Samsung BD-C5900 1080p 3D Blu-Ray Disc Player Review

Samsung seems to be giving us every opportunity to prepare for the 3D trend in Home Entertainment. Along with its recent introduction of 3DTV, Samsung has produced a great line of 3D Blu-ray players. The BD-C5900 Blu-ray player is the entry-level model that is wireless LAN ready, has internal decoding of Dolby and DTS soundtracks, and access to Samsung apps for streaming content online. Providing you with innovative features at a very reasonable and affordable price.

The BD-C5900 Blu-ray player is just 1.7 inches thin with a sleek gloss black finish. The control buttons, once turned on, will light up; making them easier to use. The buttons are located on the right side of the player. The Blu-ray 3D logo on top of the player also lights up once the player is turned on. There is a USB port just below the power button on the right. On the left side of the player is the disc loading tray.

VIDEO QUALITY: The Samsung BD-C5900 Blu-ray player will give you great pictures. Video connections include HDMI (ver 1.4), component video output, and composite video outputs. The best possible images will be obtained with an HDMI connection that is capable of playing Full HD 1080p video on Blu-ray discs and 1080p upconversion when playing DVDs. The Ultra Fast Play feature should allow you to load these discs in less than 15 seconds, according to Samsung. Samsung has also conveniently equipped the player with its Screen Fit feature that can automatically convert movies with a 21:9 aspect ratio to a 16:9 aspect. A great feature if you want to remove those annoying black bars on your TV screen.

SOUND QUALITY: The BD-C5900 Blu-ray player brings you the latest studio-quality 7.1 channel surround sound (via HDMI) with Hi-Res Audio formats. You can connect the audio through one of the following outputs, HDMI (ver.1.4), optical digital output or 2.0 channel analog audio output. It has internal audio decoding for Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD Master Audio. The player can also transmit the audio in bitstream if you want your A/V receiver to do the audio decoding. However, it doesn’t have 7.1 analog outputs, so for those with older non-HDMI A/V receivers, the BD-C5900 may not be the best choice.

The BD-C5900 Blu-ray player is one of the rare entry-level models that is equipped with new video processing technology that supports 3D playback. It can provide excellent high-definition 3D images found on Blu-ray 3D discs. Of course, you will need a 3D TV and 3D glasses to enjoy 3D entertainment at home. Although it is not required, it is recommended that you connect the player to one of Samsung’s 3D HDTVs. This will allow you to take advantage of Samsung’s Anynet+ feature, which allows you to control all of your Samsung audio and video devices with a single remote.

The BD-C5900 Blu-ray player also gives you access to Internet TV and Samsung apps. Once you are connected to the Internet, through the Ethernet port or through a wireless USB LAN adapter (sold separately), you can stream movies, videos, TV shows, music and photos, etc. Some of the online streaming media services you can access from Samsung apps are: BLOCKBUSTER®, YouTube™, Netflix, Monopoly games, interactive card games, Facebook®, Twitter™, Pandora, AccuWeather, Associated Press, USA Today and many more.

With Samsung’s Allshare feature, you can sync the BD-C5900 Blu-ray player with many of your digital devices. This will allow you to enjoy music, movies and photos from your computer, camera and mobile devices, on your TV screen. Supported file formats include MP3, DivX, Divx HD, JPEG, JPEG HD, MKV, or AVCHD. The BD-C5900 is Profile 2.0, so it is BD-Live compatible. You can download content from certain Blu-ray discs. Content like deleted scenes, current movie trailers, features, movie trivia, chat rooms, live commentary, and much more. There is no internal memory, so an external USB flash drive is required if you want to download BD-Live content.

THE PROFESSIONALS: Samsung’s BD-5900 Blu-ray player is very similar to the BD-C5500 Blu-ray player that was released earlier this year. The big difference between the two players is that the BD-C5900 is Blu-ray 3D capable. It is also Wi-Fi ‘Ready’, BD-Live ‘Ready’ and DLNA certified. Supports online media services: Internet-TV/Samsung Apps (provides content from Netflix, Pandora, Vudu, Blockbuster, Picasa, and Twitter). It has internal audio decoding for Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital, DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital Plus.

THE CONS: To enjoy 3D at home, you will need to have a 3D TV and 3D glasses. It is only WI-FI ‘Ready’, so you need to buy a wireless LAN adapter. No internal memory for storage and access to BD-Live content. An external USB memory device is required.

THE FINAL WORD: The Samsung BD-C5900 3D Blu-ray player offers excellent audio and video quality. It has great features like online streaming and DLNA support. It lacks some of the features of higher-end models, but it is one of the cheapest 3D Blu-ray players on the market. This alone should make the BD-C5900 an attractive option for those who want to enjoy 3D movies at home. — Price to look for when buying — Under $230.00