HOME About Buyers Guide Reviews Archives

High-Definition DVD Player Reviews

Samsung BD-P1200 High-Definition DVD Player

Samsung was the first company to place a Blu-ray high-definition DVD player on the market, in mid-2006. The BD-P1200 is the company's second-generation player, and it was expected to be available from around March 2007, priced at about $800.

A press release at the Samsung website said:

One of the BD-P1200 player's key new features is its Hollywood Quality Video (HQV) processor, which is a powerful unit similar to those used by Hollywood production studios. With its HQV processor, the BD-P1200 player offers true 1080i to 1080p HD de-interlacing, so it can deliver the best HD images possible - even from non-Blu-ray formats.

The player's HDMI connection helps boost the sound quality (via 7.1-channel Dolby Digital Plus) and color. This HDMI connection also offers Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC) technology, which enables a single remote control unit to operate the BD player, TV and other A/V products from Samsung.

Gearfuse commented:

It does look very attractive from a design standpoint. A nice combination of slick lines and rounded curve give it a very techno-friendly asthetic that would look beautiful in your media cabinet. But you really can’t forget about that price tag.

...Another nice feature? It will upscale your regular DVDs to 720p, 1080i and 1080p resolutions! High def is created where there was no high def before, seems like magic. If you aren’t into specs, a little thing you might like is the fact that you can change the fonts and color of subtitles, menus and backgrounds. Nice little finishing touches.

Gizmodo wrote (under the sub-head, "Less Lousy"):

The next generation of the critically panned, BD-P1000 Samsung Blu-ray player is coming March 2007. The BD-P1200 improves on the first gen and has 1080p, HDMI 1.3, upconverting DVD (720p/1080i/1080p), Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, MPEG2, DTS, and MP3 support.

Not much else in terms of features over the first one, but the price of $799 doesn't seem TOO ridiculous, you know, if you're not a starving Ugandan child.

CNET offers a video introduction to the player.

* Get the Latest Price on the Samsung BD-P1200 High-Definition DVD Player.

January 20^th, 2007