Samsung BD-C5500 Blu-ray Disc player review

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article first published on 10.10.2010 | last updated on 10.22.2010 | printer-friendly format    

Introduction

Samsung has become a dominant force in HDTVs, leading the market with cutting edge and innovative models.  How are they at making Blu-ray Disc players?  We believe just as dominant.  Their 2010 entry-level player is the Samsung BD-C5500.  It is a great value with its solid performance and clean interface.  The only thing missing is Wi-Fi and 3D Blu-ray Disc support.

Distinguishing Features: What makes this player different?

• nifty Touch Sensor controls on the front panel

• good remote control with large useable buttons, and the buttons are logically group together

Design

Like many Blu-ray Disc players, the BD-C5500 is a sleek slim-box design that takes up very little vertical space on your stack of AV and home theater gear.  The front panel is adorned with nifty Touch Sensor controls that operate with the slightest touch of your finger.  Any pressure against them, as you would expect to exert on traditional buttons, would dislodge this lightweight unit from its resting position.  For me, it took some getting used to.  Four such Touch Sensor controls include power, disc tray open/close (eject), stop, and play/pause.  For other functions, you would have to use the remote control.  The disc tray is located on the left side of the unit, while the LED display is located dead center.  A convenient front panel USB jack can be found on the far right side of the front panel.

click pictures to enlarge

Usability: Ease of Set Up

The initial set up of this Blu-ray Disc player was easy.  I used an HDMI cable to hook it up to my Onkyo TX-NR5007 AV receiver, which takes care of both the video and audio signals.  (My Onkyo AV receiver does the HDMI switching, sends the video signal to my Epson 1080p projector, and decodes the requisite surround sound formats).  I plugged it into an AC outlet, plugged in a Ethernet network cable, and turned it on.  It automatically checked for and downloaded the latest firmware, so you would get the latest refinements and internet apps.  That's was it to enjoy Blu-ray Disc movies.  Samsung pre-configured the BD-C5500 with default factory settings for an 16:9 aspect ratio HDTV display and surround sound system.

Usability: On-Screen User Interface

The Samsung's on-screen user interface was intuitive and well designed.  Most functions can be accessed easily enough through this user interface, including the access of internet based content.

Usability: Remote Control

Unlike the remote controls of comparable entry-level Blu-ray disc players, the Samsung BD-C5500's remote was very usable.  The buttons are larger than what is typical for entry-level players, making it easy to press the right button.  The disc transport buttons (play, pause, stop, forward/reverse, skip chapters forward and reverse) glow in-the-dark, making it easier for night-time use or in a dimly lit home theater.  Given the relatively low price point of this player, where many manufacturers take cut-cutting measures, the usability of the remote is a welcome surprise.  Kudos to Samsung.

Operationally, the remote does offer direct access to most commonly used functions, without having to pull up and navigate through the on-screen menus.  Four color buttons (red,  green, yellow, blue) allow for BD-Live interactivity.  For Samsung HDTV owners, there are buttons to control the volume, mute, and change channels.

Performance

Blu-ray Disc picture quality: The Blu-ray Disc picture quality through the HDMI connection as 1080p is great!  The player is capable of outputting 1080p at 24 frames per second (i.e., 1080p/24) for film sources, replicating the native frames captured on film.  With a well-produced Blu-ray Disc action movie, nothing can beat the clarity, detail, color, and brilliance of Blu-ray Disc, and the BD-C5500 definitely brings it to life.

Blu-ray Disc sound quality: Blu-ray Disc sound quality through the HDMI using the Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio is awesome.  For action movies, my system's Onkyo AV receiver and B&W CDM CNT loudspeakers literally rocked the home theater with a bit-for-bit rendition of the original studio master soundtrack.  I have never heard surround sound any better, including that in commercial movie theaters.  Unfortunately, the BD-C5500 picture and sound was out of synch (also known as the "lip synch" problem).  This was easily compensated with my Onkyo AV receiver "lip synch" compensation function with the aid of Digital Video Essentials (DVE) HD Basics Blu-ray disc audio/video timing test clip.  For the everyday consumer who do not have a AV receiver with the "lip synch" compensation, this could prove to be a nuisance.

DVD-Video picture quality: Depending on the quality of the video encoding, DVD-Video movies can up-convert very well to 1080p.  The up-converted picture looks soft, and lacks the same color depth and brilliance compared to the native Blu-ray 1080p picture, which is to be expected.  The better the mastering, the better it will up-convert without video artifacts.  Those that were poorly encoded did not show much improvement, as the proverbial "garbage in is garbage out" saying goes.

DVD-Video sound quality: Both Dolby Digital and DTS sound tracks sound good, comparable to what a DVD-Video player would provide.

Netflix Streaming performance: Netflix streaming is very good on the Samsung BD-C5500.  The Samsung Netflix app enables easy forward or reverse scanning capability, very much like streaming on a PC browser with the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in.  A series of thumbnail images gives you an idea of what images are being scanned through.

Competitive Models & Value - How does this model compare?

Within the Samsung Blu-ray Disc player line, the BD-C5500 is the entry-level model and goes for about $131.  If you are looking for the ease of Wi-Fi connectivity, 1G built-in memory for BD-Live downloads, and 7.1-channel analog audio outputs for your AV receiver, consider the Samsung BD-C6500 (about $192).  Then to add 3D capability, take a look at the Samsung BD-C6800 (about $201).

Samsung Blu-ray Disc players are very competitive, in terms of feature set, performance, and value.  The Samsung BD-C5500 is the best value there is among entry-level Blu-ray Disc players.  For example, the entry-level Sony BDP-S370 (read our review, about $135) comes with a free iPhone/iPod touch remote control app, offers SACD playback, and comes with a full one-year warrantee for labor/parts.  However, it its remote is not as user friendly as the Samsung and its Netflix streaming navigation does not offer easy forward/reverse scanning capability.
 

Accessories

Associated equipment used in evaluation: Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8100 3-LCD 1080p 16:9 aspect ratio front projector with custom screen, Onkyo TX-NR5007 THX Ultra2 certified A/V receiver with 145 Watts/channel, four B&W CDM 9NTs as left/right main speakers and left/right surrounds, B&W CDM CNT center channel speaker, Mediabridge Ultra HDMI cables available from Amazon.com, Monster Cable Original speaker cables, and Lovan Sovereign T HiFi audio rack.  For internet streaming and content, we use a Motorola SB5100 cable modem and Netgear WGR614 wireless-g router for our home network.  Our home theater equipment was calibrated with the Digital Video Essentials (DVE) HD Basics Blu-ray disc.

This review was originally posted on October 10, 2010.

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In This Review:

> Summary

> Pros

> Cons

> What's included in the box

> Introduction

> Distinguishing features

> Design

> Ease of setup

> On-screen user interface

> Remote control

> Performance

> Competitive models & value

> Conclusion

> Read other reviews

> Where to Buy

> Accessories

Hardware Reviews

> Samsung BD-C5500 Blu-ray player

> Sony BDP-S370 Blu-ray player

> Sony BDP-S470 Blu-ray player

> Sony BDP-S570 Blu-ray player

> Vizio VBR231 Blu-ray player

> Vizio VBR220 Blu-ray player

> B&W CDM 9NT & CNT loudspeaker system

> Lovan "Sovereign" audio rack

more >>   

DVD & Blu-ray Release Dates

> August 2010

> September 2010

> October 2010

> November 2010

> December 2010

> January 2011

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