14 DAY TRIAL // Although the rumors regarding Samsung's hybrid HD DVD / Blu-ray player have been circulating on the web for quite a long time, the company decided to keep it all under wraps for the past few months (in order to increase the customer's interest, perhaps?). However, the long wait for the official announcement has finally come to an end, since the Korean company has just showcased the new player, alongside some entry-level Blu-ray models.
The hybrid, dubbed BD-UP5000 Duo HD Player, is considered to be the company's flagship model and for good reason, too. Thus, the device supports both Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats as well as their interactive technologies, HDi and BD-Java, which means that the consumers can now enjoy additional studio content, as for example trailers, director's comments, more elaborate interactive menus and behind the scene footage.
However, this extended level of compatibility is just the peak of the iceberg in the case of the BD-UP5000. Thus, the device also provides 1080p resolutions as well as full compatibility with 24 movie frames per second playback. Since most movies are filmed at 24 frames per second, these new Samsung Blu-ray players will be able to playback movies in their native format, significantly reducing unwanted artifacts.
The connectivity options represent yet another important selling point in the case of Samsung's hybrid. Thus, in order to assure a higher level of quality of the video display, the device relies mostly on its HDMI 1.3 connector, which also offers HDMI CEC (Anynet+) technology, allowing consumers to use a single remote control to operate the BD player, TV and other A/V products from Samsung.
Quite obviously, the very high quality video feeds provided by Samsung's player are doubled by a matching sound. The BD-UP5000 is thus capable of supplying HD audio decoding and supports standard Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS audio playback, as well as lossless formats, including DTS HD and Dolby TrueHD.
"Samsung is excited to introduce a new line of high-definition players that will enrich the theater experience at home," said Reid Sullivan, vice president of Digital AV marketing at Samsung Electronics about the company's new line of Blu-ray players. "In 2007, the market for stand-alone high def players will grow more than 6 times to over 850 thousand units. From the top-of-the-line BD-UP5000 to the entry BD-P1400 to the company's first home theater system with Blu-ray disc playback, Samsung offers a range of products at different price points to suit the growing consumer demand."
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