I have the BD-P1200, this player has it's issues with playback of certain movies and receiving firmware updates for remedy. I'd also like to get a unit with the newest hi rez audio support. So I've been thinking about putting this unit into the living room where mostly my children watch movies and buying a new BR player for the HT system. I've been reading some reviews and, not so fast!

Based on the reviews I've been reading of more current Blu-ray players I've found that they all are using the same video decoder chip and this single chip decoder does both BR and standard DVD video decoding. So, what's wrong with that you say, well, the standard DVD video from these players.... in a word are average at best. One reviewer said you can find better SD playback on a sub $100.00 DVD player. I found this to be alarming. Myself, and I'm sure most wanting to gravitate to BR do not want to do so to the sacrafice of good SD playback. As much as the movie companies would like me to replace all my movies with Blu-ray it isn't happening. I have a large collection of DVD's and I want them to look as good as possible.

If you want excellent SD playback in a Blu-ray player, despite any drawbacks, you better grab a Samsung BD-P1200 or Panasonic DMP-10, now! before they are all gone. These two players are the benchmark for SD playback from a BR player and one shoot out gave the 1200 best SD playback from any video disc player. Even the newer DMP-30's DVD playback pales in comparison to Panasonic's first gen DMP-10. The 1200 and 10 both use separate video processing for BR and SD. No other BR players provide that any more. They are all relying on this single chip to do it all, and this chip is a let down for standard DVD playback. This is also something to consider when looking at high dollar BR players like Pioneer Elite or Sony s2000ES, if every one is using the same chip can these players be worth the extra money?? Meaning, can Sony or Pioneer do anything after the chip to improve on either BR or SD playback over a machine at half the price?

After winning the format war I find this issue a real slap in the face to unsuspecting consumers. If the word ever gets around it will also be a drawback to the format catching on. It seems like the past couple years, around the time of upscaling, HDMI and promise of HD formats the industry has taken a turn for the worst and doesn't seem to care about improving. I can see why some are losing their enthusiasm for HT and opting for 2.1 or less. Well, i will reserve further rant and industry bashing until others chime in. Maybe it's not as bad as I perceive it to be. Hopefully the manufacturer's will see this error and correct it.