconvert via component video if the source DVD is not copy protected? But commercial DVDs (those with CSS?) will only upconvert with HDCP digital connection (like HDMI)? I'm trying to figure out the mechanism that the player uses to distinguish.

 

[Robert Crawford]

That's correct Glenn.




Crawdaddy

 

[Robert Crawford]

That's the whole motivation behind these two new areas so either format owner can post their thoughts and experiences in a stressfree environment without feeling put upon by negativity and hostility. Also, it will allow those without an agenda to ask pertinent questions about either format to actual HD player owners.






Crawdaddy

 

[Chris S]

I'm pretty sure I know the answer but....

Does it allow any upconversion (720p?) or are you stuck with a 480p image?

 

[Steven Simon]

I'm comming apart at the seams waiting for some Blue Ray DVD's... Terminator seems to be a good PQ demo so far....

 

[Robert Crawford]

It was selling on Amazon for less than $12 and you get another 10% off, if beforehand, you bought three HD discs at one time. I found out that once you made that initial purchase of three HD discs, you will get that same additional 10% off, even if you buy just one disc at a time. A great deal, especially if you're a Prime member and you get free two day shipping by UPS.

Luckily, I'll be very busy on Monday and Tuesday with my real job, therefore, I won't have anytime to play around with my HT setup on those days, thus, I won't be thinking about not having any Blu-ray discs. Hopefully, by Wednesday I'll have some discs to try out.

Today, I'm getting ready to watch the SD DVD of "The Shepherd of the Hills" on the Samsung.





Crawdaddy

 

[Nick]

Did you check Netflix. They have Blu-ray Disc for rental.
Not sure if they only listed there but do not have them for rent yet.

 

[Cees Alons]

Owners of HR-players can talk about software here too.

Other members can ask (honest) questions.
(People trying to disrupt these areas may soon find themselves in the stadium immediately preceding being reborn.)


Cees

 

[Austan]

SOMEONE PLEASE POST SOME HANDS ON REVIEWS!!! I'm dying here!!!

 

[Larry Sutliff]

Ok, I had my first round with a real BD movie on the Samsung. I watched about the first 25 minutes of XXX. First, I'll say the picture was pleasing, definitely better than SD DVD and most of the High Def movies I've seen on cable. The color was nice and there was some depth in the image. However, there are some caveats. The picture had a very "digital" look to it. It didn't have the filmlook of the best HD DVD's, and there was some artifacting on the trees on the road when Vin Deisel was stealing the Senator's car. The party sequence had only ok shadow detail, and the reds were a bit smearier than what I expected on this scene. The diner sequence looked pretty good.
There's no getting around the fact that, at this time, BD is not as good as HD DVD. HD DVD at its best has a gorgeous, tranquil filmlike picture that puts everything else I've ever seen on my television to shame. The BD still has a pretty good picture, but at the moment BD is definitely behind HD DVD in the picture quality department. Soundwise, both are great and I couldn't tell the difference.
Will I be keeping the Samsung? More than likely yes, as I think these problems are mostly software dependent and good releases from Warners and Fox could change everything. Plus, the Samsung is a good player with better ergonomics than the Toshiba(except for that damn hourglass!).

 

[Robert Crawford]

So you made that conclusion based on watching one disc for 25 minutes? I'm going to take my time before I post my thoughts because I want to be careful on what I say about either format. I should have five Blu-ray discs tomorrow. My buddy Steve Simon is going to watch some discs tonight so hopefully, he'll post his initial comments about Blu-ray discs.




Crawdaddy

 

[Larry Sutliff]

You're right, I should have qualified my remarks. It's just that I've lived with HD DVD for over two months and have watched around 20 titles, and XXX just had a much more digitized look to it that reminded me more of Comcast On Demand than it did HD DVD.
I've got two other movies, UNDERWORLD EVOLUTION and HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, with TERMINATOR on the way. I plan on making some time to watch at least two of them from beginning to end this weekend, and I'll comment some more then. I just wanted to give my initial impressions.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Alas, I have Terminator (thanks for the heads up on the ridiculously low price) but no Blu-ray player (except the DOA unit in the box). This is killing me. Crawdaddy, you are a patient man... I would have been hitting the stores today for more had the player been racked and rolling.

(The good news is that most orders from Amazon Prime are overnight for me, even with the 2-day option, so once I have a working player, I'll be in with the movies.)

- Steve

 

[Paul_Scott]

Larry, those qualities are consistent with what I have seen of two other titles on various displays.
You really don't have to watch for more than a few minutes to realize the differences between represenatives of both formats.

Underworld, Terminator, and 50 First Dates so far have the best reviews and should look closer to the quality of the median HD DVD content

 

[Robert Crawford]

Well, I guess it depends on who's doing the watching and on what HT setup which is why I'll make any judgement about Blu-ray after doing the same for myself.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...0&postcount=49





Crawdaddy

 

[Bill Hunt]

I'll be curious to see what you think, Robert. So far, I've watched Crash, Lord of War, Terminator and Fifth Element. The two Lionsgate titles look pretty great. Terminator is good, Fifth Element is terrible.

But I'm seeing a couple of problems with the Samsung - a scaling problem at 1080i resolution (not seen at 720p, or on HD-DVD at any resolution), and a slight studdering problem, where the video image seems to hesitate for just a fraction of a second every couple seconds on some titles, Lord of War in particular.

Overall though, I'm much more impressed with the 25+ HD-DVD titles I've watched so far in terms of picture quality. Plus, they generally have much or even all of the standard DVD bonus features included. I need to watch more Blu-ray titles, but I'm not blown away so far... and I'm surprised by that, because I've always felt that Blu-ray looked like the better format on paper at least, given all the studio support, the disc space, tech specs, etc.

I'll be very curious to know what you think.