If this impressive little DVD player from Samsung proves anything, it's that you can get a lot of AV wizardry for your money these days. In fact, looking through the DVD-HD945's spec list is like reading through a comprehensive summary of the last decade of consumer electronics innovation. But if you ever thought features like SACD, DVD-Audio and HDMI digital picture connection were going to hang around the high end looking snootily down at their lower-priced brethren then think again - the DVD-HD945 costs just £180 and has all of them.
So, this player is clearly aimed at a relatively low-budget market, albeit one that appreciates the 'everything-but the-kitchen-sink-oh,-hang-on-there's-also-a-kitchen-sink' approach to features and facilities. It is, on the other hand, a very slim and compact unit with some neat silver styling that makes for an attractive presence on a component rack.
That said, a close inspection of the casework does betray a little of the DVD-HD945's budget status: it doesn't have the rigid casing and well-constructed, solid feel that you can find in some players even at this price. It isn't the most impressive player in terms of general ease of use, and it responds to button commands - whether from the remote or the buttons on the front fascia - a little sluggishly compared to some of its rather more snappy rivals.
However, the Samsung starts to earn itself some high marks the minute you take a glance around the back of this machine: for sheer unbridled socketry it's an absolute marvel at the price. For audio it carries the necessary 5.1-channel audio outputs to deliver the high-resolution signals of both DVD-Audio and SACD, as well as offering you the choice of coaxial or optical digital outputs. And in terms of video connections it offers the complete array: not only does it offer component video, RGB-Scart and the lower-quality connections S-Video and composite video, it also has the all-digital picture connection that many have referred to as the '21st Century Scart' - an HDMI connection.
Performance
It's hard not to be impressed with such a feature line-up, though of course once you get it into action there is the odd telltale sign that what we have here is a player stretching to deliver the goods. Perhaps the Samsung's most disappointing quality is the on-screen menus and its general quality of usability. The menus are fairly poor - especially compared to the slickly-styled, intuitive menus nowadays becoming de rigueur among components from the big Japanese manufactures - and there is the odd gremlin to contend with, including the fact that the Scart output default-set to composite video rather than RGB, and as a consequence the picture looks poor (until you figure this out and set it to RGB). It's also worth remembering the Samsung's rather idiosyncratic interface when changing between video outputs: turning the Component or HDMI outputs on also turns the Scart output off, which can lead to a blank screen and even blanker facial expressions if you're not careful.
But once you've got to grips with the slow remote and the clunky interface, the HD945's analogue picture performance is quite accomplished. In RGB mode it offers good stability, and while it's not startling in terms of motion tracking and depth of field it offers very good line definition at the price, and a pleasingly realistic colour palette. As you'd tend to expect, using the component connections improve things, simply because they allow the signal to be transmitted in progressive scan mode.
But it's when you switch to the all-digital HDMI connection that the Samsung makes you really sit up and take notice. And this, in a nutshell, is the crux of the HD945's design and its appeal as a product in this competitive market. It's still impressive to see this connection on a sub-£200 player, and the improvement it brings - sharper detail, improved contrast, superior backgrounds and better grasp of fast movement - are there for all to see, lifting the Samsung's performance into a far more competitive bracket.
Of course, this means you need a TV with an HDMI input in order to make the most of the DVD-HD945, and there is a legitimate question regarding whether anyone buying an HDMI-compatible LCD or plasma is going to want to spend only £180 on a DVD player. But a bargain is a bargain, and the fact that such an affordable machine offers the 21st Century fruits of high-definition all-digital picture transfer is reason for applause indeed.
The Samsung DVD-HD945 is not without its quirks, and there are similarly priced players on the market that offer superior performance through component and RGB connections, not to mention better build quality and user interface. But until more players at this price offer the kind of performance offered here by the Samsung's HDMI connection, the DVD-HD945 is going to carry on looking exactly what it is - an impressive bargain.
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Hugely impressive specification for the price, particularly the sub-£200 inclusion of the HDMI output, and universal disc compatibility. Average build quality and quirky user interface compromise it, but it's a fine player for the money.
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