The Sony BDP-S360 Review Thread

[Kryptonic]

I've got a question regarding the DRC. There are four selections - Auto, Standard, TV, and Wide Range. I've had it on Auto, which it states uses the DRC from the BD being played. But I'm interested in seeing if there's any difference between Auto and Wide Range, which the manual states uses no compression. Is there supposed to be any difference between these two settings?

I have the DRC turned off in the receiver, just in case someone asks.

Originally Posted by MichaelE

You can probably get a better picture through component. I've had both the S350 and S360, and to be perfectly frank, neither are very good for DVDs. Even after completely re-calibrating my display, DVDs still looked very soft and murky through HDMI. Using component cables and 480p output improved PQ somewhat, but I could never get DVDs to look as good as they do using my old Sony progressive player.

My advice to you is: either buy another Blu-Ray player or else simply use a good progressive scan player for DVDs (upconverters are a waste of money). Unfortunately, unless you're willing to spend $500 on an Oppo BD-83, there really isn't a quality Blu-Ray player that can play DVDs well. Some people claim the Panasonic BD60/80 models are good for DVDs, but they freeze up with BDs.

You're always better off buying a good upconverter or progressive scan player. Most televisions have better scalers than cheap HDMI DVD player, so it's better to set HDMI or component to 480i/p and let the television do the work. I must say though, my Pioneer 410v does an exceptional job upscaling DVD's through HDMI.

[BIslander]

Originally Posted by Kryptonic

I've got a question regarding the DRC. There are four selections - Auto, Standard, TV, and Wide Range. I've had it on Auto, which it states uses the DRC from the BD being played. But I'm interested in seeing if there's any difference between Auto and Wide Range, which the manual states uses no compression. Is there supposed to be any difference between these two settings?

I have the DRC turned off in the receiver, just in case someone asks.

DRC is only applied by the device doing the decoding. So, if you are bitstreaming from the S360, none of its settings come into play. If you are decoding in the S360, then the AVR's settings don't matter.

Wide Range means no DRC.
Auto means the player uses DRC if instructed to do so by the disc. Further, it uses the amount of DRC specified by the disc. To the best of my knowledge, Iron Man is the only disc that triggers DRC in decoders set to Auto. There may be others, but no one on any bulletinboard I follow has identified another one.

[Kryptonic]

Originally Posted by Sooner_Blu

My BDP-S350 has those same 4 settings, and I have mine on Wide Range. All of the suggestions for this setting that I have seen here say to use Wide Range. Those came from people here that are a lot more knowledgeable and experienced than me. I've never really played around with it. For people without a receiver and using TV speakers, it's suggested to use the TV setting, so that the lower level conversations can be heard more easily.

Originally Posted by BIslander

DRC is only applied by the device doing the decoding. So, if you are bitstreaming from the S360, none of its settings come into play. If you are decoding in the S360, then the AVR's settings don't matter.

Wide Range means no DRC.
Auto means the player uses DRC if instructed to do so by the disc. Further, it uses the amount of DRC specified by the disc. To the best of my knowledge, Iron Man is the only disc that triggers DRC in decoders set to Auto. There may be others, but no one on any bulletinboard I follow has identified another one.

I'm bitstreaming to my Denon 590 which decodes TrueHD and DTS-HD, so I guess it doesn't matter. I'll leave it set to Wide anyway. Thanks for the information.

[Aristocles]

Hello Everyone:

Just purchased a Sony BDP-S360. Of course, it's not high end merchandise but for me it seems excellent, albeit with very limited testing.

I have an on board Blu-ray player on my PC but have also used it little. I have an HP e9120y (AMD Phenom II X4 910 CPU)

Tomorrow, I'm going to grab a USB Flash Drive.

My rather subdued collection:

HP Pavilion Elite e9120y with 1GB SimpleSave External Hard drive
Gateway HD2201 Monitor
Logitech Z-2300 speakers 2:1 THX certified

Vizio VS420 42" LCD 1080p 120Hz
DirecTV HD Satellite (still awaiting my box but dish is up and ready)
Sony BDP-S360
(I plan on buying the Yamaha YHT-591 HTIB on Nov. 1st.)

Clearly my choices represent a less than wealthy man. . . But I kind of have a small Home Theate PC and a larger actual one. My interests are in watching ,mkv, x264 files on my PC (4-8GB) and full on Blu-ray on my TV (along with football).

I will post my experiences with the Sony BDP-S360. What do you guys make of my choices in equipment, considering my level of experience is almost nil and my poverty?

All the best

[Aristocles]

In retrospect, sorry for the HT stream of consciousness above but figured I would incorporate an intro.

Strangely, with all of that I left out my main goal! It is to establish an inclusive video collection of ~100-120 videos, beginning with the Lumiere Brothers I doubt that a great deal of them will be Blu-rays but one can hope.

[eiker_ir]

i got a 4gb Transcend from Target (about $10-$12) and it fit perfectly in my S560.

[Kryptonic]

Originally Posted by eiker_ir

i got a 4gb Transcend from Target (about $10-$12) and it fit perfectly in my S560.

Same here. I bought a $10 4GB unit at K-Mart and it works perfectly.

[gettodamoofies]

I picked up this player today for $297 Australian which is a damn good price. Got a free copy of Ghostbusters with it. I was running the Samsung BD-P1500, but it's time for that to become the secondary player.

After 5 mins of setup the Sony plays fantastically with my gear. I've tested with everything including tv shows (4:3 and 16:9) and films on both DVD and Blu-ray and it's far superior to the Samsung. The playback as a whole seems much smoother and colour rendition is amazing (the Samsung was good, this is so much better). DVD upscaling is also superior.

Very impressed and happy with the purchase and it really works well in conjunction with my STRDA2400ES receiver.

[Aristocles]

Originally Posted by Sooner_Blu

Don't sweat the fact that some of your gear may not be considered "high end" by some people. We all have to start somewhere in the HD food chain. And, there's lots of people willing to help anyone here. Post your problems and issues, and someone will usually show up to help.

If the Sony BDP-S360 turns out to be as reliable as its predecessor, the 350, you will have made an excellent choice with the 360. After you start reading the threads of the various players, you'll see that there are many that can do lots other things besides play blu-ray discs. However, you'll also see that many of them have lots of issues too.

Regarding the external USB drive for the 360, I believe you'll need the slim, skinny type that's similar to the ones needed for the 350. Here is a link to the one I have, but other slim ones may work:

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Micro-Vau...5670725&sr=1-5

Good Luck!

Thanks for the welcome!

I really like the player; talk about crystal clear, it's amazing. I got the flash drive today (Cruzer 4GB), plugged it in no problems. It was kind of funny, because I rented a couple of blu-rays last night to check the player, I thought I had read somewhere that "Crank 2" had good qualities for the BP. Well, I got the 10"x10" box. Then I started checking and found out what to do. (I went ahead and watched it on my PC, not really my cup of tea but...) Watched two other blu-rays today and no worries. I love it.

[Aristocles]

Originally Posted by Sooner_Blu

Don't sweat the fact that some of your gear may not be considered "high end" by some people. We all have to start somewhere in the HD food chain. And, there's lots of people willing to help anyone here. Post your problems and issues, and someone will usually show up to help.

If the Sony BDP-S360 turns out to be as reliable as its predecessor, the 350, you will have made an excellent choice with the 360. After you start reading the threads of the various players, you'll see that there are many that can do lots other things besides play blu-ray discs. However, you'll also see that many of them have lots of issues too.

Regarding the external USB drive for the 360, I believe you'll need the slim, skinny type that's similar to the ones needed for the 350. Here is a link to the one I have, but other slim ones may work:

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Micro-Vau...5670725&sr=1-5

Good Luck!

[Tried to post yesterday]

Thanks for the welcome!

I really like this player; it is CRYSTAL CLEAR. Bought and plugged in the flash drive yesterday. A 4GB from Walmart did the trick.

It was comical, I rented a few BD to test the other day and the first one was "Crank 2", not my thing but I thought I had read somewhere that it was a good test for the player. Well, I got the 10"x10" box, lol. After getting online and reading about the need for a flash drive I was relieved. I went ahead and watched it on my PC BD-ROM and it played with ease. Anyway, I have viewed two other movies (not films) on my Sony and the picture is superb.

I am hooked!

[tommyboy81]

I'm thinking about picking one of these up next month and was just wondering. Should I get a store warranty?

[Calibos]

Im noticing in the picture scenes that seem to stutter or lurch forward during a blu playback. I have A sony 46v-5100 tv. It is really annoying ive tried switching ports, switching motionflow on and off and resetting the machine and yet it still does it any body else have this problem

[Cortiz]

Originally Posted by Calibos

Im noticing in the picture scenes that seem to stutter or lurch forward during a blu playback. I have A sony 46v-5100 tv. It is really annoying ive tried switching ports, switching motionflow on and off and resetting the machine and yet it still does it any body else have this problem

I've noticed this as well but on my new Sony N460. Only happen once during playback and once when I tried to fast forward....

[HDmark]

Just noticed that new firmware has been posted on the Sony site, version "007":

Link (remember to change your OS selection if its not XP)

[PoorSignal]

Originally Posted by HDmark

Just noticed that new firmware has been posted on the Sony site, version "007":

Link (remember to change your OS selection if its not XP)

I should be able to download it directly from the player itself connected to internet, right?

[Ashamed Pegasus]

Originally Posted by PoorSignal

I should be able to download it directly from the player itself connected to internet, right?

Yes you can...

[Kryptonic]

Thanks for the update. Just ordered a disc.

[HDmark]

Originally Posted by Kryptonic

Thanks for the update. Just ordered a disc.

How long does that usually take to arrive?

[Kryptonic]

Originally Posted by HDmark

How long does that usually take to arrive?

I think the last time it took about 3 or 4 days to arrive. I should get mine today or tomorrow.

[Kryptonic]

Received my disc today, unfortunately it wasn't the Version 007, but the 006 disc I already had. Had to order another one.