LG made a big splash at this year’s CEDIA Expo by showing off its BD300 Blu-ray player that can stream Netflix movies. Now comes the ripple effect.

It’s starting with Samsung, which today announced that its BD-P2500 and BD-P2550 Blu-ray disc players will also be able to do the instant streaming from Netflix. (The BD-P2550 also provides acces to music from Pandora.)

That means access to another 12,000-plus movies and TV shows from the video rental giant, which has been adding a bunch to the repertoire lately.

Plus you still get the pristine audio and video that those 1080p Blu-ray discs offer, which you can also rent from Netflix for $1 more to your subscription per month. The subscription automatically entitles you to use Netflix’s web streaming functionality.

If you already have the BD-P2500 or BD-P2550 players, you can download the capability as a firmware upgrade at www.samsung.com/bluraysupport.

Samsung says you’ll be able to use the Blu-ray remote to browse and make Netflix selections straight from the TV screen after you’ve added them to your instant queue on the Netflix website. Both players are already available, at $399 each.

Arlen Schweiger - Editor of Electronic House Magazine

Arlen writes about home technology installations and product news and reviews for electronichouse.com and Electronic House magazine.