Big Picture Big Sound

Big Picture in a Little Package

When I purchased my first Blu-ray player in October of 2006, the Panasonic DMP-BD10, it cost $1700, was only Profile 1.0 and was the size of an army tank. You may be wondering why I chose the Panasonic over the ever-popular Playstation 3, and the reason is that the Panasonic offered analog multichannel outputs and the promise of decoding DTS-HD, which Sony was silent about at the time with the PS3. As it turns out, due to a change in specifications for the codec, the BD10 was only ever able to decode DTS-HD High Resolution and not the lossless Master Audio variety.

I know many Blu-ray fans that have been waiting for the right stand-alone player to come along that is full-profile (Profile 2.0, BD-Live and BonusView) and can bitstream the advanced codecs so they will not be limited by the quality of the decoders in the player itself. Enter the Sony BDP-S350 BD-Live ready Blu-ray player at a MSRP of only $399.99. 

The S350 at first glance is unassuming in its appearance -- a small, almost insignificant looking player. It is hardly the monstrosity that was the first generation Panasonic, and even smaller than the second and third generation players from Sony and other manufacturers. But, the first thing I noticed about the S350 was its solid build quality. From its size, I was expecting something flimsy, more along the lines of a low-cost DVD player. On the contrary, the S350 weighs in at a little over 6 pounds despite a footprint only 8 ¾ in. deep and 17 in. wide and the frame feels solid.

The S350 looks quite nice cosmetically as well. Though it doesn't look as "sexy" as Samsung's BD-P1500 BD player, the Sony's glossy front, which incorporates an automatically opening faceplate that conceals the player's disc tray, is a testament to minimalist design. On the front of the S350 are five buttons -- the power and eject buttons sit flush against the top left and top right edges respectively and the play, pause and stop buttons are on the front right. There is also a blue 24p indicator light next to the front panel display. It is difficult to make out anything on the display other than the time setting at any reasonable distance from the player, but the 24p indicator lights up brightly enough to let you know you are watching 1080/24p material without being too obtrusive.

Features

Sony's player is currently a BonusView (Profile 1.1) player meaning it can handle picture-in-picture and secondary audio content on Blu-ray discs authored with such features, but it is also "BD-Live ready." To date, Sony has still not provided the necessary firmware update to activate BD-Live features on this player, so for now the Ethernet jack is used solely for the purpose of downloading firmware updates. The player's settings menu has an option to turn on automatic notification of new firmware updates, which I thought was a nice touch.

The back of the player, quite naturally, is where you'll find all your connectivity options nicely laid out, if a bit too close together. Along with the unit's AC power connector there's a full complement of outputs, including one set of component video outs, one HDMI 1.3 out jack, one stereo set of analog audio line-out jacks, one optical and one coaxial digital out and a recessed USB port for external  storage to be used with BD-Live. There are also some legacy standard definition video outputs in the form of one s-video jack and one composite video out.

The recessed USB port could prove to be problematic for a lot of people, as only USB drives of a certain diameter will be able to fit in there. Fortunately for me, the Kingston Data Traveler 100 8GB USB drive I had fit without any issues.

The HDMI jack allows for bitstreaming of all of the audio codecs, including multi-channel PCM and all flavors of Dolby and DTS. Unfortunately, the player will not decode DTS-HD internally, so decoding of DTS-HD over HDMI as PCM is not an option on the S350, but all other codecs can be decoded in the player and output via HDMI as PCM.  If you do not have an HDMI-equipped receiver or preamp/processor that can handle PCM or decode the advanced codecs, then you can still use the player's TosLink (fiber-optic) or coax digital output for discrete surround sound, but you'll be limited to the "core" components of Dolby or DTS which is a sacrifice in sound quality over the lossless formats and multi-channel PCM.  If you need to rely on the analog outputs, then the best you'll get is matrixed Dolby Pro Logic from the player's analog stereo outputs.  

As for the video, the player's component output can only output up to 1080i for BDs and 480p for DVDs, so HDMI is truly your best option for connecting this device to your display as choosing the player's HDMI option will allow for output of all video resolutions from 480i to 1080p.  The player has one glaring omission, and that is the lack of a "source direct" mode that will allow you to automatically output the native encoded resolution from a disc to your display, rather than having to set one output resolution (i.e. 1080p) and then manually switching in the system menu to 1080i if you wanted to output a native 1080i signal from a disc encoded as such. On the plus side of things, the S350 supports x.v. Color (xvYCC/Deep Color) over HDMI for a much wider color palette (whenever software becomes available for this) as well as AVCHD playback from DVDs or BD-Rom discs.

The player's remote stays fairly close to Sony's standard design that they've been using for years. Other than the inclusion of a circular directional pad in the center surrounded by BD menu buttons, it could be any other Sony remote. The buttons are well spaced making it easy to press the correct one, but the lack of a backlight or even mild luminescence may make it difficult to navigate in a dark room.

Setting it Up

Setup was relatively simple utilizing Sony's variation on their XMB menu system, which all PS3 users should be familiar with. Having connected the player to my Ethernet router, I turned the player on. The first time the S350 is turned on, it goes through a guided "Quick Setup" to help you get things up and running without much fuss. After the guided setup, I went into the Network Settings and set the player up for Internet access and it was a breeze. The player recognized the IP addresses and found the network connections without any problems and instantly brought up a message "There is New Firmware Available For Your Player". I downloaded the new firmware, optimistically hoping that it would activate the BD-Live features, but it did not.

Next, I went through more detailed settings by going through the player's Video, Audio, and BD/DVD Viewing settings. This is where things began to get tricky, because Sony's typically cryptic language on their settings was somewhat difficult to figure out. For example, in order to tell the player whether to stretch 4:3 material or output it pillarboxed, you have to select between two options under the Screen Format settings -- Original or Fixed Aspect Ratio. Can you guess which one will result in a 4:3 signal being sent unchanged? If you guessed "Original," then you would be mistaken.

Startup time for the player is quite quick once the "Quick Start" mode is engaged. With Quick Start selected, the player takes only around six seconds to bring up the Home menu. Loading discs is also much faster than earlier BD player models. It took only 20 seconds to get to the disc menu for Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis Showcase.  The BD-Java intensive Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl took only 1 minute to reach the previews, and then approximately another minute to get through the previews to the disc menu.

High Definition Playback

So, it looks good, it feels like a quality piece of gear -- how does it perform? To test its performance, I ran the Silicon Optix HQV test discs on the unit. First up was the HD Video Resolution Test, which runs a test pattern to check if the player properly deinterlaces 1080i material into 1080p. Sadly, the S350 failed this test, passing only half the resolution (540) of a 1080i source when deinterlacing. This is a serious issue if you have a 1080p display that also improperly deinterlaces 1080i material. This problem deinterlacing 1080i material makes the omission of a "source direct" mode even more vexing. This is something that all BD player manufacturers should focus on doing properly, because there are a fair amount of 1080i-sourced BDs out there including many live concert titles and some documentaries.

Next up were two tests that check the player's video reconstruction ability, in other words, does the S350 have problems with motion "jaggies?" The first test was a set of three bars moving quickly in a waving motion. The S350 passed this test with no problems, display all three bars smoothly. The unit performed just as well on the second test, which was a rotating white bar. The white bar was smooth at all angles.

Many people still have displays that a have 60Hz refresh rate, therefore it is important that their player be able to do 3:2 pull down properly. The next test I ran was the Film Resolution Loss Test that tested the S350's ability to perform 3:2 inverse telecine properly.  The S350 passed both parts of the test without any issues. In the test pattern, it displayed no issues and in the second part of the test showing a pan across an empty stadium, there was no moiré or flickering noticeable.

Then it was on to some actual program material. I watched many BD releases on the S350, the first being Nim's Island, a reference quality release in every way. The S350 outputting the native 1080/24p into my display rendered Nim's Island's vivid colors and sharp detail without any issues. I compared the playback of the S350 to my Panasonic DMP-BD10 on Nim's Island, and the Panasonic looked just a little softer, with blacks slightly more washed out as well.

Next up, I played the BBC Video release Wild China, which is encoded at 1080i. Confirming the results of the HD Video Resolution Test, Wild China looked soft when the player was handling the deinterlacing and outputting the source as 1080p/60. When I switched the output video resolution on the player to 1080i and allowed my display, which handles deinterlacing properly, to scale the source to 1080p, the image was noticeably improved, with a sharper, more detailed appearance.

Standard Definition Playback

Many people still have a large library of DVDs and will no doubt be interested in how well this player performs in that area. Running the HQV tests for standard definition, first up was a basic detail test, which the S350 passed admirably, displaying all the detail in the supplied image accurately. Next were the two tests for jaggies, of which the S350 passed the first one with the rotating white bar with a decent score, but on the second one of three waving white bars, it displayed some obvious jaggies. The 3:2 pull down test is where the S350 really impressed. Not only did the player's film mode handle the scene of a racecar driving by an empty grandstand with no artifacts whatsoever, but in a separate set of tests where scrolling CNN-type text and scrolling credits are displayed (video titles overlaid on film-based background content), the S350 handled them flawlessly.

So how did it look playing back actual DVD program material? Well, using Star Wars Episode III: The Phantom Menace as a reference, I'd say the S350 looked fairly decent.  There were instances where some motion jaggies were noticeable, but overall it presented a detailed and accurate picture.


Turn Ons:

• Slim design yet sturdy build
• Bitstreaming of the advanced audio codecs
• TrueHD Decoding
• 1080/24p output
• BonusView compatible and BD-Live ready
• Quick startup and disc load times
• Excellent HD picture quality with 1080p source material
• Handles 3:2 pulldown well

Turn Offs:

• Poor deinterlacing of 1080i content
• No DTS-HD HR/MA Decoding
• Slightly confusing settings options
• Recessed USB Port

Final Thoughts

The Sony BDP-S350 may not be perfect, but it offers a great value at a reasonable price and is well built to boot. The player's BD-Live ready status makes it ready for the future of the format. [editors's note, the BD-Live upgrade has been delivered and the player now supports BD-Live]. It has excellent native 1080/24p playback and will work well with 1080i content if you have a scaler or display that can do the proper deinterlacing for you. At this very moment, the S350 is probably the stand-alone Blu-ray player to beat in terms of price and performance.

Where to Buy

• Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray Player (Amazon.com)
• Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray Player at Abt Electronics

Manufacturer's Specifications for Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray Player:

• Weights and Measurements:
  • Dimensions (Approx.) : 17 x 8 3/4 x 2 3/8 in.
  • Weight (Approx.) : 6 3/8 lbs.
• Audio Features:
  • On-board Decoding of DTS, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD to LPCM  
  • Bitstream output of DTS, DTS-HD High-Resolution, DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, L-PCM
• Capability:
  • CD : Yes
  • DVD : Yes
  • BD-R/RE Read Compatibility : Yes (BDMV & BDAV format)
  • BD-ROM : Yes
  • DVD+R Read Compatibility : Yes
  • DVD+RW Read Compatibility : Yes
  • DVD-R Read Compatibility : Yes (Video Mode and VR Mode)
  • DVD-RW Read Compatibility : Yes (Video Mode and VR Mode)
  • JPEG Playback : Yes
  • x.v.Color™ Technology : Yes
  • Inputs and Outputs
  • Analog Audio Output(s) : 2 Channel: 1 (Rear)
  • Coaxial Audio Digital Output(s) : 1 (Rear)
  • Component Video (Y/Pb/Pr) Output(s) : (Y/Pb/Pr) OUtput(s): 1 (Rear)
  • Composite Video Output(s) : 1 (Rear)
  • HDMI™ Connection Output(s) : 1 (Rear)
  • Optical Audio Output(s) : 1 (Rear)
  • S-Video Output(s) : 1 (Rear)
• Service and Warranty Information:
  • Limited Warranty Term : 1 Year Parts / 1 Year Labor
• MSRP: $399.99

Company Information:

Sony Electronics, Inc.
16450 W. Bernardo Drive
San Diego, CA 92127

Phone: 858-942-4700
Toll Free: 800-222-SONY(7669)

Web: SonyStyle.com