Samsung BD-C6900 Review

If 3D takes your fancy, chances are you’ve already been reading about Samsung’s UE40C7000 TV. But if you want to start watching 3D movies, you’re also going to need a 3D source. Fear not: Samsung makes one of those as well – the BD-C6900.

It costs a fairly modest £349 and looks good, too, with a glossy, button-free chassis. True, it doesn’t feel particularly high-end, and it attracts smudgy fingerprints, but the C6900 is stylish at the price.

Great with 2D too
There are no 3D Blu-ray discs on the market yet, so you’ll be watching a lot of 2D content in the early days.

And it’s more than fine in this regard, offering up perfectly judged colours, plenty of detail and impressive punch. It’s not quite perfect, though: there’s a smidge of judder and smear to slow pans, and, for outright insight, Panasonic’s £200 DMP-BD65 just pips it.

If you’re slumming it with DVD, the BD-C6900 proves a very capable upscaler. Its overall sharpness, detail and vibrancy are among the best at this price.

Sound, compared with our favourite budget players, lacks a little weight and dynamic punch. Detail’s decent, and there’s never a hint of brightness, but it doesn’t quite have the guts to make the most of an action soundtrack.

Review continues after the break…

Audio issues
An extra warning on sound: current receivers will not be able to pass through the BD-C6900’s 3D signal. This means you’ll have to either buy a 3D-enabled receiver when they hit the market, or use the 7.1 analogue multi-channel output.

It’s a shame that two HDMI outputs – one for picture and one for sound – aren’t included. As is the fact that you can’t trim the speaker levels and distances for the 7.1 output.

Mixed 3D performance
So what’s the BD-C6900 like with 3D Blu-ray? Well, we have a couple of reservations, particularly with some occasional double-imaging, but there’s no denying the thrill of seeing effects pop from the screen, or the overall immersion offered by scenery with tangible depth.

As more 3D players arrive we’ll get a better idea of the Samsung’s ability, but for now we’re impressed, even with those niggles.

The fact remains, though, that you can buy ‘normal’ players that offer slightly better pictures and better sound for less money – and, while there’s so little 3D content around, those are our priorities.