IFA 2006: Samsung officially launch BD-P1000 Blu-ray player in Europe

1 September 2006 14:49 GMT / By Amber Maitland

At IFA, Samsung has officially launched the BD-P1000 in Europe, but the player has been available in the US since 25 June.

The company now says it expects to have the player available to consumers in October in the UK, but the player has been dogged with reports of technical flaws since its release in the US.

First it was discovered that some players were producing soft images due to a problem with the processing algorithm; this was then fixed with a firmware update.

This week Pocket-lint reported that the player is rumoured not to support 50GB discs, because the discs themselves weren't completely ready for testing before the player went into production.

Samsung representatives refused to confirm or deny whether this was true, and since films on 50GB discs haven’t been released yet, it can’t be verified by consumer experiences.

However the same spokesperson did tell us that the "new players to arrive in Europe would definitely be able to play the 50GB discs."

Features of the player include playback at 720p, 1080i or 1080p, full 1080p output via HDMI, DVD and CD playback, and a 10 in 2 memory card reader.

A UK spokesperson said that it’s expected that the player will retail for an eye-watering £1000 in the UK, despite it only costing $1000 in the US. He was unable to account for high price; even with an added 17% to account for VAT, the player costs considerably less in the US.

Samsung also plans to introduce a Blu-ray recorder later this year.

Full tags

Home Cinema, Blu-ray, Samsung, IFA2006