The Samsung BD-P 1500 is a Blu-ray, DVD, and CD player, released in summer 2008 and currently selling from 130 GBP.

• Excellent 24p movie picture.
• Bitstream output of HD audio.
• Film-mode detection for DVDs.

• Flicker in HDTV material at 50 or 60 hertz.
• No decoder for DTS-HD.
• No BD-Live.

The Samsung BD-P 1500 guarantees a perfect Blu-ray movie experience. Its multimedia capabilities, however, lag far behind those of the competition, and don't even match those of the earlier BD-P 1400. Furthermore, the built-in Ethernet connection does not support BD-Live.

Connections:

1x

Introduction

Samsung's new contender for Blu-ray's budget class currently sells online for 130 GBP and upward - about the same as Sony's competing BDP-S350. The Samsung masters an excellent 24p movie picture, as well as bitstream output of HD audio. Its multimedia capabilities, on the other hand, are limited.

Ups and downs: The Samsung provides high-quality audio and video, but multimedia support is nowhere in sight.

The newest Blu-ray player from South Korean manufacturer Samsung can only use its Ethernet interface for software updates and, sadly, not for BD-Live. Still, the BD-P 1500 can deliver picture-in-picture playback according to BD Profile 1.1 (Bonus View).

When it comes to multimedia, there's also little to rave about: The player decodes AVCHD camcorder videos from recordable DVDs, but abandons its predecessor-model's MP3- and photo-playback capabilities. Whether the files are on CD or DVD is irrelevant - the player simply won't do it. The enforceable 24p playback is a great feature for the home-theater.

The connections panel has just the most important sockets, and the BD-P 1500 makes do without a 5.1-channel audio output.

Audio Capabilities:
In terms of audio, the Samsung can output all high-definition audio formats as a bitstream to modern AV receivers. If required, it can also decode Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus into 7.1-channel PCM audio for older receivers, with no loss in quality. For the DTS-HD formats High Resolution and Master Audio, however, the Samsung can only produce 5.1-channel audio at reduced quality, since it lacks the relevant decoder.

Remote Control:

The clearly arranged remote control has direct-access buttons for important functions. Oddly, the "Info" button doesn't actually provide that much information.

The remote control's "Info" button actually provides only a sparing amount of information. It displays the soundtrack language, for example, but gives no technical information about the current video and audio formats.

The "Display" button shows the current picture's resolution on the player's front screen, but this is too dark in comparison with the bright power LED, limiting its legibility. On the other hand, the on-screen menu guides the user unerringly through the clear lists of system settings.

Satisfactory: This fast-moving car in Chapter 11 of Pioneer's test disc "Demo Contents 2008 Summer" tests Blu-ray players' video-processing skills. The Samsung shows some line-flicker on the car's hood and blurs some edges.

Blu-ray:
Without exception, the Samsung displays flicker-free progressive pictures from both Full HD formats (1080/60p and 1080/24p). HDTV test patterns also appear with correct levels, with no capping of the blacker-than-black or whiter-than-white regions. Modern BD-Java-based menus, however, exhibited some rough scaling.

Vertical edges flicker in live concerts or documentaries on Blu-ray, despite the progressive Full HD output, and fine menu texts look slightly blurred. With TV material, the player cannot de-interlace the video from 1080i to 1080p, leading to rough stair-step effects, and a loss of sharpness in horizontal structures. In this case, you should reduce the player's video output to the interlaced 1080i format, and leave the task of de-interlacing to the display device.

DVD:

Pleasing: This tropical holiday scene from Chapter 5 of "Six Days Seven Nights" helps us evaluate a player's DVD de-interlacing. Apart from slight softening of some details, the Samsung's de-interlacing is perfect. As the camera pans across the beach, slanted edges remain smooth and flicker-free.

In contrast to its predecessor, the BD-P 1500 has perfect film-mode detection. We were very pleased to see that it confidently handles the critical beach scene in "Six Days Seven Nights", producing a flicker-free picture. Only fine details, such as the finely structured rocks in the background, look a little blurred.

As with Blu-ray, those looking for that last drop of detail should set the player to 1080i. When combined with most projectors or flat-panel TVs, this will bring further quality improvements.

Excellent: The audio frequency response is perfect. Blu-rays and DVDs both sound great, and the signal-to-noise ratio is a respectable 91.9 decibels.

If your AV receiver has HDMI 1.3 technology, the Samsung can deliver all of the high-definition audio formats as a bitstream, so that the receiver takes on the task of decoding the HD-audio. It's then the receiver's decoders, converters, and power amps that determine the sound quality. This is particularly relevant for DTS-HD formats, for which the Samsung has no internal decoder, meaning it can access only the lower-definition "Core" audio.

In order to benefit from the audibly more dynamic HD audio formats, you should switch off "Dynamic Compression" in the Samsung's "Audio Setup" menu, which is active in the factory setup.