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General discussion

Samsung LN-S3251D & Blu-ray?

Dec 3, 2008 4:39AM PST

I own a Samsung LN-S3251D - http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/samsung-ln-s3251d/4507-6482_7-31787622.html

I also have a Samsung HT-Q80 XM Ready Five-Disc DVD Changer Home Theater System (5.1 Channel) - http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-HT-Q80-Five-Disc-Changer-Theater/dp/B000F7684U/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_3

If I purchase a Blu-ray player for this system will the picture quality (and overall cinematic experience) be any better than what the HT-Q80 is providing?

Thank you in advance for your time and thoughts regarding my dilemma.

Discussion is locked

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An idea....
Dec 5, 2008 9:18AM PST

b33m3r,

(I'll keep this one a little shorter) Happy

If you watch a Blu-Ray player, your regular DVDs will probably look about the same. The upconverting technology in your Q80 has probably been improved in the last several years to probably offer a noticable, improved difference.

Your real benefit will be Blu-Ray movies. Now, your panel can accept a 720p signal, so you'll want the native resolution from the Blu-Ray player to output at 720p. I believe the default is 480p out of the box, so bump it up in the Setup Menu in the Blu Rapy Player. You won't be taking advantage of the possible 1080p picture, but you'll still get a very clear, worthwhile picture at 720p - a significant improvement there.

To keep your surround sound options, since Blu-Ray does have that, what you might consider is making sure you have an optical or digital audio in on the back of the Q80. If you do, just patch the audio from the BDP-xxxx BluRay player to the HT-Q80 via optical.

Does the Q80 have an optical out? I have specs, but I want to clarify to make sure it exists for that - definitely something to consider.

Keep me posted!

--HDTech

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Thanks for the solid advice...
Dec 6, 2008 1:52AM PST

The Q80 has optical in and that is how I have patched in the blu-ray player.

We looked hard at the Samsung BD-P1500 but the Sony BDP-BX1 won out. Mainly due to the $200 price tag (and my wife liked the way it looked, which was also the deciding factor when we bought the Samsung TV, go figure).

Thanks for confirming the 720p, it's like you read my mind. I was confused because when I selected the 1080i option on the blu-ray player the TV accepted it, so I was beginning to think I had a 1080i TV. But I knew it was the technology just screwing with my mind!

We even bought new speaker wire for the Q80, and I was up till 4 this morning re-wiring and such.

I have to say the blu-ray player makes the Samsung LN-S3251D look AMAZING. There is definitely a noticeable difference in picture quality. My wife notices it, and she's the type of person who could be in the middle of a bank robbery and completely fail to notice the guy in the mask waving a gun at her!

The sound is amazing too, but the wire replacement may have a bit more to do with this, those old wires were all pieced together and pretty chewed up. I always felt the Q80's sound was amazing anyway, but now...

While I have not sat through an entire DVD, I watched some of Batman Begins and Transformers (both SD DVDs) through the blu-ray. I don't notice much of a difference in the upscaling, the colors seemed a bit more vibrant (but our eyes could have been biased by the blu-ray disk we had checked out a few minutes before those) but nothing popped out at me to smack me in the head and say "OH YEH! MUCH BETTER".

Thanks for all your help. Thanks for your no-nonsense replies. Thanks. If I have any more questions I will not hesitate to post them and actually look forward to a concise and intelligible response. I hope you, your family, and everyone at Samsung has a great holiday season. Merry Christmas.