Sony BDP-S1

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Sony BDP-S1

The Sony BDP-S1 is a first generation Blu-ray Disc (BD) Player that was originally scheduled for release in the United States on August 18, 2006 with a MSRP of $999.95. Sony had postponed the release date of this player several times and ended up with a final release date of December 4, 2006. On November 30, 2006 Sony announced that the player began shipping to major consumer electronics retailers and specialty dealers nationwide. Consumers reported that it was available in stores as early as December 2, 2006.

1 Network Capabilities
2 BD-J Compatibility
3 Audio Decoding capability
4 Audio and Video Output
5 Load Times
6 DVD-Audio,SACD, and CD Playback
7 Firmware Update
8 References

[edit] Network Capabilities

The Sony BDP-S1 does not come with an Ethernet jack which will cause major issues with playback of certain BD-ROM movies as well as firmware updates which are key for all new High Definition disc players. This feature cannot be added later on and should be taken into consideration when shopping for a new Blu Ray disc player.

[edit] BD-J Compatibility

During its initial release, there were reported issues with certain BD-ROM movie discs with BD-J functionality. The discs either wouldn't play correctly or wouldn't play at all. Sony remedied this issue with a firmware update and the player is now one hundred percent compatible with any BD-J disc.

[edit] Audio Decoding capability

The BDP-S1 is capable of decoding LPCM, and DTS (Core). Currently, the player is not capable of decoding DTS-HD; some studios such as Twentieth Century Fox have elected to encode all of their Blu-ray Disc's with this codec. Research should be made before purchasing this unit if you intend to watch Fox BD's and listen to full DTS-HD. The BDP-S1 cannot decode Dolby Digital Plus or TrueHD. It can extract the legacy Dolby Digital track from either of these. It will output at 640 Kbps. In order to listen to Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby TrueHD you will need a receiver with TrueHD and DD+ support. This is as per http://www.iq.sony.com/srvs/autoresponsev4.asp?id=446707

[edit] Audio and Video Output

Audio is sent out of the player via Toslink, HDMI, or analog 5.1 jacks. The player will allow you to assign separate options to each jack. For instance, you can assign Bitstream to the Toslink jack for external decoding of AC-3 or DTS and PCM for HDMI. The player will save your selections allowing for full customization of your outputs. The HDMI jack is version 1.2 and does not support Deep Color or Bitstream out for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD. This feature cannot be added later, and should be taken into consideration if you are seeking a player with HDMI version 1.3.

[edit] Load Times

The BDP-S1 has better load times than previous BD Players, around 30 to 40 seconds from system power up to actual video playback. Though not as fast as the PlayStation 3, it is an improvement over the Samsung BDP-1000 which is extremely slow. If fast load times is a key factor in your search for a player, then this too should be added to your list of considerations. A future firmware update could help decrease load times as well if ever made available.

[edit] DVD-Audio,SACD, and CD Playback

The player is not compatible with any audio disc format. At this time, Sony has not announced a date when a firmware patch will be released to remedy that issue if ever.

[edit] Firmware Update

The only way to update the firmware of this player is to have access to a broadband internet connection and CD/DVD burner. You must provide Sony with your player’s serial number before you can download any updates. If you do not have an internet connection, you may contact Sony for further support.