Region A / BD Live (2.0)

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The BD-C5500 is a new entry level Blu-ray Player from Samsung. It has a Price listing of under $180.00. But do not let this fool you in thinking this Blu-ray Player is in any way inferior or lacking some of the newest features. The BD-C550 provides online streaming services, wireless internet capability, internal memory and great video and audio.

• Internet@TV: You can get access to an ever-growing portal of your favorite digital content. Customizable widgets will give you access to BLOCKBUSTER, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and more – all on your HDTV.
• BD-Live ready: Get more out of a Blu-ray Disc than what’s is physically on it. BD-Live 2.0 lets studios future-proof their Blu-ray titles, so they can add more content to BD-Live Ready discs even after they have been made and shipped. You connect your Blu-ray player to the Internet (through the Ethernet port or using an optional Link Stick USB wireless dongle) to download images, subtitles and more. You can chat live with friends while you are both watching the movie, or play online trivia games against others to unlock exclusive video content and earn discounts on other products.
• AllShare: Now you can sync up your entire household. A wired or wireless DLNA connection lets you stream your PC audio and video files to your HDTV using your remote.
• Wi-Fi Ready: A USB dongle is required and it is sold separately.
• BDWise: This is an advanced connectivity feature which synchronizes all your Samsung components. Providing you the the best possible picture quality.
• Full 1080p Picture Quality: has clear, crisp HD image quality and DVD Upconversion (up to 1080p)
• Energy Star 4.0: Meets all Energy Star 4.0 guidelines and has Low power consumption (13 watts during playback; .1 watts in standby)
• Dimensions: 17.1″(W)” x 1.7″ (H) x 8.07″ (D) 3.8 lbs.

As with all of Samsung’s 2010 Blu-ray players, the BD-C5500 meets all of the Energy Star 4.0 guidelines. It also has low power consumption – 13 watts during playback; .1 watts in standby. This low power consumption can not be found in the more expensive BD-C6500. The design of the Blu-ray Player also follows Samsung’s newer models, it has a slim down look (39mm) with a high tech glossy black finish. There is a drop down panel on the front concealing the disc loading tray.

Video Quality:

The video quality is great on the BD-C5500 on playback of Blu-ray disc. Providing Full 1080p display on corresponding HDTV. The video connections are located on the back and they consist of HDMI, Component and Composite video outputs.

Audio Quality:

You will not find as many audio connections on the BD-C5500, as you would the higher level players.(No 7.1 analog outputs) You do have the following: HDMI, analog audio outputs (2.0ch) and an Optical Digital Audio Outputs. But it does have internal audio decoders for Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital, DTS-HD decoder, Dolby Digital Plus. Proving great high resolution sound.

One nice features on the BD-C5500 is the Internet@TV feature. This gives you streaming content and downloadable apps such as Netflix, BLOCKBUSTER, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, Pandora and many more. Firmware upgrade in the future will provide even more content. This Blu-ray player is Profile 2.0, so it can handle BD-Live content found on Blu-ray Disc. Giving you access to online material like movie trailers, movies scenes, chat rooms, live commentary, trivia games and so much more.

Of course to take advantage of these online features you will need to be connected to the internet. The BD-C5500 has an Ethernet connection located on the back of the player or you can connect wirelessly via an USB port. To do this you would require a LAN adapter which is sold separately. You can also connect to a Home Network. Then use the AllShare feature. This allows video and audio content on your computer to be streamed to the Blu-Ray Player (either wirelessly or through the Ethernet connection). You can then view this content directly on your TV.