Sony BDP-S350

[Lefisc]

I am new here and I thought I'd share this experience:

Unless I just got a bad player, the Denon #3800 blu ray is not at all a player I would recommend. I have a Sony BDP S-500, which I was placing in another room and bought the Denon to replace it in our main room. The initial picture from Denon was not nearly as sharp the details seemed to have faded away. The colors were muted, never vivid. I went through the setup menu and then "a-b" the two players, something I was not expecting to do. The difference was overwhelming. The Sony was almost three dimensional, the Denon looked like an average, non blu-ray player. I used the blu-ray discs from Blade Runner, The Final Cut, Planet Earth, The New Frontier and Spider-Man. My TV did say it was getting a 1080p picture from the Denon. I did send it back the very first day, the picture would have been decent for a regular DVD not for a top of the line blu-ray.

I should mention that the sound from the Denon appeared to be better than the Sony. The Sony can sometimes be a bit shrill, but I did not discover that with the Denon.

By the way, the dealer told me that the Marentz, at the same price is basically the same player made from the chassis,

[wes]

Originally Posted by Lefisc

I am new here and I thought I'd share this experience: Unless I just got a bad player, the Denon #3800 blu ray is not at all a player I would recommend. I have a Sony BDP S-500, which I was placing in another room and bought the Denon to replace it in our main room. The initial picture from Denon was not nearly as sharp the details seemed to have faded away. The colors were muted, never vivid. I went through the setup menu and then "a-b" the two players, something I was not expecting to do. The difference was overwhelming. The Sony was almost three dimensional, the Denon looked like an average, non blu-ray player. I used the blu-ray discs from Blade Runner, The Final Cut, Planet Earth, The New Frontier and Spider-Man. My TV did say it was getting a 1080p picture from the Denon. I did send it back the very first day, the picture would have been decent for a regular DVD not for a top of the line blu-ray.

I should mention that the sound from the Denon appeared to be better than the Sony. The Sony can sometimes be a bit shrill, but I did not discover that with the Denon.

By the way, the dealer told me that the Marentz, at the same price is basically the same player made from the chassis,

Good to know I am waiting for the Sony BDP S550

[rex]

The Denon and the Marantz both use the same video chipset UniPhier, (as does the Panasonic BD30) so I would expect their video performance to be similar, unless there was something wrong with yours. (BTW, Costco has the BD30 for $359.) They also both have the same realta post-processor; so it doesn't surprise me that they are basically the same player, probably even made in the same facility, just branded differently.

The Sony S500 uses an older chipset, Sigma SMP8634, which was also used in the (now discontinued) Panasonic BD10.

[wes]

Originally Posted by rex

The Sony S500 uses an older chipset, Sigma SMP8634, which was also used in the (now discontinued) Panasonic BD10.

How about the 550?

[rex]

Originally Posted by wes

How about the 550?

The 550 as a video processor will use a newer updated version of the sigma chipset, called Sigma SMP8634 RevC, no post processor. It will be profile 2.0, and both decode and bitstream all audio formats. Here is a list of some players and chipsets: http://www.idoblu.co.uk/page2%20Blu-ray%20Players.html

[wes]

Originally Posted by rex

The 550 as a video processor will use a newer updated version of the sigma chipset, called Sigma SMP8634 RevC, no post processor. It will be profile 2.0, and both decode and bitstream all audio formats. Here is a list of some players and chipsets: http://www.idoblu.co.uk/page2%20Blu-ray%20Players.html

Thanks, It is interesting that Pioneer uses Sony's chip and they jack up the price by a factor of 2 or 3. Also I heard that the BDP-S550 will load very fast!