Sony BDP-S360 and BDP-S560 Blu-ray players (and BDP-BX2) - Page 27

Sorry if this has been asked before.

I have the BDP-BX2 connected to an older Sony receiver(via digital coax) that decodes DD5.1. What audio settings do I need on the BDP to get DD5.1? Right now I only get 2 channel PCM during the movie, although during some menus and trailers I get DD5.1. Thanks.

^^^^

Audio output priority - Coax/optical
BD Audio - Mix
Dolby Digital -Dolby Digital
DTS - DTS

Thank you.

If your older Sony receiver doesn't do DTS, which is sort of implied by your initial post, you will need to set the DTS digital output to PCM instead of DTS. Then, the player will decode DTS tracks and downmix them to stereo for output over coax. Set Downmix to Dolby Surround and use ProLogic in your receiver to extract the extra two channels that Dolby Surround folds into the stereo signal.

There are no settings on this (or any player) that will transcode a DTS signal to DD for use with older, non-DTS processors.

^^^^

Good catch. Didn't realize OP's receiver didn't do DTS.

Seems some stores are stocked to hell with the S360 even after the holiday rush. Same with Sam's with the BX2. We all know a good amount were sold but I'm very surprised there are this many of any given player in my area alone.

I saw incredibly high stacks of S360s at Best Buy a few weeks ago. I wouldn't be surprised that they weren't able to sell them all, as many as there were stacked up.

Costco has 2 Sony's Bx2 and 460hp. Which is the better unit (cost is close).

I should have mentioned, my Sony Str-DE825 does not have DTS encoding. I did see that it downmixes to a stereo signal, thats fine for me.

I set the blu ray audio settings as you reccomended. On one particular disc, Home Alone. The box lists Dolby Surround as an audio option-shows two front speakes with a single rear surround. With this option chosen, I only get stereo plus the sub. Is this becuase I have a 5.1 setup and the reciever probrably doesn't know what to do with one rear channel?


Home Alone
Audio:

English DTS HD-Master Audio 5.1; English Dolby Surround, Spanish, French & Portuguese DTS 5.1.

The 460 (assuming 460hp is equivalent to the n460) is the better player by far. It's the best streaming player out there. If you don't care about streaming, then it really doesn't matter which one you choose.

What are the costs?

460 $199 and the Bx2 $179

Those are actually pretty terrible prices. Newegg has the 460 for $190 (no tax, free shipping) and the BX2 is less than $150 many places.

I doubt it. Any source encoded with Dolby Surround, including the DTS tracks you are downmixing in your player per the settings I gave you, will feed a single mono surround channel. The ProLogic decoder knows to duplicate that channel to both surround speakers. The lack of a center channel indicator also seems odd because it should be there, too.

What happens with downmixed DTS tracks?

The BX2 is $129 at Sam's Club, and Costco will have a coupon for $30 off starting Jan. 7th. I have seen the 360 on sale as low as $118 at area stores. The Costco price of $179 is a head-scratcher. On Black Friday, it was $159 - $35, and during December, $179 - $50.

I have seen the 460 at only two Costco stores in the Detroit area so far. Before Christmas, it was $229 - $50.

I myself wouldn't pay much more than the lower prices. The BX2/360 performs very well, but lacks some features common to any DVD player, so it is not worth paying more than a budget price for such a basic unit. As mentioned elsewhere, the BX2 does include a partially-lighted remote and an HDMI cord in the box, which is worth a slightly higher price.

Yeah, streaming is the only difference. Actually, for blu-ray playback you almost cant go wrong with any decent, modern player. More money only gets you one or more of the following:

- WiFi
- Streaming
- Analog outs
- Better DVD upscaling
- SACD, DVDA capability

Otherwise, most tests/reviews have proven that blu-ray looks great on any player. So, choose your player by what features you use. Dont worry about blu-ray playback.

I just picked-up the BX2 and I'm having the problem the HDMI connection. I get the startup screen and then the picture goes out. I'm connecting straight to my projector which is a older Panasonic (AE700). I even used the cable that came with the unit and it does the same thing, so I know it not the cable.

I checked the thread and found about a half dozen people with the same problem, but I could find what was causing the problem. Is it a bad unit, a combatibility issue or a setting problem?

Any help would be appreciated.

Ken

What I would do first is hook up to your display using plain old composite video; if you can...... These players try to do a HDMI handshake to determine highest resolution and sometimes that can get hosed.. Hook up to something using a lower level connector and manually set your HDMI resolution setting and see if that helps.... I had to do this with my DVI adapted 1080i Mitsubishi TV; otherwise I was seeing a similar flashing on and off

I've tried hooking it up very way I can think of. I did have the composite cables hooked up and tried many different settings without luck.

With my S360 hooked through an Onkyo receiver to a Sony CRT HD display that only went to 1080i, I had a blank screen as well. Had to use composite straight to the TV to turn off the 1080p resolution in the S360's setup (I think I forced 720p on), then was able to switch back to HDMI and everything worked fine.

Very happy so far with the S360 I purchased about 6 weeks ago. Only regret is that it does not remember where we were if we turn off a movie, a feature we use all the time (between kids and schedule, we rarely get to watch a full movie in a single sitting) on our DVD players. Aside from that, it's been working great.

As has been stated on here before, the resume feature that we all fell in love with on the DVD format is one that does not work on Bluray.... It does not matter what manufacturer or model player you get; if the disc is authored and uses the Java platform(of which almost all of them do) then this resume feature is not available. Although, you will find some discs (not all)to contain a bookmark function that you can use by pressing the green button on your remote at the point of the movie that you want to come back to. Upon restart of the disc you can then select this bookmark from the scene menu.

I just picked up an S360 from Best Buy a couple days ago because I had a stack of gift cards burning a hole in my pocket and I didn't know what else to do with them.

I have it hooked up to a Pio Elite 82TXS and a Sammy LN52A650 (all over HDMI), and so far I've been very impressed with the player. I recall the last time I really did much research into purchasing a BD player (which admittedly was probably close to a year ago), there was lots of talk about issues with load times, dvd playback, inconsistent hook-ups, etc...but i'm completely satisfied with this one so far. It seemed of the other units they had there at BB at the same price, this one had the most and highest rated reviews on various websites online, so I went for it.

Good choice. Mine is perfect. Excellent!!!!

Does anyone know if Netflix would be able to be streamed on a BDP-S360 if a firmware upgrade was issued? Anyone know if this is planned?

My friend I got the BX2 for a holiday present is overjoyed with it. He says it has played everything flawlessly. At least now I don't have to put up with the old VHS/SD DVD played we watched movies with when I am at his house.

Just got my Sony 360 a few days ago, updated firmware and watched a few movies. All seems fine but I did not change anything in the setup menus.
I have a Harmon-Kardon AVR 146 and a Panasonic 42 inch plasma 720p, and KEF 5.1 speakers.
AVR 146 does not support HDMI audio, but does provide HDMI ports for pass-through. No support for TrueHD or DTS-HD (does Dolby Pro Logic, DTS, etc)
I hooked HDMI from the blu-ray to the receiver and coaxial digital cable from the blu-ray to the receiver.
Three questions as I want to optimize my settings:
1) To get the best picture from my 720p TV, what settings should I use on my S360? (is 1080i better than 720p)
2) To get the best audio from my receiver, what settings should I use on my S360?
3) Would the S560 offer any improvement in audio since my receiver does not do TrueHD or DTS-HD anyways?

1. The difference is likely marginal, but you should use the format that is native to your TV which is likely 720P. Using the native format will eliminate the TV doing a conversion.

2. Audio Output Priority to Coaxial/Optical, BD Audio Setting to Direct, Dolby Digital to Dolby Digital, DTS to DTS, 48kHz/96kHz PCM to 96kHz/24bit (unless this results in no sound), Audio DRC to Auto, and Audio Settings (from popup) to Sharp.

3. No.

Most 720p sets are actually 768p. If that's the case with your set, then 1080i may be better. A 720p output means your TV will need to recreate 48 missing lines that are not lost with 1080i.

But, try it both ways and see what looks better to you.


Audio Ouput Priority = Coax/Optical
BD Audio = Mix
DD = DD
DTS = DTS
DRC = Wide Range
96/24 depends on whether your AVR supports 96kHz sampling rates. Check your AVR manual.

NOTE: Mix means you will get secondary audio. There's no advantage to Direct with an optical or coax connection.
Wide Range is better than Auto for DRC because it turns it off altogether.


No.

Just picked up a BDP-BX2 from Costco for $109

So, the standard procedure here is to firmware update then configure audio & video settings? Any preferred settings i should set while doing my initial setup tonight?

Of note, here is my setup:
Sony BDP-BX2
-hdmi-
Vizio VO32LF 1080p 32" TV
-Optical-
Logitech Z-5500 5.1 surround system

Controlled by a Harmony 880

Anyone know if there will be some kind a firmware update for the S560 that'll update it and make it Netflix capable? Sorry if this has been asked before.

How often does it get updates? I used to have the PS3 and it was great but i wanted a stand alone this time around. The S560 is a great player and i'm hoping it'll get some worthy updates like the PS3 and not be obsolete in the next couple of years..