Adding to Samsung’s 2011 line of Blu-ray players, the BD-D6700 is packed with great features, with an innovative and unique design. This 3D player has built-in Wi-Fi, a comprehensive list of online streaming media services, and dual HDMI outputs. One major drawback of the BD-D6700 is its high price of almost $300.00 (online retailers sell it for around $270.00). Most Blu-ray players have dropped significantly in price in recent years. So the question must be asked whether the BD-D6700 is worth the money.
The main reason for the high price is largely due to the dual HDMI outputs. Very rare on most players, the dual HDMI outputs are for users who want to hear the latest high-resolution audio from a Dolby Digital True HD or DTS Master soundtrack but don’t have a 3D-capable A/V receiver. . Dual HDMI outputs allow you to have one HDMI cable connected to your 3D HDTV (Video connection) and the other connected to your A/V receiver (Audio connection).
But this is not the only feature that I like. There are plenty of other great things to talk about with the BD-D6700. This includes its unique design. Samsung has always tried to provide gamers with an attractive and eye-catching aesthetic. The silver colored chassis of the BD-D6700 will definitely achieve this and stand out from all those shiny black boxy players. The disc loading tray is missing; in its place is a slot-loading system. The disc simply slides into the player, much like a car CD player. Just below is an LCD screen with touch-sensitive basic control buttons. Giving the BD-D6700 a tidy exterior.
The remote control has a nice design, with a dedicated Netflix button that will allow you to access the popular online service quickly and easily. The BD-D6700 can also be controlled with your smartphone. There are apps for iOS and Andriod to perform basic control functions. The best part of which will allow you to enter text commands. Great for searching or signing up for streaming services online. The BD-D6700’s user interface, while modern and colorful in appearance, could be simplified a bit more.
VIDEO QUALITY: The BD-D6700 provides excellent Full HD 1080p/24 video resolution. And you can upscale SD content to near HD levels. Great for those users who have large DVD collections. Picture quality when playing 3D Blu-rays, standard Blu-rays, DVDs or streaming videos should be satisfactory for most consumers. Connections for the BD-D6700 include the two HDMI outputs, one component video output (restricted to 480i resolution due to AACS regulations), and one composite video output.
SOUND QUALITY: The BD-D6700 provides decoding for the latest high-resolution audio formats (Dolby TrueHD – DTS-HD MA) or can stream these audio formats in their native bitstream form for decoding by your A/V receiver. As stated above, one of the highlights of the BD-D6700 is its dual HDMI outputs. Allowing users with a non-3D compatible A/V receiver to enjoy 7.1 channel surround sound. A nice feature that will save you money by not having to upgrade your AV receiver. But for those with less concerned ears, you can use the optical digital audio output that comes with most 3D players. You basically get the same sound quality. For these users, a player with two HDMI outputs would not be worth the extra cost.
The BD-D6700 not only plays 3D Blu-rays, but will also allow you to convert SD images to 3D. This means that your Blu-rays, DVDs and even standard broadcast content can be transformed into 3D images. While this is more or less a gimmick (and can be found on most 3D HDTVs), it’s still a nice little feature that will let you relive movies from a whole new perspective. Other innovative new features include One Foot Connection. With a Samsung wireless router, you can connect the BD-D6700 by placing it within a foot of the router during setup, without a password. Once connected, you can move the player anywhere in your home. This provides a quick and easy way to connect to the Internet.
There is also an Ethernet port to establish an Internet connection. But once connected, you have access to Samsung Smart TV and the Smart Hub interface. This is where you’ll find all of the BD-D6700’s streaming media services. This includes Netflix, Pandora, YouTube, Vudu, and Blockbuster. Also social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. There’s an app store, you can customize a home page, search, and it even recommends movies for you based on your past viewing habits.
With an Internet connection, you can also use any BD-Live features found on certain Blu-ray Discs. The BD-D6700 has 1 GB of internal memory to store any BD-Live data. Other features include USB playback and DLNA compatibility. DLNA allows you to stream content from other DLNA devices, such as your computer, to display on your TV screen. The BD-D6700 supports the following files: AVI, MKV, WMV, MP4, MPG video, DivX HD, MP3, WMA, and JPEG.
THE PROFESSIONALS: The Samsung BD-D6700 3D Blu-ray Player is equipped with dual HDMI outputs, built-in Wi-Fi, 1GB of internal memory, tons of online streaming media services (Netflix, Hulu Plus, MLB.TV, Vudu, CinemaNow, Pandora, Facebook, Twitter and more) and DLNA capability. It provides excellent picture (Full HD 1080p/24 video output) and sound quality (Dolby TrueHD – DTS-HD MA) on both standard Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D. You can upscale DVD to 1080p.
THE CONS: The high price of the BD-D6700 may not appeal to many consumers. You might want to consider Samsung’s cheaper BD-D6500, which is a very similar player, just lacking the dual HDMI outputs. The BD-D6700’s clock times are slightly below the average of most 2011 mid-tier players.
THE FINAL WORD: The Samsung BD-D6700 is an excellent Blu-ray player. Offering many great features including 3D, amazing pictures and sounds, dual HDMI outputs, internal storage memory, DLNA compatibility and much more. Its innovative Smart TV and Smart Hub offer one of the most comprehensive ranges of online streaming and social networking services, missing only Amazon Instant Streaming, which has the largest collection of TV shows. If you’re not put off by the high price, the BD-D6700 is a good choice and would make a nice addition to anyone’s home entertainment theater. – Price to look for when buying – Less than $270.00
