Bonus View & BD-Live (Profile 2.0) w/1GB flash memory for local storage
Full HD 1080/60p & 24p True Cinema Video Output
Dolby? True HD/DTS?-HD decoder built-in with 7.1ch out. Quick start up mode.
Dolby? TrueHD & DTS-HD bitstream out over HDMI? (V1.3)
x.v.Color? for AVC-HD
This review is from: Sony BDP-S550 1080p Blu-ray PlayerWell, I just got the player a couple of days ago from Amazon, and since nobody has reviewed it, yet, I thought I'd first provide a comparison to the 350 and then my impressions to give a full overview.COMPARISONThis is the "big brother" of the Sony BDP-S350 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player. What are the differences (Apart from more than $100 at the time of this writing)? One big one (for some) and two minor ones:- It does 7.1 ANALOG Audio out. (Big deal for some people, like myself.)- It decodes ALL next-gen audio formats (the 350 does not decode the one that is not used much, and I am reading that they will upgrade that via firmware, so minor difference).- It is BD 2.0, which is the newest and for now final Blu-Ray format. (The 350 can be upgraded to it by buying and installing a memory card, so also only a minor difference.)The last two are nice if you want a player that is future proof without you actualy needing to fiddle around with it. Unless you really hate doing things like firmware upgrades, I don't think they are worth the price difference between this unit and the 350, though.The real difference is that this player does 7.1 ANALOG Audio out (see my experience below). So IF you have a receiver that cannot be connected via HDMI, but that is otherwise so good (was so expensive) that you do not wish to switch it out, and it has 7.1 ANALOG Audio in (often called "External In" or "Pre In"), you can connect this player via 8 (yes, eight, not a typo) analog audio cables to the receiver, and still receive all 7.1 channels of Audio. I, for instance, own a Denon 5805 receiver (original cost several thousand dollars), which I do not want to switch out. By spending the additional money for this player, I can have pretty much the same experience as if I had an hdmi capable (newer) receiver. So mostly, this only applies to people who are willing to spend a lot of money for a perfect audio experience. One thing to note: You can not get the full 7.1 Audio via either optical or normal digital connection. The audio quality will be downgraded to accomodate that those cable formats can't transport the data fast enough for the full quality. Another thing to note: This does not concern the actual picture quality, just the audio.BOTTOM LINE: IF THIS IS A GOOD UPGRADE OVER THE 350 DEPENDS COMPLETELY ON YOUR RECEIVER, and is more likely if your receiver is older and was expensive. If it wasn't I would get the Sony BDP-S350 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player.IMPRESSIONSSo, how does it actually work. I have it connected to a 720p TV via hdmi, and a Denon 5805 receiver via 7.1 analog (I have a 7.1 speaker system).InstallationInstallation was pretty hassle free, except for fiddling with the audio to get it to work just like I wanted it to (took about 1-2 hours, which is normal if you add this kind of component to a system like mine). The non-audio setup was only 5-10 minutes (take it out, plug it in, press a few buttons, ready).For the analog audio, you can tell the unit which speakers (up to 7.1) and speaker sizes (small, large) you have, how far they are from the listener (in feet, fronts and the surround pairs can only be configured in pairs, hard to configure if your sub or surrounds are far away for some reason), and finally speaker level (per each speaker, front and surround pairs can be seperately configured here). It also provides a test tone. Apparently the bass management is done through how you configured the size of the other speakers, and if you tell it small for all you have to have a sub. I am running configured through the unit so far, even though I have a receiver that can redigitalize the analog audio inputs (which I will probably try in the future once I have listened to it like this for a while, so I can compare better). So my impressions below are for having the Sony do all the processing.OperationThe unit comes on relatively quickly, and starts playing a Blu-Ray disk in about 30 seconds or so, which was a positive surprise after having read the horror stories about waiting times for the last generation of these players. Still noticable slower than a standard DVD player for DVDs. DVDs start faster in this player, though, and can be upconverted. The user interface is mostly graphical, kind of like the PS3s, and you get used to it quickly.Video / Audio QualityI was very positively surprised about the video and audio quality produced by the unit, both for Blu-Ray and DVD. The Blu-Ray picture was sharp with great colors and color gradients, and I did not spot any conversion artifacts in 720p (I had the unit do the conversion). In short, the picture is what true HD picture should be. The sound was amazing. Even though right now the movies I played still have no "real" 7.1, but 5.1, I thought localization was fantastic, and the quality crystal clear. The surround was well defined without drowning out the voices. Caveat: I have only played a few movies at this point, so this might be due to fantastic sound engineering. I was not used to the bass management, though, the Denon does that different (it has automatic room correction), so if your receiver does not redigitize the analog signal to apply its own bass management, etc., you might run into a little bit of a problem here (I thought it still sounded great, but then I am not a bass fan). In the end, the unit does not come with automatic room correction, and the bass is one point where that could make quite a difference depending on your setup / room. (This last part applies more to the audio-nut community, for whom it might be a big deal, though, and who are a large part of the target audience for thi...
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