Blu-ray Sony BDP-S550

 
Publicado pela revista inglesa What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision

Preço: £ 350
* * * * *

Sony has produced yet another attractive Blu-ray deck that’s amongst the best in its class.

For
Solid, attractive design; great Blu-ray picture; good DVD upscaler; easy to use

Against
Could sound bolder in the bass

As you’d expect from the pioneers of the Blu-ray format, Sony has a formidable array of sources at its disposal.

There’s the omnipotent PlayStation 3 and entry-level BDP-S350 just to name a couple, but now it’s time to cast an inquisitive eye over the latest addition to the Sony family: the BDP-S550.

It’s a chunky, sturdy player blessed with an attractive glossy blue/black fascia and top panel.

Unlike the entry-level BDP-S350, this model is Blu-ray Profile 2.0 enabled straight out of the box, so you can go online (via the Ethernet connection) and get stuck into all that interactive content stored on compatible Blu-ray titles.

Other features that distinguish it from the cheaper player are the inclusion of a dedicated set of eight-channel analogue outputs and onboard DTS-HD Master Audio decoding.

Plenty of connection options
This versatility is great for owners of older AV receivers that don’t have any HDMI inputs or that can’t decode high-definition audio codecs internally. The BDP-S550 also uses a remote control that sports a useful blue backlight.

Using the player couldn’t be simpler. It boasts Sony’s now customary XMB (Xross Media Bar) menu system that not only looks slick and polished but is also intuitive and easy to navigate.

If you do choose to use the player’s onboard decoding, the attractive graphic menus give you the option of altering settings like speaker size, distance and level. It will even emit a test-tone to help guide you along.

When it comes to upscaling DVDs, the Sony does a great job. 1080p images are punchy, displaying good levels of detail and stability.

Blu-ray pics have bags of vitality
Move up a level to the delights of Blu-ray and 1080p/24fps and the Sony shifts up a gear, producing rich pictures full of vitality. Horton Hears A Who! looks glorious with all manner or colourful hues on show.

The fast panning moments dotted throughout the movie are handled with relative ease and there’s great depth to the picture.

Whether you’re bitstreaming HD audio in its native form or decoding onboard into LPCM, the Sony still serves up a dynamic, detailed sound.

Dialogue is easy to follow and although the Sony isn’t quite as hefty as some of its competitors when it comes to the explosive moments of Transformers, the BDP-S550 still does enough to create a sizeable stir.

So there you have it. Sony has produced another Blu-ray deck you’d be proud to display on your kit rack and we can’t wait for the next instalment. Sony, we’re ready when you are…

HD DVD
No
Blu-ray
Yes
DVD-Video
Yes
DVD-A
No
SACD
No
CD
Yes
MP3
Yes
DivX
No
DVD-R/-RW
Yes
DVD+R/+RW
Yes
DVD-RAM
No
HDMI out
1
HDMI 1.3a
Yes
DVI out
0
Component out
1
RGB Scart out
0
S-Video out
1
Composite out
1
Optical digital out
1
Coaxial digital out
1
Phono audio out
1
FireWire out
0
Multichannel analogue out
8ch
Video scaling
1080p
24fps
Yes
Dolby Digital Plus decoding
Yes
DTS HD decoding
Yes
Dolby TrueHD decoding
Yes
DTS HD Master Audio decoding
Yes
Dolby decoding
Yes
DTS Decoding
Yes
PCM decoding
Yes
Dolby Digital Plus HDMI output
Yes
DTS HD HDMI output
Yes
Dolby TrueHD HDMI output
Yes
DTS HD Master Audio HDMI output
Yes
PCM HDMI output
Yes
Dimensions (hwd, cm)
7x43x22