Panasonic BD-80 vs Samsung BDP-3600 (and others)

[dang10]

Great forum - Just came over here from AVS and this has a lot of helpful advice. I could use some too and I'm guessing I'm not the only one comparing these same BD players.

I have a B&K AVR 305 (no HD-DTS or HDMI and it's 5 channels) but it kicks ass still. Don't want to upgrade receiver yet. Also have a JVCRS2 projector and a SVS Sound PB13 Ultra sub.

Given my components, my needs are:
-BD player that is profile 2.0
-BD player with ethernet jack
-BD player has 7.1 analog output
-decode all forms of HD-DTS on board so I can pass to my AVR via analog

Also - not sure how well my rs2 upscales so I don't know if I'd use the player or projector to upscale.

I have been looking at:
Panny 80
Samsung 2500/2550 & 3600
Sony S550

Don't want to wait for new Oppo or other new models. Also interested in Netflix but it's not a deal breaker.

Any thoughts or recommendations? I eliminated bd60, sammy 4600 and ps3 b/c they don't have 7.1 analog outs and Pio51 b/c it's not profile 2.0.

Thanks for any advice.

[MrBoylan]

...I have a B&K AVR 305 (no HD-DTS or HDMI and it's 5 channels) but it kicks ass still. Don't want to upgrade receiver yet. Also have a JVCRS2 projector and a SVS Sound PB13 Ultra sub.

Given my components, my needs are:
-BD player that is profile 2.0
-BD player with ethernet jack
-BD player has 7.1 analog output
-decode all forms of HD-DTS on board so I can pass to my AVR via analog

Also - not sure how well my rs2 upscales so I don't know if I'd use the player or projector to upscale.

I have been looking at:
Panny 80
Samsung 2500/2550 & 3600
Sony S550

...Also interested in Netflix but it's not a deal breaker.

Hi, Dan,

Welcome to the forum! As you may have seen, I've reviewed the BD-P2500 and the DMP-BD80 on our site already. And we just received the BD-P3600 on Friday for review so I'm just now putting that through its paces. We have not reviewed the Sony BDPS550 because, frankly, Sony hasn't send us one after repeated requests. But of the other three, I'd be hard-pressed to choose among these players - they all have their pluses and minuses. But I'll cover the highlights of each below.

Samsung BD-P2500

Now that it supports DTS-HD decoding, really the only thing that annoys me about the BD-P2500 is the slower operation speed and the disc incompatibilities which are fairly few and far between, but annoying when they occur. For example, you still cannot watch the PiP BonusView commentary on DTS-HD 7.1 titles like "Forbidden Kingdom" with audio, and I reported this to Samsung three months ago. (BTW, oddly enough, this particular disc is NOT a problem on the BD-P3600). Panasonic has traditionally been much better with disc compatibility and with fixing any issues when they do arise.

The SD and Blu-ray performance of this player are top-notch though, and may be worth the ergonomic challenges. Also, Netflix online streaming is clearly the cream of the crop of online video streaming offerings right now. Yes, it's limited to 2-channel audio (which can be DPL encoded but is not discrete 5.1) and its HD performance doesn't measure up to the VUDU box, but the selection of movies and TV shows is pretty decent and there is no per-movie charge. Just pay for the basic Netflix "single disc unlimited rental" plan of $8.99/month ($10.99 for Blu-ray) and you get all the online content you can eat for no additional charge. Add on the Pandora feature (in the BD-P2550) and you get a pretty powerful package of performance and features.

Panasonic DMP-BD80

The Panasonic is an overall high performer. In my opinion the SD upconversion lags just slightly behind the Silcon Optix-based BD-P2500. The BD80 is just a tad slower to lock on 3:2 cadence and to detect mixed content, and presents diagonal lines with a hint of jaggies that the BD-P2500 doesn't display. But the Blu-ray performance is perhaps a tad above the BD-P2500 with its 4:4:4 color interpolation processing courtesy of its UniPhier processor. Thought this only makes itself clear with larger screen sizes.

Where the BD80 falls short currently is in its online content offerings. YouTube is nice but doesn't compare to Pandora and Netflix in overall entertainment value (at least if you're looking for professionally created content, that is). Panasonic has announced no plans yet to add Netflix or Pandora, though it is technically possible in the VIERA Cast interface to do so. Supporting Divx playback from a USB drive certainly makes this player more media-friendly than previous models, but it doesn't really qualify it as a multimedia masterpiece.

Overall in terms of disc compatibility, the Panasonic players seem to be among the best - they fixed a problem with "The Dark Knight" supplemental materials with in a day of its release date via a firmware upgrade pushed to any players with internet connections. Their relationship with PHL in Hollywood shows their close ties to the movie studios and this allows them to test titles perhaps sooner than some of their competitors. Plus when problems are reported that they didn't catch, they are quick to fix them with firmware updates.

Samsung BD-P3600

I admit my experience with this player so far is pretty limited. I assume its Netflix support will be the same as the BD-P2500 so that's a plus. And this is my first experience with a CE device that includes Pandora music streaming (I have previously used it on the computer) and I have to say this is one of those "killer apps" that can re-awaken your love for music. For anyone who has not experienced it yet, I tell you get yourself to Pandora.com and check it out. It's free and it's awesome: a custom music-streaming site that learns your preferences over time and delivers just the right music, allowing you to rediscover old favorites as well as discovering new artists that match your tastes. Now imagine having that integrated into your home theater or living room A/V system. My wife and I (and our 2 young kids) were grooving this afternoon on 80s techno - it sounded like a mixed tape I would have made in college. But your station(s) will be different, depending on your own personal taste in music. I think having this in CE devices makes satellite radio (XM/Sirius) completely irrelevant, at least at home.

Also, having streaming ability from your PC and Divx/MP3/WMA playback from a USB drive makes this player much more media-savvy than any others we've seen yet. If you have a lot of media on your PC (photos, videos, music), the BD-P3600 is a natural fit for streaming of this content.

In terms of DVD upconversion, I've only done a few preliminary tests but the BD-P3600 does well on DVD content. It may not be quite up to the BD-P2500 in this regard, though it's not far off. I'd say it's on par with the BD80 in this respect. On the HQV Benchmark discs (DVD and Blu-ray), it locks quickly to a 3:2 cadence and handles mixed film/video content well. It also performs pretty well on the jaggies tests (only mild stair-stepping) showing it has a decent diagonal filter. 1080i Blu-ray content is handled pretty well but again not quite as solid as the BD-P2500. There's a slight stutter in the video detail resolution test as the spinning line goes vertical, and the film resolution loss test shows a slight shimmer (though not quite a strobe) suggesting that it's 1080i/p de-interlacing is very good but not quite perfect. To put things in perspective, the amount of 1080i content on Blu-ray is fairly limited and the player does handle it better than some other players (notably the LG BD300).

For audio features, the player does support on-board decoding of DTS-HD HR and MA as well as Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD, both to PCM and to multi-channel analog outputs. It also offers a bitstream option to pass the native bitstream to your HDMI 1.3-compatible receiver. Like the 2500, the 3600 also offers a "DTS Re-encode" feature which is nice if you have a non-HDMI receiver which also lacks a multi-channel analog input. "DTS re-encode" decodes and re-encodes Dolby TrueHD, DD+ and regular DD as well as multi-channel PCM to high bandwidth (but still lossy) DTS surround for transmission over a standard S/PDIF digital output. This certainly beats the 2-channel PCM that you get for PCM soundtracks on most players (over S/PDIF digital outputs).

I haven't measured the actual disc loading times yet but it seems like they are significantly quicker than the previous generation and the BD80. Unknown (at least to me) right now are the disc compatibility issues. I did test "Forbidden Kingdom" and unlike the 2500, the 3600 is able to play the BonusView commentary track's audio, at least in PCM mode (but not in bitstream mode). I did put on "Iron Man" and it seemed to play fine (it's a title one Amazon reviewer said he had trouble with). But I'd rather play a few more Blu-ray Discs on the 3600 before I make any final judgements here.

Overall, I'd say you'd be happy with any of the above players, but I do really like the Pandora and Netflix features of the BD-P3600 as well as its quicker loading times. It's also competent at DVD upconversion and BD playback. If the player performs well from a compatibility standpoint then I'd say Samsung has a winner on their hands here.

In terms of audio, using the multi-channel analog outputs, the Panasonic is a little more flexible here, as it does allow you to set delays for the various speakers in case you are not equidistant from all 5 or 7 main speakers. The Samsung only allows you to set levels and speaker sizes. Both use a 100 Hz crossover for speakers set to "small."

Anyway... hopefully that will help you with your decision-making.

By the way, BPBS stays in business mostly from affiliate referral purchases, so if you buy any of the three, please use our links to Amazon. Here are the links to all three players:

• Samsung BD-P2500 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player
• Panasonic DMP-BD80 High Clarity Audio Blu-ray Disc Player
• Samsung BD-P3600 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player

Regards,

-Chris