Sony BDP-S300 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player

See and hear a whole new world in high definition with Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray Disc Player. The crystalline clarity of 1080p Blu-ray Disc movies and DVD upscaling that can bring your DVDs to the highest possible quality, mean your favorite movies have never looked or sounded so good. Add to that Sony’s 24p True Cinema and Cinema Tuned picture presets, which allow you to see any movie just the way its director intended, and all you’ll need is a little popcorn to lose yourself in an HD world. Better yet, now Sony’s Bravia Theatre Sync means that now you can control your compatible TV and AV systems all from one remote.

x.v.Color
Thanks to the adoption of a newly approved international color standard called xvYCC (an option in the HDMI v1.3 spec and which Sony participated in helping to create), the color space has been greatly expanded. 1.8 times as many natural colors as existing HDTV signals will now be faithfully reproduced. (x.v.Color capability is available on select BRAVIA televisions, Blu-ray Disc players and the PlayStation3 computer entertainment system.)

24p True Cinema Video Output
Many movies are filmed at 24 frames per second (fps) and prime time TV programs are videotaped at 24p. Seizing an opportunity, some studios are taking a purist approach and encoding high definition video content such as Blu-ray Disc in 24p. The BDP-S300 wisely takes advantage of this by including 24p output capability. The benefits are smoother and more natural-looking images that make watching television an experience to remember. (24p video input capability is available on select BRAVIA televisions.)

Blu-ray’sHD resolution offers a vastly better picture than SD resolution availabel from regular DVD

BRAVIA Theater Sync
Go beyond simple audio and video transmission with the “one-touch play” remote control feature that allows you to easily manage select BRAVIA televisions and Sony HDMI audio and video components with a single remote. (Available on select BRAVIA theater home A/V systems and components.)

Sony BDP-S300 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player Review

Not exactly a product review as you already have dozens of them. If you are undecided because of some of the negative things said, let me show you the light. It’s blu! I bought this player with the 2.0 firmware and it was great. Yes, it did take a very long time to load Pirates of the Caribbean - almost 3 full minutes. That is due to the disc heavily using Java (BD-J) for interactivity. I flash update to new firmware in about 10 minutes. See Sony’s web site for the firmware and carefully follow the instructions. They will even provide you with the disc. Keep in mind these things are essentially customized single purpose computers. The firmware is simply reprogramming them to include more functions, become more stable, etc. It is only limited by the existing hardware. After the update, it still takes 45 seconds to turn on, but that is down from about 1 minute. Pirates of the Caribbean now loads in 1 minute 11 seconds. All my non-BD-J movies now start up in +/- 30 seconds. BD-J load times may seem outlandish compared to DVD, But remember, future firmware updates can only improve things. We may or may not see further improved load times and that depends on the existing hardware. Any playback issues with movies will always be rectified by new firmware. Sony is showing great support. In short, this is a second generation player and minor issues do exist. But you won’t have to live with them forever. Firmware fixes all, and helps the longevity of your player. Remember that extended load times is normal for some titles, but within acceptable range for this player because it is a tank. It’s not obsolete, just update the firmware! Addendum 8/29/08: The latest 4.50 firmware update further enhances BD-J, and still supports BD-R/RE playback ability. Fastest load times ever for BD-J discs. Some significantly so, others by seconds. Load times for all BD-J movies should improve. Menu selection has never been this smooth and responsive. The newest feature “Adds Dolby® TrueHD Audio decoding functionality”. Fixes playback feezing issues with movies like Wall-E. BEST FIRMWARE YET!

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