I reported on the Samsung BD-P1500 from CES in January. At the time the $399 MSRP player was announced as a Blu-ray Profile 1.1, aka Bonus View, player due in June. Well, as the Blu-ray competitive landscape is rapidly evolving, Samsung has decided to make the BD-P1500 ‘BD-Live Ready’. It will ship with BD Profile 1.1 support, with BD-Live support to come via a firmware update. Also due via a firmware update later in 2008 is DTS-HD HR (High Resolution) audio support. The press release doesn’t mention DTS-HD MA (Master Audio), which is the highest DTS standard. That could be a simple oversight in the press release, since it is pretty much unheard of to have DTS-HD HR and not have DTS-HD MA. If it does indeed have DTS-HD MA then, once the updates are received, the BD-P1500 would match the PS3 on features and press, plus the ability to bitstream the advanced audio codecs. Of course, I think the PS3 is still a better value since it is a top-end game system as well, but if you prefer a conventional AV component look then the BD-P1500 might be the box for you.
Picked up from EngadgetHD.
