Originally Posted by
winston9332 
In the interest of comparing the 1000 against an established performer (Oppo) and a very popular player (LG), I thought I would provide some anecdotal commentary of their respective performance for SD DVDs. LG and Sony appear to use their own chipset while Oppo uses the ABT 2010. In regard to film cadence recognition, the ABT is one of the best and quickest. I noticed a rather unusual occurrence with the Sony. Unlike other second set lock-on recognition, the Sony seemed to require a few seconds to lock on in each set. This surprised me as it was relatively new to me in the repeating sequence. The Oppo requires lock on in the second sequence for 2:2 cadences, but once it locks on, it repeats without moiré. The Sony appears to repeat its recognition error on each set in a number of cadences.
The Sony must have some very active edge enhancement that threw off its performance on vertical scrolling text. There was readily apparent shakiness or hesitation in movement as the text moved up the screen. This was different from the video deinterlacing I saw in some lower performing players. This text hesitation was also visible in some DVD's opening credits on film.
For real world material, all three players do not differ that frequently to be perfectly candid. Only seldom does an interlacing appear. The Oppo offers realistic edge enhancement and fluidity in motion. The sony's edge enhancement is aggressive and does bring a more definitive contrast between images. That said, its enhancement does appear to come at the cost of fluidity and motion. This is probably a subjective area - some folks might like the pop it brings and might play better on the high hertz lcds that sony makes.
In the second chapter of killshot (with opening credits), I did see a minor jaggie in the bumper of the blue Cadillac with the LG and the Sony. This was not present in the Oppo (and the Marantz 7004). Edge enhancement was the strongest with the Sony in most scenes; this might be desirable for those looking for a very poppy image with a smoothening engine on an lcd. For me, I found it a bit unnatural on my plasma. Some details were enhanced at the cost of others ie the distinct lines of people against the scenery over-powered the details of their faces, predominantly in medium zoomed perspectives.
Sony PQ adjustments:
The overlaid display menu allows for +/-3 settings for the HD enhancer. It appears to have an impact on contrst and edge enhancement. I pasued a dark scene and noticed that the contrast between dark and light images was amplified with each increasing setting. The image revealed by the HD enhancer is brings out more detail as well and I think more HDish for most viewers. That said, it brings out a lot of jaggies. Back to kill shot for specific references...in the third scene after the screen door moire, Mickey Rourke walks in a house with vertical paneling. To his right (screen left), you can see very noticeable jaggies on the vertical lines with +3. At the zero setting, thereis no moire. To an untrained eye, the +3 yeilds a better image. It bothers me with the amount of jaggies it creates.
There is also a smoothening feature - I was unable to see that big of a difference, but did detect slight tearing on fast motion with it dialed off the zero default position.
Another note:
The Sony had trouble with three of my burned DVD+Rs. Both the LG and the Oppo played them without issue. I tried some of the non-playing discs on my Marantz and Onkyo HD DVD player and both played them without issue. I am not trying to indict the Sony for poor error recognition of burned media, but I do want to pt this out.
Summary:
The Blu Ray Player landscape has become increasingly competitive in the past year as players have gotten cheaper, faster, more complete and added new features like Netflix streaming or wireless connectivity. The Oppo's emergence of a very strong purist player effectively crumpled the ceiling for mid-range players in my opinion.
Sony's upper mid-ranged BDP-S1000ES is a very capable player offering quality DVD and BD images with the convenience of wireless connectivity. That said, I struggle to see the value proposition of this player priced at $700 to an educated consumer. It is quick, but not fast. It offers some neat features, but lacks what I consider the most meaningful non disc playback (ie Netflix). Its touted image enhancement features tend to render a synthetic image whose contrast and pop is delivered at the cost of relatively common jaggies. While some might prefer this image (especially on the smoothening engines of soem LCDs). I struggle to describe the overall image with its enhancing engines without using the word artificial or synthetic.
My biggest criticism is not with the player but with its price. At $700, this player is grossly over-priced in my opinion (this is reflected in my 6.5 value rating). The LG BD390 offers very similar dvd performance and more features at half the price. For those looking for simply quality DVD and BD playback, the Pioneer 320 is its equal in most ways at nearly a third of its price. Sony missed an opportunity to introduce a class-leading player by introducing this player as is at $300 or $400 with netflix and other video-streaming features. Simply put, there are so many better options at this price point - like an oppo and a roku or a lg 390 and a pioneer 320 - both combined at lower the cost than this player!
