Seen a lot of the new Samsung 3D Blu-ray disc players out there? Neither have we. And so we welcomed the Samsung representatives who made the pilgrimage to stately Rancho Chiarella earlier this week to hand-deliver one of the very first BD-C6900 units to roll off the assembly line, along with one of their coveted 3D Starter Kits. The 3D TV to go with them is still "in transit," and their reunion (plus in-depth reviews) will come in the near future, but we just couldn't wait to put the deck through its 2D paces at least, previewing some basic specs and features in preparation for our future exploration of new dimensions.
At first boot-up we are greeted by an entirely new menu system, user-friendly and icon driven, with ample shortcut keys on the redesigned remote control and different ways to organize content, making the experience more personalized. Even the final look can be customized with an assortment of changeable skins.
The BD-C6900 is BD-ROM Profile 2.0 compliant, meaning it can do BD-Live as well as Bonus View, but that's just the beginning. The player offers built-in single-band 802.11n Wi-Fi with no dongle needed and no protruding antenna. The wireless setup encountered some difficulties finding its way online via my Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station with 802.11n and its WPA/WPA2 encryption, so I opted to go with a wired broadband internet instead, which linked up flawlessly. We'll test out the WiFi option more thoroughly in our full review. A firmware upgrade was instantly available to me, and upon clicking through that sweet new user interface, I was invited to initiate my Internet@TV Content Service, Samsung's impressive-and-growing collection of software applications for the Blu-ray player.
The deck arrives as a blank canvas, with no pre-installed apps, and with just a few clicks the service began filling in the empty windows which list our available features. Fifteen interesting pre-selected options downloaded and installed in about seven minutes, including the usual-but-welcome home theater staples like VUDU and Netflix, mixed with an unexpected handful of games: Rock Swap Adventures, Texas Hold 'Em and Dracula's Coffin. Internet@TV apps will be open-source, meaning that developers will be welcome to create paid and unpaid content for users in the future.
Last year's Blu-ray players offered Windows File Sharing technology to allow you to access media files on a connected computer, but due to the complexities involved in actually getting PC Streaming to work, Samsung opted instead for standard DLNA compliance this time around. This seems to be working out well as Samsung's AllShare function was easily able to locate my home network, and after I approved the connection back on my PC, my media library was fully accessible right from the BD-C6900's menu.
In order to achieve 3D playback, the BD-C6900 packs an advanced, extremely powerful processor, which benefits overall video performance albeit in some subtle ways. Samsung boasts that this is their first Blu-ray player to pass all of the cadence tests on the Spears & Munsil evaluation disc, and some quick, early 2D demos confirm that performance is definitely solid, if not exactly revelatory. Traditional (2D) Blu-rays can be upconverted to 3D if we choose, with a user-adjustable level of the 3D effect. Still photos in 3D is also a strongly recommended use of the player, but again we could not test this without the 3D TV. [editor's note: to clarify the above statement, the 2D to 3D conversion is actually a function of the Samsung 3D TV itself - it is not a feature of the player].
The hardware itself is a head-turner, compact with a translucent top that not only glows with a wicked-cool blue, it also serves the practical purpose of letting us see which disc is currently inside! One of the call-outs on the box touts "Ultra Fast Play" so I put it to the test: The first-round (non-BD-Java) Blu-ray Underworld: Evolution started in 23 seconds from the time I pressed Play, same as the LG BD570 I recently reviewed. The Gladiator DVD needed 11 seconds, which is fine, but the real eyebrow-raiser was the BD-Java bit-buster Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl which took but 18 seconds to start. "Ultra Fast" indeed!
So far, so good. And there's a whole other dimension we've yet to probe so stay tuned for a full review in the not too distant future...
UPDATE: Check out our complete BD-C6900 Review.
