Samsung's fourth-generation Blu-ray player will be hitting store shelves slightly sooner than expected elsewhere, as the company announced during its CeBIT press conference that worldwide release will happen in April, rather May as previously announced at CES. The BD-P1500 updates the well-received BD-P1400 player with Profile 1.1 / Bonus View goodness, as well as 7.1 PCM, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD MA audio support for $399. Pick up one of these up next month, or wait for the BD-Live enabled DMP-BD50 or BDP-S550? For those in need of legacy HD DVD support, still word whether the BD-UP5500 combo player's release date has been affected by Samsung's "focus" on Blu-ray.

Update 3/11: Samsung PR dropped us a line that the BD-P1500 is still officially expected in the May/June timeframe. We'll keep you posted on any further updates.

Now that HD movies fans everywhere can all get behind one format, the next question is which player. Unlike HD DVD, there's lots to chose from and it can be difficult to figure out which is the best for you. The PS3 might be the obvious choice to some, but for others, the lack of an IR port is a deal breaker -- or maybe the lack of DTS-HD MA support. No matter what your reason, we're going to try to help you on your quest. If you only care about features, you may just want to check the Blu-ray feature grid, otherwise, read on for a review of Samsung's latest Blu-ray player, the BD-P1400. The BD-P1400 shares many features (including the UI) with its dual format brother, the BD-UP5000 -- but there's one primary difference: we had a hard time finding anything wrong with this one.

We're not quite ready to believe these things function as advertised just yet, but it seems that multi-region Blu-ray players are beginning to pop up on a few overseas websites. We're seeing a region hacked Samsung BD-P1400 and Sony BDP-S300 / BDP-S500, each of which are reportedly modified to play nice with BD regions A / B as well as DVD regions 1 / 2. Aside from that, each player looks to be unchanged, but you better believe the convenience won't run you cheap. Over at Stegen Electronics, a multi-region BDP-S300 will demand €599 ($878), while the modded BDP-S500 rings up at €899 ($1,318), and until someone bites the bullet and confirms that these things actually do what they claim to, we'd recommend holding off.

[Via TheImportForums, thanks Frode A.]
Read - Stegen Electronics
Read - DVD Direct

Whoa, Nelly! Just three days after we saw Samsung's BD-P1400 crack the $300 barrier, the unit is now down below $270 at Amazon. More specifically, it can be had right now for $269.98, which certainly brings it a lot closer to the price range currently dominated by HD DVD. The only question now is: how much lower will it go (and when)?

[Thanks, Adam]

With prices on HD DVD players in a perpetual state of free fall, it was only a matter of time before the slashings bled over to the other camp. Sure enough, Samsung's fairly well spec'd BD-P1400 -- which was announced at $549 and sold at $499 in late August -- has sunk to $298.76 at Amazon. In case you needed a refresher, this one's packing 1080p24 support, Dolby Digital Plug / True HD, DTS HD, HDMI 1.3, 1080p DVD upconversion and a pretty snazzy design, too. And hey, if you need extra incentive, there's always the five free flicks that come along with it.

[Thanks, Adam]

In the alphabet soup that is the format war, the latest codec to finally come to fruition is DTS-HD MA. Up 'till now a few Blu-ray titles have included DTS-HD MA tracks, but no one's been able to enjoy them until now. Samsung has released a firmware update for the BD-P1400 -- yes already -- that enables this lossless codec to be sent via HDMI 1.3a to an audio/video receiver to be decoded. As exciting is this may be to some, we suspect that this feature will go unnoticed to most people, as the number of receivers out there right now sportin' this feature is really limited.

Samsung has released more details about the company's third-generation Blu-ray player lineup, including a home theater-in-a-box system, and the Duo HD dual-format HD DVD / Blu-ray player. We learned about the two Blu-ray players earlier this month, and we can add to that info support on both players for 24 or 60fps playback at 1080p. The BD-P2400 also adds 7.1-channel output, with the BD-P1400 sporting 5.1 outs. The dual-format BD-UP5000 was also announced back in April, and now we know that it will play back both of the high-definition formats at 1080p and includes the HQV upconversion processor chip found in the BD-P2400. It includes the same feature set as the BD-P2400, with Blu-ray playback at 24 or 60fps, 7.1-channel out, and Dolby Digital Plus and DTS HD support. It also has HD DVD-specific features like local storage and picture-in-picture support, while staying fully compatible with both the HDi and BD-J interactive specs. The HT-BD2 home theater system includes an 1,100-watt receiver and the same media playback features as the BD-P1400. It also includes five tower speakers, two rear satellites, and a powered sub. The BD-UP5000 will retail for $1,049, and the HT-BD2 will ship for $1,499, both in the fourth quarter of this year.

Samsung has dropped its "Holidays in July" bomb on the good people of Earth, and within that treasure trove are a few little gems, like the company's new Blu-ray duo, the BD-P2400, and kid sister BD-P1400. Both players feature Blu-ray playback at native HD resolution (1080p / 1080i / 720p), handle HD video at 1920 x 1080, and up-convert standard DVDs to 1080p via HDMI. The BD-P2400 also utilizes Samsung's "Hollywood Quality Video", which rocks some proprietary de-interlacing that makes Pirates of the Caribbean look really, really real. The player's audio does the regular rounds with stereo and 5.1, coaxial and optical digital outs, and Dolby Digital Plus with DTS HD and MP3 playback.; for video you get HDMI, component, S-Video and composite outs. The BD-P2400 will be available in October for $649, and the BD-P1400 in September for $549.

VideoBusiness has got a few more details on what to expect from Samsung's third generation Blu-ray player, the BD-P1400. Look for the player to make its debut on August 31 at the 2007 IFA in Berlin, with support for Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD and DTS-HD audio, as well as a built in Ethernet port. Whether it will meet the new standards for Blu-ray players released after October remains unanswered, as well as how much it will cost. With Sony's BDP-S300 and recently price-reduced PlayStation 3 both already on the market at $499, we'll soon see how much lower prices can get.

Samsung already shocked us with the announcement of its BD-UP5000 hybrid HD DVD and Blu-ray player, but that doesn't mean they're getting out of the Blu-ray-only player game just yet. While the company's second generation BD-P1200 might have skipped a worldwide debut, rumors recently surfaced of a BD-P1400 model that is "stepped up". Hopefully that step up means BD Live, 1080p/24, PiP and persistent storage support, but in lieu of any specific details, we'll just have to wait to find out what the Blu-ray camp brings our way next.