Audio Video News

A Samsung Blu-ray player has become the first to receive plug-and-play certification under the Simplay HD Testing Program.

Simplay HD certifies that the BD-P1200 player will pass DTV signals, including HDTV, to other certified gear via the HDMI 1.3 interface. The program is administered by Silicon Image. In addition to disc players, it also covers HDTVs, surround receivers, cables, gaming consoles, set-top boxes, and switchers.

The BD-P1200 joins two other certified Samsung products, the LN-T3253H 32-inch LCD-HDTV and R155 DVD recorder. Certified equipment from other manufacturers includes surround receivers from Yamaha and HDTVs from Hitachi, Mitsubishi, RCA, Samsung, and Sanyo.

HDMI was developed by Silicon Image along with several major DTV makers. Though it is the leading standard for wired transfer of HDTV and eventually surround signals, its implementation has been plagued by glitches, inconsistencies, multiple versions, and painful slowness. Tom Norton of our sister website UltimateAV explains the problems with HDMI for video and audio.