Evolution at Work

Having been invited over to a friend's for a movie night this weekend, I got the chance to have a firsthand look at one of the more actively evolving Blu-ray players on the market today.  While it was formerly considered expensive for its feature list, this Blu-ray has gotten most of the promised add-ons and is now, in its adolescence, a much better value than its former childhood self.  And although the PS3 still holds the title of best Blu-ray player on the market, and perhaps even best Blu-ray value on the market, this player and its foreshadowing of future Samsung players suggests that Sony might have some real competition in the near future, if not right here and now.

The outside of the player is archetypal minimalist.  The box itself is a narrow swath of black with only the most Spartan punches of color.  From across the room, the unit looked so cool that I could imagine the fingers handling it leaving their shrinking patches of condensation with each manipulation - perhaps a drawback, but certainly an argument between my left and right hemispheres.  The entire face of the unit is comprised of just three buttons, a Samsung logo, the Blu-ray logo, the disc drawer, and the arguably non-existent display screen.  The three buttons on the front are the power, eject, and the on-unit controls which allow one to play, stop, and advance the disc.  Beyond and behind the face the overall size of the unit is smaller than some of the other Blu-ray players that I have seen and would certainly require the top spot (and perhaps deservedly so), or perhaps its own shelf, in any A/V cabinet.

One of the biggest drawbacks of this evolving player is the failure of its remote to significantly do the same alongside.  This is, I believe, almost the exact same remote that ships with most of the other Samsung Blu-ray players.  While I imagine that this cuts down on costs on both ends of the market, I wish that growth had occurred here as delightfully as it has with the player itself.  Nevertheless, the remote is a solid performer.  It has plenty of buttons and perhaps more than is really required for the overall minimalist aesthetic.  The basic player controls are located in the lower third of the remote - right under the comfort position on the hand grip.  Other buttons, including volume controls, are located just above and well within easy reach.  One of the nicer features on this remote, although not done in a language I speak, is the Braille-like pattern located adjacent to the keys of importance.  Until there is a Rosetta stone program for Braille, I probably won't be able to confirm anything, but the detail in these bas-reliefs leads me to believe that Samsung may have actually gone so far as to be authentic in their tactile descriptors.  Even without understanding the language, the differentiation offered by these nubs allows for entirely single-fingered operation (even without the context of your hand around the remote) and is a smart, although perhaps not altogether necessary, improvement.

Setup of the player is on par with most other players in that it can be as simple as two wires.  There is no need to plug in anything other than the power cord and the now all-powerful HDMI cable for high definition sound and video.  With these two, you are ready to go.  I would strongly recommend that you plug in an Ethernet cable for reasoning to be discussed later.  Other than that there is nothing that must be done.  As is common amongst electronics of this type, this player falls into the even-my-grandmother-can-install-it category.

For those not into the HDMI craze or those possessing TV/receivers without HDMI input, there are some other options for output.  Analog out is limited to component or composite for video and RCA for audio out.  Of course, composite out is limited to standard definition but it does give you something to think about when considering the person that buys an HDTV and a Blu-ray player and then chooses to save a bit and reuse his old composite video cables.  Perhaps it is a hedge against the falling markets and our ability to both pay off TV debts and cable debts - those that choose to default on their HDMI payments may still have enough credit cards to bounce around their HDTV imbursements and may want some use of out their well planned investment.

It is with the above mentioned Ethernet connection that this player has done the bulk of its growing.  The unit is able to update its firmware via this connection and has done so quite pleasingly.  In its infancy this player was not Profile 2.0 compliant and had some difficulties with certain discs.  Following a river of updates, this player is now able to accomplish what it could not before.  While this merely brings this player up to speed with most other players on the market, the history of improvement makes a future of improvement a tantalizing possibility.  Although the same prospects are shared by certain other Blu-ray products, the particular method of update, via Ethernet, makes it far more tangible than those insisting on burned-disc-based updates.

The most important part of any device in this category is its ability to play back discs at high quality. In this department, the P1500 again shows its colors.  While I was only able to watch a single disc, the owner of the player was able to assure me that even discs that present many players with playback problems (MI3, Ghost Rider, etc.), are of little match for this player.  Careful inspection did show some of the so-called "jagged lines", but the instances were so brief and subtle that they were only noticeable under that heightened level of scrutiny.  The movie that I was privy to see, Iron Man, showed absolutely no problems.  Since this is somewhere around my fifth time watching this particular title, I was able to pay particular attention to the playback quality; during my two hours of attentiveness, I failed to observe even a single instance of playback difficulty.

The final area in which I always evaluate any Blu-ray player is the startup time for discs.  While those still in the throes of the DVD revolution are perhaps unaware, we are all in for a jolt if we are expecting the same startup times with Blu-ray as we have had with DVD.  Because of the ever-increasing use of Java scripts to add a bit of schmaltz to Blu-ray menus there is ever-increasing processing power required to run the scripts.  The unchallenged winner in this department is the PS3.  It has more power right now than any other player on the market because of what it requires to run the games it is meant to display.  The processing supplies needed for that task are orders of magnitude beyond what is needed to start a disc and will continue to grow with the complexities of the gaming market.  In that light, there will probably never be a standalone Blu-ray unit that will match the abilities of the PS3.  That being said, as the requirements for game processing evolve, they will do so far faster than those for opening menus on these discs and the cost of that disparity will most likely take the PS3 out of contention in the value category.  That being in the future, and this writing taking place in the present, a comparison is still fair game.  And in that light, the P1500 is a miserable loser with some discs taking 50% more time than those same ones to load on a PS3 (125 seconds versus 90 for PotC 3).  As I have said before in many a review, this just means that rather than refilling your popcorn and visiting the bathroom in a mid-movie break, this is just a chance to do your rituals at the beginning of your viewing.

Overall, like the market, this player is evolving.  It has the potential for some more firmware upgrades should the need arise, and it can handle everything quite well right now without any more of them.  Although this player may not have been a top choice when it first came out because of its big price and small feature list, the reversal of those roles has brought it into the value sphere of the PS3.  It can't do everything that the powerhouse unit from Sony can, but it holds its own for about one third of the price. So unless you can use your PS3 three times as often as the P1500, it may well be one of the best values in the overall market as well as that of the standalones.