Even though the prices of Blu-rays are very affordable we still don't see a mass acceptance. One of the main reasons for this is the price of Blu-ray players, which has always been around the Rs. 20K mark. We have reviewed many Blu-ray players in the past and none of them have stood out in any way, and since they were all around 20K, it made more sense to buy a PS3 instead.
Of all the manufactures, it's Sony who have finally broken the mould and have launched the first Blu-ray player under Rs.10,000. That's right; you no longer have to forcibly buy a gaming console just to watch Blu-ray movies. You might be thinking that since it's so cheap, it's probably a stripped-down version of the player, but you couldn't be more wrong. In fact it's packed to the gills with features, some of which even the older 20K players don't support.
The most striking feature for us at least has got to be the DivX HD support, which we recently saw in LG's INFINIA TV. The BDP-S370 also supports Internet Video and BD Live, thanks to the included LAN jack and it's also Wi-Fi ready with the optional dongle from Sony. All the major home theater Dolby specifications are supported like DTS-HD Master, True HD along with DTS, LPCM (up to 8 -channel).
Let's see if Sony's attempt is really as good as it sounds.
Bundle
Of all the manufactures, it's Sony who have finally broken the mould and have launched the first Blu-ray player under Rs.10,000. That's right; you no longer have to forcibly buy a gaming console just to watch Blu-ray movies. You might be thinking that since it's so cheap, it's probably a stripped-down version of the player, but you couldn't be more wrong. In fact it's packed to the gills with features, some of which even the older 20K players don't support.
The most striking feature for us at least has got to be the DivX HD support, which we recently saw in LG's INFINIA TV. The BDP-S370 also supports Internet Video and BD Live, thanks to the included LAN jack and it's also Wi-Fi ready with the optional dongle from Sony. All the major home theater Dolby specifications are supported like DTS-HD Master, True HD along with DTS, LPCM (up to 8 -channel).
Let's see if Sony's attempt is really as good as it sounds.
Bundle
- Instruction booklet
- Component cable
- Composite cable
- Two free Blu-ray movies
The unit we received came with an HDMI cable but I don't think that's part of the bundle unless it's some limited time offer. The two Blu-rays sent were 'This is It' and 'Legion'.
Design
The player is really slim as compared to the previous players we've reviewed. The front features a glossy finish with the display sitting flush with the rest of the design. The buttons on the front offer limited control and you can't enter the menu or switch sources. There's the 'Eject', 'Power', 'Play' and 'Stop' buttons. Towards the end we have one front facing USB port.
There is nothing on the sides except for the screws holding the top shelf in place. The rear consists of another USB port, exhaust fan, Optical and Coaxial SPIDIF-out, HDMI-out, Component and Composite out ports, LAN jack.
The display is easily readable thanks to its matrix style display. You can adjust the brightness of the display from the menu.
Performance
Before testing the player we updated it to the latest firmware. We used the following tests for comparison.
HD HQV Benchmark
Power On Time - The time from when you hit the power button to when you see the display on the screen
Movie load time - The time taken from inserting the Blu-ray to loading the first menu screen
The HD HQV benchmark fared well in all the tests showing really good noise reduction features. However, the test that failed was the Film Resolution Loss test, which showed considerable strobing in the corner boxes. The Sony player does have a separate filter to reduce Moire pattern which does work to a certain extent. It got a total score of 55 out of 100, which is not bad.
The loading times and power on are very quick. Once you enable 'Quick Start' from the settings, it actually takes just three seconds for the player to be functional. Loading up our 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Blu-ray took around 14sec which is not bad.
The player also comes with many internet widgets like YouTube.
Blu-ray and USB Playback
The interface is the typical XMB (Cross Media Bar) we see in the PSP and PS3. It's not as spiffy as the console or the handheld and there is a certain lag, but it's not major and is not an annoyance. Blu-ray's load fairly quickly and since this supports BD Live you can go online to check out extra features of the Blu-ray. In order to use this you'll have to plug in a pen drive in the rear to save the data else you can't use it.
The BD-S370 also supports an iPhone remote app and will work if you have the Wi-Fi dongle connected. It basically acts as the Logitech mouse app and lets you control the Blu-ray player among other things.
Before testing the player we updated it to the latest firmware. We used the following tests for comparison.
HD HQV Benchmark
Power On Time - The time from when you hit the power button to when you see the display on the screen
Movie load time - The time taken from inserting the Blu-ray to loading the first menu screen
The HD HQV benchmark fared well in all the tests showing really good noise reduction features. However, the test that failed was the Film Resolution Loss test, which showed considerable strobing in the corner boxes. The Sony player does have a separate filter to reduce Moire pattern which does work to a certain extent. It got a total score of 55 out of 100, which is not bad.
The loading times and power on are very quick. Once you enable 'Quick Start' from the settings, it actually takes just three seconds for the player to be functional. Loading up our 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Blu-ray took around 14sec which is not bad.
The player also comes with many internet widgets like YouTube.
Blu-ray and USB Playback
The interface is the typical XMB (Cross Media Bar) we see in the PSP and PS3. It's not as spiffy as the console or the handheld and there is a certain lag, but it's not major and is not an annoyance. Blu-ray's load fairly quickly and since this supports BD Live you can go online to check out extra features of the Blu-ray. In order to use this you'll have to plug in a pen drive in the rear to save the data else you can't use it.
The BD-S370 also supports an iPhone remote app and will work if you have the Wi-Fi dongle connected. It basically acts as the Logitech mouse app and lets you control the Blu-ray player among other things.
This is the thing we were really anxious to test. We loaded our portable hard drive with HD movies and bam! - 'Error: Hardware not supported'. Are you kidding me! You're giving me DivX HD support but you don't support NTFS file format? This means you can't have any of your beloved HD movies greater than 4GB in size, which is just sad. I really don't get what's the deal with companies like Samsung and Sony not supporting the NTFS file format. Back to the player, it will read H.264 encoded videos perfectly if it's less than 4GB.
Power Consumption
IDLE (Home screen) - 11W
LOAD (Blu-ray playback) - 13W-17W
While playing a Blu-ray movie the power fluctuates depending on what is being shown. So when it's loading a complex menu the power shoots up but while playing a movie it mostly sits at 14W.
Pricing and Verdict
Pricing is a very important factor for the Indian consumer and you'll be glad to know that the Sony BDP-S370/B Blu-ray Player costs Rs.9,990. This is the first Blu-ray player that has broken the 10K price barrier and we have to give it to Sony for that.
The BDP-S370/B is currently the only model available and it's packed to the brim with features. The player is very slim and stylish and reads all possible compact disc formats. It also has bonus features like USB support and LAN jack for network streaming and BD Live features. Sony is also throwing in two free Blu-rays as part of bundle.
My only gripe with this player is that it doesn't support the NTFS file system. This is a big minus since you can now only use FAT32 limiting the movie files to under 4GB. Other than that this is very good quality player, but I do wish Sony would have added a few more buttons on the player which will let me change the source or access the menu in case my remote goes bust.
It's interesting to see what Samsung and LG come up with and how they price their players. We have no problem recommending this player if you aren't going to be using the DivX HD part a lot. But if that's one of the main reasons you're getting this then I'd say wait for someone like LG to launch their sub-10K player, then things will get interesting.
Pricing is a very important factor for the Indian consumer and you'll be glad to know that the Sony BDP-S370/B Blu-ray Player costs Rs.9,990. This is the first Blu-ray player that has broken the 10K price barrier and we have to give it to Sony for that.
The BDP-S370/B is currently the only model available and it's packed to the brim with features. The player is very slim and stylish and reads all possible compact disc formats. It also has bonus features like USB support and LAN jack for network streaming and BD Live features. Sony is also throwing in two free Blu-rays as part of bundle.
My only gripe with this player is that it doesn't support the NTFS file system. This is a big minus since you can now only use FAT32 limiting the movie files to under 4GB. Other than that this is very good quality player, but I do wish Sony would have added a few more buttons on the player which will let me change the source or access the menu in case my remote goes bust.
It's interesting to see what Samsung and LG come up with and how they price their players. We have no problem recommending this player if you aren't going to be using the DivX HD part a lot. But if that's one of the main reasons you're getting this then I'd say wait for someone like LG to launch their sub-10K player, then things will get interesting.
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