Sony's US$2000 BDP-S5000ES Flagship Blu-ray Player: Stuck Between Pioneer and a PS3

Sony is trying to bargain with potential buyers of Pioneer's US$2,200 BDP-09FD: For US$200 less, you can get yourself the BDP-S5000ES. Meanwhile, it's equally intended to regain the love of all those home-theatre enthusiasts who bee-lined it for the PS3 (rather than a dedicated BD player) because of its networking and speed.

The Sony competes well with the Pioneer. Both are BD-Live capable with Ethernet, and have isolated audio circuitry for crazy-good sound. The Sony jacks the colour depth up to 14 bits, while the Pioneer goes all the way to 16 bits. (Since no TV can display better than 10-bit colour at this point, it's a funny spec race, but hey, one day your 20-bit TV will be laughing at both of them.) But like its gaming-system relative, the Sony also has a six-second startup and the famous don't-say-it-out-loud "XrossMediaBar," aka XMB, even better known as the menu system for PS3s. There's a lot more going on inside the player, as you can see below. But it's probably still not a match for the Pioneer, and it definitely won't play Resistance 2 no matter how loudly you scream at it.

SONY DELIVERS ULTIMATE A/V EXPERIENCE WITH NEW ES BLU-RAY DISC PLAYER
BD-Live Enabled Model Features New Technologies for Unsurpassed Picture Quality

DENVER, Sept. 3, 2008 (CEDIA Booth #600) - Sony today announced the new BDP-S5000ES Blu-ray Disc™ player, featuring the company's newly developed HD Reality Enhancer and Super Bit Mapping technologies that deliver even sharper and more vibrant images from today's Blu-ray Disc movies.

The model, which is fully BD-Live™ capable, features an Ethernet connection that allows users to connect to the Internet via their existing service provider to access BD-Live features and easy firmware updates. It also is equipped with an external flash memory port and includes a 1GB Sony Micro Vault™ Tiny flash storage device.

The BDP-S5000ES also features Quick Start mode, improving boot-up times to approximately six seconds, which is seven times faster than previous models.

"Sony's Elevated Standard, or 'ES' products stand for the very best Sony has to offer, and the BDP-S5000ES is no exception," said Chris Fawcett, vice president of marketing for Sony Electronics' Home Video Division. "Featuring the incredible build quality found on all Sony ES products, the S5000ES goes above and beyond traditional Blu-ray Disc players to deliver the ultimate home theatre experience."

Unique to the model is Sony's new 14-bit HD video processor, which improves standard definition and high-definition picture quality with the help of HD Reality Enhancer and Super Bit Mapping technologies. HD Reality Enhancer continually analyzes bit by bit of the original source, sharpening edges and reproducing detail, while reducing the effects of film grain. Super Bit Mapping delivers smoother colour gradation realizing true 14-bit equivalent colour tone from 8-bit sources connected via HDMI.

Holding true to Sony's ES standard, the BDP-S5000ES was designed to match pristine video performance with exceptional audio. The model's analogue audio circuit board is isolated from the video board to avoid interference. Additionally, the unit's rigid frame and beam chassis helps to reduce vibration and a low-leakage R-core transformer minimizes the interference of digital noise.

Since many consumers own extensive DVD movie libraries, the BDP-S5000ES incorporates Sony's new Precision Cinema HD Upscale technology that converts standard-definition signals (480i) to 1080p and outputs a full HD equivalent resolution signal to 1080p TVs via HDMI. The model even improves analogue component video output thanks to 14-bit/297MHz video D/A conversion.

Additionally, the model adds Sony's new Precision Drive™ HD, which helps to detect and correct wobbling discs from three directions, stabilizing playback of bent or scratched Blu-ray Discs and DVDs.
The model offers 7.1 channel Dolby® TrueHD, Dolby® Digital Plus, DTS® -HD Master Audio, and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio decoding and bit-stream output, as well as analogue 7.1 channel output with Advanced Current Segment Audio D/A converters for legacy AV receivers and decoders.

The BDP-S5000ES supports Deep Colour video output and AVCHD discs encoded with x.v.Color™ (xvYCC) technology. The players also feature compatibility with an array of video formats, including BD-R/RE (BDMV and BDAV modes), DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW, CD, CD-R/RW (CD-DA format), and JPEG on BD/DVD/CD recordable media.

The player also features Sony's XrossMediaBar™ (XMB) inspired graphic user interface for easy menu navigation, Sony's BRAVIA Sync™ for Theatre that connects select Sony home theatre and television products for easy operation and a backlit remote control. For custom installation, the model also features RS-232C and IR input.

The new BDP-S5000ES will be available in November for about $2,000 at Sony Style stores, online at sonystyle.com, and at authorised retailers nationwide. ###

Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)

There are currently no AU comments for this post.

JoOngle

Posted 9:45 AM 4/9/08

Why didn´t they just throw a PS3 in it as well ;) Finally a "nice" looking console.

Posted 10:04 AM 4/9/08

Yah, I have the "foreman too" but I can´t put anything on top of it... ;)
Why make it all bendy...and breadboxy...never quite understood that.

Con Seannery

Posted 9:59 AM 4/9/08

@JoOngle: Hey, I LIKE how my George Foreman looks...

dagamer34

Posted 10:32 AM 4/9/08

I'm confused. What do these players have that a PS3 doesn't? Would people really spend $2000 to absolutely have a dedicated Blu-ray player instead of a PS3? If so, I've got a bridge to nowhere to sell you.

heroineworshipper

Posted 11:05 AM 4/9/08

So are the zillions of new Sony & Pioneer BP's still using the same software and the same Sigma chip?

sxr7171

Posted 11:24 AM 4/9/08

@dagamer34: True. Now with everything being sent in digital format, expensive oversized transformers and over the top engineering are no longer necessary. A 2 lb plastic machine could in theory equal or beat this based on design. The only reason I would buy this is if I needed the analog outs, but for video I couldn't care less if my sound was coming out of a $200 receiver. For actual audio I'd get a real CD player.

Posted 11:20 AM 4/9/08

@JoOngle: I hate the new Sony ES look. They've been using this look for about 4-5 years and I hated it then as I do now. For a good looking Sony product: SCD-1 or even SCD-777ES.

Posted 11:19 AM 4/9/08

@JoOngle: I know. Ridiculous. I kept the box for so long because I don't know how to package that thing if I need to move short of wrapping it in bubble wrap and putting it into a box stuffed with paper. Very annoying.

Posted 11:18 AM 4/9/08

Finally it has come. Idiots. This should have been the launch player.

otis123

Posted 2:35 PM 4/9/08

what does this have that a ps3 doesnt?

VakeroRokero

Posted 2:47 PM 4/9/08

If a $2000 bluray player doesn't translate to monopoly in your head, you don't get it...

kwicherbichin

Posted 9:25 PM 4/9/08

@VakeroRokero: I apparently don't get it. There are multiple manufacturers of Blu Ray players out there, many of which are selling for far less. So, how is this a monopoly? If you suggest that they are selling at a ridiculous price, however, I would have to agree with you.

f0rge

Posted 11:25 PM 4/9/08

PS3 cant do HD sound formats over bitstream, only PCM. that's a turn off for some people, however it really doesn't make a difference.

OneObuyan

Posted 7:35 PM 5/9/08

@dagamer34: Actually, the high end Decks from Pioneer - Denon - Onkyo and a few others offer both [Upscaling & Upconverting] the PS3 only offes you UPscaling... Surely you knew this, there is always a catch.

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