The Official Samsung BD-P1500 Owner's Thread

I just picked this up as well from Best Buy. I may return it because it is $50 cheaper at Walmart although no stock yet in NC. The player looks really nice. It is very slim with a dim front which I like. I am not a big fan of bright blue lights, etc on my players.

Most importantly the player reads discs quickly. No glitches so far with 3 movies. I am bitstreaming audio to an Onkyo 805 and it works as advertised.

Doesn't BestBuy pricematch? Trashing players (that's what returning does) to get a better price just drives up the price for everyone.

I finally found one at a Best Buy in Georgia. I came from a BD-P1200 so only had one way to go. I actually think this is a good player for the money. Picture quality seems better then the 1200 and I can now decode audio which the 1200 would not bitstream to my AVR5308CI. I have a flash drive to hook up this weekend to see how well that will work though until the firmware is out I am not sure if it will recognize it.
So far thumbs up...

+ 1,000 !

Posted this in another thread:

Bitstream DTS HDMA and Dolby THD: yes
480i resolution via HDMI: no (can do 480i over component )
Upconversion about the same as I have seen from the BD30, S300, LG BH200= average.

When having the 8.8 do the upconversion via the Reon, there is a noticeable difference.

Load times are on par with what has already been mentioned. Pretty strong.

No resume play.

2 channel analog out.

No handshake issues with the 8.8.

a-b comparison with the LG BH200 PQ wise is almost identical for BR.


Others have reported that the resume play worked on their player. The 2 movies I tested resume play did not work.

Oh, I am overall very happy so far. Bummed about no 480i over HDMI, but oh well.

I am waiting for the sony s350. Please post more reviews on this unit I appreciate it, I might just settle with the sammy. This unit is 1.1 compliant isnt it? just like the bd30?
please keep it coming.

Thanks,
Peter

Sorry for the newbie question but:

When you say bummed out with 480i over hdmi? do you mean this thing dont upconvert to 1080p if I play sd dvd and connected via hdmi?

what connection are you talking about with 480i?

It is "BD live ready". Supposedly a FW will make it 2.0 also.

The unit is 1.1 plus it has an ethernet port so it has future BD Live functionality (via firmware).

Resume play depends on the disc. I believe java enabled discs will not resume, but someone can correct me if I am wrong.

Part of that spec is 1GB onboard memory. What does this unit have?

The player does upconvert SD DVD to 1080p. Typically, when using an external scaler (usually one better than the scaler in the player) the best way to get the signal to the external scaler is via HDMI, and in 480i.

The reason for this is typically the external scaler will not only do a better job scaling the picture, but it will do a better job deinterlacing the picture too.

Hope that makes sense.

I think you need to bring your own 1GB.

I think you are correct.

Is that means I can connect my old Iscan dvdo external scaler via composite video cable or s-video to s-video or composite video to sammy 1500 and I might get a better upconversion in sd dvd movies?

Like this scenario?

sammy 1500 to Iscan dvdo via s-video and then my Iscan dvdo to my hd1000u via vga cable?

Thanks,
Peter

These are the main reason I am waiting for the s350 due to the possible firmware upgrade for the 2.0, This is good know. I might just get this one instead of the s350, I am tired of waiting.....

Thanks,
Peter

At that point you are also adding a D/A conversion (in the player), and an A/D conversion (in the scaler) that wouldnt be there if the player allowed you to simply output 480i via HDMI to an HDMI equipped scaler.

Long story short, you would have to try the scenario you suggested to see if it gives you better upconversion than the player itself. Does that scaler upscale to 1080p? My guess would be your scenario would not yield better results, but it is strictly a guess.

The scenario I am more specifically referring to is outputting from the player at 480i via HDMI to a DTR 8.8 (for example) and let the 8.8 use its Reon scaler to scale the video, and then send it to the projector.

1. It is all done in the digital domain (less D/A and A/D conversions)
2. The Reon is a better scaler for 1080p than the one in the Sammy

I believe the s350 will also require a FW upgrade to be 2.0.

Not sure about that though. I thought I read the s550 would be 2.0 out of the box and the s350 would be released earlier, but need a FW update for 2.0 compliance.

FYI- i finally got to play with the 1500 some more. The sd-dvd upconversion seems to be pretty good. I compared it to my Toshiba HD-A30. It actually seemed a little "cleaner" to me then the Toshiba.

Also, after playing more of my blu-ray discs I can definately say the PQ is much better then the first gereration Philips I have.

Yes the s350 will also require a FW upgrade to be 2.0 but since the 1500 is now out and at the same price msrp with s350 (400.00) I might just get the 1500 and I will wait till our bestbuy local willl have it available so I can use my giftcard and reward zone cert.

Nice I have the hd a30 I will be doing the comparison myself when I get my 1500. Thanks for sharing the info.

Peter,

Man, I've been waiting for the war to end so I could finally jump in!

I picked up the 1500 tonight at a Best Buy in South Charlotte and got them to price match a Wal Mart near me that has them in stock. I would have just bought it at Wal Mart, but I had some Best Buy gift cards from Christmas.

I am coming from an old dvd player using an s-video connection so this is quite a step up. LOL.

I have a two channel system so I am using the analog outs for audio and can't answer any of the TrueHD / DTS questions.

On my way home I picked up Casino Royale at Blockbuster and the 1500 loaded it pretty quickly and had no problems playing it.

Even with the analog outs I noticed better audio on the Blu Ray disc vs. a dvd.

Anyone test out if or how the BonusView button work yet?

Turn it on/off with a BD like RE:E (Under the Umbrella: PiP).

And to verify if it aint 2.0 already, try the Walk Hard BD which has a BD-Live feature.

just curious...

Welcome to hidef Now go get yourself an Onkyo 605/606 and enjoy real hidef audio..

I picked up the 1500 at Walmart yesterday, hooked it up and watched a little of Stargate BD, stopped it and turned it off. Today I turned it on and it resumed play right where I stopped it.

what kind of loading times and compatibility issues have people had so far?

Still can't decide on whether I should get rid of the PS3 and replace it with a standalone.

This title don't use java.. but standart 256 color limit menu system..

Looking at the manual, there seems to be no fan at the back of this unit..

Can owners confirm that this player has NO fans ?