Why? Simply because of the quality of the video it had. It was recorder as is - in full high definition (but still in Japanese) - which fits the lab’s 46-inch monitor.

But this is not the peak of high definition. And if you think watching DVD videos is enough, you have to take the next step and make the big switch - to Blu-ray.

And we are lucky enough when Samsung sent us a review unit of the BD-P1500 Blu-Ray player - the company’s fourth generation Blu-ray player currently out in the local market.

The design of the BD-P1500 is simple yet elegant. But at first glance, it may be mistaken for a regular DVD player if not for the Blu-ray logo palce at the front of the disc bay. Compared to recent DVD players, this one is a bit thick but is very light.

(If you ask me, it being this thick somehow reminds me of those old-school VHS players.)

A power and open/close button, as well as a round navigation keypad is all located at the glossy finish

face of the device. But of course, you wouldn’t have to bother with these since it comes with a remote control which lets you exploit the player’s features more.

The BD-P1500 can be used on regular TVs as long as it has RCA plugs. In the case of LCD TV or monitors (yes, we plugged this baby on a 29-inch, full HD LCD monitor with ease), there’s the HDMI 1.3 port and the supplied HDMI cable.

The BD-P1500 can upconvert standard DVDs to 720p, 1080i and 1080p resolutions and offers Full HD video playback capabilities for a crystal-clear picture. And yes, the player is backwards compatible with medias like DVD-ROM, DVD-R(V mode only), DVD-RW (V/VR mode), Audio CD, CD-R and CD-RW (no need to fear that you will be throwing away your old discs, unless you will find them of poor quality now that you have Blu-ray).

So how was it? Only one way to describe it - Awsome!

We’ve connected it to both LCD and Plasma displays and it gave superb results. The video was so clear as if it was almost true to life. The color was dependent on how the movie was filmed, but what’s impressive is that it can zoom in by four types without sacrificing the video quality (although you need the remote to do this feature).

Another nice feature with Blu-ray is the interactive menu when you want to skip chapters. When you access it, the video doesn’t stop. Instead, it would display a menu on top of the video currently playing.

Audio is not sacrificed here since the BD-P1500 goes beyond standard Dolby Digital audio playback. It will include Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TruHD and DTS-HD High resolution once you upgrade the firmware (which will be available to consumers by the end of the year).How to upgrade the firmware? It has a built-in Ethernet connection and USB input. This enables users to quickly upgrade the BD-P1500 with the latest firmware, keeping it at the cutting edge of Blu-ray technology. The simple and easy firmware upgrade lets you continually upgrade the player with the latest features.

Downsides of the BD-P1500? The only thing we can think of is the loading time. Yes. Sad to say that when you load a disc, the player would take time (but not very long) to load its contents.

Over all, the Samsung BD-P1500 gets our two enthusiastically thumbs up! All it needs is more available media and a cheaper price (because we’re quite sure that it’s still at its premium price since there’s not much competition in the local market as of the moment).

So, when will you be shifting to high definition?