One of the first HD up converting DVD players

Picture IS really really great (if you know how to adjust your TV)

Won't play some disks that play fine in other players, no matter what you do.

Was defective out of the box - needed to be sent for repair due to pixelling some movies - it was fixed but that's a pain, no?

The picture via the DVI cable is EXCELLENT. I have a Sony Grand Wega LCD projection TV and an old Sony Trinitron 36" TV that I use mine with (780p on this one, w. standard AV cables - not even component mind you). Anyone who has muddy blacks and shadows - learn to adjust your TV. Yes, you do need to adjust the picture to get it right and you have to experiment with the pre-set brightness settings - i.e. movie, standard, vivid etc. plus the red/blue etc. to dial it in but once you do it's worth the trouble.

Now the bad. This was one of the first HD upconverting DVD players on the market and the sad truth is that it doesn't play some DVD's.

Ours would not play the director's cut of Blade Runner nor the extended version of Close Encounters (that always played fine on our cheap Sony) among other titles at all without pixelling out too often to ignore when we first got it. We sent it back to Samsung and when it came back it was fine for these movies - they had to adjust the laser or some such thing and as it was under warranty it was not an expense - although it took 4 weeks for the whole process.

Next negative: sure it plays these movies fine, but there are others that we rent and others that we've bought that just won't play - CANNOT READ DISK. These movies play fine on other players, like our old Sony, our neighbor's Phillips, heck even on the computer. But not on this Samsung. and then eventually it started pixelling out again and finally could not read any disks. It was still under warranty so we sent it back again. Cured the pixelling but still won't play some DVD's.

Someone suggested wiping off the disks with a soft cloth. Sure, that works if you have a dirty rental, but still there are some disks that no nothing will get this thing to play.

Customer Service

Good but still an annoyance to have to have repaired out of the box. That shouldn't happen.

Similar Products Used:

Sony (really cheap old not even 780p DVD player - but a real dependable ox of a DVD player at that - even plays photo CD's)

- Direct digital input for clearer picture - Great video/picture rendering - Decent price

- Not exactly plug and play and requires tuning and playing with the controls - No jog at the remote - Less than intuitive options and button - reading the manual is required

Having already owned 3 DVD players since the 2nd generation, I waited and weighted the option of buying this player. Some of the reviews and sample screenshots were encouraging but there were also less than good opinions. Finally after waiting out a month I bought the unit. Well, bottomline it was a good investment but good amount of tuning the TV and player was required. I own a Sony Grand Wega LCD projection TV which already has video processing capabilities, which actually made it much more complicated to use the Samsung DVD player since we now have both units trying to perfect the video output... The black level was definitely darker as advertised, in fact too dark, but as soon as I tune the TV to neutral setting (no or minimal processing), the extra clarity and finer resolution became evident. I'm still going through my favorite movies and marvel at the new found quality. In most cases, the best way to tell the difference was playing it on my old progressive scan than the Samsung unit, then difference became apparent. Is it worth the buy? Yes, absolutely to go with a capable television. Chances are better players will come out soon and the prices will drop. In the meantime, I will enjoy my movies...

Picture quality and sound for the price.

Remote and fast foward/reverse options.

I finally invested in a big screen tv, the Samsung 56" DLP. I needed a new DVD player too that would compliment the upgrade in picture quality. The 931 with the DVI connection seemed like the most economical way to enter the fray of true home theater. My first impressions were quite positive. The picture quality is exceptional. I agree that the blue light is a bit annoying under very low light and the remote is not the most friendly, but these quibbles aside, the unit has a great synergy with this television. The blacks and whites were excellent and the colors had nuances I can't recall seeing even in the theaters. There was an initial problem with the sound. Separation of the discrete channels seemed limited and the dynamics were extremely compressed. I later learned the the 931 is defaulted to a non-digital signal and has a compressed dynamic setting to avoid bothering the neigbors and waking the dead during loud passages. Once I had the right settings, it soon became apparent that for the money, this little machine was a great investment. I'm not sure of the experiences of others. But with the associative equipment I have, this deck seems to be a great choice that will take several technological advances for me to upgrade any time soon.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 2800 DVD

Front mirror appearance, Blue light on jog shuttle looks cool, plays DVD material clear. Colors better w/ DVI cable.

I had a few instances, where the disc wouldn't play when putting in a DVD. I wiped the disk with a soft cloth and that seemed to get rid of the problem. It could also be that this player may be a little fragile to dust and finger prints.

I got the Samsung HD931 DVD player, and it really does make a difference in picture quality when connecting to your TV through a DVI cable. Although don't fall for buying the Monster DVI cable. The one that comes with it looked just as good as the $100 Monster one. Also, don't fall for the Monster surge protectors either because they are over-priced. Check out the DVD 'Finding Nemo' and you will see what I mean. The picture is crystal clear with brilliant color. The picture is not grainy like I read in some of these other reviews. I still have my old Hitachi DVD player hooked up to my HT system because it also records CD's. I swapped back and forth between the 2 DVD sources, and the Samsung HD DVD player that was hooked up to my TV with a DVI cable was much far superior.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Hitachi

Does not weigh much

Very poor unit, you get a better picture from a 1970's porn vhs tape on a two head VCR.

Crap, Crap, Crap. Colors bleed like a stuck pig, and to add insult to injury the pic kept freezing as if you put the pause on. Then the eject tray would freeze and not open. I had to remove the cover of the player to get the disk out, this happened on several Dvd's. I sent it back under warranty, if they send me a new one, It's going right to Ebay.

Fast menu, quick opening tray, decent, 480p component outs

DVI Output terrible. Upconversion causes terrible artifacting.

I'll start by saying, Very disappointing.. I ran through my Toshiba Cinema Series 34" widescreen (34HFX83), which is a superbly crisp unit. The upconversion introduces a lot of artifacting and graininess into slower moving pictures, though the higher refresh rate makes quick moving pictures seen more fluid... but only occasionally. The adverse affect on picture quality is a huge deterent. Also, the color reproduction through the DVI cable was AWFUL (and yes, I even tried that ridiculous $100 Monster DVI cable which is the biggest scam in the industry). All the darker colors ran together in a dark, black mess on all DVDs I tried... even Star Wars II. Just to compare I ran the component outputs for progressive scan, and it looked WAY, WAY better... everything did. But, even those, compared to my Denon DVD-900, weren't as good. The remote is weird, and buttons too small. And, that BLUE DIAL on the front is HORRID. In all the only reason to buy this unit is for the HD-style output... so don't bother. The DVD's aren't recorded in HD, and the upconversion ruins the quality... like blowing up a picture too large, digital. For $300, you can get a much much better, std. progressive scan DVD player. It sounds too good to be true, because it is. I'm afraid the folks who love this player so much must either have not-so-good TVs or had a REALLY terrible DVD player before. Save your money... and for goodness sake DON'T LET THEM TALK YOU INTO THE $100 MONSTER DVI CABLE! It makes NO difference... DVI is PURE DIGITAL, which is NOT suseptible to the kinds of signal loss that Monster claims, unless you're running it 300 feet. Not to mention I have proof... I had the cable that came with it, and compared them side by side. Zip, nada, nothing, just like I expected.

A decent progressive scan player when used with the component outs.

DVI gimmick didn't live up to my expectations. Also the very bright blue face panel is annoying and makes the unit look very cheap.

After my Denon DVD-900 died I needed a replacement. After reading a review in a magazine about this player I thought I'd give it a shot as my Sony Grand Wega XBR had a DVI input that was vacant. The player came with a DVI cable, but I decided to order an Augioquest DVI cable in addition. When I first got it home I played with both the DVI and component outputs. The picture quality using the component out was very good, and while the DVI did seem to have better color it also was more artifacted and grainy. I attributed this to the cable and thought I'd reserve judgement until I had the nicer Audioquest cable a little later. When the cable arrived I was expecting to see all of the great things other reviewers seemed to experience. But alas it was even more pronounced. My conclusion is that it revealed too many flaws of the DVD transfer. It seemed to be a good player using the component outs only, but my thoughts are I bought this player specifically for the DVI option: and that option is a lot less pleasing than a standard component cable connection. In the end both the player and cable went back. I have a Harmon Kardon DVD101 now, which goes for about the same price as the Samsung without having to get an additional $100 cable. I save money there and the picture and sound quality are both superior to the Samsung in my opinion.

Similar Products Used:

Denon DVD-900, Harmon Kardon DVD101

Great pictures. Selection from 540p, 780p, 1080i

sound not quite with the best out there

Great picture. This is the DVD player to get if you have a DVI connections for your television. I mated this to my Hitachi S500 65" TV and the results are just outstanding. I used to have Pioneer Elite DV-C36 that retails for $500 and this player is no doubt better in the picture quality. The sound on the Pionner Elite but it should be for the price. This player is respectable in its audio playback but I use my Musical Fidelity A324 for musis and this primarily for video and home theater application. This player is just outstanding in picture quality especially when upconverted to 1080i or 780p. It will compete with $1000 players for picture quality.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer 563A universal player, Pioner Elite DV-C36, Sony NC-650V SACD/DVD player

DVI connection makes for a stunning picture. Nice Hi-Tech looking mirror finish. Slim chassis

None I notice

After I purchased my new Sony Vega 50" LCD projection TV, I needed something with a superior picture to couple with it as I still had my original DVD player that was not progressive scan. The Samsung HD931 DVD player was touted to be the closest to HD-DVD on the market. After reading the reviews here, I found one on Ebay for $170. and waited anxiously for it to come. Meanwhile, all I had to view was analog cable as my cable company out here in the sticks does not offer digital or HD programming. (Satellite comes next!)When it arrived I had already bought a 10' DVI cable (on Ebay also) for $25 which is triple shielded and very high quality which is much less than the $100 Monster cable BestBuy wanted. The first DVD I put in was Starwars 2. The Asteroid scene was breathtaking as well as many of the Space cityscape scenes and terrestial scenes as well. The detail was astounding. Almost every blade of grass could be seen in one scene. Many of the digitally mastered DVDs are of course where this unit shines. Latest we viewed was Nemo and I swear I was watching the film. I feel I have put together 2 amazing pieces of technology between the Sony KF-50WE610 TV and the Samsung HD931 DVD player. I had one problem as I heard a buzz in the audio when the DVD player was on but that was fixed when I switched the RCA cables to a higher quality cable. I can't hookup my surround sound yet as we are preparing for remodeling. I can't wait till it is finished so I can test the audio characteristics of the player. The remote works fine for me as I don't do alot of playing with it while the movie is on. It does take "getting to know where the buttons are" for a while. The blue light doesn't really bother me as I am still in awe over the picture and don't take my eyes off it much plus the 10' DVi cable allows me to place the unit away from the TV somewhat.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer DVD414, Toshiba 5 disc DVD

Fairly Good Pic. Nice Sound, Played DVD-R-RW. DVD+R+RW

Blue Light on Shuttle is VERY ANNOYING, VERY HARD to set-up. Can't change the resolution with the remote.

I could go into a lot of detail here but Just Don't Waste your Money. There are a lot of players that play better for less Money. After all that, if it weren't for that dammed blue light I might have kept the machine. Maybe I expected to much.

Similar Products Used:

None