Sony BDP S350 and S550 Price Drop

[jliedeka]

I would guess probably not. I went with the 350 because I use an HDMI connection. There's a firmware update for BD Live. It doesn't decode DTS HD-MA but will bitstream it to a capable receiver. It meets my needs anyway.

Jim

 

[speakerman39]

If I don't need the 7.1 analog outs are there any points getting the S-550 for $100 more?

Peng, I been asking the same question. By the looks of it, the 550 is really not that much better than the 350. Well, as far as I can tell other than the 7.1 outs. Can anyone here chime in on this one? I am still looking for the right fit. Getting tired of waiting for the OPPO.

Cheers,

Phil

 

[jostenmeat]

I think I might've read that the S550 still cannot internally unpack DTS-MA.

How long is it before the Pana BD-35 & 55 are out? I predict the 55 might cost a tad more than the S550 because it can unpack MA.

Whether features like this are of any concern, I'd still be really curious about the PQ of the 35/55 personally speaking.

edit: 55 appears to be $399 at the big river pre-ordered.

 

[speakerman39]

I think I might've read that the S550 still cannot internally unpack DTS-MA.

How long is it before the Pana BD-35 & 55 are out? I predict the 55 might cost a tad more than the S550 because it can unpack MA.

Whether features like this are of any concern, I'd still be really curious about the PQ of the 35/55 personally speaking.

edit: 55 appears to be $399 at the big river pre-ordered.

Thanks Jost for the info. My guess, is that the PQ on the 35/55 will be superb with BR, but no too sure about regular dvds. I am sure the 350/550 will do a fine job with both BR and regular dvds respectively speaking. This is at least, what I have garnered from the various forums and threads pertaining to such. The question is, where will the OPPO fit in AND will the darn thing be out for purchase?

Cheers,

Phil

 

[croseiv]

The Sony website says the 550 will bitsream out DTS HD.

 

[speakerman39]

The Sony website says the 550 will bitsream out DTS HD.

Hey croseiv, does that mean anything significant? I am still a little bit confused here. Care to explain my friend?

Cheers,

Phil

 

[itschris]

The 550 is supposed to decode and shoot over everything and has the anallog outs. For me, my Elite 94 can do all the decoding so I don't need the player to do the decoding. At the current price, the 350 or even the LG are low enough to get in the game without being too pissed off if you feel you want to upgrade in a couple of years.

I think the quality of all the players are going to change dramatically over the next couple of years. I think start up and load times and PQ as well as decoding capabilities will all significantly improve. In light of that, I don't see the value of buying any high end player right now since it will be eclipsed in the near term since I still believe we're in the very steep part of the performance curve

 

[speakerman39]

The 550 is supposed to decode and shoot over everything and has the anallog outs. For me, my Elite 94 can do all the decoding so I don't need the player to do the decoding. At the current price, the 350 or even the LG are low enough to get in the game without being too pissed off if you feel you want to upgrade in a couple of years.

I think the quality of all the players are going to change dramatically over the next couple of years. I think start up and load times and PQ as well as decoding capabilities will all significantly improve. In light of that, I don't see the value of buying any high end player right now since it will be eclipsed in the near term since I still believe we're in the very steep part of the performance curve

Thanks Chris for the very informative info. I think you have made some interesting points here. It is much appreciated.

Cheers,

Phil

 

[jostenmeat]

The Sony website says the 550 will bitsream out DTS HD.

The 550 is supposed to decode and shoot over everything and has the anallog outs.

So, are you saying that I was incorrect, and that croseiv should have said that not only does it bitstream, it also internally unpacks? Thanks, I honestly don't know, and simply had read someone else post as such.

I think the quality of all the players are going to change dramatically over the next couple of years.

I'm pretty curious about this. In my honest opinion for today... I've felt that displays in general were way ahead of all the source material available... until Bluray showed up. I am now under the impression that most displays are behind what BD can give. JMO. I am using a Pana BD-30, and it looks ridonkulous on my 159" screen. Talking out of my butt, it might have a bit more color saturation than my HD-A35 HD-DVD player, and my JVC projector is already known for some over-saturation...

So my nutshell opinion is that to take advantage of top end BD players, you might want a top end display, calibrated, with excellent light control. JMO.

but if the players are going to make big leaps, I just simply can't imagine how good that will look. Cuz it looks freaking amazing as it is. JMO.

I think start up and load times and PQ as well as decoding capabilities will all significantly improve. In light of that, I don't see the value of buying any high end player right now since it will be eclipsed in the near term since I still believe we're in the very steep part of the performance curve

There is no difference in decoding capabilites. Its like unzipping or unpacking a file. No difference. Now, you could possibly speak of DAC performance, but if you bitstream, that's dependent on your receiver anyways.

Phil, as for Uniphier in the Panny's, yea they've not been very good for SD. However, perhaps as happened with the PS3, I've read a couple of recent consumer reviews that the recent FWs have made it quite good now. Even I am a little reluctant to immediately believe that, perhaps it warrants some investigation on your part.

Otherwise, I can't recommend Pana enough. They are extremely good about up to date FWs, and they own most of the patents associated with Bluray, AFAIK.

 

[itschris]

Let me clarify a bit... I guess I'm thinking back to the DVD player. The first few years saw dramatic improvement each generation. My thought is that BD players will likely be the same though not as steep.

I was reading about players' inability to do the lossless surround and the bonus audio at the same time unless you have the player do the decoding. Unless I read wrong, I was under the impression that that issue was something that would be worked out in future players.

If you just look at the players physically, the latest ones like the Sony 350 is about half the size of the 350. I remember back when dvd came out it seemed every 9-12 months a new "reference" player came out that was cheaper and superior to the previous generation. And each time, everyone thought "how can it possibly get better than this?"

I think blu-ray is different, but I do think performance in both pq and other areas will significantly change. I'm wondering if 2 or 3 years down the road they'll come up with something to the equivalent in groundbreaking performance like what progressive scan did for DVD. Or maybe we'll have near instantaneaous load start up and load times. Who knows? But I don't want to spend $500+ for player that will likely be eclipsed in the very short term. I know you can play that game all day long, but I think we're still in the early stages and lot it yet to come.

So, are you saying that I was incorrect, and that croseiv should have said that not only does it bitstream, it also internally unpacks? Thanks, I honestly don't know, and simply had read someone else post as such.



I'm pretty curious about this. In my honest opinion for today... I've felt that displays in general were way ahead of all the source material available... until Bluray showed up. I am now under the impression that most displays are behind what BD can give. JMO. I am using a Pana BD-30, and it looks ridonkulous on my 159" screen. Talking out of my butt, it might have a bit more color saturation than my HD-A35 HD-DVD player, and my JVC projector is already known for some over-saturation...

So my nutshell opinion is that to take advantage of top end BD players, you might want a top end display, calibrated, with excellent light control. JMO.

but if the players are going to make big leaps, I just simply can't imagine how good that will look. Cuz it looks freaking amazing as it is. JMO.



There is no difference in decoding capabilites. Its like unzipping or unpacking a file. No difference. Now, you could possibly speak of DAC performance, but if you bitstream, that's dependent on your receiver anyways.

Phil, as for Uniphier in the Panny's, yea they've not been very good for SD. However, perhaps as happened with the PS3, I've read a couple of recent consumer reviews that the recent FWs have made it quite good now. Even I am a little reluctant to immediately believe that, perhaps it warrants some investigation on your part.

Otherwise, I can't recommend Pana enough. They are extremely good about up to date FWs, and they own most of the patents associated with Bluray, AFAIK.

 

[jostenmeat]

Let me clarify a bit... I guess I'm thinking back to the DVD player. The first few years saw dramatic improvement each generation. My thought is that BD players will likely be the same though not as steep.

Having hooked up and/or checking out Oppo, Sony, Denon, and seeing the upconversion abilities of my Panasonic and Toshiba as well, the differences between their upscaling performance is extremely marginal compared to the jump with a decent BD player. IMO.

I was reading about players' inability to do the lossless surround and the bonus audio at the same time unless you have the player do the decoding.

Big deal. And it can't be lossless anyways when layering the audio, AFAIK.

Unless I read wrong, I was under the impression that that issue was something that would be worked out in future players.

Let me know what you find out.

If you just look at the players physically, the latest ones like the Sony 350 is about half the size of the 350.

I fail to see the signficance.

I remember back when dvd came out it seemed every 9-12 months a new "reference" player came out that was cheaper and superior to the previous generation. And each time, everyone thought "how can it possibly get better than this?"

My opinion on this can be read in my first sentence.

I think blu-ray is different, but I do think performance in both pq and other areas will significantly change. I'm wondering if 2 or 3 years down the road they'll come up with something to the equivalent in groundbreaking performance like what progressive scan did for DVD.

The thing is BDPs are already progressive. 24 fps capable as well (or I should REALLY say 23.976 or whatever that is, because there is actually a 24.00 fps . . .).

Or maybe we'll have near instantaneaous load start up and load times. Who knows? But I don't want to spend $500+ for player that will likely be eclipsed in the very short term.

If halving the load time of my player is an eclipse, feel free to keep waiting I suppose. I've already said before that I'd even prefer that my quiet player was even quieter if I had choose b/w this improvement or faster load.

I know you can play that game all day long, but I think we're still in the early stages and lot it yet to come.

I'm curious what that will be. The BD-50 can already pass all of the HQV tests. In all honesty, I would be more concerned with your display when hooking such a player up. I've seen BDs fed to DLPs, LCDs, Plasmas, and of course my PJ system. IMO, it is your display that will be the weak link even if you bought your player today.

p.s. Is there a reason you did not answer my first question in my previous post?

 

[croseiv]

From the Sony website. My interpretation is that it will decode DTS-HD:

"Bring home the future of Blu-ray Disc™ technology with BD-Live and the BDP-S550 Blu-ray Disc player. BD-Live takes your movie experience to a whole new level. Download and stream bonus content such as additional scenes, shorts, trailers and movie-based games. Equipped with a built-in Ethernet port and 1GB of memory, it's easy to access specially created BD-Live content. This player also outputs a Full 1080/24p True Cinema picture, plus upscales your existing DVD collection to 1080p when using the HDMI™ connection. And Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD delivers studio master quality audio which is designed specifically for high definition entertainment. Make the most of all of these features with the icon-based Xcross Media Bar™, which provides simple navigation of the player's menu system.

Full HD 1080p
Full HD 1080p video output1 provides high-resolution HD image, so you can take full advantage of the superior detail of Blu-ray Disc™ video content.

DVD Upscaling
DVD Upscaling via HDMI™ gets the most out of your existing DVD collection by upscaling standard definition video to near HD 1080p resolution1.

7.1 channel analog output
7.1 channel analog output provides connectivity to older receivers, making the player compatible with your existing audio system with 7.1 analog inputs.

Dolby® TrueHD internal decoding
Dolby® TrueHD internal decoding and bitstream output via HDMI™ for the Dolby TrueHD and dts®-HD (Master Audio and High Resolution Audio) codes delivers studio quality audio designed specifically for high definition entertainment like Blu-ray Disc™ movies, with up to 7.1 channels of surround sound that is virtually indistinguishable from the original studio version.

Design
Slim chassis with a gloss black finish fits elegantly with your home theater system and décor, and the included backlit remote helps give you total control of the movie-watching experience.

Ethernet port
Ethernet port provides connectivity to a home network with broadband connection so you can download network updates and bonus content2.

BD-Live2
BD-Live2 technology allows you to download and stream bonus content such as additional scenes, shorts, trailers, movie-based games, and more.

Bonus View
Bonus View feature provides “picture-in-picture” capability with select Blu-ray Disc™ titles.

24p True Cinema
24p True Cinema capable4 provides a direct connection to 24p video display devices so you can avoid conversions and enjoy films at their intended 24 fps (frames per second) cinematic picture quality.

BRAVIA® Sync for Theatre5
BRAVIA® Sync for Theatre5 technology utilizes the industry-standard HDMI™ CEC function to provide one button access and control of the appropriate inputs for your BRAVIA HDTV and HDMI-connected A/V components.

Precision Cinema
Precision Cinema HD Upscale circuitry uses high bandwidth digital-to-analog conversion and processing to detect image changes at the pixel level, rather than at the level of whole scan lines. Additionally, separate algorithms are used to process the moving and still parts of an image, resulting in sharper backgrounds with moving objects that are nearly free from motion artifacts.

BD/DVD/CD and AVCHD playback
BD/DVD/CD and AVCHD playback plays your favorite Blu-ray Disc™ movies, DVDs, audio CDs, and AVCHD-format discs on your Sony Blu-ray Disc player3.

xvYCC color
Support for the international xvYCC color standard produces images with 1.8x the color space of the traditional RGB color standard, resulting in images with more natural and vivid color reproduction6.

Precision Drive system
Precision Drive system for BD allows you to play back some Blu-ray Disc™ media or DVDs that may have been damaged or warped -- with minimal degradation of picture quality2.

xross media bar™
xross media bar™ (XMB™) on-screen display is a fast, fun and easy way to access set-up menus, user controls, and more.

USB Port
USB Port lets you connect the included 1GB USB flash-based memory for BD-Live External Memory2. "

 

[croseiv]

Also, over at AVS, reading about the 550 seems to indicate that it will decode DTS-MA internally.

 

[itschris]

The 550 decodes DTS-MA.

Beyond that, I'm saying I even disagree with anything you've said. My only point was that I'm not sure the value in $500+ player at this point. I will likely pick up the 350 this weekend with the idea that I'll likely replace it in a year or two. At the current price, I don't feel robbed.

Having hooked up and/or checking out Oppo, Sony, Denon, and seeing the upconversion abilities of my Panasonic and Toshiba as well, the differences between their upscaling performance is extremely marginal compared to the jump with a decent BD player. IMO.



Big deal. And it can't be lossless anyways when layering the audio, AFAIK.



Let me know what you find out.



I fail to see the signficance.



My opinion on this can be read in my first sentence.



The thing is BDPs are already progressive. 24 fps capable as well (or I should REALLY say 23.976 or whatever that is, because there is actually a 24.00 fps . . .).



If halving the load time of my player is an eclipse, feel free to keep waiting I suppose. I've already said before that I'd even prefer that my quiet player was even quieter if I had choose b/w this improvement or faster load.



I'm curious what that will be. The BD-50 can already pass all of the HQV tests. In all honesty, I would be more concerned with your display when hooking such a player up. I've seen BDs fed to DLPs, LCDs, Plasmas, and of course my PJ system. IMO, it is your display that will be the weak link even if you bought your player today.

p.s. Is there a reason you did not answer my first question in my previous post?

 

[speakerman39]

So, are you saying that I was incorrect, and that croseiv should have said that not only does it bitstream, it also internally unpacks? Thanks, I honestly don't know, and simply had read someone else post as such.



I'm pretty curious about this. In my honest opinion for today... I've felt that displays in general were way ahead of all the source material available... until Bluray showed up. I am now under the impression that most displays are behind what BD can give. JMO. I am using a Pana BD-30, and it looks ridonkulous on my 159" screen. Talking out of my butt, it might have a bit more color saturation than my HD-A35 HD-DVD player, and my JVC projector is already known for some over-saturation...

So my nutshell opinion is that to take advantage of top end BD players, you might want a top end display, calibrated, with excellent light control. JMO.

but if the players are going to make big leaps, I just simply can't imagine how good that will look. Cuz it looks freaking amazing as it is. JMO.



There is no difference in decoding capabilites. Its like unzipping or unpacking a file. No difference. Now, you could possibly speak of DAC performance, but if you bitstream, that's dependent on your receiver anyways.

Phil, as for Uniphier in the Panny's, yea they've not been very good for SD. However, perhaps as happened with the PS3, I've read a couple of recent consumer reviews that the recent FWs have made it quite good now. Even I am a little reluctant to immediately believe that, perhaps it warrants some investigation on your part.

Otherwise, I can't recommend Pana enough. They are extremely good about up to date FWs, and they own most of the patents associated with Bluray, AFAIK.

Thanks Jost for the info. I am still on the fence on which way to go but hope to change that real soon. Right now, been trying to pay off my new Ascends.

Cheers,

Phil

 

[jostenmeat]

Thanks Jost for the info. I am still on the fence on which way to go but hope to change that real soon. Right now, been trying to pay off my new Ascends.

Cheers,

Phil

Of course Phil. I'm sure you must be very happy with your latest additions. Don't be buying any more than you can afford though, yeah, pay them off first. BDPs will still be waiting for you. Maybe when the magical new car smell wears off could be a good time to get it.

 

[speakerman39]

So, are you saying that I was incorrect, and that croseiv should have said that not only does it bitstream, it also internally unpacks? Thanks, I honestly don't know, and simply had read someone else post as such.



I'm pretty curious about this. In my honest opinion for today... I've felt that displays in general were way ahead of all the source material available... until Bluray showed up. I am now under the impression that most displays are behind what BD can give. JMO. I am using a Pana BD-30, and it looks ridonkulous on my 159" screen. Talking out of my butt, it might have a bit more color saturation than my HD-A35 HD-DVD player, and my JVC projector is already known for some over-saturation...

So my nutshell opinion is that to take advantage of top end BD players, you might want a top end display, calibrated, with excellent light control. JMO.

but if the players are going to make big leaps, I just simply can't imagine how good that will look. Cuz it looks freaking amazing as it is. JMO.



There is no difference in decoding capabilites. Its like unzipping or unpacking a file. No difference. Now, you could possibly speak of DAC performance, but if you bitstream, that's dependent on your receiver anyways.

Phil, as for Uniphier in the Panny's, yea they've not been very good for SD. However, perhaps as happened with the PS3, I've read a couple of recent consumer reviews that the recent FWs have made it quite good now. Even I am a little reluctant to immediately believe that, perhaps it warrants some investigation on your part.

Otherwise, I can't recommend Pana enough. They are extremely good about up to date FWs, and they own most of the patents associated with Bluray, AFAIK.

Of course Phil. I'm sure you must be very happy with your latest additions. Don't be buying any more than you can afford though, yeah, pay them off first. BDPs will still be waiting for you. Maybe when the magical new car smell wears off could be a good time to get it.

So very true Jost. Not really sure when I will make the leap to BR. I do think things are going to get interesting here in the next couple of months. Perhaps, price will come down even more and then make a jump. Only time will tell.

Cheers,

Phil

 

[itschris]

The 550 decodes DTS-MA.

Beyond that, I'm saying I even disagree with anything you've said. My only point was that I'm not sure the value in $500+ player at this point. I will likely pick up the 350 this weekend with the idea that I'll likely replace it in a year or two. At the current price, I don't feel robbed.

Oooops.. bad typing. I meant to say that "I DON"T disagree with what you've been saying. I gues one word can make a difference.

Anyway, good info Jost. Thanks for detailing that stuff out.

 

[jostenmeat]

Random price alert. Just sent a post to the Deals section, and last time I did that it never made it there... so:

Samsung BD-P1500 + Matrix Trilogy = $225. Sale ends on the 18th. This player rated worst in the six player shootout link I attached before. OTOH, this is a very affordable price particularly for those who actually enjoyed all three Matrix movies.