Rating: 
Summary: DVI is GREAT, BUT....
Review: Mine died this weekend (6/20/04) after 7 months of service. By dead I MEAN DEAD---it won't power up.Running on a Sony KDF-60XBR950 and going directly into the TV via DVI produced an exceptional picture for a 60" TV. FWIW though, the only comparison I can offer is another $80 Samsung DVD player with progressive scan component video. The 931 definitely beat it making the price the least of my worries. The player started exhibiting freezes & severe artifacts on a just-opened Perfect Storm DVD about one month after I bought it. From there on, the problem would occur intermittently, maybe averaging once every 2-3 weeks, and the problem became increasingly worse just prior to its death. Having a backup player immediately available, I tolerated it (for reasons that follow) because of the quality. It seemed to improve after powering it down for a few minutes-who knows?! HOWEVER, having visited several HT forums since my purchase, I have concluded that we consumers are pretty much screwed on this until some company decides to employ a better class of Chinese workers & Indian engineers to produce a reliable product. All of the other DVI DVD players I've found in this price range (Momitsu, Zenith, Bravo), have similar complaints from buyers, some far worse, some better. So it appears like a crap shoot. What will I buy next? Well, if my local vendor honors the warranty, I'll be trying the same player again. If I had to fork out some more cash however, I believe I would try another brand---What do you have to lose?
Rating: 
Summary: Bad Product
Review: Steer clear of this product unless you like your DVD movies to freeze up and skip at the most inopportune moments. Last night I had to move to the bedroom and use my old $75 DVD player to finish watching a movie. Don't waste your money.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not great
Review: I have had this for over a year now. So far, I am satified with it.
Pro:
DVI-I output is far superior than the run of the mill regular 480p. Pick your choice, 720p or 1080i. Plays all my burned DVD-R's just fine. Sound is good. The unit's build quality is good. Remote can control TV.
Con:
Very very picky. Does not like VCD's. MP3 and JPEG CD's need to be burned with specific format (ISO 9660, etc..) to work. JPEG display is poor and butt slow. Huge jug-dial that glows blue LED can be annoying (personal preference).
Overall, if you primarily use it for DVD or MP3 via DVI connection, it is fine. Anything else, better look elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad, needs work.
Review: I've had this one connected to my Panasonic ED Plasma for several months now. Connections: DVI to Plasma, Optical to Denon 2802. Excellent picture quality. Scaling is a little lopsided and needs some work. I HAVE NOT experienced any undesired picture or sound effects. Not a bad DVD player.
Rating:
Summary: DVD-R does not work well with this player
Review: Even though Samsung claims it can play all burnable DVD media, it does not work very well. I have tried all brands of media and it takes several minutes to half an hour to load a disc. I have also used media burned from different hardware with the same result. The picture on my 60 inch lcd projection using the DVI input looks great, but the remote is terrible and it is unable to play media that works in cheap freebie players. Wait for a DVI enabled player from a good company.
Rating:
Summary: Totally CRUSHES black levels-buyer beware!
Review: The DCDi chip is great (for DVI only, see below), but the Samsung player absolutely CRUSHES black levels and it is totally Samsung's fault. It does not pass blacker than black at all. Night scenes in DVDs are almost totally invisible. I have a $2,000 Sony TV that was just recently ISF calibrated by an expert ISF calibrationist with years of experience (a 9 hour process) and I can tell you without any reservation--do not buy this product until Samsung fixes the black level issue or you will regret it. Also, you should be aware that Faroudja's DCDi chip DOES NOT WORK AT ALL if you use anything but DVI to connect to your display! Mine is going back very soon. The Zenith player (318) uses the Faroudja DCDi and it DOES pass blacker-than black . One star is for daytime scenes which are perfect on the player. The 941 (new model) has black level control, but IT DOESN'T WORK ON DVI and as I said, if you connect to ANY other outputs, the DCDi chip is totally useless! What a joke. Run away! Buy the Zenith or the Bravo D2 (or D3) if you want a good upscaling DVD player for your DVI connected display. I thought I would edit to confirm that Samsung KNOWS about the black-crush issue, but they are not planning on offering a fix. They are directing customers to wait for the 941, which SUPPOSEDLY fixes the 931's "issues." I wouldn't bother.
Rating:
Summary: Does not work with Sony LCD Projection TVs
Review: This DVD player is a superior product, with an outstanding image quality. This is only true, however, if ALL the following conditions are satisfied: You MUST use an HDTV display with an encoded DVI (digital) input: The magnificent Faroudja DCDi processing (up-conversion to 720p or 1080i) is available only through this port. The analog (480i/480p) output is not Faroudja-processed and, although excellent, is comparable to the image quality of much cheaper players (which also have much better user interfaces). This DVD player is all about image quality, not ergonomics. You MUST NOT use the analog sound outputs, but use the digital audio output into a digital-input surround processor or a (high-end) receiver with digital inputs. Or else, for best sound, use the PCM option and input the digital data into a professional DAC (as I do). If you can't satisfy the above conditions, skip this product and get the SONY DVP-NC685V DVD changer instead. If you do want to buy this product, make sure you are getting a box with the DVI cable. Otherwise, the cable will cost you an extra $50 to 100. In conclusion, my five stars only apply if this DVD player is used with an HDTV display with an encoded DVI input AND if the audio D/A conversion is done outside the player. Otherwise, two stars (at best).
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