Included Accessories

• Samsung BD-E6100 Blu-ray Player
• User manual
• Remote Control – Remocon TM1241
• Battery

Design & Connectivity

Guess Samsung doesn’t really need to be taught how to make decks and their last year’s BD-D5500 would be a perfect proof to this statement, which went on to prove that you don’t really pay through your nose for some latest and happening features like streaming media, Wi-Fi or internet content etc. And if we remember right, it indeed was a fabulous deck that was worthy of every penny spent, together with few of other Samsung decks unveiled in 2011 that were categorised as good value for money. Well, the trend seems to continue in 2012 too.

The BD-E6100 Blu Ray Player would cost you roughly somewhere around £130 and is equipped to play 3D together with most of the features that the BD-E8500 packs (barring a few), which we will get to shortly. For now, let us enlighten you on the player’s design and ports and connectivity which screams out aloud “textbook” Samsung.

This super slim and compact deck comes in an attractive brushed-metal-looking plastic finish and slots into any AV rack without much of fuss. Although at 37-mm it might look to be no great competition for the yet slimmer Panasonic DMP-BDT320 (well, if it really does bother you so much). As with majority of the blu-ray players, yes it is comes in a pitch black finish that has a brushed rotary texture on top. The front panel comes devoid of both the much favoured touch-sensitive display and the disk slot that we saw on the E8500, which has been replaced with a tray that slides out, chunky physical pushes together with a clunky light emitting diode display (now, what else can be expected from a budget player as this). Again, we are not greatly smitten by its light bodywork and it certainly lacks the quality seen in other Samsung decks.

If you think this is basic, wait until we move on to connectivity. So, talking about connectivity, there is a USB port sitting on the far right, in the front panel, that comes in handy with media playback from gadgets like digicams, card readers etc., The rear has been kept relatively sparse with connections like the Ethernet port, coaxial S/PDIF outputs and HDMI; Looks like it does give you a restricted feeling on stuff that can be watched on this Blu-ray player. Well, Samsung’s reasoning to this is many users end up plugging in players into the TV through the legacy analogue video ports and were of the wrong notion that they were watching Full HD. Though we do get the point here, we still think an additional component output wouldn’t really hurt and if anything, would only add to the flexibility. Off note, as the player evidently lacks a second HDMI and multi-channel analogue outs, you are better off having a 3D-capable receiver, if you are looking at enjoying HD audio and 3D content simultaneously. Well, you obviously cannot expect a cheap player to offer 2 USB ports or a SD card slot right?

On the brighter side, the USB port sure does come in handy, particularly with the deck’s incredible support for file formats like DivX, MKV, MOV and XviD that works perfectly seamlessly and so does AVI, MP4 and H.264. Now, if you are someone that hates the cluttering caused by messy wires, or in simple words running an Ethernet cable to the TV, then there is good news for you, all Samsung’s Blu-ray players that is internet-ready now come with an integrated Wi-Fi, no matter what the specification is. Doesn’t this make it perfect to get online, such that the Smart Hub on your Smart TV is at your disposal anywhere anytime?

Interface & Features

Looks like the deck hasn’t go through much of a makeover in terms of interface and for the most part remains unchanged. There is one main screen holding every app that includes your hub for Video storing on-demand services like Netflix, LoveFillm and BBC iPlayer. Then comes the universal search option that rummages practically every app that you may have installed, in an attempt to hunt down all of your video apps from a single box and succeeds in getting the content that you are after.

Moving on to the insides of the BD-E6100, well the deck surprises you big time presenting you with an exciting assortment of connected features that you can toy around with. The vital thing here would be the Wi-Fi onboard that allows you to go online without the need for any USB adapter. Now if you don’t have a Wi-Fi (which is highly impossible in this day and age) there is always the option of using the Ethernet port. Upon being connected, all that remains to be done is punch the Smart Hub key on the remote (there is also an option to do the same via the Home menu) that navigates you into the world of Samsung’s portal where there is a wealth of content waiting to be explored that includes Social Networking, video-on-demand, puzzles and games, internet radio service, so on and so forth together with some additional 2012 signature services.

Check out the new 3 zones in the Smart Hub, namely Kids, Fitness and Family Story. Kids puts together a handful of cartoons, games and puzzles that keeps your tiny tots glued to the set – all of which is presented in an apt lively and loud menu.  Fitness is a Wii Fit-style equivalent that presents you with an array of fitness regime keeping you healthy. Though it cannot be compared to Nintendo’s accuracy (owing to the absence of a balance board), it sure is reliable in telling you the calories that you managed to burn successfully depending on the amount of clips that you exercised with. Lastly, the Family Story seems to be the useful of the lot by providing you online storage of your pictures via a Samsung account which you are allowed to share with families and friends (particularly elders who don’t really bother logging into social networking sites), provided they also own a Samsung Product. While installation of most of the content in these zones can happen via the Smart Hub interface itself, this looks to be a yet more convenient way to access things. Additionally, the vivid/breezy animated menus sure does seem to be a lot more fun to toy with.

Samsung seems to have a great taste for content and this only seems to get better by the day with crowd-pleasers like Netflix and BBC iPlayer joining the smart machos like Dailymotion, Picasa and YouTube. While Social networking is taken care of by Twitter, Facebook and Gtalk apps, the other high-brow options like AccuWeather.com, USA Today and This Day in History would be among the rest.

Moving on to Samsung Apps, this is where the entire content available gets stored via bold and chunky UI that is user-friendly too, just choose and install the ones you want. Now if you are not satisfied with Samsung’s selection, go ahead and delve into the net using the browser onboard. Then again, we wouldn’t really recommend doing so, even if you choose to utilize a wireless keyboard or USB mouse, because of the simple fact that you would require enormous patience to work with the arrow cursor in making it to travel around the screen via the pointer browsing method. The same goes true with link browsing too where it simply jumps from one link to another without the need to move the cursor. Trust us, you will have zero tolerance towards its clumsiness/sluggishness and will flee back to your laptop.

Again, the player is DLNA certified and is capable of streaming media content via a PC or other devices. It also allows for files stored in a PC to be accessed via a Smartphone and uses the deck as a renderer. Additionally, the deck doesn’t really rely on you for a Wi-Fi router coverage too, as it supports Wi-Fi Direct, and allows for creation of a peer-to-peer network. On the other hand, with the deck being connected to a router, the Software-enabled Access Point feature permits connection of other devices to the same network via Samsung.

The deck supports an excellent range of formats with playing media either via an USB device or over a network. On the video front, it covers MP4, 3GP, ASF, AVI, VRO, MKV, VOB, TS and PS containers together with WMV, DivX, MPEG-4, XviD, MPEG-1 and 2 codecs. It is also equipped to handle FLAC, MP3, JPEG and WMA.

Thanks to the Allshare feature that has undergone some tweaking, content is pretty much easier to find too, with the AllShare Play. This pulls together all possible content that it can lay its hands on in the network and USB devices into a single place, and lists the content types on the left and the devices connected on the right.

Lastly, the player is capable of piping frame sequential 3D Full HD content to a compatible TV using its v1.4 HDMI connection. Though it lacks any tweaking of manual image (that can be been seen on Panasonic’s players), you are allowed to enter your TV’s size to get optimal images.

Remote Control

Check out the neat menu system, which starts with an attractive Home menu using big animated icons for Settings, Smart Hub and AllShare Play. It is a pleasant experience navigating though the vivid colour palette and the precision of the proper HD graphics is worth mentioning. It holds true for the rest of the key menus too. Though it might not seem as astute as the UI of Panasonic’s decks, yet it is quite hard to not be impressed about the same. There is a neat ergonomic remote with chunky buttons and legible labeling that takes control of everything with smart placement of buttons making your fingers feel right at home.

Performance & operation

Following a seamless and rapid boot-up, the deck runs through a quick check of all vital settings namely, software update, wireless network etc., which happens in  about 15 to 20 mins. The simple and attractive onscreen menus speeds up this process, though you might eventually be annoyed with the software updates that keeps springing every now and then.

Disc loads happen in a blazing speed of 35 to 40 seconds flat, right from the time you close the disc to the time your first video makes its appearance. Picture quality is amazing too. Moving on to the incredible 3D images with the promotional Avatar Blu-ray disc, it is a real feast for the eyes with great attention for minutest detail and a great depth in colours. Images look gorgeous with stuff flying and the kind of emphatic clarity that is rendered together, not to mention the absence of smearing. The hypnotic images look amazingly composed that stretches in the background with little bit of a crosstalk which brings about some disappointment. One cannot help but be dumbstruck with the swaying tree branches and flapping ferns in the foreground and amount of conviction with which all of these dig into the camera.

Now if you wanna get to the conventional 2D, it only gets even better with similar magnificent picture quality. Images are natural and crystal clear. There is a subtlety with shading in places where required together with shadow detailing in darker scenes absolutely clear, such that you do not miss out the action.

Last but not least, the deck handles almost all of the following seamlessly – playing of multimedia files via USB or network, HD MKV files with 1080p video content looks just amazing, Netflix video streaming via Wi-Fi looks to be consistently sharp and smooth together with the player doing a decent job of acting as a CD player as well.

Verdict

The Samsung BD-E6100 is beyond doubt an amazing player packing tons of must-have features, not to mention the Smart Hub portal that has been through a makeover together with couple of new features like the fitness and family stuff that is sure to win over fitness fanatics and the elderly alike. Let us not forget the multimedia support via the USB and DLNA with a neat and slick user-friendly interface. Last but not least what can we say about the 2D and 3D content that is nothing short of amazing. Well, the deck has its own negatives too in terms of sparse connections, a snail-paced web browser, so on and so forth. But guess this shouldn’t really bother users a great deal, especially given its alluring price tag placing the deck into the category of a “full value for money” slot.

Samsung BD-E6100 Blu Ray Disc Player – Technical Specification Table

Accessories/Box Contents

• 1 x Remote control
• 1 x AV cable (RCA type)
• V5 RCU/Battery
• 1 x Nero MediaHome Bundle Disc (LG Edition)
• User Manual
• Quick Start Guide
• Customer Registration Card

Design/Connections

A single glance at the LG BD670 Blu Ray Player makes it glaringly apparent that “Looks aren’t everything.” With rivals like Samsung, Panasonic and Philips attaching much importance to the panache of a spinner, LG prefers to prioritize utility over looks by favouring an absolute no-nonsense form factor. The deck shouts basic by way of a black box that is plain with bare minimum control buttons together with a legible Blu-ray 3D logo on the front. It comes in a lacklustre black finish with no fancy embellishments to it. Again, there are no touch sensitive buttons with a display panel that is barely visible. The disc tray slot is pretty much standard and no slot-loading flashy stuff here with a flimsy and plastic-y feel to it. If anything, it is the aluminium casing that does the deck a little bit of a favour in adding some flavour to it along with its amazing sleek chassis (49mm) that you can easily slot it into one of those AV racks with absolutely no fuss.

Moving on with the connections at the rear, well it is fairly sparse. There are basic A/V connections on offer namely the HDMI v1.4 output, composite and component video, Ethernet port, stereo analogue output and optical digital audio connection. The deck comes devoid of multichannel analog jacks and lacks a second HDMI out too, which could prove to be messy in case there are no HDMI v1.4 input in your AV receiver and you wish to watch 3D images with HD content. There is a LAN port onboard in case you are not a big fan of the integrated Wi-Fi. A USB slot can be found in the front (that is buried beneath the rubber dust cover) that comes in handy with playing a variety of music, videos, and browsing photos from hard disks or memory devices. The following formats are supported – MKV, DivX, WMV, XviD, WMA, WAV, AVI, MP3, JPEG and m4a. Additionally you can playback AVCHDs from recordable DVDs. The absence of a second UDB port also looks to be kind of annoying as the deck lacks in-built memory for BD-Live downloads and regular users of BD-Live would be left with no choice but to have a USB sticking awkwardly out from the front.

Akin to the deck, the 8.2-inch remote too is nothing fancy. Even though it is disappointing to note the keypad is neither backlit nor programmable, we appreciate the thoughtful arrangement of buttons with a huge navigation pad that is relatively easy to be found under the thumb. It is not very cluttered and the usage of large keys helps in locating letters quickly. It is ergonomically satisfying to find the playback buttons being placed on a bump and isolated by colours, while the direction pad together with the corresponding keys are kept within easy grasp of the thumb. A trivial aesthetic concession here would be the plastic-y black finish that has been textured and looks vaguely like brushed metal.

The remote has been kept relatively simple with an accessible design with legible layout of vital functions like Home, Menu, Title, Info/Display, Back etc., clustering the central cursor. Punching Info/Display button calls up a bar allowing you to select options like Picture preset, Soundtrack format and Gracenote Movie ID, an element that calls up data, cover art and plot synopsis of the disc currently spinning. There is yet another feature, Gracenote Music ID that has an exclusive button of its own in the remote. We would have appreciated if the same approach had been extended in having an exclusive button that launches the media content portal of LG. Still better would have been a Netflix button akin to Panasonic and Samsung players. Then again, we are happy that LG has been thoughtful enough to make the access relatively easy via the UI to their streaming services. As is expected from current Blu-ray players, the BD670 also falls under the list of players that can be accessed via a Smartphone with the remote app of LG, both Android/iOS. This app can be downloaded from either the Apple App store or the android market. Frankly speaking, in our opinion it is not worth the bother, as there are just two advantages of preferring a mobile remote-control app over the standard one. Firstly, the “Wow factor” associated with it that might last for exactly five minutes tops. Secondly, any day using the Smartphone’s QWERTY keypad is way easier than entering text via arrow keys and numbers on the conventional remote provided the remote control app supports QWERTY text entry and unfortunately LG doesn’t. So, is it really worth the pain?

Setting up the BD670

Setting up the BD670 Blu Ray Disc Player cannot get any easier once you have the deck connected to a display and hook the Wi-Fi on onboard to your home network, you are all set to get going and browse through the menus. The Setup menu configures the deck to a default 1080p/24 for Blu-rays and 3D images. There are a couple of background graphic options on offer that includes a wood-panel pattern that can be customized as against the bland background. The BD670 packs the PC media server Nero MediaHome software too and the deck reads files both from a laptop and NAS server connected to your home network via other programs that includes Mac-specific ones too. Audiophiles might want to note that while the deck’s DLNA allows streaming of a variety of audio files, audio is limited to formats like WMA, MP3 and AAC.

Now let us get few disappointing stuff out of the way like the following. It is disappointing to see the BD670 lack a couple of basic features that comes by default in current day’s Blu-ray decks. For example, don’t expect a friendly wizard that generally walks you through the setup process, instead you will have to navigate menus on your own and figure out stuff for yourself. Well, you might find explanations for onscreen menu settings, but they generally are not of much use. For instance, when you try setting up the Audio options, there wouldn’t really be any valid info on the screen explaining what “Primary Pass-Thru” or “DTS Re-Encode” means. And if you think that you can turn to the online manual for the same, well you are mistaken, as the 23-page manual is nothing short of sparse and lacks detail. On the flip side, there is something wonderfully rare that the BD670 impresses you with – its bookmarking capability. Now most Blu-ray decks can bookmark a disc (Blu-ray discs we mean) allowing you to get back to the same spot at a later point in time (provided the blu-ray disc supports bookmarking). Well, the BD670 in comparison allows you to save up to 9 bookmarks for any discs, be it Blu-rays or normal DVDs, but the only unfortunate thing is the bookmarks disappear with you changing discs. Check out this yet another awesome related feature – assume you removed a disc (DVD or Blu-ray) half way though a movie and decide to reinsert the same days later (having played other discs in the meanwhile), the BD670 is smart enough to ask you if you wish to begin right from where you left or play from the beginning; Neat huh?

Menus

Similar to their latest line-up of TVs, the menus revolve around the the Home screen enabling you to view your photos, watch movies or listen to music via your local network or an attached device. Likewise accessing the Premium content from the App store of LG’s happens via the Setup menu. There are a couple of submenus within the Setup menu namely the Display that obviously lets you optimise the deck for a specific display. You may tweak the following options from here – the Resolution, TV Aspect Ratio, HDMI colour setting, 1080p Display Mode and the 3D Mode. Again, there are controls too for choosing Wallpapers on the menu screens together with Home Menu Guide. The next submenu would be Language allowing you to choose the language for the Display Menu, Disc Menu and Disc Audio and decide on having the Disc Subtitles on/off. Then comes the submenu for Audio where you get to select the kind of audio that can be sent via the Digital Output or the HDMI. You may also choose to turn on the Sampling Frequency here or set the DRC (Dynamic Range Control) along with turning on the DTS Neo: 6 On/Off where appropriate. Then we get to the submenu for Lock that comes in handy with setting passwords for the Blu-ray/DVD Rating if you are looking at restricting the access for the same for children. In the Network submenu, you can setup your LAN or Wi-Fi connections, allow access for BD-Live, check Connection Status together with setting up the registration and country setting code for the Premium Apps pages of LG. Last but not least, would be the sub-menu for Others that allows you to setup the HD VOD DivX service, select Network Play, select Auto Power Off, activate the Quick Start function and upgrade the deck’s firmware.

Features

Together with being a nifty disc spinner, the LG BD670 3D Playback Blu Ray Player also packs an array of networking features bringing tons of extra content that can be accessed wirelessly thanks to the Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n) onboard. And when it comes to streaming-media services, LG looks to be the best thus far. Agreed that it might not be as comprehensive as Sony or Samsung, but then it covers almost all standard services like Pandora, Netflix and YouTube together with some solid offerings by way of standout extras like Napster, MOG, instant streaming from Amazon, MLB.TV, vTuner etc. Even as VUDU looks to be a compelling alternative for VOD movies, the Amazon Internet Streaming looks to be the most impressive in offering the widest choice of TV shows by pay-per-view, that includes both cable and network shows. Unfortunately, it misses out on Hulu Plus that is covered by rivals like Sony and Samsung. The Smart TV portal has quite a range on offer in terms or streaming and radio app that includes the vTuner (internet radio), YouTube, BBC iPlayer, Google Maps, Picasa, AUPEO! radio, Acetrax, Dailymotion and many more. What is weird is all of these being grouped as “Premium” when most of them come for free! Anyways, hoping over to the apps store, you get to explore more by of games, movies, puzzles and other bric-a-brac like the colour blindness test and Yoga trainer, but for which you might have to create an account if you want to use them. Surprisingly sandwiched between the keep fit tutorial and colour blindness test you get to unearth a couple of free-to-watch movies, more than a dozen in fact; Looks more like a film festival greeting you at your door. Such free treats sure does make owning a Smart TV more fun. Also such unusual apps might come in handy for families with kids that are packed with fun and inexhaustible explorative skills. These impressive offerings are further joined by DLNA support which allows you to beam stuff across NAS drvies, networked home PCs and your Smartphones. Again, with the deck being Wi-Fi Direct compatible, you wouldn’t require a router too for streaming content with a decent hit rate. MP3s together with album art can be played when available and so are AAC files, but files like WAV and FLAC look off limits. Video files like MKV, MOV, AVI are covered over the network. Finally, there is Gracenote database also onboard the BD670 that fishes out details about any CD, DVD or Blu-ray disc that you load displaying album art even as it is being played, while Music ID looks up the featured songs of the currently playing disc.

Performance

The BD670 fires up in 5 seconds flat with the Quick Start engaged. Blu-ray load times are fairly decent with most of the discs getting to the copyright warnings in 20 seconds with an additional 10 seconds to get to the menus. Obviously, the load times are directly proportional to the amount of Java programming used by the studio with Disney and Fox being worst offenders. Paramount, Warner and Sony get to the point straight, but it is the unfortunate Universal discs that often get stalled by the hopeless BD-Live features. Getting to the movie, the image quality is amazing with every single pixel being plucked and hurled on to the screen with clarity and sharpness. It doesn’t miss out on any of the nuances of the London street settings recognizing the smart futuristic background detail endowing it with a deep satisfying cinematic lustre. While we endorse the fact that a TV definitely plays a major role when it comes to picture quality, but LG sure does hold its end of the bargain. There is decent judgment of colour palettes too; not really something that you can always get right, but the natural skin tones and greenery of the plants speaks for itself in terms of chroma processing.

Moving on to 3D, the spinner surely doesn’t disappoint you here with solid detail focus, blur-free objects and highly impressive depth sense, the spinner does a more than decent job.  Any 3D spinner should be capable enough to output the disc content equally well over HDMI too because of the digital signal and the BD670 does exactly that gaining an “excellent” rating when it comes to 3D performance. It displays content flawlessly on majority of the discs thrown at it along with handling Hi-def audio equally well to.

Power Consumption

Generally bulky casing tend to be associated with power hungry design, but thankfully that is not the case with the BD670 and it consumes only 15 watts during Blu-ray playback and a bare 1.8 watts while on standby. With the above figures being way above average in comparison to the other Blu-ray decks, the BD670 sure does seem to be an efficient performer, considering stuff that it is capable of performing with just the average power consumption mentioned above

Verdict

A couple of oversights here and there might make the LG BD670 seem a little tone-deaf in terms of usability, but its wide variety of app selection, solid performance, simple and accessible design speaks otherwise making you easily overlook such omissions. Again, the impressive ?150 price tag has been well justified by the Wi-Fi onboard, 3D support, DLNA media streaming, improved web content (compared to the existing LG players), modest speeds and solid video processing. Well, it sure might not be the stylish deck in the block; it sure does seem to be a workhorse and is one of the best budget decks in the Blu-ray arena.

LG BD670 3D Blu Ray Player – Technical Specification Table

Philips have been relatively famous in the Blu-ray arena for quite sometime now when it comes to blending gorgeous designs with attractive spec sheets and obvious high-quality HD playback.  This 7 Series 3D deck is no exception to this trend and proves to be a real feast for the eyes. Sidestepping the humdrum plastic-y approach, the BDP7600 Blu Ray Player boasts of a solid metallic build together with a unique smooth mirrored front panel. This thrice a home cinema hero boasts a trio of features like analogue 7.1 surround sound, Wi-Fi onboard, and 3D playback. The Dutch giant is way ahead of time in terms of advocating the online connectivity gear, Connected Planet, while its rivals are still using the humdrum steam-powered modems to get online.

Accessories

Quick start guide, Remote Control, 2 x AAA batteries.

Design/Connections

So, let us not beat around the bush and get straight to the point, the BDP7600 is a real “oomph.” Sporting a grayish-sliver finish, with a cool “Admire Me” looks, the spinner has a unique sculpted lip that is illuminated with soft-touch buttons. Embellished in elegant ridges and curves, majority of the fascia is taken over by the mirrored panel inside which lies embedded the disc tray and LED display panel. From the bottom protrudes the lip, mentioned above, that features a row of buttons that is touch-sensitive comprising of the Play, Pause, Standby and Eject that beckons a disc tray which folds out real rapid and quiet. These buttons lights up elegantly when the deck is activated, giving an absolute futuristic feel. The amazing build quality gets instantly apparent upon picking up the deck, thanks to the aluminum casing that takes care of keeping redundant vibration at bay.

Spinning the deck to a 180 degrees, you will greeted with an unusually magnanimous array of connections with the most unexpected being the 7.1-channel analogue outputs, that is rarely sighted on such budget Blu-rays, and comes in handy when you want to enjoy some HD soundtracks particularly when you own an outdated AV receiver that is devoid of HDMI inputs. It is good news for music fans too as the player boasts of 2 optical audio outs through the optical/coaxial cables. Additionally, the deck supports analogue 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD too, so connecting them to a good set of speakers, you can get the most of your movies. When it comes to video outputs, there just one HDMI port and a single composite, guess that would be enough to handle most situations. Another smart inclusion would be a SD card at the rear of the unit (something found on only on Panasonic players till date), but comes in handy only with downloading BD-Live and VOD content and if you are looking at using media playback or browsing through your photos, then you might have to fall back on the USB port located at the front this time around. Amusingly, the USB works with both wired and wireless keyboards, which would mean that you now can access Net TV from the comforts of your recliner. The v1.4 HDMI, analogue stereo and surround back outputs, composite and the Ethernet port completes the connectivity at the rear. The Ethernet port takes care of connecting your deck with the local network, and there is also the integrated Wi-Fi adaptor, in case you are not a great fan of running cables.

Last but not least, getting to the weird-looking remote that looks more like a plastic row boat or a smooth pebble, we are greatly fascinated by this handset that looks unlike anything that we have seen until date. It is oval shaped and curved with a black glossy back panel that can flipped out to fit in the batteries. We are glad that Philips chose practicality over panache that is evident from the sensible layout of buttons – uncluttered, comfy to grip and logical. Now, if you are not a great fan of the remote, then feel free to dump it provided you own an iPod Touch or a iPhone, as the player supports the free MyRemote app from Philips. It would be worth mentioning that the app is not the same one as the Philips Fidelio iPod speaker. You will need the MyRemote free app for this Philips BDP7600 Blu Ray Disc Player that works with other Philips kit perched beneath the TV together with the music players that is Streamium networked. It replicates almost every function of the remote as against some apps that support just the key controls.  Though it lacks gesture control, there is a digital representation of the remote with shortcuts to files stored on the USB speeding the process up by around tenfold along with displaying stuff that is currently playing on the remote’s main page.

User Interface

There is nothing flashy or attractive about the user interface of the Philips BDP7600 3D Playback Blu Ray Player, but this only works in favour of the deck with the icon-based menus kept simple, straightforward and nicely animated. The layout is fairly sensible and aides in easy navigation. The UI is fairly responsive too with an average 34 seconds it takes to playing a Blu-ray from standby. Though it doesn’t boast of an array of image quality pre-sets, it amply makes up for it with the comprehensive manual customisation. Sharpness control, noise and artefact reduction and upscaling settings together with brightness, colour and contrast sliders, help with caliberating your own preferred image settings.

Features/Network Niceties

Akin to its rivals, there is also a 802.11n Wi-Fi adaptor onboard the BDP7600, meaning no more whining about messy cables or costly USB dongles if you wish to enjoy Philips’ internet portal, access BD Live, want to stream music, photos or videos from your home networked PC via the DLNA Network Link. Well, Wi-Fi is almost expected by default from current day’s Blu-ray players, regardless of them being high-end or budget players.

In terms of file formats supported by the BDP7600 3D Blu Ray Player, it list includes MP4, DivX HD, AVI, MKV, AVCHD, XviD, MP3, MPEG-1, WMV, WAV, WMA and JPEG, which can be both streamed or played locally via the USB device. The USB also supports external HDDs via the FAT16/FAT32 file system. Again, the BDP7600 also features the above-mentioned Net TV presenting you with a whole load of partner websites to your TV with the modest list of the same on the main menu being Picasa, YouTube, Cartoon Network, Twitter, Box Office 365, Funspot, France 24, Screen Dreams, iConcerts, Tune In Radio and MeteoConsult with the option to add the rest via App Gallery. Now what sets the Net TV to stand out from the rest (other web portals) is its capability of browsing the net at large on the TV, getting virtually any online entertainment at your disposal, provided the player’s browser can handle it. Unfortunately, our attempts to navigate to the BBC iPlayer trying to watch a video got scuttled as the player comes devoid of Flash Player and eventually ended up with the browser freezing.

Well, on the flip side, the new version of Net TV is far better and easy to use than the old one with the menus laid out in an attractive manner and use of chunky onscreen buttons for every app with detailed presentation using vivid HD graphics. Also it is reacts rapidly and selection/entry of links happens at good speed. Nevertheless, it might still not be the best way to browse, but looks much improved and better than expected. Again, if you are not a fan of the remote, you can always connect your keyboard to the USB port towards the front. Check out these two interesting features devised by Philips that pops out of the spec sheet. One would be the Smartphone app, mentioned above, that replaces the remote control with an Android or iPhone app and the other would be the CinemaPerfect HD engine for movie playback that helps eliminate noise as a result of the MPEG compression process together with image sharpening and enhancing colours along the way. With 3D being the talk of the town, this player sure is 3D compatible, but doesn’t really have any of those image adjustments/2D to 3D conversion that rivals like Sony/Panasonic boast of. All you get to do is change 3D to Auto or switch it off completely in the setup menu. Philips spinners have always been known for their ease of use and it is good to see the BDP7600 follow the same ethos.

Coming to the Home menu, which would be your main getaway to any function, you get 6 basic floating icons on a blue screen with each of them assigned with a simple white icon and simple English description to it like “browse PC/browse USB” so on and so forth, which is hassle-free and fairly responsive. Upon selecting Setup, there is a more conventional list on offer with elaborate explanations at the screen’s bottom when being lingered. Again on pressing any playback button, up pops some cool large white icons flashing on the screen. The menu displays the content list on the left and upon highlighting something your files get listed towards the right instantly with no annoying submenu hindrance. A menu can be called during disc playback at the mere touch of a button containing all settings/trickplay features that are frequently used. So, to sum up, though operating the BD7600 isn’t really as slick as the other high-end spinners, it definitely isn’t far behind.

Performance

In terms of performance, for starters the disc loading times happens as fast as 40secs flat for majority of the discs, which is fairly standard, but still fast. You get an immediate sense of the images clarity once the film is underway with images being colourful and bold and movement handled fairly well. Detail levels sure does seem to be decent, but it is the digital artefacts that is present which prevents Philips from attaining similar level of clarity and insight akin to rivals with same pricing. It could be a little disappointing watching 3D as it gets harder on the eyes in comparison to its rival spinners owing to the fact that the deck doesn’t really allow you to make adjustments to the intensity of 3D images. Well, what you see is what you get. The spinner is good at keeping pale colours and skin tones natural and colour blending is devoid of any banding. Edges are rendered with no signs of ghosting or stepping with motion kept smooth. When it comes to 2D performance, it is nothing short or admirable and is a real treat for HD movie fanatics, especially with an array of handy image adjustments on offer that enhances the picture even further. You will find it inside of the Setup Menu or the Quick Men during playback, which allows you to tweak them even as a film plays. This includes a variety of picture presets like Normal, Enhanced, Vivid, User and Dynamic. The one word to describe the BDP7600’s sound quality would be “Exciting.” Then again, it is a matter of time before it moves into the domain of brashness. There is a decent substance to action, but unfortunately high frequencies get exposed with sounds like screeching and crashing. Again, the DTS-HD Master Audio that is highly detailed looks to be aptly punchy. DVD upscaling also looks to be decent in keeping blocky outlines and excessive graininess at bay. The over sharpened effect of edges can be easily avoided by tweaking the settings and making it less pronounced. You might want to watch out though, as the same preferences would be applicable to Blu-ray too, where you wouldn’t appreciate that extra processing. Last but not least would be the player’s handiness at getting ejected instantly, especially if it is in standby mode, so no more long waits for it to be fully powered. Once ejected it starts up normally, all set to lock and load. Of note, the player runs extremely hot with the right rear underside of the deck getting disturbingly warm just with a couple of hours of usage.

Energy Consumption

With a bare minimum 13W during playback and almost nil on standby, this possibly is the most efficient blu-ray spinner in comparison to the rest

We liked

• The slick design
• Quick loading times
• Simple and Straightforward UI
• Multichannel analogue audio outputs
• Unique remote
• Loads of inputs and outputs
• Low on energy consumption

We Disliked

• Runs Hot
• Sounds brash at times
• Intermittent picture artefacts
• Net TV needs improvement
• Web browser devoid of Flash

Verdict

The Philips BDP7600’s feature-list almost ticks every box of your wish list with its stylish panache, robust build, dazzling 2D/3D images, lengthy feature list together with a plain and simple UI. On the flip side the onscreen icons looks a little overly big making you look half blind or assumes you to be watching TV 20 meters away. A couples of niggles aside, it is a neat looking deck with clear audio delivery together with DVD upscaling to its favour along with the above mentioned positives. Even while there might be takers for the high-end decks with a slightly better image quality or a slicker menu with additional 3D features, users deciding to opt for this cheaper deck, sure wouldn’t be in for any disappointment.

Philips BDP7600 Blu-Ray Disc Player – Technical Specification Table

What you get

Also called the PVR (personal video recorder) or HDR (hard disk recorder) the BD-D8900 simply put is a Sky+box for Freeview with the addition of HD goodness. The latter requires the spinner to be much big in size than the prior incarnations of PVRs. The box packs a hard disk that comes with a whopping capacity of 1TB, which comes in handy for all the HD fans. The spinner is capable of recording 240 hours of HD programmes/480 hours of standard def content with the ability to even rip music CDs with comprehensive track listing and cover art downloading by default that can also be transferred as MP3s to a USB.

Features at a Glance

• Full screen capabilities
• 1000 GB of HDD Media recording
• Hyper Real Video Engine
• BD Profile 2.o
• Smart Hub
• 1GB Local Storage
• 2D to 3D conversion
• 3-Second Boot time
• 1080p DVD output
• BD Wise Auto image Setup

Design and Connectivity

Well in order to accommodate all of the above technology, it calls for a chassis of some size and the Samsung BD-D8900 3D Blu Ray Player humbly obliges. It is a fairly stylish unit and comes in a classy blend of glossy black and chrome finish that is obviously Samsung familiar. Check out the cool embellishments like the window on top through which you can view the discs whirring around and the 3D logo which glows at the top, which is kind of hard to miss, upon a disc being loaded.  Thankfully, this can be turned off from the settings menu, if you find it too flashy. It sure does look to be a chunky chap at 64mm tall and 430mm wide. On the flip side, not that it lacks charm or the required refinement. For starters, the spinner is devoid of any clunky tray for disc loading and uses a slick slot loader instead, try feeding it with a silver platter and watch it hungrily slurp it in. There are also touch-panel controls with an illuminated disc mechanism, courtesy the semi–transparent lid. We guess you really wouldn’t be keen on hiding this flamboyant hulk away in your cabinets. In the front, right behind the flip down panel you get to see a CI slot, which comes in fairly handy with accessing paid services namely Sky Sports over Freeview, and you also find the USB port for media playback right here.

Coming to the rear of the BD-D8900, regardless of all its functionality it doesn’t really look crowded at all. You get two HDMIs with one of them for audio only, which comes in handy at routing lossless DTS HD and Dolby TrueHD Master Audio soundtracks from Blu-ray spinners to receivers that are AV compatible (non-3D) with the primary output delivering 3D straight to your stereoscopic display. Also on offer are digital optical audio outputs, phono AV together with an Ethernet connection. With Wi-Fi being onboard you wouldn’t need a dongle. The component video output is also on offer, but then you might want to be aware of the fact that it doesn’t help with Hi-def.
Again, Blu-ray output is restricted to 480i complying with the AACS copy protection protocol. Furthermore Freeview HD is output at 576p, in contrast to the HDMI option, thus taking care of the issue of online piracy with a single stroke. Performance-wise, the BD-D8900 sure does put in a nice performance, but cannot be labeled the fastest spinner when it comes to loading titles as it takes roughly a minute and a half after loading the BD-live enabled disc in the tray to the time the Fox logo cares to show itself. Nevertheless, the controls are fairly responsive with the picture over HDMI neat and crisp.

Features

Samsung is one such manufacturer that has always been magnanimous when it comes to features and the BD-D8900 Blu Ray Disc Player is no exception to that concept. So let us start with our favourite, the Smart Hub, the new web portal of Samsung that offers you an assortment of apps on your TV screen. It is not just the content that has gone through a makeover since last year with the addition of the BBC iPlayer to the Internet@TV, but the presentation has also turned awesome. The snazzy and bright Smart Hub menus has its apps icons all neatly laid out in a grid format that allows you to segregate them into folders, (just so there are several members of a family using them and wish to separate their content from others). Addition of new apps happens rapidly and easily via the App Store. Few of the existing apps would include the Google Maps, Daily Motion, BBC News, Picasa, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter along with a plethora of other less popular and specialist apps. Again, you also get to access a whole load of games, puzzles and activities for children, a fairly family-friendly feature. Again, though it doesn’t really match up with the BRAVIA Internet Video of Sony, wherein the TV content looks to be huge, it is not really far behind too. The Your Video feature which is relatively new looks up for info on movies, both old and new, giving you the option to like and share the same on social networking sites. The search mode, which is also new probes for keyword-related content on YouTube, Your Video and Facebook, and excludes the Freeview EPG in that search.

Moving on to the DLNA AllShare feature – this allows for streaming of content from networked devices namely NAS drives and PCs. It list of formats supported go on to include WMA, DivX HD, MKV, MP3, WMV and AVI to name a few, but then streaming is not possible with AVCHD files, which you can alternatively play from the disc. The above list can also be played via the USB port. The BD-D8900 also comes in handy with ripping music CDs onto your hard disk and you can copy the same to a USB if you wish to or even stream them. However, there is no Blu-ray recording as it is a straight-up unit.

Along with playing 3D Blu-rays, the spinner also converts pictures from 2D to 3D. This is not just applicable to DVDs or Blu-ray discs alone, but also to the Smart Hub videos and content streamed from network or USB devices and Freeview recordings/programmes, with the facility to alter depth with settings ranging from 1-10.

There is a whole array of features onboard offered in terms of digital TV too that goes on to include dual HD tuners for Freeview that comes in handy at changing channels during recording, but this is constrained by its obvious restriction to record just one channel at a time. Then there is the Time Shift with which LIVE TV programmes can be paused or be watched from the start even as it records, a 8-day EPG with series link together with the rest of the features that is broadcaster-controlled akin to other PVRs. Polite dialogue boxes aids in activating series, and with it being set, the Schedule Manager displays all instances when the specified series is being shown, together with the rest of scheduled recordings.

Operation

Operation-wise – guess Samsung have gone that extra mile this 2011 on their Blu-ray lineup in making their menus feel and look welcoming and clear-cut with smart usage of vibrant graphics, chunky fonts and straight-forward menus. Importantly, the onscreen design is a real delight to use and doesn’t really stop you from opting for the product. Well, there are some hitches like the menu slightly dragging especially the menus relating to DLNA, but guess the delays are not really significant. The best of the lot would be the main menu, which uses animated icons that are neatly laid out in a platform with corresponding floating options above. Almost everything can be accessed from here with the inclusion of EPG, USB, Smart Hub HDD content, DLNA playback together with all vital Settings menu, which again is a cakewalk to be used. The recorded TV menus take the form of blocks each with a thumbnail that can be sorted by Date, Name or Channel wise.  Also on offer is an assortment of editing features that allows you to delete parts of your recording with the use  of an intuitive onscreen editing tool, but then accessing that feature is not an easy task. So is the task of setting up your ID for Smart TV for apps like Twitter and Facebook. Furthermore, keying in mail IDs and passwords via the onscreen keyboard that has been designed to replicate a mobile phone is complicated too requiring you to toggle through diverse pages of words and switching between various entry methods. Fortunately, there is the “Remember by Details” box and checking that would make you go through the process just once.

Getting to the rest of the setup process looks pretty much simple, setting up the Wi-Fi for instance, guides users (especially the not-so-tech-savvy) using simple graphics and explanations.  Yet another feature that makes using the deck a pleasant one would be the petite dialogue boxes that rush to your rescue by popping up when encountered with a conflict or stuff that you need to know namely timer schedule changes or recording clashes, with any such happenings, the deck will let you know about it. Yet another helpful feature keeps you posted on when an SD programme selected by you is shown in HD.

Again, try hitting the info button as you watch TV and you will witness the best of onscreen info banners seen until date. The details that are displayed is pretty comprehensive with coloured icons being used for stuff like resolution, subtitles, aspect ratio, Audio format and description. Even better you are allowed to browse the entire line-up of channels to know what’s on days before the scheduled telecast.  Usage of USB/DLNA content is easy too they share the same menu layout as the Recorded TV display. Likewise the EPG also dons a classy design that manages to squeeze a 6-channel, 2-hour programme grid, synopsis of programmes and controls and the live TV box all into one screen without giving a cluttered feeling. Well, there is one hitch though, it is not possible to read the names of the programmes in the grid, which is actually a shame.

All of the above is wonderfully controlled by a remote that is user-friendly sporting chunky tactile keys, big lettering and sensibly laid out. Life is made furthermore easy with the playback keys that glow in the dark and dedicated buttons for 2D to 3D conversion and the Smart Hub. If you wish to explore more hit the Tools button for additional options, that includes an array of picture presets and User setting, which allows for adjustment of various picture parameters. On the flip side if you own a Samsung TV that has a Freeview decoder of its own, you can manage it with a single remote, but that gets kind of confusing at times as to which decoder are you currently using. While it is a powerful combo, it is sure to confuse the technically-weak.

Performance

3D and 2D Blu-ray Playback

Blu-ray images look spectacular in this Samsung BD-D8900 3D Smart Blu Ray Player with HDD. The clean and crisp pixels are digitally transferred from the disc to the screen resulting in pristine images with signs of noise witnessed only from the disc. Textures and fine details are taking in its stride and rendered dazzling acuity. Regardless of the 3D content being viewed via active shutter glasses, 3D images look vibrant and sharp, but with the advantage of additional distance and depth, the effect looks downright absorbing.

Users might want to be aware of the fact that while using a Samsung TV and Blu-ray player together, the deck is detected by TV’s smart connectivity via HDMI and seemingly improves the overall experience as the features and settings are interlinked and giving the feeling that the deck and the TV are one and the same, which is actually both good and bad. With two remotes and two menus looking almost identical it gets confusing to figure out where Blu-ray disk player went? It would have been nice if Samsung had distinguished the menu system particularly upon being connected to a TV with identical menus! Well, if it is smart enough to identify two Samsung devices being connected, then it could’ve might as well altered the colours of the menu! Are you listening Samsung?

Picture Quality – TV Tuner

The deck has a magnificent HD playback with abundant details on HD channels and is devoid of any artefacts like noise or blockade with stuff looking great. Colours look natural and deep with diverse shadows and shades on background and clothing that looks smooth and devoid of banding.

HD Recording Quality

The spinner records only in the highest possible quality making the recording on hard disk seem great retaining minute details. This would have posed to be a problem if the disc was any smaller than 1TB, but with this kind of high capacity for recording, there doesn’t look to be a concern. Even if there is one, all you need to do is then connect an external disk and voila there  it is – record HD videos to your heart’s content.

Standard definition channels also seem strong when viewed both recorded or live with a wee bit of feathering and block noise with rapid movements, but nothing that could prove annoying. Coming to the spinner’s 2D to 3D conversion, it is not that impressive, we would say. It fails to provide an extra depth to most of the scenes, with just a couple of evident floating object instances that remotely look real. On the flip side we are yet to see a manufacturer give us a convincing conversion tech.

Verdict

Samsung sure does know how to cram as many features possible into a single product and the BD-D8900 looks to be no exception to this trait of theirs. Well, for starters, the deck is no svelte-looking piece and neither does it attempt looking so – now for a deck that packs this many features, there has to be someplace that all these technology needs to go. With its extensive connectivity options to its exhaustive features, the deck sure does know how to work things out of a TV, let alone a disc player. It looks to be a living proof of convergence that blends together a variety of AV components into a single unit. It also explodes with couple of cutting-edge features like comprehensive Freeview functionality to media streaming over Wi-Fi, not to forget the colossal 1TB hard-disk. It is irrelevant whether it’s a smart Blu-ray spinner or a Hi-def PVR, or a tuner with two or more niggles, but this is as good as it can get in a world of Freeview HD as it promises to tick all relevant boxes with the HD/Blu-ray+1TB hard drive combi. Now to pick on a few areas for improvement – Samsung need to work on their network media streaming functionality as it is frustrating when you are not allowed to use the internet features while it is recording. Again, the inability to record two channels simultaneously looks to be a shame particularly in this day and age; Yet, this feature rich player more than compensates the price and presents itself to be a purposeful 3d-ready deck.

Samsung BD-D8900 Blu Ray Disc Player – Technical Specification Table

Well, for those of you who are tired of sliding their players under your television, you can now wall mount it, provided you figure a way out of the wiring situation. So are we all set to explore this achingly petite player and what it has on offer?

Key Features – A quick Glance:

• Superior graphic UI.
• Wi-Fi on board.
• Along with playing HD movies in 3D, it also up converts 2D titles (blu-ray) to a near 3D image quality.
• Ultra Fast Play (Samsung touts a less than 3 second start up time)
• Capable of playing audio CDs and CD-R/RW along with DVDs.
• Capable of decoding DTS Master Audio and Dolby Digital TrueHD. Multi-channel theatre sound can be enjoyed with the receiver being connected via optical audio out or HDMI.
• Novel SoC (System-on-Chip) for outstanding 3D up-conversion of pictures, movies, and video streaming.
• BD LIVE supported – content can be downloaded from the provided blu-ray disc via a network connection; Note, 1GB free space or a USB stick would be required
• Playing music, videos and photos on your Smartphone, PC or NAS is now possible with AllShare via a network connection.
• Allowed to play multimedia files via the USB connection. The following file formats are supported – AVI, MP3, WMA, JPEG, MKV, DiVX, MP4 and HD.
• One Foot Connection compatible player, but then needs a Samsung Wireless Router that supports the One Foot Connection. This helps the player in establishing a connection with the router within 1 foot and doesn’t really require a password. Internet connection is seamless after this even if player is moved all around the house.
• Samsung Smart TV makes a whole host of entertainment options possible, namely streaming from Vudu, Blockbuster, YouTube and Pandora. You can even update your social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook or if you choose to simply browse the net, all of the above with the tap of a button.
• Smart Hub makes it possible to download a range of paid and free apps together with Internet services and content namely, weather forecasts, news, Games, stock market quotes, music and movies.
• DLNA compatibility allows for connecting to the other DLNA compatible stuff in the house for you to enjoy the multimedia files. Additionally, you can turn your android phone into a remote for the BD-D7500 by downloading a special app called iOS, that is free.

Design/Finish

Measuring 0.9 inch deep, this Samsung BD-D7500 slim player comes in both glossy black and trendy silver finish. With a brushed metal silvery look, the slot-loading disc drive is located towards the side. Most of the cost of this player has gone into styling the BD-D7500, which looks to be a charismatic addition to Samsung’s 3S design theory (symmetrical, slim, slot-in). Its sleek brushed aluminium finish proves to be a real feast to the onlooker’s eyes and can be both wall mounted or fitted onto a stand. Well, it cannot be fitted into a cabinet though because of the side slot-in design. Gone are the days of noisy and slow load times. The addition of touch-sensor controls with the incorporated blue lightning sure does make the player to stand out in any home theatre and therefore would be more ideal to place in an area where it can be spotted. As mentioned before, if you find the player’s thinness kind of annoying, the supplied angled pedestal comes to your rescue. You can also just go ahead and wall mount with the brackets provided.

Slots & Controls in BD-7500

Akin to life, there seems to be compromises here too. The connections at the rear have been kept to a bare minimum to match the 1-inch frame. So the only connections that you get to see would be a single HDMI output, a USB, optical digital out, a LAN port. There is also an A/V mini-jack output that comes with a breakout cable for stereo analog audio and composite video. It lacks a dual HDMI out that was on offer in its predecessor BD-C6900, which proved to be real handy, especially if you have an older version of A/V receiver that has issues getting through 3D video. Again, it lacks multichannel analog audio out too. The On/Off is the only physical button that you get to see on the player. Additionally, there is also a Play/Pause logo in the centre encircled by 4 touch-sensitive buttons that controls playback. Fortunately, you really don’t have the need to use the USB slot for the Wi-Fi dongle, as it is in-built. Just follow the setup wizard and your deck would be networked in couple of minutes. Though the entire thing lights up similar to a Christmas tree, thankfully there is an option to switch this off, such that it doesn’t prove to be an annoying distraction while watching your favourite movie. Kudos to Samsung for having equipped the player with a slot-in disc drive due to which movies are played in less than 20 seconds from the time the spinner sucks in your disc. Well, this avoids the endlessly waiting time spent on the disc tray to pop out and go in. Definitely the fastest load time that we have seen so far!

Audio/Video

There is an on-board DTS-HD Master Audio decoding and Dolby TrueHD in the BD-D7500 3D Ready Blu Ray Disc Player that helps pass Hi-Res audio formats in their inherent bit stream format via HDMI, helping your A/V receiver decode the same. The setup menu offers a choice between 3 preset modes and a user mode, wherein the latter allows for adjusting noise reduction and sharpness. The depth of a 3D image can be adjusted with 2D to 3D conversion.

Playback is supported in the following formats in the BD-D7500 – CD audio, DVD, BD, MKV, AVCHD, WMA, Divx HD, MP4, JPEG and MP3. The player can be added to your home network via either a wireless 802.11n module or via Ethernet port. It is also equipped with 1GB of internal memory for storage of BD-Live content together with a USB port for additional storage. The latter also supports movie playback, music and photos. But then, the deck is devoid of advanced control ports like the IR or RS-232.

Features

The online platform in the Samsung BD-D7500 seems to be the richest in terms of online content. A rapid-growing App store has a whole host of casual games together with left-field infotainment, namely the Yoga Helper, which enhances your yoga poses and How to Tie a Tie etc. You get to amuse yourself by browsing pictures from Picasa. Again, the streaming video options also are abundant that goes on to include YouTube, Acetrax, BBC, Vimeo, iPlayer, DailyMotion etc. Social networking is also here in the form of Picasa, Twitter, Facebook, Google Maps, AccuWeather etc. Talking about social networking, while it indeed has a big nod to it on the Smart Hub portal, it is kind of disappointing to know that Twitter and Facebook are not really included in the TV experience. Well, you might have to relent to Samsung’s very own account login and creation tolerating the hurdles associated with it, which looks to be a part of the package.

In terms of streaming/downloading content the Smart Hub Portal literally smokes ahead in the race. It packs a literal mix of VOD services together with miscellaneous apps as mentioned above. The Your Videos Section forms a part of the Smart Hub Package that is more IMDb-lite. Streaming movies from within makes more sense, though presently that is not an option.

If you are looking to entertain yourself by streaming TV shows, music or movies, the BD-D7500 is only too happy to comply. The same can be played via a networked PC or via the USB stick; files such as MKV are reeled too. In case you have your stuff stored using a NAS (which we think you do), do not be surprised if the support is kind of pedantic. Well, that is because the player is kind of finicky when it comes to media servers.

Last but not least, check out yet another novel feature, BD-Wise, which helps the deck in outputting a disc at its inherent frame rate and resolution upon being connected through HDMI to a Samsung TV that is BD-Wise compatible. Well, this works if you let the TV control the frame-rate conversion and the upconversion.

Performance

The Samsung BD-D7500 3D Blu Ray Player doesn’t really disappoint you in terms of performance and does a fabulous job when it comes to putting life into 3D elements. It kicks off right from the minute the Warner Bros logo pops on the screen. It is a real treat to the eyes to watch 3D ingredients like a tennis ball being dangled in mid air, proving to be attractive additions. This is made possible thanks to its radiant convincing depth levels together with a realistic touch to the movies. Textures are flawless with vivid-looking clothing and fur. With the audience of a movie being kids, it is the colours that tend to attract them and colours are indeed impressive and captivating with dynamic rich hues. Blacks were impressive as well.

In terms of audio quality, the BD-D7500 Blu Ray Player player is capable of Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD HRA along with supporting 7.1 channels through HDMI output, thus providing you with crisp and sharp surround sounds perfect for any of your favourite movie that you decide on watching. The quality of audio in the BD-D7500 is good too with the fabulous decoding of the supplemented MA 5.1 DTS-HD. More importantly, the dialogues are crisp and are not flooded neither by the music nor by the sound effect. Again, be it a subtler or action packed sequence, the experience is wonderfully immersive. Bass brings about a dramatic scenario with action-packed sequences. In fact, it looks to be a perfect match for the kind of 3D performance that you get to witness.

In terms of picture quality the player scores extremely well with both 2D and 3D images. Images literally pop up to life on the screen by way of brilliant, vivid, crystal clear quality. Load times are rapid and the BD-D7500 upconverts old DVDs seamlessly to HD quality. Though we do admit that the quality of up-converting DVDs has improved dramatically in comparison to its predecessors, the BD-D7500 still has a lot to make up in comparison to some of the high-end players or the Sony PS3 for that matter. Again, though the spinner upconverts conventional 2D images to 3D, the image quality might differ based on the source material.

Do not get dodged with the deck’s feather light weight, as the HD quality of the picture coming from within is a real killer with bustling playback detail, that you can literally peer into the smoggiest of scenes and yet come out with abundant details. 3D movie playback is cool too. Well, there is also the option to depth convert conventional 2D DVDs and Blu-rays to 3D. Though, it doesn’t really convince many of you out there that there is no real reason to use 3D glasses for content that is not designed to be watched in 3D format, you eventually cannot help but admire Samsung’s smartness in presenting 2D in the best ever possible fauxD. DVD playback also looks to be okay, though you will possibly find a more precise upscaling in the rival decks. Again, the spinner cannot be taken seriously to be a dedicated CD player, especially with its music playing capabilities being limited to functional. Nevertheless, this limitation doesn’t really matter much. Also we do not really think this deck is too very compatible with several AVRs as it evidently devised to be directly connected to a TV. On the flip side, you sure can connect it with a home cinema amp and the BD-D7500 would only be too happy to bitstream DTS Mater Audio and Dolby TrueHD. Then again, you might want to be aware of the fact that it lacks a persistent memory and the single slot for USB will have to be backed up with an additional 1GB, especially if you are looking at downloading stuff from the BD Live.

Remote Control

The BD-D7500 is backed by Samsung Anynet Plus (HDMI CEC), a network system that controls AV devices of Samsung by default eliminating the need for different remotes for various devices. This Anynet + feature offers you an experience that is seamless and user friendly and all you really need is just one remote. That being said, though the BD-D7500 is touted to be a remarkably stylish deck, we guess the same cannot be said about its remote control, which is neither fascinating nor really practical in use. It lacks backlighting with just the playback buttons being lucky enough to be treated with a fluorescent finish.

Power Consumption

Thankfully, the Samsung BD-D7500 3D Smart Blu Ray Player is not too very power hungry and uses only just about 14 to 16 watts when it comes to Blu-ray playback with only 0.3 watts while on standby. Well, it might not sound to be the best, but it is definitely above average in comparison to the other players in the market.

Pros

• Stylish form factor
• Smart Hub Connectivity
• Wi-Fi Onboard
• Wall mountable
• Ultra fast play
• Touch-sensor controls
• One Foot connection

Cons

• Limited Connectivity
• Run of the mill DVD and CD playback
• Lacks advanced control port such as RS-232, dual HDMI outputs and multichannel analog out for audio
• Pricey
• Uneven file support with media streaming

To Wrap-Up

Guess the Korean manufacturer would do everything possible up their sleeve in devoting an exclusive team to downsize technology with their sole mission being breaking their own record. This is the only possible reason that we could think of, for the Samsung BD-D7500 touting to be the world’s slimmest deck. No wonder it was waltzing all over the CES 2011 after being crowned the World’s slimmest Blu-ray deck. Let us say that this player is exclusively for those hankering for a high-end and hot Blu-ray player packed in an attractive case. Then again, the deck doesn’t really rely on its looks alone and packs a whole host of features in its tiny packing like DLNA compatibility, integrated Wi-Fi, 3D support, in-built storage and Smart Hub with Web-connected Apps, to name a few. On the flip side, if you are someone that doesn’t really give much of importance to the form factor, then you might step down a bit to the BD-D6700 with almost the same features, but with a more traditional design, together with a dual HDMI output which the 7500 lacks. Again, if you are not a great fan of 2D to 3D conversion, you could step down even further to the BD-D6500 forking out a relatively smaller sum for almost the same features.

Check all Latest Blu Ray Players in this website.

Samsung BD-D7500 Blu Ray Player – Technical Specification Table

Now coming to the killer aspect of the Panasonic DMP-BDT310 Blu Ray player, the Skype feature! The player also records your Skype video mail regardless of your presence. Neat huh? Again, your iPhone takes the shape of a remote control here. Let us not forget the High Digital Clarity Sound – it does exactly what it promises to do. Last but not least, the 3D Effect Controller, 2D to 3D conversion feature and the Wi-Fi on-board. Well, if you are wondering with all of the above, the image quality must be a compromise, uh-huh not here!

Key Features

• Dual HDMi
• Significant improvement in playback speed in comparison to its predecessors.
• Full Hi-Def 3D Blu-ray playback.
• Converts 2D DVDs/Blu-ray discs to 3D.
• No more cluttering with adapters/wires – thanks to the built-in Wi-Fi.
• The 3D Effect Controller comes in handy at controlling the leaping 3D effects thus helping you to moderate the depth as per your discretion.
• The Vertical Colour Preference process is now one and a half times better in an effort to maximize details – thanks to the Adaptive Chroma Processing.
• The killer Skype feature is a showstopper in the BMP-BDT310 bringing your dear ones near you, and is just a button push away on the remote.
• “Go Green” with the UniPhier Chip in the player that not just fortifies a sharp and clear picture quality, but also keeps a tab on your power consumption.
• DLNA certification makes it easy for streaming of content from DLNA-compatible devices.
• Witness your iPhone, iPod or iPad take the form of a remote.
• Looking for a more personalized feel – a home wallpaper/screensaver does the trick.
• Panasonic has taken care of noise reduction via the HDMI Pure Audio even as it reproduces a natural sound quality.
• VIERA CAST allows access to a whole host of info and multimedia content from online sources like Twitter, YouTube, Bloomberg, NetFlix and few other popular sites.

Design/Slots and Controls

Aside from the revamped pile of features for 2011, Panasonic has managed to conjure an innovative and fresh look for the DMP-BDT310 with an amazing slim casing and a beautiful black glossy chassis. The slim profile has more to it than just being skin deep. Yeah! It helps to a great extent in reducing CO2 emissions thus facilitating a 48% cost cutting on your energy consumption. Isn’t it high time we do some justice to the environment by using minimal resources aside from worrying just about our monthly utility bills? Yet another interesting inclusion in the BDT310 would be the Touch-Free Sensor, a funky cosmetic highlight that lets you open and close the disc tray with a simple wave of your hand over the top-mounted sensor. While it may look more of a gimmick than a must have feature, it sure does keep grotty fingerprints at bay and is irrefutably a cool thing. This sleek deck sports a bizarre diagonally dappled pattern surrounding the sensor panel on the top and shimmers with light. There is a remarkable compact frame measuring 35 x 430 x 179 (h x w x d). Meaning, aside from the fact that the deck prove to be a perfect fit to any AV cabinet, the carbon footprint on the environment is also eventually lesser due to smaller boxes used for packaging; Neat huh?

Coming to the player’s front panel, it has been kept uncluttered – thanks to the flap that extends all the way across the fascia. Following this is the disc tray, couple of buttons, an LED display along with a USB port that supports MP3, WMV, DivX HD, MKV and JPEG formats. Again, there is a SD card slot that is designed to support BD Live storage and JPEG, MPEG-2, MPO and AVCHD playback.

Talking about the rear panel, we get to the admirable part of this flagship model, the inclusion of two HDMI outputs, both of which are v.14. This is something that was appreciated on the BDT300 and we are happy to have it back on the BDT310. This means you can stream 3D pictures straight into your TV via the main output, while the sub port comes in handy to import HD audio to your receiver. So now you can enjoy both 3D pictures and audio soundtracks in HD concurrently. Then again, it is a different story if your AV receiver boasts of a HDMI v1.4 input, making the second output of minimal significance.

Also on the rear you get to find a second USB port. Guess we would no longer have to witness the battle between Skype camera and the wireless USB dongle for the rear port as was the case in the DMP-BDT110. The built-in Wi-Fi in the BDT310 allows the TY-CC10W communication camera to enjoy the rear USB port all to itself, making the front port available for digital media playback. The connectivity gets complete with the Ethernet port (that takes care of wired net connections), Optical digital audio and analogue stereo/composite stereo outs. The BDT310 lacks component video outs along with Multichannel analogue, but that is not a big loss really.

Features

While many of the DMP-BDT110 features have been replicated in the BDT310, let us explore the several other features that are included that could probably justify the £70 premium, because the Touch-Free sensor, dual HDMI, and built-in Wi-Fi looks to be just starters.

For instance, let us explore this peculiar feature of Digital Tube Sound that primarily aims at replicating the kind of warmth brought about by vacuum tube amplifiers, largely deliberated for music playback. This is further accentuated by High Clarity Sound that literally shuts off any analogue video circuitry in an effort to reduce intrusion thereby bringing about cleaner and clearer sound. Last but not least would be an onscreen display – the Playback Information Window that manages to provide you with the very last detail pertaining to the disc currently being watched along with the current settings.

Again, the DMP-BDT310 is DLNA certified and is capable of streaming music, videos and photos from a Windows 7 PC/NAS drives on home network along with streaming stored programmes in Panasonic DIGA recorders with parallel streaming in other rooms too. Well, let us also not forget the Viera Cast, a whole host of websites that goes on to include Bloomberg, YouTube, Twitter and Picasa along with few other European sites. Though it cannot be really compared to Samsung’s Smart Hub or Sony’s Bravia (as it has a lot more catching up to do), particularly with the new Viera Connect still not having made its way to the 2011 Blu-ray decks, it is kind of disappointing!

On the flip side, Skype is beyond doubts a canny inclusion to the Viera Cast roster that gives you the pleasure of having video calls with your loved ones in any corner of the world, all within the comforts of your recliner, right there in your living room. With the growing demand for this VoIP service, this beyond doubt is a welcome addition and works seamlessly. Thanks to the breezy interface and ingenious features, namely the auto-answering message and the facility for callers to leave video messages while you are away. Likewise, with an incoming call during a movie, the front panel lights up with a “Call” sign along with an audible ringtone. The auto-answering message takes over (an update promised by Panasonic) with you being away recording the caller’s video message on the SD card. An awesome, but a pricey feature as you might have to shell out an extra £120 for the TY-CC10W camera – Nothing comes for free guys!

So having seen enough of downsides, now for some treat for iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad owners. There a free downloadable app that turns your devices into the BDT310’s remote giving you access to some extra functions that even the default remote lacks. This works with Scrub and Gesture and also gives you an added bonus of accessing content from networked devices through your Apple device.

Next up would be the 3D features, mainly the 2D-to-3D conversion attribute that adds that extra tinge of perception to 2D DVDs and Blu-ray discs. Cartoon and animated titles look absolutely neat. It definitely looks worth the price, particularly with kids around or if you own a large collection of Disney titles. There is yet another functionality, the 3D Effect controls that allows you to play around with the depth of images along with the screen type to Round/Flat thereby eliminating the hindrance caused at the sides of the screen meeting the bezel. The most berserk setting would be the Screen Frame that is intended to add a diffuse border that goes all the way round the image, which is supposed to make it comfy to watch, but on the contrary users find it more distracting than being helpful.

Coming to the brilliant innovative OS, one of the most intuitive seen till date, the icons of the main menu are neatly laid out with corresponding right, left, up and down controls in the remote. All it requires is a single button press to guide you to the relevant option.

Moving next to the remote control, guess there is room for improvement. We would have appreciated if Panasonic had a backlighting on the remote, particularly for this flagship model. But then, with many using a universal remote like Harmony, it really doesn’t matter. Still, the short and stubby remote has neatly embedded, easy to memorise buttons with unique buttons for Viera Cast, Netflix and 3D effects. Well, the other conventional buttons go on to include Home, Setup, Display and Status and Popup Menu. Overall, no great shakes about it, but as mentioned could have been better. A word of caution though, beware of the Home key that is parked right next to the menu control key, if you want to avoid frequent visits to the main menu.

In terms of performance, the picture quality is rated as awe-inspiring, especially if you choose to pair it up with the Panasonic plasma. The 2D image’s depth and density screams rich and cinematic at you cramming the images to display the sharpest detail possible.

Switching to 3D increases the WOW factor – you cannot help but praise the gorgeousness with which the BDT310 handles the clarity and smoothness of Full HD images mesmerizing you with the achingly beautiful image quality and detailed backgrounds. You would hardly find any issues when it comes to blurring or crosstalk with stunning colours and sizzling details punching right through your retina. Thanks to the Adaptive Chroma Processing ticking inside the deck that is responsible for up-sampling colour detail from 4:2:0 to 4:2:2 giving colours a more cleaner and staunch appearance as against other conventional Blu-ray spinners, eventually bringing about a more authentic and jaw-dropping 3D effect. The player seems to blend with the TV reproducing fast-moving objects in a perfect effortless composure. The deep punchy blacks together with vivid colours and meticulously rendered detail turns just about everything from delicate textures of plant life and close-up human shots scintillatingly sharp.

Sonically-speaking, the Panasonic DMP-BDT310 Blu Ray Disc Player is remarkably good in terms of Blu-ray standards with music sounding perfectly open and crisp, and doesn’t really lean too much towards top-end frequencies, yet retaining that perfect amount of bottom end punch. This gets further accentuated by Digital Tube Sound, a welcome feature as mentioned above, giving that additional layer of depth, though it doesn’t really impress a few. Last but not least, disc loading times have definitely gotten faster in comparison to the predecessor DMP-BDT300. Again, you might have to use 1GB SD card, as the player lacks built-in memory for BD Live downloads.

Pros

• Full Hi-Def 3D Blu-ray playback
• Intuitive OS
• Twin HDMI outs
• Skype Video calls
• DLNA certified
• Touch-free Sensor

Cons

• Pricey Skype camera
• Viera Cast could do with some improvement.
• 2D conversion, a mixed bag

To Wrap-up

The BDT310 proves “Good things come wrapped in small packages.” True, to that saying it crams a lot of stuff even as we endorse the fact that it is kind of pricey in comparison to its rival flagship players, especially the cost of the Skype camera. Well it does have its own downsides like the 2D conversion not being a killer feature and Viera Connect still not finding its way to the Panasonic decks. But guess such molehill of negatives gets dwarfed by the avalanche of features on offer in the BDT310 and sure does deserve a thumbs-up.

Panasonic DMP-BDT310 3D Blu-ray Player – Technical Specification Table

In the Box

• BD-D7000 3D Blu-ray Disc Player
• Remote Control with Batteries
• Documentation
• Warranty Card
• A/V Cable
• 1-year Parts and 90-day Labor Warranty

Design

The BD-D7000 Blu Ray Disc Player is debatably one among the petite player in the current line-up of Blu-ray players and definitely is nothing similar to the conventional players. Boasting of a unique design that takes the shape of a cube, its compact form and smaller footprint makes it easily stackable and proves to be a discrete fit to just about any room/shelf. Looks like Samsung is also planning on unveiling an amplifier unit along with matching bookshelf speakers, so turning your blu-ray player into a wholesome mini-system to aide with audio playback shouldn’t be an issue. Well, the good news doesn’t stop here, looks the Korean manufacturer is no longer interested in the conventional loading trays and has decided to bring about some innovation with the 3S (Slim, Symmetrical, Slot-in) design concept. To that effect, this compact and minimalist 3D player comes with a hidden slot for disc loading that can be popped up from the center of the player. Also there is a classy silver metal casing that wraps around the unit. So, getting back to the unique hidden loading mechanism, this is how it works – the complete top panel can be popped open by a couple of inches in order that you slot-in a disc. Again, to eject a disc, the top pops up spitting the disc out in a perfectly graceful motion; Neat huh? Then there are also the touch sensor controls that further plays up the futuristic feel. It sure doesn’t come as a big surprise to see the BD-D7000 win the CES 2011 Innovations Design and Engineering Award.

So having had enough insight on the design and feel of the disc spinner, let us move on to the features on offer.

Now enjoy movies in 1080p full HD 3D entertainment, interactive movie extras, streamlined online apps – it is all here and is pretty much possible with this multi-functional entertainer, which also support advanced audio processing thus helping you to enjoy a thorough home theater experience. As mentioned above, the minimalist cube design along with a strip of metal casing adds a touch of sophistication thus epitomizing Samsung’s design philosophy offering a blend of form and function. Also, no more prolonged waits to watch your favorite movie as the quick loading and booting takes care of the same. While the touch-controlled sensors takes care of easy adjustments, the premium A/V processing adds flavour to almost any home theater, not to mention the enhanced graphic UI.

The Wi-Fi on board simply allows you to connect to an internet connection, thus giving you advantage of more than 200 downloadable Samsung apps, be it free or paid. Likewise, the BD Live allows for downloading of movie extras, namely previews for movies or interactive chats and quizzes. Again, the BD-D7000 provides support for processing advanced lossless audio formats like DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD bringing about detailed immersive surround sound taking entertainment to the next level.

Features at a glance:

Slot-in Loading

The slot-in loading mechanism proves to be extremely useful when it comes to eliminating the need to move parts thus making the spinner a more quieter and efficient player. A concealed slot pops up from the middle when you are all set to load a disc taking you by surprise.

Fast Booting and Loading

With Ultra Fast Play, booting the player takes less than 3 seconds, so no more prolonged or eager waits to watch your much awaited movies thanks to the BD-D7000’s rapid booting and loading time. So just pop in that disc and you are all set to watch your favourite movie right away.

2D to 3D Conversion

The innovative 3D converter technology takes care of 3D up-conversion of 2D pictures movies, and streamed videos. Samsung’s very own Hyper Real Engine brings about crystal clear and detailed picture quality along with ensuring color performance and motion in pictures, movies and streamed videos. Again, the innovative SoC (System-on-Chip) works wonders with exceptional 3D up-conversion of pictures, movies and streaming videos.

Cinema Quality 3D Home Entertainment

This Samsung BD-D7000 disc player delivers amazing cinema quality 3D visuals. It also packs 3D glasses, 3D content materials, a home theater projector or 3D-ready HDTV, all of which looks to be a perfect route to enjoying home entertainment. With 3D Blu-ray disc release growing day by day, you are all set to enjoy theater-like entertainment right from the comfort of your living room.

Full HD 1080p

The BD-D7000 comes with a Blu-ray disc format adept to produce five times the resolution of a conventional DVD with a progressively scanned full HD 1080p (1920 x 1080). Also the player is capable of reproducing sharp and detailed image quality on your HDTV.

Samsung Smart Blu-ray

Now your TV can be your web-enabled interactive gateway for you to share, watch, play and interact with your buddies. Also it allows for over 200 paid and free downloadable apps for entertainment, sports, games or social networking. The Samsung Smart TV offers you a whole host of added entertainment options. For starters, the Smart Hub, pulls out a simple menu of connected features wherein you can easily search for videos, movies or shows via online services across connected gadgets and simultaneously access a whole host of apps via the Samsung Apps. Talking of Samsung Apps, it connects you with your preferred digital content allowing you to stream movies from Blockbuster, Netflix, YouTube videos, shows from Hulu, advanced level of info related to sports from ESPN, Pandora’s music, or tweet away on your Twitter or Facebook accounts.

The “All Search” comes in handy to key in a phrase in the search window that allows access to a list of things from your internet, subscribed channels or a home network or just about any wirelessly connected devices like even your Smartphone. Again, there is a “Your Video” function that comes up with handy recommendations depending on your viewing history.

BD Live w/ BONUSVIEW

For an ultimate interactive experience, check out this interesting feature while viewing a Blu-ray disc (that supports BD-Live) it allows for additional content to be downloaded – content that is related to the movie you are currently watching via a network connection making passive viewing all the more interesting. BONUSVIEW also allows you to view two sources concurrently displaying one in a smaller window.

Built-in Wi-Fi

The BD-D7000 3D Blu Ray Player is Wi-Fi ready, so go ahead and take full advantage of features like BD-live via online connectivity and also gain access to Samsung apps. Additionally, there is an Ethernet port in case your home network works on a wired connection. Likewise, the player also supports the novel “One Foot Connection (but does require a Samsung wireless router that supports OFC) – this helps the unit in establishing a connection to a router that is well within a foot and doesn’t really require a password. Connecting to the internet after this is easy and effortless, as the unit can be moved around the house.

Remote Control

The BD-D7000’s remote though lacks backlighting is fairly intuitive with responsive controls, but then has to be in line of sight with the unit for it to work.

AllShare Home A/V Networking

Now you can share photos, music or movies to your heart’s content from your home PC or phone straight into your TV screen, thanks to the AllShare function. It is capable of wirelessly syncing via both your Samsung phone and PC and can stream content or even track your calls and messages via the real-time monitoring on your big screen.

Anynet+(HDMI CEC)

Anynet+, this convenient feature offers linked operations with other Samsung gadgets that supports the Anynet+ feature by automatically controlling Samsung AV devices thereby eliminating the need for more than one remote control, regardless of the number of devices used.  Simply put, the Anynet+ function provides you with a simple user-friendly experience with a single remote.

Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio

Bring theater-like experience right into your living room with the BD-D7000’s DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD. Full HD visuals don’t really give you the full satisfaction of a home theater unless it is combined with stellar sound. Well this disc player doesn’t disappoint you here by offering you an in-built processor for DTS and advanced Dolby audio formats with the inclusion of DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD that is responsible for lossless surround sound (multi-channel) to be pumped in as Hi-Res audio into your speaker setup.

Multi-Format Disc Playback

The Samsung BD-D7000 acts more than just a Blu-ray disc spinner. To that effect it supports DVD, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, CD and CD-R/RW discs while you get to enjoy your entire collection of music/movies. Additionally, file formats like JPEG photos and MP3 music are also supported by this player.

Energy Star Rated

Last but not least, the unit allows helps a great deal in the “Go Green” evolution proving to be an environment safe gadget, as it comes with a 2.0 Energy Star rating and uses an operating power of 19 watts with standby of 0.3 watts. Along with proving to be environment friendly, it is pocket-friendly too and doesn’t add to your energy bill, cool huh?

Pros: Compact and Stylish, Fast, Quiet, Intuitive remote with responsive controls, Perfect DLNA syncing, Netflix and Vudu seamless and easy to use with a distinct button for Netflix on the remote.

Cons: Remote lacks backlighting, requires to be in line of sight with the unit to work efficiently, Magnet for dust, impossible to stack things on top of player as it tends to open.

To Wrap-up

The Samsung BD-D7000 sure does seem to be a benchmark for Blu-ray players – small, but uncompromising and stands out among the rest. It is designed with a chic look with amazing entertainment features that you could look up to. Its fast and quiet operation blends well with the handy intuitive remote and interface that makes maneuvering the features simple and easy. On the flip side, the remote lacks backlighting and is a literal magnet for dust. With such minimal flaws, the BD D7000 disc spinner proves to be a perfect personal entertainment device that you wish for, not to mention the premium price that you may have to pay for this tiny footprint.

Samsung BD-D7000 3D Blu-ray Player – Technical Specification Table

The All New Front Panel

The BDP-95 is significantly a full inch taller when compared to the BDP-93, with the depth and width remaining the same. The front panel has been refurbished with a contoured look as against the flat anodized façade seen on the BDP-93 giving the layout a neat and functional look. The main power button has the name OPPO embossed along with the five backlit capacitive-touch playback buttons as opposed to the dedicated mechanical buttons that we get to see on the BDP-93. No major change has been made to the Open/Close button that sits next to the tray. Towards the center sits the disc tray flanked by the control and display buttons. As mentioned earlier, the BDP-95 is significantly heavier than its predecessor due to the custom-designed Toroidal power transformer. Toroidal transformers are competent with a less mechanical hum in comparison to the conventional cheap laminated steel core transformers offering a more robust power source to all critical audio components. Also, these transformers are designed to give out superior inrush current and significant low exterior magnetic field as against conventional steel core laminated transformers.

Back Panel

The rear houses an array of comprehensive outputs and network connectivity panel, the most prominent of them being the inclusion of a pair of dedicated stereo RCA outputs and balanced XLR audio outputs. These take care of high performance analog audio with the latter featuring a true differential signal path commencing right from the DAC to the three-pin XLR connector. The balanced output offers better common-mode noise rejection via transmitting a set of differential signals, thus enhancing signal quality. The DAC (Digital to Analogue Converter) in the BDP-95 Blu Ray Player is driven by SABRE32 Reference ES9018 from ESS Technology. This is pretty much the same DAC used for professional studio equipments and high-end consumer apps. The SABRE boasts of a Dynamic Range (DNR) of up to 135dB with a Total Harmonic Distortion plus Noise (THD+N) of -120dB, which is supposedly the industry’s best performance level that satisfies even the most challenging audio conformist. The BDP-95 is also loaded with a full set of 7.1-multichannel analog outputs, which are also powered by SABRE32. Again, there are two assignable ver1.4a HDMI outputs, which offer flexibility in terms of wiring up your spinner. You are also provided the option to connect one output to a HDTV for casual viewing while the other can be connected to a projector for home theatre viewing. If you are looking at a multi-room installation, the BDP-95 is equipped to output video and audio to dual 3D/2D TVs concurrently.

The rest of the connections in the rear panel go on to include coaxial and optical digital outs, component and composite video outs, a LAN port, a USB port, and an eSata port that aides with viewing external hard drive contents. Additionally, there is a fan as the unit gets fairly hot owing to the high performance and also partly due to the Toroidal transformer.

Remote control

There is a full backlit remote control that accompanies the BDP-95 that is easy to use in dimly-lit home theatres. The ergonomic key layout and legible labelling makes operating the disc player seamless than ever

Features

Although the BDP-95 is an exclusive “bells and whistles” disc player, it does the job that it is intended to do perfectly well and outshines in performing its core function – deriving the last bit of content from the disc spinning within and delivers the same in its purest form possible thereby down streaming components. The custom-designed Toroidal Power Transformer built by Rotel via its robust power to internal audio components drives out delicate signals perfectly with minimal distortion. This universal disc player plays both 2D and 3D discs along with CDs, DVD-audio and video. It also decodes lossless codecs like and DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD providing Hi-Def entertainment yielding both of these hi-res formats through the 1.4 a HDMI output in bit stream format.

In terms of video streaming, the BDP-95 Blu Ray Disc Player is powered by the Marvell’s Kyoto-G2 video processor along with the second-generation Qdeo technology. Qdeo video processing is famous for its immersive viewing experience that renders natural videos devoid of noise and artifacts, regardless of the content. In terms of high-quality Blu-ray content, the BDP-95 loyally reproduces content exactly as the director would have intended to. In terms of DVD, the picture upconversion is almost equal to HD content.

While Upscaling for HDMI 1 and video processing is powered by the Marvell Kyoto-G2 QDEO 88DE2750 chip, scaling for HDMI output 2 and video processing is powered by Oppo’s on-board video scaling chip, manufactured by Mediatek. There are on-board adjustments on offer for Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation and Brightness as well as adjustments for scaling and video processing for Noise Reduction and Edge Enhancement. It is worth mentioning that the options provided for video adjustment setting for HDMI 1 and 2 outputs would vary slightly, as two separate video processing chips have been utilized for each HDMI output.

Disc Playback Compatibility

The BDP-95 supports the following formats and discs: BD-Video, DVD- Video/Audio, Blu-ray 3D, SACD, AVCHD, CD, HDCD, CD-R/RW, Kodak Picture CD, DVD+R/RW and DVD+R DL, BD-R/RE. Also of note, SACD and DVD-Audio can be accessed via both HDMI outputs and 5.1 channel analog.

USB and eSata

There is an eSata port that provides access to media files, which is stored on external hard drives. The front and rear mounted 2.0 USB ports come in handy to access photos, videos and music content via a flash drive.

Network/Internet Connectivity

Internet Connectivity is via Ethernet or the on-board USB Wi-Fi adapter. The BDP-95 offers access Netflix/Blockbuster streaming services along with media files that is stored on network connected devices.

Memory

This Oppo BDP-95 Blu Ray disc player comes with a 2GB internal memory wherein 1GB can be used to access BD-Live. Nevertheless, there is always the option to expand memory capacity via a flash drive, if required, by utilising either one of the USB ports.

Power Supply

The Roten-designed Toroidal Power Transformer takes care of the audiophile-grade power supply.

Control Connections

The IR sensor and RS232 connections takes care of efficient integration via a central PC-based or IR-based remote control. The option for these connections is provided, which aides with full control integration for custom-installed home theatre set up.

Warranty

The Oppo BDP-95 offers limited 2 years warranty for parts and Labour from the original purchase date. The same can be availed of by registering your purchase for warranty cover by visiting the official website http://www.oppo-bluray.co.uk/customer-services/warrenty/product-registration.aspx.

Final Take

You might want to consider this player if you are looking for a versatile and adept audiophile-grade universal player (which the player definitely is) along with being a great bargain for its price. The BDP-95 is a definite star performer in terms of audio and video.

You might want to look further, if you want a player with a much higher level of performance in terms of sound quality (which we doubt if you may succeed and even if you do, it could take several multiples of the BDP-95’s reasonable price). Again if you are not a great fan of the BDP-95’s compelling DACs/analog audio section, then we guess the BDP-93 might be your best bet.

Check all Latest Blu Ray Disc Players, Best Buys, Exclusive Reviews in this website.

Oppo BDP-95 3D Blu Ray Player – Technical Specification Table

Well, for those of you who feel that most high-end Blu-ray players of today come with almost all of these features for a far better price and yet others who have not heard of Oppo and question its basic performance to justify the cost, Read on!

To begin with OPPO is a beloved manufacturer of Blu-ray Players and DVDs extant since 2004 with significant followers on the Internet for their outstanding performance and extensive features. Let us take the BDP-93′s SACD playback and DVD-Audio for example: Both these formats are practically outdated with very few manufacturers offering the same, one among them being Oppo. They provide this for enthusiasts with a sizeable library of titles, who wish to playback titles in these formats and Oppo gracefully complies with such fetish.

Unboxing the BDP-93:

Upon unboxing the BDP-93 Blu Ray Disc Player, it is matter of time before you realise that it is no different from its older brother with an impressive packing that keeps the unit well protected in a reusable carry bag. Also found in the package are the remote control with batteries, power cord, well-informed User Manual, standard A/V cables, HDMI cable, Wi-Fi Dongle that supports Wireless N along with a 6-foot USB extension. But then it lacks the inclusion of the Spears and Munsil and AIX Calibration Discs (but the same can be availed from OPPO by paying extra), which was available for free on the BDP-83/BDP-83 SE models. Well coming back to the looks, the BDP-93 is just about the same size as the BDP-83, but then with a marked difference, definitely attractive looking from every angle. Featuring an exemplary anodized brushed aluminum front panel, the BDP-93 is gracefully designed and comes with few flushed buttons like the Power, Disc Tray, and Navigation buttons giving it a sophisticated look with an exemplary black finish and fit. Well the flush eject buttons might be a wee bit problematic to locate in a darkened room, and this is where the back-lit remote comes in fairly handy. The refurbished disc tray has been improvised and is custom-built by Japan’s Tohei Group, which has wonderfully taken care of the mechanical noise and rigidity issue that beset the BDP-83. It is designed to look cool and retracts fully flushed in the front panel with the tray operating more rapidly, smoothly and quietly. There are two digital displays right next to the tray with the main display on the left displaying disc and track timings and the aux display responsible for disc info and icons. Both the displays are dimmable, subtle and relatively informative. The BDP-93 also is equipped with an easy-to-access front USB port that is smartly concealed. The BDP-93 might weigh a tad less in comparison to the BDP-83SE (10.6 oz versus 11.3 oz), but it still boasts of the same solid build as its older brother.

Back Panel Connectivity:

Peeking at the back panel you get to observe two obvious inclusions – firstly an additional HDMI v1.4a output that supports all old, existing and future HDMI TV and receivers and secondly the absence of a stereo analog output. (This is available only in the Oppo BDP-95). Well this is no big deal as majority of the users might posses an AV receiver that derives its audio from HDMI output. Again, there is also an option provided in the setup menu that downconverts 7.1 channels to 2, if stereo audio is all that you need.

The provision of an additional HDMI comes in fairly handy allowing you to utilize one HDMI exclusively for video and the other one exclusively for audio, ensuring high-quality audio/video for both the signal path. Likewise the flexible HDMI menu makes configuration of the dual HDMI outputs fairly easy. There is no longer the need to upgrade your A/V receiver to a 3D model for you to enjoy 3D anymore. Just connect one HDMI out to a 3D TV and the second one to a pre-3D HDMI A/V receiver. Better still, you could opt for dual outputs parallel to a single output fed into a projector to enjoy home theatre viewing and the other fed into a TV for casual viewing. If you are looking at multi-room viewing, the BDP-93 is equipped to output video/audio to two 3D/2D television sets concurrently.

Remote Control:

No big changes in the remote of the BDP-93 and is almost similar to that of the BDP-83 remote. It is the most preferred one and it is nice to know that Oppo has decided to retain this proven design up until their latest players. Well for those who are new to it, here is a short description of the same: It rounded back gives more of an ergonomic feel to the remote with chunky buttons and symbols labeled along with being backlit making it easy on the eyes, especially with most of the home theatre environment having a dim light setting. The layout seems to follow a fairly logical format with the backlight getting triggered upon pressing any key on the remote for roughly 8 seconds. Additionally, it also comes with a dedicated light in the right lower corner. While the Pop-up and Top buttons sit on the upper right and left hand side of the navigation button, Return and Setup keys sit at the bottom towards the left and right of the navigation buttons. Common control can be accessed with the Stop/Play/Pause buttons that are nice and chunky. Upon choosing the Resolution option, users are given the following options to choose from “Auto, 480I or 576I, 480P or 576P, 720P, 1080I, 1080P or Source Direct”. Also you might be interested in this smart offering from Oppo, the BDP-93’s remote comes with the inclusion of a 3-position switch within the battery compartment, wherein users are allowed to modify the command set, ensuring that it does not hamper other Oppo products. This absolutely cool feature offers users absolutely separate and full control of 2 Oppo players within the same room.

Wi-Fi Networking:

The Oppo BDP-93 is loaded with wireless N capability; but not in-built though. Instead, it comes with an USB Wi-Fi dongle together with an extension cable that is dock attached allowing the dongle to be located on a flat surface, for better reception, away from the rear of the unit. The signal strength is supposedly seen to increase due to the USB dock (that comes with the dongle) being optimally placed. The dongle is an Atheros AR9271 10/100Mb unit with its drivers in-built in the BDP-93. Regrettably, the Wi-Fi seems to go more easy on the conventional 2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n systems as against the 5GHz-only 802.11n systems. Configuration is a real breeze with utilizing the “Internet Connection Menu” where the users are given the choice of both wired and wireless connectivity. Wi-Fi works faster and is reliable with both wire and wireless and seems to have no problems detecting wireless systems or connecting to it. Additionally, Netflix movies in HD is also devoid of any issues with bandwidth or artifacts.

Well! The other connections go on to include two USB 2.0 ports, one in the front panel and one at the rear, along with a set of 7.1 multichannel audio outs. In case you wish to use an external DAC for two-channel music playback, you are provided with the digital optical and coaxial audio outputs. These also come in handy with establishing easy and simple connections to the conventional A/V receivers that are devoid of HDMI inputs. Yet another new feature would be the eSATA Port – make the best of this high-speed eSATA connection that aide in playing your videos, audios or even image files stored in your hard disks.

A/V Processing:

Oppo has tried its hands on something novel with the inclusion of Marvell 88DE2750 “Kyoto-G2 Digital Video Format Converter.” The prevalent Anchor Bay (ABT2010 chip) incorporated in the BDP-83 has been revamped with the Qdeo video processor. The award-winning Marvell chip is supposedly fairly famous in the industry known for its outstanding video performance and consequently been incorporated in numerous products from leading manufacturers. There is an whole host of offers by the Marvell chip in terms of edge-adaptive and motion-adaptive 3D de-interlacing along with supporting arbitrary film cadences in conjunction with per-pixel 3D VNR/BNR (Video Noise Reduction)/(Block Noise Reduction) Additionally the Source Direct mode enables video outboard processing. Again, the BDP-93 is also loaded with the contemporary “Silicon Image” SiI9334 HDMI 1.4 Transmitter chip responsible for sending video signals from the HDMI 1 connector.

Audiophiles:

In terms of Audio Board, the BDP-93 is capable of producing DTS-HD MA and lossless Dolby TrueHD bitstreams through the HDMI connector. The multi-channel decoder on-board is capable of converting every channel to LPCM and yields audio either via the 7.1 analog audio outputs or the HDMI connector. With a flexible design, it virtually adapts to any system, be it old or new.

Oppo’s modular design comes in handy in enhancing the audio quality for audiophiles with replacement of the power supply and audio board. We will be hearing more on this with Oppo’s launch of the all new BDP-95 Audiophile BD player.

(GUI) Graphical User Interface:

Again, nothing has changed in terms of UI and is pretty much the same user interface witnessed in the BDP-83, with the menu system being plausible and easy to follow. Oppo have done their homework well in devising a set of menus that anyone can play with, be it a novice or a patron. Also the fonts go easy and pleasing on the eyes. There is yet another nicely thought out feature by Oppo that allows users to access menus even as a disc is being played, which is definitely a feature worth mentioning that you get to see only with expensive players.

There are few basic setup menus that are exclusively designed to walk users through the initial settings and get the unit up and running in no time. Well Oppo prefers calling it the “Easy Setup Wizard” which consists of 6 simple steps that require the users to provide their valuable inputs for the unit to perform accordingly. Let us take a quick glance, shall we?

Video Interface:

To begin with, users need to outline the primary video output and are given the option to choose between component video and HDMI. It would be ideal to choose HDMI predominantly, unless the display fails to support it. You might want to choose HDMI as your default as it is HDCP-friendly (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) enhancing the resolution big time to avoid disappointments by choosing to not use the HDMI digital interface.

Aspect Ratio:

Well now coming to the aspect ratio trait of the display. Displays coming with a 4:3 aspect ratio can go in for Pan & Scan or Letterbox and those units with the contemporary 16:9 HDTV’s can go in for Wide or Wide/Auto where the latter places side borders on the 4:3 source material.

Output Resolution:

Users are given a whole array of choice to choose from in terms of video output namely: Auto, 480P/576P,480I/576I, 1080P, 1080I or Source Direct. Upon changing the TV output mode users are asked to confirm the settings before making the change final. The player reverts back to the prior video mode upon failing to get any confirmation on the new settings, thus preventing the player from utilizing a video mode that leaves users without any picture.

Audio settings:

Well, coming to the audio mode, the Compatible Mode is designed to work by default with majority of the receivers and displays; nevertheless the BDP-93 is also equipped with an advanced setting for receivers compatible with HDMI 1.3. For those of you who would like to explore more on the audio check out the Audio Settings in the Setup Menu.

That being said, the Easy Setup Wizard sure does make life easy for non-techy users to get more comfortable with their BD player and configure the same in no time. Nevertheless, it would also be ideal to be familiar with all the features, as there is a whole array of them being available in the player thus maximizing its performance.

Setup Menu:

The BDP-93′s Setup Menu is categorized into 6 each of which provides advanced controls equipped with an extensive set of parameters that can be modified by users for optimal performance. Let us explore into each one of them in detail:

Device setup:

The device setup menu aide users with Firmware Information thereby allowing users to perform a Firmware Upgrade though Disc, USB or Network. Setting the Firmware Notification On checks firmware updates by default via the Oppo server. Few other default settings go on to include Front Panel Display, Remote Code, Persistent Storage Options, HDMI CEC, DivX VOD DRM, Netflix, Easy setup and Reset Factory Settings.

Network setup:

The Network Setup menu takes care of configuring the Ethernet connection through which the BD-Live content along with firmware updates can be accessed. Info like current IP address, My Network, BD-Live Network access can be accessed via turning On/Off the Connection Information. Upon selecting the Internet Connection, the Wireless Setting goes active instantly scanning for any active Wi-Fi links. IP Settings can either be set to Manual or Auto with the option to turn On/Off the Proxy Settings. Users can enter their current IP address Gateway, Subnet Mask, DNS 1 and 2 manually in the Manual mode and the Connection Test runs a check on the same verifying proper functioning of the network connection.

Playback setup:

Parental Control, Language, Screen Markers for Angle, SAP and PIP (secondary audio programs and picture-in-picture) all of these are classified under the Playback Setup menu with markers being suggested in the screen (if the options are available) on the disc being watched. You can set SACD Priority to Stereo, multi-channel or CD-mode. The DVD-Audio Mode decides how Audio DVDs are played (audio or video). Well for the most part, it all depends on how users configure their systems and what is supported. Likewise, Playback, Auto Play and Auto Resume modes can also be individually set On/Off.

Audio Format Setup:

The Audio Format menu is responsible for setting the Secondary Audio On/Off mixing it with the main audio. HDMI Audio Bitstream/LPCM/Off – can be set depending on the unit or the user’s preference. The Optical/Coaxial Output decides if the player needs to convert the audio to PCM or let the receiver decode the raw bitstream. Maximum sample rate for utmost compatibility with the equipment connected is taken care of by the LPCM Rate Limit, thus preventing the player from transferring high resolution data than what is supported by the digital outputs. You could set the SACD Output to yield raw DSD streaming or convert the same to PCM data with the option to set the HDCD Decoding On/Off.

Video setup:

All video parameters are taken care of by the Video Setup menu with the Picture Adjustment panel giving users the option of changing settings to HDMI 1 or HDMI 2 or Analogue. The Primary Output establishes the video output – HDMI 1, 2 or Analog. For best video performance, it would be ideal to choose The HDMI outputs by default. The 3D Mode can either be Auto or off and the 3D TV Size gets keyed in here. Users are allowed choose the TV Aspect Ratio from 4:3 Pan & Scan, 4:3 Letterbox, 16:9 Wide or Wide/Auto with the TV System being set to either PAL or NTSC. The 1080p 24 Output provides users with a 24 frame per second output rate. The HDMI Options Menu classifies Color, Space and Deep Color that can be set independently for HDMI 1 and 2. Also you get to enable the Video Only option for HDMI 1.

Audio Processing:

This takes care of configuring the speaker of the unit allowing each channel to be configured to large or small, adjusting the same for level and distance. Interestingly, we may add, looks like no other speaker could be set farther than the two front speakers, which include the sub-woofer too. Well, this is applicable only to the analog outputs and doesn’t really affect the LPCM outputs or digital bit stream.

Firmware Updates:

With a network connection being active, the Oppo BDP-93 3D Blu Ray Player automatically connects to the Oppo server for updates. The same is also possible by manually checking for updates or using the disc image or the USB to update the player. The possibility for the manufacturers to incorporate updates every now and then and encountering issues is definitely a huge advantage in few of the latest BD players.

Performance:

To begin with, the picture quality is beyond doubts incredible with rich and deep colours. But what really gets you, is the player’s capability to depict detail and depth bordering on photorealism. In terms of animated content, the space and distance between stuff flying is easily discernable without causing much stress on the eye. The 3D experience for movie buffs would be an absolute treat for the eyes when things flying on the scene come at a ripping speed protruding from the screen aiming right at you.
The player’s decoding ability is also equally impressive. The audio looks to be amazingly balanced with the dialogues, music and sound effects fitting into their own frequencies in the broad sound-stage. Bass looks to be controlled and tight along with sounding deep. All of these elements seem like they flow without a glitch to and from the speakers eventually disappearing into the sound-stage leaving users with an airy cinematic feel of sight and sound. Looks like the BDP-93 certainly knows to get its job done, no matter what!

Again for users who are not so keen on going 3D, you might like to know that the BDP-93′s 2D performance is no way inferior. Visually striking objects and colours are portrayed taking even the minutest vivid detail into account like the depth of shadows and transparent outlining of trunks, ranches and trees. Fast moving images carry some amazing clarity that is a rarity these days. Both action sequence and dialogue delivery seem to go hand in hand demonstrating the player’s competent audio decoders. The 24-bit/48-kHz uncompressed PCM along with delivering complex and dense noise, also takes care of the resolution and clarity of the soundtrack. To conclude, the BDP-93 proves itself to be a pro in terms of its audio quality.

Audio Performance:

The biggest advantage of the BDP-93 Region Free Blu Ray Player is its capability to handle multitude of audiophile formats namely DVD-Audio, SACD, Dolby lossless bitstreams (TrueHD) and DTS (Master Audio). Also it seems to handle FLAC and WAV files that were kind of problematic in the BDP-83. Again, users wishing to use analog outputs can rest assured, as the player’s Analog audio quality is more than decent. It would be ideal to choose the HDMI interface with regards to DSD, multi-channel PCM and other bitstreams, as it yields fabulous results. Music fanatics would beyond doubt love the BDP-93 for the copious audio formats that it supports.

Access Times:

Access time supposedly varies widely among different BD players. Also it is considered a vital performance metric while choosing a player. We must admit that Oppo beats its competitors hands down here. There was nothing much to complain on the BDP-83 in terms of access time and had a fairly good performance to its credit, but looks like the BDP-93 is all set to outperform its elder brother as majority of the discs thrown at it timed at an approximate 20% to 30%.

DVD Layer Switching Times:

Similar to BD boot time, many users might be interested to know if BDP-93 has any significant noticeable delays while executing a DVD layer switch. Well, the answer to this is a big NO, as the Oppo BDP-93 seems to handle every single disc thrown at it perfectly well with short layer times, that are barely noticeable; a definite improvement in comparison to the BDP-83!

Key Features:

Along with 3D video playback, the BDP-93 is actually a universal player that is compatible with almost majority of the disc formats, including the not so popular DVD-Audio and SACD discs. Also you can enjoy Netflix and Blockbuster movie on Demand streamed straight into your home theater. Oppo is looking out to increase its video partners going forward in an effort to boost the streaming experience.

Also in response to user’s demand, Oppo has decided to support majority of the media and file formats, namely Audio CD, DVD, AVCHD, HDCD, Kodak Picture CD, DivX, MP4, MKV, and more importantly the 24-bit/192KHz WAV and FLAC files. Those of you wishing to use a high-end AV receiver display or external video processor, there is the “Source Direct” mode on offer for the same that sends out the original video/audio content from the discs with no further processing or alteration.

As already mentioned, video processing happens via the “Marvell Kyoto-G2 video processor” together with the second-generation Qdeo technology offering options for enhancement, namely intelligent colour, video noise reduction, edge enhancements, and compression artifact reduction. It proves to be very handy with reducing noise in videos that is apparent with streaming content.

The BDP-93 has various levels of aspect ratio control along with image zooming. This includes a vertical stretch mode for users possessing a 2.35:1 Constant Image Height (CIH) projector. An exclusive subtitle shift feature offers to shift the subtitle up/down, thus enabling users to see all subtitle text while using the 2.35:1 CIH display.

Few other conventional features go on to include DVD Up-Conversion, True 1080/24p video together with support for contemporary audio codecs like the DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD. Additionally, it also supports bitstream output of DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD via the HDMI 1.4a output. Also it internally decodes Hi-Res audio codecs into LPCM and produces the same via HDMI/7.1ch analog audio output terminals.

Warranty:

The Oppo BDP-93 comes with full parts and Labour warranty for 2 years from the original date of purchase. Registering the product with Oppo is mandatory in order to avail of the same with the registration form being available for download in the official website http://www.oppo-bluray.co.uk/customer-services/warrenty/

Pros:

• Beats most of the high-end Blu-ray players hands down.
• Outstanding video quality
• Wi-fi enabled
• Dual HDMI outputs, flexible

Cons:

• DLNA networking needs improvisation
• Lacks Hulu Plus
• No automatic Home Menu

Verdict:

So to conclude, guess we have to get a touch cynical to point flaws up front, but then eventually tell you this is a great player and quite an easy choice for the price you pay. Stand out features include ability to stream from the likes of Netflix and Blockbuster, excellent video processing, dual HDMI 1.4a output and a solid build. The cynical side will suggest improvements in the audio and some user interface subtleties (a demonstrative logo screen that comes up on eject while we could’ve been served with a more user-friendly Home screen) but then the positives far outweigh these points. Go for it.

Oppo BDP-93 Blu Ray Player – Technical Specification Table

The LG BD590 Blu Ray Disc Player takes entertainment to the next level going one step ahead by allowing instant streaming of entertainment. Besides enjoying Full HD 1080p along with matchless entertainment options it is also loaded with a 250GB Media Library allowing you to store your precious memories in the form of Photos, Music or the HD movies bought from Vudu. Isn’t it something better than a Blu-ray? Also check out LG’s new partners for 2010 – AccuWeather and Picasa. So does this justify paying couple of bucks extra than its predecessor BD570 that features almost the same attributes with the exclusion of the hard drive? Is it really necessary to have an internal hard drive in a Blu-ray player? Well take a sneak peek to find answers to the above questions!

In The Box

• 1 x A/V Cable
• 1 x Nero’s MediaHome 4 Essential software (LG Edition)
• 1 x Quick Start Guide
• 1 x Customer Registration Card
• 1 x Universal Remote Control
• 2 x AAA Batteries
• 1 x User Manual

Design:

Measuring 17 x 11 inches this 7-pound disc spinner resembles its predecessor, the LG BD390, when it comes to design, but slightly sleek and definitely less bulky despite the hard drive making it blend with any home theater system. The front panel has a hi-tech and glossy finish and flips down automatically with the disc tray being ejected. It almost hides the disc tray as well as the control buttons like the Play/Stop and the USB port. A word of caution though – if you plan on keeping the USB stick inserted, you might not be able to close the front panel.

Though flip-down panels help in maintaining the sleekness of a unit, the fragility of the same sure does pose a question to its durability. Again, the Eject/Power buttons are handily located on the top making access easy (that is if you do not stack another gadget on top of the player). Beneath the front panel is where one can find the handy chapter forward/backward playback buttons. Powering on the unit lights up the bright LCD display, which is clearly readable even across the room. But then, some might find it distractingly bright, especially with watching an online movie, as the player blinks both the red and blue lights, which cannot be dimmed.

The rear of the BD590 Blu-Ray player hosts a set of controls that include the HDMI 1.3a with x.v.Color, composite and component video outs, digital audio outs, 2 channels of analog audio as well as an Ethernet port. Audio connections go on to include coaxial digital, TosLink, and stereo analog. Unlike its predecessor BD390, the BD590 is devoid of 7.1 analogue outputs, a trend that we will continue to see on mass-market players. The BD590 is also adept when it comes to internal decoding of lossless codecs like the DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD including the option to send the same via HDMI as PCM or lossless bitstream. With an Ethernet connection at home, you might want to take advantage of the Ethernet jack provided or simply go wireless using the in-built 802.11n Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, there is no second USB port on the rear, but guess the built-in 250 GB hard drive sure does make external storage a lot less to worry about.

Remote Control:

Well! LG has decided to improve their remote’s design, a total revamp in comparison to its younger brothers – should we say? Featuring a glossy black sleek finish, it seems to be a magnet for fingerprints. The keys are large and well laid out in a straightforward fashion with an easy to find ridge that aids with using the frequently used buttons, especially in the dark; nonetheless it lacks backlighting. It houses the play controls like Play, Pause etc., on a raised crest, which can be easily maneuvered with the thumb by just feeling them. There are also nubs on the Forward and Rewind buttons that are extremely useful (provided you know they exist). Again, the main directional pad is encircled by 6 buttons, giving a cluttered feeling, though it does not pose much of an issue. The BD590’s remote can also be programmed to control your television, but with difficult to reach TV control buttons. For example, the volume control button that you are prone to use a lot is inappropriately located making it difficult to access in the dark especially with the remote lacking backlighting. Pressing the Info/Display button gives out adequate information. A menu pops up allowing you change the subtitles, audio, and even the television’s aspect ratio. It also displays info on movie and music that has been pulled off online.

Having said that, there are a few things that requires some clarity or should we say hitches. Like the info on the time remaining on the movie currently being watched, you might have to do your own math by checking out the time elapsed and the total time. Again, you are better off going through the user manual to figure out what the 4-coloured RGYB buttons mean. If you are guessing that it has something to do with colour configuration – Wrong guess; they help with controlling the BD-ROM menus.
Coming to audio options on the remote there is one to convert everything to DTS, which is particularly handy if you are in possession of a DVD-era receiver that refuses to support contemporary audio formats namely the LPCM and Dolby TrueHD. So in that case, DTS is your best bargain in terms of best-sounding format that your system can handle. Then again, just like any other Blu-ray player, the BD590 is also capable of converting audio to PCM or passing it on unaffected.

User Interface/Setup:

While the setup menu is almost identical to the  BD390, LG has decided to come up with a fancy home menu taking the shape of a floating ice cube design with a white background; looks like we are going to be seeing this pattern on all LG products for sometime now. These cubes take the form of icons for different TV features like Home Link, Netcast, Music, Photo, setup, Movie, etc. The floating motif with the icons bobbing in the watery surface below does give the homescreen a whimsical touch. Well does that mean added functionality? No, not really! In fact, accessing the unit gets a little annoying making the older straightforward version a more preferred choice.

If you fall under that category, the good news is that once you enter Netcast (LG’s suite of streaming service) these floating cubes make way for larger conventional tiles with the corresponding service’s names. Talking about LG’s line of service, they sure have a fairly impressive list that includes CinemaNow, Vudu, YouTube, Netflix, Pandora with AccuWeather and Picasa being new partners for LG in 2010.

The menu screens provide a short description of the different available options, but the descriptions are not always useful. For example, the “TV Aspect Ratio” is merely described as “Helps with setting the TV Screen ratio.” The manual provides a more detailed and thorough description though.

Setting up the wireless internet connection is a literal cakewalk. In case you are fine with the wired option, go ahead and connect it to the LAN port on the rear side. Firmware update is also a quick and hassle free. Disc load times are relatively fast, but a tad slow in comparison to the nifty Sony disc spinners. For eg., upon popping the Wanted Blu-ray, the FBI warning was up in just 29 seconds with prompt responses upon pressing the remote’s Skip Chapter and Pause buttons. With most Java-intensive discs, the main menu was up and running in less than a minute. The robust suite of streaming features works right out of the box. The BD590 also allows DLNA access, such that you can link your system and stream data files – an extremely handy feature for the computer savvies.

Performance:

In terms of playback, LG BD590 HDD Blu Ray Player is absolutely top-notch getting past almost all deinterlacing tests. The images prove to be of pristine quality to such an extent that it even captures occasional less-than-perfect CGIs. With Blacks being the richest that can be seen on Blu-ray, the vivid scenes bring out breathtaking depth, yet being naturally appealing. Yet another impressive feature of the BD590 is it allowing an incremental zoom of BD movies filling the entire 16:9 screen even as it keeps Picture Quality Degradation to the minimum level possible.

With regards to the audio quality, check out The Dar Knight, especially with Warner providing a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround track (48kHz/16-bit) – dialogues rendered are crystal clear with the soundtrack being supreme. The surround sound is both engaging and natural giving out a sustained and subtle ambiance. Be it Batman’s voice or the Batmobile’s rumble, the quality of audio was full and intense maximizing the subwoofer’s role. The playback dynamics of music CDs are exceptional with brusque highs and natural bass. Well, the only hitch when it comes to video performance is the upscaling trait, which is a bare minimum when rising from 480i to 1080p. DVD Images are warm with a reddish hue and overall colour lacks vibrancy.

Blu-ray Image Quality:

By and large, the BD590’s image quality is fairly impressive as it came out with flying colours for the most part in all important test patterns. While majority of the hardcore videophile fanatics may favour the slightly better Oppo BDP-83, the rest of the high-definition movie buffs are sure to be perfectly contented with the BD590’s Blu-ray image quality.

Coming to the BD590’s performance on test patterns – the two most vital tests, the video resolution and film tests, something that decides on a player’s performance on the majority of Blu-ray titles, it seemed to pass them with solid ease. Of course, it did stumble on tests like text overlay, most of the cadence tests, and the chroma multiburst test, but these does not really influence the image quality so much. If it makes the videophiles feel any better, as much as the BD590 clips whites in the “standard” mode, it passes all “whiter-than-white” signals in the movie mode without any issue. But then, LG’s new line of players look comparatively slower than the last year models placing the BD590 a step behind the expeditious Sony BDP-S570. So to conclude, the BD590 sure does look lightning-fast with typical use, but cannot be called a speed-demon when compared to its little brother, the BD390

DVD Performance:

In terms of DVD Performance, the BD590 Hard Disk Drive Blu Ray Player seems a little disappointing. In any case, it did pass the 2:2 resolution test with the processing taking a considerably long time (in comparison to the Oppo) to kick start and expel the moiré. Yet again, we will give it a go over the Sony BDP-S570 for performing better in terms of handling alcove video content; nevertheless it would come as no surprise to see videophile buffs favour the Oppo BDP-83 in terms of DVD image quality.

Streaming Video Image Quality:

There is nothing much to complain on Netflix streaming on the BD590, it in fact gives an edge over the Sony BDP-S570, which supposedly has some hitch when it comes to streaming image.

Video Quality:

BD playback sure is impressive in the BD590 with its resolution being more than adequate, although you might have to go for a 1080p resolution from the menu for the first time, with the program not equipped enough to seek optimal resolution. A word of caution though for the videophiles – the BD590 is prone to clip whites in “Standard” mode, but guess if you are not a real stickler it should not really influence your decision on buying the player, which is available for a street price of £156.

Sound Quality:

Similar to most contemporary Blu-ray players, the BD590 comes equipped with onboard decoding rendering high-resolution DTS and Dolby formats. The sound quality or should we say sound transference, to be more precise, to an amplifier can be rated outstanding. Along with performing well with transferring surround sound (5.1) to your audio system, it does a more than decent task of reproducing low quality sound, like majority of the YouTube videos, for instance. The BD590 manages to capture every quaint crackle or pop from any old renditions. Also it plays almost all prevalent audio formats, like CD, CD-R, and CD R/W. Nevertheless, if you are looking at playing your DVD-Audio or SACD discs, guess you have to look out for options, as they are not supported. Yeah! Welcome to “cutting edge technology”.

Speaking of networking, the BD590 is a blend of wow-smarto! Online streaming continues to be LG’s major Pro in their Blu-ray lineup. The BD590 comes with an in-built high-speed Wi-fi boasting of an 802.11n speed. Of course, the internet services list looks impressive, a combination of free and paid – CinemaNow, Netflix, Vudu comes with a fee; Picasa, YouTube, Pandora and AccuWeather comes free. With streaming services being a compelling add-on in any electronic device, consumers are treating Netflix almost as a default power cord. The video quality of Netflix streaming in LG looks to be on par with the TiVo Series 3 DVR, though it takes about 5 seconds or longer to begin a title.

Well the Netcast features remain the same as in last year’s – YouTube, Netflix and Pandora with the addition of Vudu, Picasa and AccuWeather. Vudu is considered the major addition with it providing a pay-per-view option for movie-watching supplementing Netflix’s subscription. Looks like Vudu is a wise alternative to Amazon Video on Demand with its HDX streaming titles having a staunch resemblance to an actual Blu-ray title. Yet another advantage would be the built-in hard drive that allows storing Vudu Movies that were purchased locally – this means better rewind and fast-forwarding and more dependable playback. With Vudu’s DRM polices prohibiting such storage and the rising prices of Vudu movies, this definitely is a big plus.

Check out this new feature that LG has on offer similar to the PlayStation 3 – allowing you to add films to your Netflix queue without the need to venture onto your computer. There are several options made available on the tabbed interface, which goes on to include Comedy, New Arrival, TV etc., which can be immediately streamed or added to your Instant Queue. Of course, it offers no search function, but then with each tab offering 100 titles, if anything more, there has to be something that is worth watching. As much as there are keyboards and mouse being available for players like the BD590, they do not accompany the product. Performing a search on YouTube, for example, is painstaking as you might have to click each letter out via a virtual keyboard. Thankfully, the respective interfaces memorise their login sequences session after session.

The much hyped about integrated HDD:

So for those of you who are wondering why on earth does a Blu-ray player require a 250GB hard drive? Well, for starters, it helps with storing your purchased VUDU files to the drive, as mentioned above. Now VUDU works based on “cloud computing” wherein every content, be it rented or owned, gets streamed online. Nevertheless, the drive is used to transfer files from CDs or USBs thereby copying music, movies or photos onto the drive thus enabling easy playback. Now the on-screen display allows both easy recall of specific files or playback an entire folder/contents in the drive, thus turning your Blu-ray into a media server that an entire family can enjoy. Also data can traverse both ways with transferring files from the hard drive to an attached USB stick. With transferring files to the internal drive, you are given the option of creating folders and organizing files (left to your discretion) by the on-screen menu.

CD Ripping/Archiving:

This is the best ever feature of the BD590 – ability to directly rip CDs onto the hard drive. On popping in a CD, the BD590 gets to work right away with instant download of metadata – Album, Artist, Title, and Track number/order that is obtained from the Gracenote Service. Better still, the BD590 allows you to listen to the CD even as it rips, meaning CD ripping cannot get any better. The automatic tagging of Gracenote is absolutely flawless even with obscure titles. Upon pressing the info button, out pops the option to archive CDs allowing you to choose your tracks/bit rate – loseless or 128, 192, 320Kbps. Well, we endorse the lossless option, especially with majority of the music buffs possessing small CD collections, such that it does not compromise on the audio quality. Post ripping, you can access your music by choosing music option in the main menu and then choosing HDD.

Any day listening to music played directly from the hard disk is way better than streaming the same over a network that is put through buffering and dropouts – even if this means being called old fashioned. Well you might come across some grouses with the UI during navigating the ripped music, leaving you with want of more options in customizing and handling your music collection. Then again, it is never easy to find your way out through anything for that matter, especially with gadgets, isn’t it? Now, if you have already ripped a set of songs on your PC, the BD590 also allows you to copy such digital music from a networked PC. If you are looking at importing all at once, just select the “all music” options, select all and copy them. There is also the option to copy album-to-album – a pretty wise option that saves you the hassle of re-ripping your songs.

Well, to conclude, the BD590 is not for a digital audio buff, whose first preference would obviously be the Squeezebox or Sonos for their dedicated network streaming of music, but instead it is for those non-tech-savvies, who are happy with simple CD ripping in a hassle free manner.

DLNA compliant Player:

The BD590 is a DLNA complaint player i.e., if you have a compatible media server or Windows PC in order to stream music, photos or movie. Well, there is no denying that this definitely is a great feature, but similar to any other Windows-centric technology there is a mile long of exceptions and caveats. That means your success rate can vary based on your experience and how your files are encoded. LG has taken care of this issue too, i.e., for those of you lacking proper software, the spinner comes with the Nero MediaHome 4 Essentials CD that helps to import your system-based media files to the player. We also appreciate the fact that the BD590 contains all third party network services. In fact it particularly pleases to know that it includes the all new Netflix browser, which actually allows you to pick new video content and add the same to your queue as against other systems that does allow access, but requires logging through a PC, if you wish to add additional TV soaps or movies.|

Nevertheless, the following are some of user’s grouses against the BD590 that you might want to check out on:

Though the HomeLink feature helps with loading photos and movie files from your networked PCs, it is believed to not recognise DVD files on your PC. The same goes for AVI files too, a preferred format amongst digital camera video models. Oddly, the network connection is believed to work only one way. Also you are denied access to the 250 GB hard drive (that helped you with recording your CD collection) from any of your networked PCs. This literally means stuff that you record does not really belong to you. So if you cannot create a backup of your archived CDs on a networked PC, then your collection of songs belongs to you only until you possess the unit or until it wears out. It is more like “borrowed music.”  So what good is it anyways? There are also complaints about movies (downloaded or purchased from sites like Vudu) not being accessible with the player being offline, nor can videos from YouTube be saved to the disc for offline playing. Incidentally, the BD590 neither supports 3D nor is it upgradeable, just in case you are keen on getting on that bandwagon.

Features:

Entertainment Takes A Different Shape:

Make the most out of the BD590’s Blu-ray disc playback, which delivers exceptional full HD 1080p video performance. The quick-opening tray is all set to play even before you hit the couch.

Storing Gets Better:

The Media Library integrated hard drive makes storage easy along with instant playback of music, personal videos, photos and VOD content made available via the Vudu movie service.

Entertainment Is Now Just A Tap Away:

NetCast Entertainment Access fetches the best of Internet services straight into your TV, no PC required. This allows for instant access of TV soaps and movies via Netflix, latest Hollywood releases from Roxio CinemaNow, news and weather with Yahoo widgets, music on Pandora along with the world’s largest library of HD movies all in 1080p from Vudu.

Bring Your Memories Live On Big Screen:

The USB Media Host gives you the luxury of viewing a highlight reel of your long cherished family vacation from the comforts of your living room recliner. The USB storage devices allow viewing of your photos king-sized in the big screen or listen to the evergreen music of the 70s.

Don’t Just Hear, Feel It:

What is a picture worth without an appropriate sound? Great pictures need great sound and this is made possible with the BD590’s Superior Audio Performance, which supports surround sound up to 7.1 channels with Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD Advanced Digital Out technologies.

Decrease Clutter Increase Possibilities:

Bid goodbye to messy wires with the integrated Wi-Fi Connectivity and take full advantage of the NetCast Entertainment Access with just about any accessible Wi-Fi connection, anywhere in its range.

Get Your Personal Favourites:

The BD590’s My Media is of great help in terms of streaming audio, video or photos from a networked PC/USB drive straight onto your TV as the player is DLNA compliant. For a full list of supported formats, please check out the spec table below.

Power Consumption:

As against the avant-garde Blu-ray players, the BD590 comes devoid of a quick-start mode and hence consumes very little power by default in the standby mode. On the contrary, the Sony BDP-S570 incurs an annual cost of £4.56 owing to its quick-start feature. The other way of looking at this is the BD590 does not give you the option of faster load times, even if you are ready to bear the extra cost of electricity. Also worth mentioning is that despite the BD590 consuming a couple of watts more in comparison to other standalone players (owing to the in-built hard drive), this extra consumption is almost next to nothing over a year and is totally insignificant.

Warranty:

The manufacturer offers a 1 year warranty for parts and 90 days warranty for labour.

Hits:

• Excellent Blu-ray image quality
• Absolutely quiet and slim despite the 250 GB hard disk
• Hi-Def music playback made possible with lossless ripping
• Delivers content fast and crisp across network – thanks to the built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi connectivity
• Proves to be a real champ when it comes to playing MKV, DivX, MPEG4 and H.264 video content
• 250 GB hard drive
• DLNA compliant
• Rips CD like a pro directly into the HDD

Misses:

• A decent, but expensive Blu-ray player with just one gimmick
• Lack of quick-start mode slows down the player
• Clunky menus with occasionally lagging interface
• Absence of 3D reduces the player’s prospective shelf life.

Verdict:

To conclude, after having seen what the BD590 has to offer at a street price of around £150, this definitely is not the cheapest player that one might find, it sure is expensive. But we have to admit that the impressive list of features that it has on offer sure does makes it the best option for someone looking to own an all-in-one media storage solution. Frankly though, if you are not very keen on the 250GB hard drive, then go ahead and save £68 and opt for the low priced BD570 with just the same features minus the hard drive.

LG BD590 Blu-Ray Player – Technical Specification Table