AVS › AVS Forum › Blu-ray & HD DVD › Blu-ray Players › Sony BDP-S1 BD Player: USER REPORTS Here
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Sony BDP-S1 BD Player: USER REPORTS Here - Page 11

post #301 of 2891
12/27/06 at 7:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Mathus View Post

Very odd.......numerous users have cited zero glitches as has been my experience over nearly one month with the Sony. Three freeze up players for one person sounds like fiction designed to paint negative image. In fact, some entire threads seem to be designed to create problems. It is good that there are some of us who own and support both formats who know fact from opinion and fiction.

I haven't said my third player has froze yet and the first two was indeed NOT fiction. I have both HD DVD and Blu-ray and have nothing against either. I love Blu-ray, I was just simply posting what I had experienced. Why would I make this up, seems like a waste of time.
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #302 of 2891
12/27/06 at 7:24pm
There is another point people may want look into, HDMI can be bit touchier then people think, what people think are lockups might really be HDTV and HDMI getting out of sinc. I had problem with my philips HDTV and HDMI where it would loose audio and video when connected to my panasonic dvd recorder it looked like the dvd recorder had frozen no sound no picture but counter could keep counting, after minute or two or 15 minutes the picture cameback, after firmware update to HDTV the error was gone. So I ask all the people that say their sony freezes, are you sure it not your HDMI to TV and the TV not sony having a problem?
Reply
Reply
post #303 of 2891
12/27/06 at 8:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kenwebb View Post

There is another point people may want look into, HDMI can be bit touchier then people think, what people think are lockups might really be HDTV and HDMI getting out of sinc. I had problem with my philips HDTV and HDMI where it would loose audio and video when connected to my panasonic dvd recorder it looked like the dvd recorder had frozen no sound no picture but counter could keep counting, after minute or two or 15 minutes the picture cameback, after firmware update to HDTV the error was gone. So I ask all the people that say their sony freezes, are you sure it not your HDMI to TV and the TV not sony having a problem?

I agree. This often happens in particular, when one has a long HDMI cable run which gives rise to excessive pulswidth distortion on the digital data.
Reply
Reply
post #304 of 2891
12/27/06 at 8:48pm
What would happen on my two previous players was the picture completely froze. There was no sound just a frozen image on screen. The first time it happened I thought I had hit the pause button by accident, but this wasn't the case. After about 30 seconds or so the player restarted itself and loaded the movie back to the main menu. The next freeze the player never restarted and I had to unplug it b/c none of the controls would work, this also happened a second time.
It does seem to happen only on dual layer disc and around the half-way to end of the movie. I think they were all dual layer, MI:3, Invincible and Kung-Fu Hustle was the movies that froze, all of the others I have watched have been single layer with no problems.
Anyway I don't think its the HDMI cable b/c I use the same cable on my Sammy and HD-A1 with no such problems.
I really hate that some people think I'm just making this up, if I hated the Sony and Blu-ray so much I would have just gotten my money back the first time I had to drive back to the nearest BB 116 miles away to exchange.
Reply
Reply
post #305 of 2891
12/27/06 at 11:15pm
Already had my first two glitches with "Invincible" freezing after 10 minutes, then having to unplug the player to get it started again, then it played fine after returning to the chapter where I left off. However, my BDP-S1 played flawlessly on "Flightplan" so the freezing seems to be at random. BTW, it froze while playing a standard DVD as well.

Will be calling Sony to see if a future upgrade will remedy the problem. Otherwise, I'm going to exchange it at Best Buy.
Reply
Reply
post #306 of 2891
12/28/06 at 4:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JFR0317 View Post

I also support both formats. I have had a Toshiba HD-A1 since April and a Sony BDP-S1 since 12/09/06. I have had several glitches with the HD-A1, virtually all of which were cured by cleaning the disk. Once I learned to make sure the disk was clean, I have had good results. I have had exactly one problem with the Sony on an SD DVD, where it skipped and then tried to replay a couple of times on one disk. It was a Netflix rental disk and turns out it had a huge fingerprint on it. I cleaned that, and everything was fine. So far, I am pleased with both units. I'm not saying that all problems are caused by dirty discs, but I do attribute at least some of the few issues I have had to just that. Might be worth a try for others having problems.

John,
I had been wanting to post essentially what you did here about cleaning disc(s) but was hesitant to suggest it--glad you did and I can't agree more. I've had pixilation, freez-ups, and skips on a regular [non] blu-ray Samsung for ages, and what I do is remove the disc, put a drop of rubbing alcohol on a soft cloth, and rub the disc briskly back-n-forth, not in a circular fashion (which I did initially), reinsert the troublesome disc(s), and woolah! I've only powered up my new Sony BDP-S1 twice as I'm between moves into my new house...but beginning this weekend, I'll be at the new house where everything is--forever...so I'll be running more tests.
But for the 2 days I tried it...with 3 or 4 blu-rays and 3 or 4 SDs, it's been trouble FREE...yay! Anyway, MY quick-fix is use of the rubbing alcohol...it works--try it!
Ty-K
Reply
Reply
post #307 of 2891
12/28/06 at 5:42am
Hooked up my new S1 Christmas Day. Got it going to 34" XBR910 through component--Used the 5.1 analongs to Sony DA-4ES. Watched Corpse Bride and The Searchers. The PQ is WOW WOW WOW. Better than Comcast (now Time Warner) Cable and better than D-Theater. Only one SD froze up on Carousel at the beginning, in heaven, with all the plastic stars. I wiped off the disc and the problem was solved. Even that SD DVD looked almost high def. SD looks better than my Denon 2900. The sound is also better. So far I am very very happy with this player. Serial number 8001956, so I have an early run player. I've been a Sony Man since the 60's so I could never go to the HD DVD camp.
Reply
Reply
post #308 of 2891
12/28/06 at 7:30am
I am having honest picture quality issues with my Sony. I started a thread which
turned into a flame war. If anybody here wants to read it and give me some adivise I would appreciate it!

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=775728
Reply
Reply
post #309 of 2891
12/28/06 at 7:59am
One other issue I noticed last night. 480i/p looked awful. Much worse than standard dvd. I made the change during the begining of the movie when there was text on the screen. It made it all wobbly and almost unreadable...? If anybody could try that setting and let me know how it plays out for you would be helpful. Thanks again!
Reply
Reply
post #310 of 2891
12/28/06 at 10:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by swgiust View Post

One other issue I noticed last night. 480i/p looked awful. Much worse than standard dvd. I made the change during the begining of the movie when there was text on the screen. It made it all wobbly and almost unreadable...? If anybody could try that setting and let me know how it plays out for you would be helpful. Thanks again!

I've viewed 480i several times while setting up my scaler and it is always fine.
Reply
Reply
post #311 of 2891
12/28/06 at 10:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by swgiust View Post

One other issue I noticed last night. 480i/p looked awful. Much worse than standard dvd. I made the change during the begining of the movie when there was text on the screen. It made it all wobbly and almost unreadable...? If anybody could try that setting and let me know how it plays out for you would be helpful. Thanks again!

Having followed the separate thread you started and posted there, I suggest you start over from the begining as a last try. Completely remove the player and reinstall it following the manual about initial startup. Also, if you haven't done so, use a different HDMI cable not the Monster. If that doesn't solve your problem, I would exchange the player for a new one.

Regarding 480i over HDMI processed thru my Lumagen HDP VP, the PQ is the best I have ever seen from a DVD. More detail, better colors etc.
Reply
Reply
post #312 of 2891
12/28/06 at 12:15pm
I think I can make reasonable observation about BD PQ and HDTV PQ I have an older Phillips 32" 1080i (1366x768) HDTV as we know this type of TV downscales all 1080i to native res of about 720p on OTA channels NBC or FOX with HD shows it looks very nice, on real DIGITAL shows like HD-sports or HD-DISCOVERY channel it looks well breath taking. with SD DVD it look good with good xfers and well not as good with poor xfers. now I know and you all will say well ya ok your HDTV is not really 1080 but just 720p and true it would be better if it was a 1080p model but the fact is with sony BDP-s1 and good movie like corps bride or Sahara, pearl harbor, ice age 2 it still looks as good or better then HD-sports or HD-discovery channel. I also have some BD films like sleepy hollow for one that i personally think SD DVD copy i have looks better, but that i'm sure is the transfer. I run my sony to HDTV over a HDMI cable 2M long and i have sony set for Auto(1080/60i)

PS
Many people on threads here about HDTV have made it very clear that if you leave HDTV in factory picture settings you will not have as good viewing experience as if you use the manual tweaks many have posted, I know this was true for my Phillips.
Reply
Reply
post #313 of 2891
12/28/06 at 1:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by swgiust View Post

One other issue I noticed last night. 480i/p looked awful. Much worse than standard dvd. I made the change during the begining of the movie when there was text on the screen. It made it all wobbly and almost unreadable...? If anybody could try that setting and let me know how it plays out for you would be helpful. Thanks again!

By any chance did it look like these pictures on page 14 of the document below:

HQV Benchmark DVD Companion Guide
Reply
Reply
post #314 of 2891
12/28/06 at 4:28pm
well, my player arrived. I hooked it up using HDMI to DVI cable, to my panny 9UK 50" HDTV
All I can say at first, is junk. This doesn't look any better than regular DVD. I played the disk from the box, fifth element which is ALWAYS a classic from a DVD standpoint.

It was grainy and nasty. So, i thought, maybe I was having some HDMI scaling issues. So, put it to component, same thing. Junk, nothing good here.

Not sure what I am doing wrong, not sure what CAN be done wrong.

Are there settings somewhere on the panel that I am missing?

I ALSO thought that it wouldn't be letter box, it was letter box, I had the feeling that full HD would just fill the screen, as well, full HD should?
Reply
Reply
post #315 of 2891
12/28/06 at 4:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tivoboy View Post

well, my player arrived. I hooked it up using HDMI to DVI cable, to my panny 9UK 50" HDTV
All I can say at first, is junk. This doesn't look any better than regular DVD. I played the disk from the box, fifth element which is ALWAYS a classic from a DVD standpoint.

It was grainy and nasty. So, i thought, maybe I was having some HDMI scaling issues. So, put it to component, same thing. Junk, nothing good here.

Not sure what I am doing wrong, not sure what CAN be done wrong.

Are there settings somewhere on the panel that I am missing?

I ALSO thought that it wouldn't be letter box, it was letter box, I had the feeling that full HD would just fill the screen, as well, full HD should?

Did you read the manual regarding color space settings for DVI as well as overall setup? Secondly TFE on BD is a very poor transfer. Get Kingdom of Heaven. Finally, all the BD movies I have seen are letterbox just like windscreen movies on DVD.
Reply
Reply
post #316 of 2891
12/28/06 at 5:03pm
Quote:


I played the disk from the box, fifth element which is ALWAYS a classic from a DVD standpoint.

Fifth Element is a bad title (in Blu-ray). It is among worse discs released. It shows terrible in all players.

Use a new disc, like Kingdom of Heaven, Superman Returns, etc.., and talk to us after
Reply
Reply
post #317 of 2891
12/28/06 at 5:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Murilomms View Post

Fifth Element is a bad title (in Blu-ray). It is among worse discs released. It shows terrible in all players.

Use a new disc, like Kingdom of Heaven, Superman Returns, etc.., and talk to us after

When I got my Sony BDPS1 I watched the included The Fifth Element first and although it wasn't bad it didn't get me very excited and I began to worry that maybe had made a mistake buying into BD. Then I watched MI3, TOTS and KOH and my fears were laid to rest.
Reply
Reply
post #318 of 2891
12/28/06 at 5:18pm
I'll go over the manaul tonite, and make sure the CS is setup as it should be,
and I have kingom and BHD coming in tomorrow, as well as the ps3.!
Reply
Reply
post #319 of 2891
12/28/06 at 7:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Murilomms View Post

Fifth Element is a bad title (in Blu-ray). It is among worse discs released. It shows terrible in all players.

Use a new disc, like Kingdom of Heaven, Superman Returns, etc.., and talk to us after

If Fifth Element BR disc is so bad - why on earth would Sony package it w/ their player? Makes no sense at all. Wonder how many players are immediately returned - after customer plays this demo disc to test the machine? Weird stuff.
Reply
Reply
post #320 of 2891
12/28/06 at 8:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dsinger View Post

Did you read the manual regarding color space settings for DVI as well as overall setup? Secondly TFE on BD is a very poor transfer. Get Kingdom of Heaven. Finally, all the BD movies I have seen are letterbox just like windscreen movies on DVD.


is there a space in the manual for adjusting color space settings for DVI in, via HDMI
I didn't find anything like that in the BD-S1 manual
Reply
Reply
post #321 of 2891
12/28/06 at 8:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tivoboy View Post

is there a space in the manual for adjusting color space settings for DVI in, via HDMI
I didn't find anything like that in the BD-S1 manual

See page 45. The setting I used which provided blacker than black etc. was 16-235. NOTE that on my S1 it would not retain this setting if the unit is turned OFF. The menu says 16-235 is selected but the actual color space has reverted to 0-255 (the default for RGB ?). I have to go into the menu and reselect it every time I turn the unit on!
Reply
Reply
post #322 of 2891
12/29/06 at 1:52am
Quote:


If Fifth Element BR disc is so bad - why on earth would Sony package it w/ their player?

Yes, I don´t know what Sony was thinking...

Fifth Element can not be compared with the discs that we talked above.
Reply
Reply
post #323 of 2891
12/29/06 at 8:13am
OK, I have tweaked my Sony player, double checked connections ect. Here's where I am at. Blu ray gives a very good picture. Blu ray movies DO NOT look like HD TV. Especially sports. HD movies simply look different than HD Sports or HD Discovery channel. They are filmed in different ways and achieve different results.
I watched Windtalkers on HDnet last night and I watched House of Flying Daggers on Blu ray. Picture quality was exactly the same.

So I am satisfied that my system is performing at the level it should be.

Do I like it, NO. I expected far more than I am getting. I believe this will become a major issue in trying to blend either HD format into mainstream America. People simply will not see enough of a difference to justify the purchase.

Second, who's genius idea was it to put all these movies in 2:35-1? Widescreen movies suck! I understand in the original filming the director wanted to give a wide range and scope. But that is lost on all but very, very big screens. I lose almost a 1/3 of my screen to a movie in this format. Even on a 70" screen, the depth and scope is lost. I would much rather have all blu ray movies in 16:9.
This is another reason I feel these HD formats may fail. If you have a 42" HD tv,
which has no more screen area than a 36" 4:3 set, you show a movie in 2:35-1,
thus losing almost 1/3 of the screen, you are basically watching a 27" tv. Joe America will not pay extra money for this...

So in the end, I am pleased with my purchase. I needed to update my dvd player anyway. I will keep the Sony. I will watch far more standard DVD's than blu ray.
On a scale of 1-10 I would give the Sony an 8 for doing what it is supposed to do.
I would give it a 6 on doing what I expected it to do

I hope to get my hands on a few 16:9 Blu's and see how they look.
Reply
Reply
post #324 of 2891
12/29/06 at 8:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by swgiust View Post

OK, I have tweaked my Sony player, double checked connections ect. Here's where I am at. Blu ray gives a very good picture. Blu ray movies DO NOT look like HD TV. Especially sports. HD movies simply look different than HD Sports or HD Discovery channel. They are filmed in different ways and achieve different results.
I watched Windtalkers on HDnet last night and I watched House of Flying Daggers on Blu ray. Picture quality was exactly the same.

So I am satisfied that my system is performing at the level it should be.

Do I like it, NO. I expected far more than I am getting. I believe this will become a major issue in trying to blend either HD format into mainstream America. People simply will not see enough of a difference to justify the purchase.

Second, who's genius idea was it to put all these movies in 2:35-1? Widescreen movies suck! I understand in the original filming the director wanted to give a wide range and scope. But that is lost on all but very, very big screens. I lose almost a 1/3 of my screen to a movie in this format. Even on a 70" screen, the depth and scope is lost. I would much rather have all blu ray movies in 16:9.
This is another reason I feel these HD formats may fail. If you have a 42" HD tv,
which has no more screen area than a 36" 4:3 set, you show a movie in 2:35-1,
thus losing almost 1/3 of the screen, you are basically watching a 27" tv. Joe America will not pay extra money for this...

So in the end, I am pleased with my purchase. I needed to update my dvd player anyway. I will keep the Sony. I will watch far more standard DVD's than blu ray.
On a scale of 1-10 I would give the Sony an 8 for doing what it is supposed to do.
I would give it a 6 on doing what I expected it to do

I hope to get my hands on a few 16:9 Blu's and see how they look.

I'm confused. Widescreen has been a home video standard for 20 years. Why the surprise?
Reply
Reply
post #325 of 2891
12/29/06 at 8:54am
Lots of available dvd's come in a widescreen format that is enhanced for 16:9 screens. It is not full 2:35-1. Some have a very small black bar and some have none at all. The blu ray disc I have have major black bars top and bottom.
Reply
Reply
post #326 of 2891
12/29/06 at 9:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by swgiust View Post

Lots of available dvd's come in a widescreen format that is enhanced for 16:9 screens. It is not full 2:35-1. Some have a very small black bar and some have none at all. The blu ray disc I have have major black bars top and bottom.

That's only because that's their original aspect ratio. For 20+ years, most films have been available on Laserdisc and DVD in their original aspect ratio (varies from 2.35-1 to 1.33-1). A minority of films (mostly family oriented) that were shot widescreen, have also been made available to the consumer as pan and scan (what would look like full screen to you).

Learn more at:

http://www.rexer.com/cine/oar.htm
Reply
Reply
post #327 of 2891
12/29/06 at 9:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by swgiust View Post

Lots of available dvd's come in a widescreen format that is enhanced for 16:9 screens. It is not full 2:35-1. Some have a very small black bar and some have none at all. The blu ray disc I have have major black bars top and bottom.

U R basically correct, dude. I, too, dislike the 235:1 crappola...but I love 185:1 aspect ratio...which is what it is: 133:1 regular and 185:1 widescreen. Everytime I purchase a DVD I review it's aspect ratio...if WS is above 185:1, such as the 235:1 and even 240:1, I opt for the 133:1 NON-WIDESCREEN version...and will continue to do so unless I have NO CHOICE and it is a movie I desperately desire, but, do I see your point? Oh! Hell Yeah! And I, too, will probably watch many, many more SDs than BRs for reasons you've cited--the difference ain't worth the bucks!
But upconversion of SDs is bitchin' on the BDP-S1 ain't it!!!

Ty-K
Reply
Reply
post #328 of 2891
12/29/06 at 10:02am
I want the film in its original ratio, whatever that may be, a film is art and the directors intent should be preserved. That being said, if I had to film a movie I would choose 2.35 or 2.40 b/c I think it looks more artistic.
Reply
Reply
post #329 of 2891
12/29/06 at 10:15am
Well last night despite having food poisoning and feeling faint the whole day I hooked up the S1 to my Samsung HL-S5687W. I timed the initial load time which was 38secs not 90 like the manual said. Setup was amazing simple with just a few selections and I was up and running. The first movie I watched what Ice Age 2. All I can say is the picture is beyond anything I have seen. My display has been professionally calibrated and I have the 20+ HD channels from Dish network and this BLOWS THEM AWAY EASILY!! Not one scene was I let down or not stunned with the audio and image quality. The player worked totally perfect with no hic-ups. The response time of the remote sending commands to the unit was on par with my Sony DVP-NS975V which I think is totally acceptable. Before calling it a night I threw in Click and again was amazed... I could see the intended noise in the back ground and could care less... it was totally better than the SD version. I compared them head to head and the Blu-Ray won hands down. Even my girl friend could tell a difference and she didn't know what feed was what.... she consistently picked the Blu-Ray feed. Playing around with the display button on the sony I noticed a stream of 41.93mbps - 49.63mbps on the movie Click. Today I am going to watch Tears of the Sun and see how bad this included Fifth Element looks. Over all I would rate the player build quality 10/10. Function/operation 10/10. Ascetic looks 10/10. Image quality would most definitely be 10/10. This format, this player and everything has totally surprised me and not let me down. I will highly recommend this setup to anyone. Thanks for hearing my ranting.

Jason
Reply
Reply
post #330 of 2891
12/30/06 at 4:05am
Congrats Jason! GREAT hearing positive posts/success stories! I had good luck, last evening as well. I'd seen it posted a few times (most recently by dsinger--to give credit where credit is due) about one part of the video setting to 16-235. It was a simple matter to go back into setup and make the change from factory setting of y-p-b (or something like that...don't have screen OR manual nearby) to:
16-235. There is a 3rd choic of 0-255, but it didn't compare to the 16-235. I somehow missed this initially, but glad to have been directed to it now. It makes a BIG difference, and favorably so. So, for anyone else using a HDMI-to-DVI cable for connecting the S1 to their TV....might wanna give this a try. I'm delighted I did. My blu-ray movies suddenly all came back to life. Think I'm gonna call them, LAZARUS. LOL Thanks for hearing me rant, too.
Ty-K
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Blu-ray Players

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › Blu-ray & HD DVD › Blu-ray Players › Sony BDP-S1 BD Player: USER REPORTS Here