We?ve always wondered why Blu-ray disc players were so expensive. If you did too, this new Rs 10k player will come as a breath of much-awaited fresh air. The design may not be a departure from convention, but the price sure is. With standard DVD players with USB ports and upscaling going for around Rs 4k, this is a big deal, especially when you consider that it also has BD-Live with internet connectivity and streaming video content.
The ?monolithic? design as Sony puts it, will better match with the new range of Bravia LCD TVs. It?s a fairly understated design, with minimal buttons and a simple, single line LED display. For video output, it has HDMI, composite and component. For audio, it has RCA, coaxial and optical out. In front, there?s a single USB port for multimedia playback, while the rear gets an additional USB port to connect the optional Wi-Fi adapter (not available officially in India).
Like many of the newer Sony TVs and disc players, this too uses the intuitive XMB (Xross Media Bar) navigation interface ? it?s a smaller version, borrowed from the PlayStation 3. Everything is arranged in easy-to-read icons. We started it up, connected the Ethernet cable and the firmware update notification popped up. The update was fairly quick and painless?once updated, several video feeds (YouTube, Wired, blip.tv, Epicurious, Concierge.com, Style.com, DailyMotion, Howcast.com, eHow.com and so on) and an NPR podcast feed appeared on the XMB. Although even with a 2 Mbps wired connection, streaming of videos was not what you would call quick.
The BDP-S370 has a unique feature: iPod Touch/iPhone remote control capability. Simply download a free app from the App Store called BD Remote, complete the one-time player registration and you can use the controls in the app to perform all playback functions. The iPod Touch/iPhone do have to be on the same network as the BDP-S370 for this to work. There is a slight lag between the pressing of a button on the app and the operation being performed, but it?s barely noticeable.
A nice touch is the built in Gracenote media retrieval. Pop in a genuine Blu-Ray or DVD, and the player will automatically download disc information, cover art, plot summary and other movie info. This info is even viewable on the iPod/iPhone app. Another great feature is that now the front USB port supports both USB flash drives and hard drives (for photos, music and videos). Standard DivX/AVI playback is supported, with upscaling.
Navigation and operation is smooth and we couldn?t fault the Blu-Ray playback. We tried out our Dark Knight, Star Trek, G.I. Joe and Iron Man Blu-ray discs and it breezed through all perfectly. The only slight hitch is that it does take some time to load and start playing a fresh disc; sometimes upto 8 or 10 seconds. It loads up standard AVI video files pretty fast though. Overall, a must-buy for anyone looking for a capable and affordable companion for their HD-starved LCD or plasma TV.
? CyberMedia www.LD2.in
Mail:talkLD@cybermedia.co.in