The Samsung BD-P1000 is the first Blu-ray Disc (BD) player out of the gate, and while it exhibits plenty of first-generation teething problems, the outstanding picture quality should tempt well-heeled buyers. Keep in mind that many of the visual benefits of the BD-P1000 will be lost on anything but a 1,080p TV, so this player isn't for the casual movie viewer.

On the other hand, if you are a serious home theater connoisseur, the BD-P1000 will not disappoint. Using the player's 1,080p HDMI output with a compatible big-screen TV, Blu-ray playback exudes deep, rich colors and stunning clarity. That said, we'd currently give the edge to HD DVD. Of course, much of the difference may be attributable to the quality of titles available, and Blu-ray titles will eventually be offered in dual-layer discs with MPEG4 instead of MPEG2 compression for even greater picture quality.

Like HD DVD, Blu-ray discs enable greater interactivity. For example, you can access special features or browse scenes while the movie continues playing. Blu-ray also supports improved lossless audio formats such as Dolby True HD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD, as well as an uncompressed PCM soundtrack. Keep in mind that you will need state-of-the-art hardware to appreciate the audio enhancement. Again like HD DVD players, the BD-P1000 is backward-compatible with standard DVD and CD, and it offers DVD up-conversion via HDMI. The BD-P1000 also has a ten-in-two multiformat memory card slot for playing video clips, digital stills and digital audio files from just about any Flash card.

While the load times for Blu-ray discs are slow, they are not as slow as HD DVD. The BD-P1000 will occasionally reject a Blu-ray disc, requiring you to reload the disc or turn the player off and start the warm-up process from scratch. On the plus side, Samsung has released a firmware update to rectify some imaging flaws found on early-delivered units, as well as reduce the disc loading time.

The long-awaited release of the first BD player has done little to clarify whether Blu-Ray or HD DVD will become the next widely adopted format. The BD-P1000 retails for substantially more than Toshiba's HD DVD players, although this unit certainly looks every inch a high-tech, cutting-edge component. Glitches are to be expected with any first-generation player, so unless you have plenty of disposable cash, we recommend waiting for the second-generation models. However, if you don't want to wait, the Samsung BD-P1000 is an imperfect but impressive initial entry in the world of Blu-ray Disc players.


Pros: First Blu-ray Disc player, excellent picture quality, HDMI upscaling, ten-in-two memory card slot, sleek and expensive-looking design
Cons: More expensive than Toshiba's HD DVD players, slow load times, playback glitches

Warranty
90 days labor, 1 year parts