of Philosophy and Technology

 The Samsung BD-P1000 is a Blue-ray disc (BD) player that will let consumers take full advantage of high-definition displays as it could play content at native 720p or 1080p video resolutions.

The BD-P1000 player includes a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) output, an industry-supported, uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface on a single cable, allowing users to easily connect the Blu-ray player to their existing home televisions. It will also decode standard multi-channel audio.

Connectivity includes CVBS Output, S-Video Output, component output, HDMI and both digital and analog audio outputs. Supported audio formats include 192KHz LPCM, Dolby digital & Dolby Digital Plus, MPEG 2, DTS and MP3. BD-P1000 also has a memory card reader supporting Compact Flash, XD Picture card, Micro Drive, SD, MMC & RS-MMC, Memory stick and Memory stick duo.

I have hooked up the BD-P1000 to my 60-inch Grand WEGA. I purchased the unit last year immediately after it was launched by Sony making the MB Technews one of the first consumers with a Grand Wega in the Philippines.  I was frustrated when I realized that the Grand Wega does not have a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), according to the BD-P1000 user manual, HDMI is the best video input for the Blue-ray disc player.  HDMI for High Definition TV (HDTV) was only released early this year and only the new models of Sony Bravia and not the Grand Wega have it.  So I settled for the next best, I connected the player to the Sony Grand Wega using component video cables. The player could display up to 1080i resolution using the Component video which still a high definition signal; I consoled myself by thinking that the Grand Wega’s resolution is only 1080i and not 1080p anyway.

When I turned ON the unit, the player did not detect the best possible resolution, instead it used the default 720p resolution. There is still an ongoing debate on who has a better resolution the 720p or the 1080i. But even with this debate both parties agree that although 1080i has the same vertical resolution as 720p, 1080i has better horizontal resolution.

As I played Sony Pictures “Stealth”, one of the Blue-ray titles that I bought in Japan, and a movie which I have seen for so many times in DVD, I was surprised by the quality of the video. Compared to DVD, it is like comparing a VCD to DVD.  Picture details are so clear that you can even see the single strand of hair on Jessica Biel’s face, something which I did not notice when I watched the movie in DVD version. Blue-ray version of Stealth showed enormous clarity that I could even see the pores on the face of the actors, the texture of cloth and the smoothness of metals which I have not experienced in DVD version of the same movie.

I can summarize what I feel while watching “Stealth” using the Blue-ray player, “It was a jaw dropping experience.”

The BD-P1000 also plays standard DVDs, and can make any DVD movies look better by upconverting the video to closely match the display capabilities of your HDTV. One thing good about the BD-P1000 player is that it is backward compatible, meaning it can also play audio CDs, including CD-Rs and CD-RWs.

The BD-P1000 is one of the first Blue-ray players to provide true 1080p output, the highest HD signal output currently available. Even if your HDTV is a few years old and lacks an HDMI connection you can still experience Blue-ray by using the component output.

When I was in Japan last week, I could not decide which would I buy for Technews, would it be the HD-DVD or the Blue-ray? When I saw a store in Akihabara playing a movie in Blue-ray, I asked the store owner on what is more saleable, is it the HD-DVD or the Blue-ray titles.  He just pointed at the rack with a smile  and said “HD-DVD three months half-empty, Blue-ray two weeks half-empy, I still cannot say because both are half-empty”, by that I have decided to get the Blue-ray player.

As a final note, although I recommend a Blue-ray player as a replacement to your existing DVD player, you also need to invest on your TV.  It would just shutdown if your TV could not support at least 720p resolution and watching it on a smaller HDTV would not be as rewarding when you watch it on a 60-inch TV like what I have experienced.