At a press event in New York City this week, Samsung showed off their latest model HDTVs (LCD, DLP and Plasma), new integrated home theater systems and their upcoming BDP-1500 Blu-ray Disc player, which will be their first to support BD-Live and will sell for a low $399 MAP (Minimum Advertised Price).
Of particular interest to me was their new 3D-ready plasma HDTVs - the "Series 4 450" models, available in 42-inch (PN42A450) and 50-inch (PN50A450) sizes. Using DDD's 3D software, glasses and a PC as the source, Samsung allows you to take 3-D enabled PC games and get a very realistic (non-cheesy) 3D effect. The system also supports 3D effects from standard video sources, including DVD, Blu-ray Disc and PC-sourced video.
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| Samsung lined the walls with HDTVs of all sizes and technologies. |
Unlike earlier 3D HDTV models (DLP) which used the analog VGA computer input to support 3D source materials, the latest plasma and DLP models use the HDMI input for this, so your PC or laptop will need a DVI or HDMI output in order to play in all three dimensions. Both models feature 30,000:1 native contrast ratios (1,000,000:1 full on/full off). The 42-inch PN42A450 ($1199) and 50-inch PN50A450 ($1699) are both available now.
Although 1080p 3D-ready sets are available in their DLP line, the 3D-ready plasma models are currently limited to 720p resolution. A full 1080p 3D-ready plasma model is expected to be available in the second half of the year.
On the Blu-ray side of things, Samsung was exhibiting their fourth generation BDP-1500 Blu-ray Disc player, expected to ship in June for a list price of $399. The BDP-1500 will support BD-Rom profile 1.1 (a.k.a. "Bonus View") right out of the box and, with its integrated network jack, it will support BD-Rom profile 2.0 (aka "BD-Live") via an optional external storage drive connected to its USB port. Why they didn't beef up the unit's on-board 256 MB (megabytes) of storage up to 1 GB (gigabyte) to qualify as BD-Live compliant right out of the box eludes me, but I can only assume that this would have increased the price. In addition to decoding legacy surround sound codecs from Dolby and DTS, the unit will feature on-board decoding of Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus. DTS-HD will be supported via a future firmware upgrade.
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| Samsung's BDP-1500 and HT-AS720 receiver and speaker system combine to create a high performance Blu-ray Disc home theater system for under $1000. |
In the audio department, Samsung displayed the HT-AS720 - a receiver-based HTIB (home theater in a box) system, intended to be mated with the BDP-1500 for a complete home theater package for under $1000. The receiver unit features two HDMI inputs with 1080p pass-through capability as well as HDMI audio support so it can be connected to the Blu-ray player with just a single HDMI cable carrying the audio and video. The list price of the AS720 system itself is $549 (MAP) and it is available now.
Samsung also demonstrated the HT-X810 - a powered wall-mountable speaker bar with built-in DVD player and an included wireless powered subwoofer. In addition to its built-in DVD player with 1080p video upconversion, the unit features Bluetooth capabilities so it can be synchronized with a Bluetooth-enabled phone or portable media player. Although the Bluetooth sync did not work with my Treo 755p, it did work with a Blackberry, a Bluetooth phone and Samsung's P2 portable media player. This feature allows you to play back your tunes from your phone or media player but hear the music on the speaker bar instead of through your headphones. For those who prefer a more traditional wired approach, the unit features line inputs as well as USB Host Play support for integration with a number of different portable media players and camcorders. List price on the HT-X810 is $699 and it is available now.
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