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Sony BDP-S500 Review |
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Reviewed: 02 March 2008
Design
Not as svelte as some blu-ray players, the BDP-S500 makes up for its rather bulky presence with supreme build quality.
A blue coloured glass fascia and brushed metal finish add the perfect finishing touch to the impressive build quality.
Features
As Sony's current top end blu-ray player, the BDP-S500 offers some important features over the BDP-S300. DTS HD along with Dolby TrueHD high definition sound formats are present although there is a qualifier with DTS HD. DTS-HD comes in two flavours, 'High Resolution Audio' and 'Master Audio' and there is no 'Master Audio' (the preferred format for Fox studios) on the BDP-S500.
Video Upsacaling: yes Output Resolution: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p Playable Disc Formats: CD/DVD/DVD-R/DVD-RW/DVD+R/DVD+RW/HD-DVD/AVCHD/BD/BD-R/BD-RE/BD-ROM Sockets: 1 HDMI input, composite video, s-video, component output video.
Connectivity on the BDP-S500 includes a v1.3 HDMI along with the usual Composite, Component and S-Video outputs.
The AVCHD format created by some HD video recorders can be piped through the S500 for pristine home videos, and it can also play Blu-ray (BD R/RE) recorded discs.
The BDP-S500 also upscales your collection of standard DVD's, it can play audio CD's as well as discs laden with MP3's or JPEG's.
The current must have feature for High Definition (HD) kit is 1080p/24 frames per second (24p) support and the BDP-S500 doesn't disappoint. Movies have traditionally been filmed at a frame rate of 24fps (frames per second) and the 1080p/24 feature allows films to be shown in their original format.
Disappointingly, the Blu-ray 1.1 profile has been slow to arrive and the BDP-S500 reflects this with its 1.0 profile. It means that the latest offering from Sony is unable to play some of the interactive Java features found on some blu-ray discs.
Performance
The Sony BDP-S500 excels in the most important area, picture quality. Placed alongside its younger brother the BDP-S300, it reveals a high definition picture that is just that little bit sharper and more detailed. In fact this is one of the best high definition pictures you are likely to come across from a blu-ray player.
The quality of the BDP-S500 presents itself again with its upscaling capabilities. Pop in a normal DVD and you will be more than pleased with the results. The BDP-S500 is not quite on par with some high end DVD upscalers but it is certainly one of the best performances in this respect from a blu-ray player.
Again, like other Sony Blu-ray players, colours are rich and vibrant, showing none of the minor gamut faults we have witnessed on other High Def players. Of course, the quality of your screen will play a part in overall quality, but at least you will know that the BDP-S500 won't be the weak link.
High Definition home video enthusiasts will be delighted with the results of their (AVCHD) amateur film making. Compatibility with xvColour (if you have an HDMI v1.3 enabled screen) translates into a wonderfully vibrant performance.
Conclusion
A few frustrating absences such as the Blu-ray 1.1 profile and DTS-HD Master Audio are more than made up for with supreme HD picture quality and Dolby TruHD along with DTS-HD High Resolution audio.
