The Sony BDP-S300/301 Review Thread

[jwn77]

I just upgraded to firmware 4.4 for the BDP-S300 and I still can't get The Dark Night to play. The movie starts to load then freezes and then the entire player shuts down and restarts and does the same thing over and over again. I had the same freezing problem with Hancock but that was before I upgraded to v4.4. Has anyone else had problems with The Dark Night?? Any solutions??

I get my Blu Rays through Blockbuster Online and I read somewhere that certain Blu-Rays won't play if the movie doesn't match the region of your player?? Does anyone know anything about this??

[Razputin]

You could try re-downloading and re-flashing the current firmware, or wait for the next version.

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu...d=4141&os_id=7

[peterfabian]

Ok, i have a doubt:
It has been said for several members here that for getting the lossless TRUEHD is necesarry to set the player hdmi output in PCM for the sound. However i have noticed (i don't know if someone else has noticed it as well) when i put my player output in pcm mode the dialogs and the sound effects are heard pretty less loud than when i set the player in automatic mode (hdmi sound ouput). And this i have noticed it with all the movies that have Dolby True HD format. In other words, the sound is much more clear and loud at the same receiver volume level when i set the hdmi output in automatic (in which it's supposed i should get only the DD loosy sountrack) that when i set it on PCM. Even more, in some movies like 300 which comes with dolby true HD and PCM 5.1 uncompressed i see no diferences in the sound (HDMI set it on automatic). Btw i have an ONKYO 606 receiver. Does someone know which is the explanation for this? has someone else noticed this as well?

[tek101]

Originally Posted by jwn77

I just upgraded to firmware 4.4 for the BDP-S300 and I still can't get The Dark Night to play. The movie starts to load then freezes and then the entire player shuts down and restarts and does the same thing over and over again. I had the same freezing problem with Hancock but that was before I upgraded to v4.4. Has anyone else had problems with The Dark Night?? Any solutions??

I get my Blu Rays through Blockbuster Online and I read somewhere that certain Blu-Rays won't play if the movie doesn't match the region of your player?? Does anyone know anything about this??

The wrong region BDs don't shut down your player rather say someting like" Can't play " or " Can't read " .
Try to do a hard reset...." leave the player on....UNPLUG power cord for 10 ms , then plug it back in .."
If your "Dark Night BD is brand new ...return it...maybe BAD BD"

[jldhawk]

I use an optical cable from my Blu_ray to AV receiver, but HDMI from Bluray to TV. I am getting a horible static clicking sound out of my TV speakers until the movie starts, is that a sign of a bad HDMI cable? Anyone else seen this issue?

For the record, I do NOT get the clicking sound out of the AV receiver at all. Just TV speakers.

[jldhawk]

On the JVC TV set, I changed the Audio input from Digital to analog and the clicking went away. I haven't played a DVD yet, so I don't know if that cut my sound all together to my TV or not.

[dvd_mazter]

I have question, for some reason my player as it is loading certain discs restarts itself once or twice before finally fully loading the disc. Anyone have any idea why .

Yes I do have the latest firmware avaiable. In the past weeks, it did it for Saw V and 40 Year Old Virgin.

I know it isn't a huge issue but I just curious because I don't want it to lead to any big problems

[krisjan]

Originally Posted by peterfabian

Ok, i have a doubt:
It has been said for several members here that for getting the lossless TRUEHD is necesarry to set the player hdmi output in PCM for the sound. However i have noticed (i don't know if someone else has noticed it as well) when i put my player output in pcm mode the dialogs and the sound effects are heard pretty less loud than when i set the player in automatic mode (hdmi sound ouput). And this i have noticed it with all the movies that have Dolby True HD format. In other words, the sound is much more clear and loud at the same receiver volume level when i set the hdmi output in automatic (in which it's supposed i should get only the DD loosy sountrack) that when i set it on PCM. Even more, in some movies like 300 which comes with dolby true HD and PCM 5.1 uncompressed i see no diferences in the sound (HDMI set it on automatic). Btw i have an ONKYO 606 receiver. Does someone know which is the explanation for this? has someone else noticed this as well?

This is a common difference between TrueHD and regular DD - the lossless TrueHD tracks always seem to be at a lower average volume level compared to standard lossy DD. Actually, what you you are hearing is further confirmation that the S300 is decoding the TrueHD audio when set to PCM. All you need to do is increase the volume for the TrueHD track.

Don't confuse average volume with the quality of the audio track being played. Just because the average volume level of the lossy DD track is louder than the lossless TrueHD track doesn't mean its higher quality. If the rest of your audio system is high enough quality (that's a big IF), you should hear a definite advantage of the lossless TrueHD audio once the volume is adjusted.

[minimalist]

I've had my BDP S300 since last February and this has been a consistent issue since day one.

Some BD's load fine and seem to play fine at first. But then at some point they cause the player to stutter, freeze and eventually reboot. Often after rebooting the machine will not load the problem BD giving the message, "cannot play this disc". Sometimes it won't even play other DVD's that previously played fine before the freeze. Resetting the machine solves inability to load discs but the problem BD still freezes at the exact same point every time. Multiple copies of the problem BD's replicate the issue.

At first I thought it was just bad encoding but it has happened with far too many BD's over the last year for this to be likely. Its not scratches because these discs are pretty much brand new. And its not firmware updates because I have updated every time there's a new update on the Sony site.

Does anybody have a clue as to what is causing this? Sony has been little help because the problem is sporadic and can't be produced on demand.

[krisjan]

Originally Posted by minimalist

I've had my BDP S300 since last February and this has been a consistent issue since day one.

Some BD's load fine and seem to play fine at first. But then at some point they cause the player to stutter, freeze and eventually reboot. Often after rebooting the machine will not load the problem BD giving the message, "cannot play this disc". Sometimes it won't even play other DVD's that previously played fine before the freeze. Resetting the machine solves inability to load discs but the problem BD still freezes at the exact same point every time. Multiple copies of the problem BD's replicate the issue.

At first I thought it was just bad encoding but it has happened with far too many BD's over the last year for this to be likely. Its not scratches because these discs are pretty much brand new. And its not firmware updates because I have updated every time there's a new update on the Sony site.

Does anybody have a clue as to what is causing this? Sony has been little help because the problem is sporadic and can't be produced on demand.

This type of behavior is almost certainly due to poor tracking of the blu laser by the transport mechanism. The information density is so high and the encoded data pits so small that a very high tracking precision is required to create a flawless data stream. If the laser gets out of alignment even slightly, I could envision this type of inconsistent playback. If your player is still under warranty I would suggest you call Sony and insist on a transport replacement. Even if it is out of warranty, I'd still call them and ask if they will replace it at no charge.

[minimalist]

on these players at one time but I couldn't seem to find the discussion again. The player is definitely still under warranty until February. I will give Sony a call tomorrow.

What a weird issue this has been as its so random and hard to describe. One minute its there the next its gone. At first I thought all Blu-ray players were this wonky but it appears I just got a lemon this time. One day I'd like to upgrade to a fast profile 2.0 player but I'd like to at least use this one for a couple of years.

I really appreciate the help.

[divemaster]

Originally Posted by minimalist

on these players at one time but I couldn't seem to find the discussion again. The player is definitely still under warranty until February. I will give Sony a call tomorrow.

What a weird issue this has been as its so random and hard to describe. One minute its there the next its gone. At first I thought all Blu-ray players were this wonky but it appears I just got a lemon this time. One day I'd like to upgrade to a fast profile 2.0 player but I'd like to at least use this one for a couple of years.

I really appreciate the help.

It appears that Sony has no problem with replacing the drives that have gone bad. Upon speaking with them, it appears more common than not.

On another front, I see that ABT has the S550 for $284 including shipping. I don't think I've seen it lower than that for v2.0 and BD-Live, etc. http://www.abt.com/product/37539.html

[tron3]

I attempted to watch Wall-E three times. Locked twice at different spots, so I had to restart and find where it left off. The third time I just gave up less than 10 minutes into the film. While I am currently annoyed, I know Sony will fix the issue and I'll be happy again.

Sony is promising a fix by the end of the month. http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/new...00&news_id=290

I usually watch a Pixar movie with a big bowl of popcorn seasoned with salt, some pepper and olive oil instead of butter. Don't knock it until you try it. But when they fix Wall-e I'm making a big fruit smoothie, and popcorn with butter!

[fighthefutureofhd]

what's the problem with wall-e? i watched it recently on my s-300 with no problems. will i need to get a firmware update for it?

[tek101]

Originally Posted by fighthefutureofhd

what's the problem with wall-e? i watched it recently on my s-300 with no problems. will i need to get a firmware update for it?

IF It works....You don't need a new firmware....Why take a chance to mess it up...(This particular V4.40 gives problem to some players)
Read earlier posts.
Wait for the next FW .

[fighthefutureofhd]

i'm already on version 4.40. i needed it.

[bsaxman]

Originally Posted by minimalist

I've had my BDP S300 since last February and this has been a consistent issue since day one.

Some BD's load fine and seem to play fine at first. But then at some point they cause the player to stutter, freeze and eventually reboot. Often after rebooting the machine will not load the problem BD giving the message, "cannot play this disc". Sometimes it won't even play other DVD's that previously played fine before the freeze. Resetting the machine solves inability to load discs but the problem BD still freezes at the exact same point every time. Multiple copies of the problem BD's replicate the issue.

At first I thought it was just bad encoding but it has happened with far too many BD's over the last year for this to be likely. Its not scratches because these discs are pretty much brand new. And its not firmware updates because I have updated every time there's a new update on the Sony site.

Does anybody have a clue as to what is causing this? Sony has been little help because the problem is sporadic and can't be produced on demand.

I'd take/send it in to SONY. I had same issue and always held off taking it in (since I figured it can't be reproduced as it was almost random with weeks or months in between "issues") well my player finally died (2 months out of warranty) When I took it in, I printed out every email and note I had written down about the player. Within 24 hours SONY had replaced it with a S350 as if I were still under warranty "due to the previous intermittent
problems while in warranty" (that's what was written on my invoice) So SONY did in my case acknowledge the problem - if you have no documentation, then it might be a tougher sell, but its worth a try. Good luck!

[kccarl]

Hey There,

My dad in law told me he just purchased the Onkyo 606. He has the BDP S300 blu ray player. It got me wondering if the BDP S300 does bit streaming so that his Onkyo can decode TrueHD and DTS MA. I understand that the BDP S300 has added f/w support of TrueHD. But to make things easier I would like him to bit stream the sound to his box and let it decode the codecs.

Anyone know?

Thanks for your help,
KCcarl

[krisjan]

Originally Posted by kccarl

Hey There,

My dad in law told me he just purchased the Onkyo 606. He has the BDP S300 blu ray player. It got me wondering if the BDP S300 does bit streaming so that his Onkyo can decode TrueHD and DTS MA. I understand that the BDP S300 has added f/w support of TrueHD. But to make things easier I would like him to bit stream the sound to his box and let it decode the codecs.

Anyone know?

Thanks for your help,
KCcarl

Sorry, but the S300 will not send hi-rez audio via bitstream. The best he can do is to set the S300 audio output to PCM and then it will internally decode TrueHD and send it as LPCM via HDMI. The 606 will NOT display TrueHD on its screen but instead it will show "Mulitchannel". No way to get DTS-MA from the S300 (you'll only get the core DTS 5.1 audio if you select a DTS-MA track).

[tron3]

Just on a lark I tried the old FTP link and changed the numbers... VIOLA!

These are the USA versions

ftp://download.sony.com/US/bluray/UP...00_VER0450.EXE

ftp://download.sony.com/US/bluray/UP...01_VER0450.EXE