The Sony BDP-S1 Review Thread

[peanut]

I just received my sony BR yesterday, freshly out of the USA here in Holland and was wondering if anybody has experience with playing h264 files on the player. I also noticed that the firmware version here is 1.06... I assume that was the first or am I mistaken and is it a newer version. Hope to hear some input. I am still wondering what good the update will do for me after reading all your experiences.

Before anybody starts to ask why import an US player to Holland, I prefer my US discs and don't want to wait for 6 months for good movies to be available ;-))

[rjjr]

Does anyone know where to find the 5 number remote control code that a Mitsubishi projection TV remote uses to control the Sony Blu-Ray player? I can control everything except for the BDP-S1. The codes that the TV provides for Sony won't work. Thx, RJ

[Greggles]

Originally Posted by peanut

.... I also noticed that the firmware version here is 1.06... I assume that was the first or am I mistaken and is it a newer version....

.... I prefer my US discs and don't want to wait for 6 months for good movies to be available ;-))

Yes 1.06 was the original firmware. There have been two updates since then (1.50 and recently 1.55) which improve playability, especially with Java encoded material. A further update (1.60?) is coming soon.

I imported my player to the UK just after Christmas for similar reasons to you. I haven't regretted my descision, especially as most european disks are playable on region A, B and C players.

[tkusterb]

I've had my beautiful Sony BDP-S1 for a few days and am blown away by the picture quality. (I've got a 34-inch XBR960 displaying a max of 1080i via HDMI.)

While watching "The Queen" last night, playback froze about 3/4 of the way through the movie. I shut the power off (it would not respond to STOP on the remote or the unit) and powered back up, went a little bit past the offending point and resumed play without incident. I have not performed any firmware upgrades yet. Should I be worried terribly about this? Is it a rare or common problem?

I'll watch a few more this weekend, and if it keeps happening, I'm taking it back. Too much money to blow on a flaky player or format.

[Rheologuy]

I've had my BDP-S1 for a little over a month. Noticed it seems very touchy about playing even brand new BR disks and some standard DVD's too. Most frequently it says "Cannot play this disk". Opening/closing the tray sometimes takes care of it, but sometimes have to cycle the power (a pain of course because it takes minutes for it to "prepare itself"). Sometimes it will show the opening few seconds of video, then says "Unknown content" and loses the video although the sound continues. Again, cycling power sometimes fixes, but it can take several tries at this before it finally decides to work. I've had it stop several times on a disk that has no visible marks, dirt, or damage (sometimes continues after skipping, sometimes refuses to go on).

I've scanned this thread and it doesn't seem that many people have had the problems I describe. Should I exchange it? Thanks for your suggestions. Way too expensive for such funky behavior.

Otherwise, I love it, I have to admit. I have a Sony XBR2 46" system, HDMI cables, and I'm ga-ga over Discovery HD channel. Basketball games are fantastic, baseball also, waiting till football season to see what that's like. My only frustration has been the limited selection of BD movies and the agonizing slowness with which new releases are coming out. "Planet Earth" almost makes up for it.

[BTBuck1]

Originally Posted by Rheologuy

I've scanned this thread and it doesn't seem that many people have had the problems I describe. Should I exchange it? Thanks for your suggestions. Way too expensive for such funky behavior.

Sounds defective, take it back.

[TJandBLU-RAY]

(First Post)

I have had the player for about a month now; I have a MAC, so I called SONY®, and got them to send me the firmware update, and installed it.

My player is hooked up to the latest SONY® A/V device, (with two HDMI in, and one HDMI out). I go from that to a OPTOMA Projector, that accepts and displays 1080p (as well as lower settings). I have the OUTPUT on the BD player set to 1080p. This seems to be correct.

My question for this forum, is this: I was watching SHREK on DVD and this little 'projector' icon was on the screen while I started the movie; I hit the menu button, and it would go away. Not so much a big thing, but it was the first time that it had happened (On a regular DVD, that is).

Then, I was watching SHREK 2 on DVD, and about 15 minutes in, this screen saver pops up; the sound kept going, but the screen saver was there till I hit any button. Why would that happen? I should mention, I am very happy with the machine otherwise, despite it's glacier like speed when it comes to booting up. I hear that SONY® has a new player coming out soon, for $600, and it will play CD as well; maybe I should have waited? Dunno.

I will also mention that I have a TON of SONY® products, so I love their gear.

[Jim]

As with the previous update instructions, they are slightly off.

After you first insert the update disk, you will see the 'DISC - DWLD' message for about 30 seconds and then your player will turn off, and then back on. After about 2 minutes the tray will open and you will first see the message 'DOWNLOAD - 1' for maybe 10 minutes and then the message 'DOWNLOAD - 2' for 2 - 3 minutes and then you get the 'DL OK' message and then your player turns off. But at no point does the disk tray shut again after it opens the first time.

But just leave it alone until you see the 'DL OK' message and your player turns off for the 2nd time, then you are good to take the disk out of the tray, turn your player back on, and the upgrade should be finished.

[fparais]

Originally Posted by tkusterb

I've had my beautiful Sony BDP-S1 for a few days and am blown away by the picture quality. (I've got a 34-inch XBR960 displaying a max of 1080i via HDMI.)

While watching "The Queen" last night, playback froze about 3/4 of the way through the movie. I shut the power off (it would not respond to STOP on the remote or the unit) and powered back up, went a little bit past the offending point and resumed play without incident. I have not performed any firmware upgrades yet. Should I be worried terribly about this? Is it a rare or common problem?

I'll watch a few more this weekend, and if it keeps happening, I'm taking it back. Too much money to blow on a flaky player or format.

Just do the Firmware update (follow the instruction to the letter). I have "the queen", and i did not experience any type of problem . Last time i watched it, the FW on my S1 was 1.55. Now it is 1.60.