Sony BDP-S300 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player

Everyone will marvel at the stunning sound and picture quality of this second-generation Blu-ray Disc player. With remarkable features and versatile performance, the BDP-S300 is an amazing value.See and hear a whole new world of high definition with the incredible BDP-S300 Blu-ray Disc Player. The crystalline clarity of 1080p Blu-ray Disc movies and DVD up scaling has to be seen to be believed. Amazing 24p True Cinema output and cinema-tuned picture presets allow you to see movies exactly how the director intended. And with BRAVIA Theatre Sync, you can now you can control your compatible BRAVIA TV and AV systems from just one remote.

See and hear a whole new world of high definition with the incredible BDP-S300 Blu-ray Disc Player. The crystalline clarity of 1080p Blu-ray Disc movies1 and DVD upscaling2 has to be seen to be believed. Amazing 24p True Cinema3 2 output and cinema-tuned picture presets allow you to see movies exactly how the director intended. And with BRAVIA Theatre Sync, you can now you can control your compatible BRAVIA TV and AV systems3 from just 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.) 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.) Blu-ray'sHD resolution offers a vastly better picture than SD resolution availabel from regular DVD More About Blu-ray The format provides five times larger capacity than today's DVDs, with unprecedented storage capacity of 25 GB (single-layer) and 50 GB (dual-layer). Blu-ray Disc players will be fully backward compatible with current DVD formats, delivering entertainment content in full high-definition (HD) quality, under a secure environment made possible through the most advanced copyright protection technology. Blu-ray Disc provides picture quality beyond anything available, with full capability 1080p/24 resolution in Blu-ray and Up to 40Mbps bit encoding - 5X current DVD. The theater quality "uncompressed" audio supports 8 channels of Liner PCM, Up to 32 streams of audio, interactive capability, seamless menus, integrated games, hi-def bonus and educational features. Java will allow for more dynamic, more sophisticated interactivity. Expand your workd with Sony products using Blu-ray Disc technology. It;s the heart of an outstanding line of Sony products with Blu-ray Disc technology that extends beyond the boundaries of high-definition and opens the new vistas for creativity, enjoyment, and interaction. Discover unsurpassed picture quality and uncompressed audio on supporting media that goes beyond any other format you've seen. Immerse yourself in the unrivaled detail that lets you experiencemore in every movie, every game. Movies Find a huge selection of great movies available now on Blu-ray Disc The best names in entertainment suppor Blu-ray Disc technology. Seven of Hollywood's major studios -- with 90% of home entertainment sales -- ensure the most extensive library of high definition titles, with hits from SOny pictures, Walt Disney, MGM, 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Paramount, and Lions Gate. You'll find more titles coming every month. Blu-ray Disc was created to match the accelerating growth in digital consumer electronics and computer technology. The platform supports the convergence of film, music, gaming and other computer entertainment in a single standard. Sony Computer Entertainment's adoption of Blu-ray Disc ROM technology in the next-generation PlayStation 3 system was announced at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Capacity Without Compromise Everything that DVD can do, Blu-ray Disc does and more. Blue laser technology enables up to 50 GB of storage -- five times the capacity of DVD. That’s room for nine hours of HD. Or 23 hours of SD. Or tens of thousands of songs. Unbelievable data storage. Versatiltiy Beyond the Ordinary From movies to music to games to PC software and file backup, Blu-ray Disc is your solution! The system embraces pre-recorded titles (BD-ROM), discs that you can record yourself (BD-R) and discs you can re-record over and over again (BD-RE). So we can anticipate not only BD players for your living room, but also BD recorders, BD-based game consoles, BD drives for your personal computer and even BD camcorders using compact 8 cm (3") discs!

I purchased the player from Circuit City about 6 months ago and applied several firmware dowloads to see if it would cure the very long load times and the frequent lock-ups. I always purchased SONY products, but they missed the mark on this product.

I was foolish enough to buy into Sony's Blu-ray player gimmick back in March when they put HD-DVD out of business. The gimmick is that you are supposed to upgrade the firmware on the player everytime a new version comes out. Well this player will not accept new versions from a disc. Everytime I've loaded a new firmware version from a disc onto this player it has messed things up and causes the movies I have to freeze up at random points in the movie. What Sony is doing and they know exactly what they are doing is that a year or so from now they will quit making firmware for older model players and if you want to be able to watch newer movies you will have to buy another player. This is the gimmick and Sony knows it. Needless to say my BDPS300 is in the shop for repairs again due to the fact that I loaded firmware version 4.30 on the player from a disc that I got directly from Sony and it messed the player up again. Whatever you do, do not buy a Blu-ray player from Sony. In fact you may just want to stick with a reliable up-converting regular DVD player from another manufacturer and steer clear of the Blu-ray technology all together. If my Blu-ray player breaks down again that's what I am going to do. I wish that HD-DVD could have found some way to stay in business because I never once had a problem with it but Sony had to have their way and because they have made a good solid reputation as a maker of high quality electronic equipment they were able to convince stores to support their Blu-ray technology and it put Toshiba's HD-DVD technology which was just as good or even better out of business. Shame on you Sony and also shame on me for jumping the gun on buying into this technology when it is still in its infantcy. Anyways please do not fall for this gimmick. Wait and see how long Blu-ray is going to be around before you buy a player. I would be willing to bet it won't last long once more and more people become wise to The Sony Blu-ray Player Gimmick.

I've read many reviews on the Sony BDP-S500 and there's been a ton of gripe in regards to the speed and load time of the player. I'm not sure what people are used to (or what their expections are) but this DVD loads just as fast as any player I've ever used. There is no lag time on this player that others have experienced with this player. Load time is around 3-5 seconds per disc and once the disc starts up, no problems....maybe Sony updated the software recently. From a cosmetic standpoint, the player is beautiful...very stylish. In summary, this may be Sony's lower end Blu-Ray player but if you're looking to simply play movies at bluray quality without all the bells and whistles, this is your player....why spend extra to get features you're never going to use anyways.

I purchased the player on 10/6, shipping was very quick. After I installed the new firmware, it is awesome, still takes a minute or two for the player to load up the movie, but the picture is excellent and the sound is awesome. I looked around before I bought this one, this to me for the price beat everybody.

bought this player because it promised 'High Def' video... I have yet to see it! I wasted time and money on this junk product. I'm going back to my VHS-C and putting on some 'Charles in Charge'. blue ray is out dated and has horrible quality.