Samsung 3D Blu-Ray Player Review (BD-C6900)

3D televisions are going mainstream, but to watch 3D content you need a player to support it, and now Samsung is out with one of the first Blu-Ray players with 3D support. We’ve tested the BD-C6900, which also has some additional tricks up its sleeve. On paper, Samsung’s new device should be at least as competent as the competition, such as the LG BD390, even without considering the 3D feature.

There’s a USB port, HMDI 1.4, 7.1 sound and, with an internet hookup, support for social media apps including Twitter and Facebook. The player itself is relatively small and neat, with touch-sensitive buttons on the top and the drive is illuminated with cool blue LEDs. The buttons are well placed, but unfortunately all plastic. The player is really quick to identify the right format and start playback. From inserting a Blu-ray disc until an image appears on the TV takes less than ten seconds in nearly all cases – with standard DVDs its even faster.

The image quality is equally impressive;  we tested a 3D movie (Avatar), and it looked great, but comparing different Blu-ray players in terms of image quality is extremely difficult and it doesn’t get any easier in 3D. For some sort of reference, the Samsung BD-6900 provides every bit as nice picture as the LG BD390.

Additional Features

The included media player is a highly competent and hassle-free feature. It plays back most high resolution formats including mkv files with multichannel audios. You can play media files either from a USB device or over the network – wired or wireless. The menu systems are crystal clear and easy to navigate and just like Samsung’s newer televisions it offers DLNA support as well as
Internet@TV, which gives you access to a number of Internet applications in in your TV, such as Facebook, Twitter, Picasa and others.

One issue to keep in mind is that if you do not want to connect the player straight to a 3D TV but wire it through a separate sound system, you should be aware that it needs to accept an HDMI 1.4 signal, otherwise you lose the 3D feature on the way. The alternative is to use either S/PDIF or analog outputs. Overall, the BD-C6900 a great player with or without 3D, but the majority is almost certainly buying the player for its 3D support, and either way it’s a good buy.

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