Like all of the consumer electronics majors, Samsung unveiled a host of new Blu-ray Disc players at the Consumer Electronics Show back in January. Now that the players are arriving on store shelves, and feature sets and pricing have been firmed up, we thought we'd take a look at Samsung's 2012 crop of high definition disc spinners.
Starting at the entry-level price point, we have the BD-E5300. This is your basic player, featuring 1080p DVD upscaling, a single front panel USB port, and fast disc loading and booting. The player lacks built-in Wi-Fi but a hard wire network port gives you integrated streaming from five popular web apps: Netflix, CinemaNow, YouTube, Vudu, and Pandora. (MSRP: $89) - Buy it on Amazon.
Next up is the BD-E5700, which includes everything from the BD-5300 but adds built-in Wi-Fi, Samsung's full "Smart Hub" interface with access to hundreds of apps, AllShare - for content sharing between Samsung portable devices and electronics, plus Samsung's Disc-to-Digital streaming service (more on that in a minute). (MSRP: $129) - Buy it on Amazon.
If 3D is your thing, you'll need to step up to the BD-E5900. In addition to Blu-ray 3D capability and giving you everything the BD-E5700 offers, the BD-E5900 adds a full web browser for big screen access to your favorite online content and shopping sites. You also get a feature Samsung calls BD Wise Web, which allows you to "watch web-quality videos in high definition on your TV." It does so by "boosting picture quality" and allowing you to "resize the video ratio" to avoid cropped edges. To paraphrase: it should make those crappy kitten videos on YouTube look a little less crappy. Meow! (MSRP: $149) - Buy it on Amazon.
With the BD-ES6000, the price goes up but the size goes down. In terms of features, the BD-ES6000 is essentially identical to what you get with the BD-E5900. However, the slot-loading BD-ES6000 is considerably more compact, measuring less than 7.5 inches square and weighing only 2.3 pounds. Also, to help maintain the unit's elegant and uncluttered fascia, the USB port on this model has been moved to the back panel. (MSRP: $229) - Buy it on Amazon.
Dual HDMI Inputs?!
Sitting atop the heap is Samsung's flagship Blu-ray Disc player for 2012, the BD-E6500. At first glance, the BD-E6500 is shorter and sleeker than the BD-E5900, but it's also a few inches wider. While this may seem insignificant, this added width is relevant as it's due to the one feature that sets the BD-E6500 apart - not only from the BD-E5900, but from every other Blu-ray player on the market: dual HDMI inputs. Yes, inputs. Not outputs.
Although we're sad to see only a single HDMI output on the BD-E6500 - dual outputs can be handy - this shortcoming is forgivable thanks to the player's dual HDMI inputs. What this means is that you can connect two other HDMI devices to the BD-E6500 and run one HDMI cable to your display using the Samsung as a digital audio/video traffic cop.
For some, this feature will instantly make life simpler, especially in game rooms and bedrooms where you may not be using an A/V receiver, or in systems running an older and/or inexpensive HDTV, where you may only have one or two HDMI inputs available. It's pure pass-thru with no decoding of incoming signals, so the BD-E6500 is only acting as a basic HDMI switch here, but still - kudos to Samsung on this innovative feature. (MSRP: $229) - Buy it on Amazon
Disc to Digital
Available on all players except the entry-level BD-E5300, Samsung's Disc to Digital feature allows consumers to "register their ownership of physical DVDs, and access the same movie content on a variety of devices, virtually anytime and anywhere."
Through partnerships with Rovi and Flixster, digital copies are created from the player and added to the consumer's UltraViolet collection, where they are then made available through the Flixster application on Samsung's Smart Hub, as well as numerous other devices such as smart phones, tablets, and PCs. You can also purchase HD quality versions of select titles from your DVD film collection for a nominal cost. Last but not least, your UltraViolet library can be shared with other family members using the same account.
In other words, Samsung's Disc-to-Digital service and Flixster's UltraViolet platform wants to be the cloud-based locker for your physical movie library. And while the "view anytime and anywhere" element of this will surely appeal to some, it remains to be seen whether these lower-quality, bandwidth-intensive streams can deliver a satisfying movie-watching experience while on the go. After all, if you don't have to access to a healthy Wi-Fi signal, and would prefer to download your digital copy to your device's internal storage, the benefits of cloud-based storage get harder to define.
Lastly, it should be noted that Samsung's Disc to Digital service isn't the only game in town. Just yesterday Wal-Mart and Vudu announced a new partnership and took the wraps off their new, in-store, disc to digital movie conversion service. Who will win in the battle to digitize your movie library? Consumers, hopefully.
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