Mods, feel free to merge this thread with the Sony 370/470. I already asked twice before starting a new one.
OK , got my S570 and tested everything I could. This is not a professional review since I'm not a pro.
-UNPACKING AND INSTALLING:
The box is very small, half the size of the 460 box. The player is also much smaller than the 460. The installation was a breeze because I basically removed my 460 and replaced it with the 570. I don't need the wireless, just hooket it to my Ethernet switch and set a fixed IP address like I do on any device I have.
The eject button on the player is almost impossible to find. Bring the remote.
The activation of both Netflix and Amazon can be a real pain and I had to register both again.
I changed the following settings from the default:
.Audio Mix to OFF
.Gracenote to AUTO
.Network settings to manual IP address.
.SACD to DSD
.IP Noise Reduction to zero
As soon as I turned the player on, a firmware update came up and its now version 315.
-BLURAY/DVD PICTURE QUALITY
Nothing new here. Bluray is great as it is with any other player and DVD is OK, nothing to brag about but decent. Professional reviews will give more info about cadence and other things, I spend my time watching movies not calibration disks.
Only thing new is the Gracenote that gives some info on the title but will interrupt playback and return the movie to start position.
-AMAZON/NETFLIX
If you know the 460, the interface is the same (very basic) but with an interesting difference on the audio side. With the 460 I can get DD 5.1 from Amazon and only get audio from Netflix if I set HDMI AUDIO to PCM. With the 570, all the streaming comes in PCM even if HDMI AUDIO is set to AUTO. I think it's a bug with the 460 that happens only with few receivers (no audio unless PCM is set) that is now fixed with the 570. I know, a little confusing.
There is an IP video noise reduction that defaults to 2. I set it to zero because I hate any kind of NR. Picture gets softer in most cases.
Picture quality with Amazon is good and so-so with Netflix but nothing that can be blamed on the player. BTW, my Internet connection is good, 18 Mbps hard-wired.
Gracenote doesn't work with Netflix or Amazon, but you don't need it.
-OTHER WEB SERVICES
There are 1 or 2 services not present on the 460 and few "coming soon". The most important is the Qriosity, from Sony, that promises to rival Netflix/Amazon. There is a Qriosity icon as a placeholder on the menu axis. More info here: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/11/s...february-2010/
-DLNA
Doesn't exist. Firmware upgrade ? Shame on you Sony.
UPDATE: DLNA was implemented June 2010, well, sort of. The file support is very basic and the player can only play very few types of video. I could only play .mpg standard definition, that's all. Most servers, like Tversity, PS3 Media Server and others don't work or work with limit functions with the S570. There are reports that Playon is now working fine with the player.
-USB DISK AND FILES SUPPORTED.
I used a pendrive to test quite a few file formats. Here is the result:
.M2TS Both movies recorded from my Canon Camcorder and the Hauppauge HD-PVR played perfectly. Great !
.MPG No problems, as expected.
.WMV Played without a glitch.
.MKV The video recorded with Makemkv didn't play at all (msg about corrupted file). The video recorded with Handbrake played but with a lot of pixelation.
.M4V Same as above. Also created by Handbrake.
.ISO Not recognized at all. Didn't show up on the playlist.
.MOV Same as above.
.AVI Same as above.
I think the only good news so far is the flawless playback of the 2 M2TS files.
UPDTATE: MKV is now playing fine from the pendrive. The player supports FAT32 only, very limited if you plan to use it for large files. NTFS HDD is NOT supported.
-SACD
This is the Grand Finale: Absolutely fantastic . My Pioneer 94 can take DSD direct (no PCM conversion) and the sound is great. I set the receiver to "pure direct" and the sound was warm, tube like, beautiful. Obviously the receiver plays the big role here but the 570 did everything you could expect.
MY SETUP:
.Panasonic P65V10
.Pioneer 64 receiver
.Sony BDP S570 player
.U-Verse 18 Mbps Internet Service
.Everything through HDMI links.
I hope I gave you some highlights on the 570. Overall it's a great deal and a bargain considering what it can do.
OK , got my S570 and tested everything I could. This is not a professional review since I'm not a pro.
-UNPACKING AND INSTALLING:
The box is very small, half the size of the 460 box. The player is also much smaller than the 460. The installation was a breeze because I basically removed my 460 and replaced it with the 570. I don't need the wireless, just hooket it to my Ethernet switch and set a fixed IP address like I do on any device I have.
The eject button on the player is almost impossible to find. Bring the remote.
The activation of both Netflix and Amazon can be a real pain and I had to register both again.
I changed the following settings from the default:
.Audio Mix to OFF
.Gracenote to AUTO
.Network settings to manual IP address.
.SACD to DSD
.IP Noise Reduction to zero
As soon as I turned the player on, a firmware update came up and its now version 315.
-BLURAY/DVD PICTURE QUALITY
Nothing new here. Bluray is great as it is with any other player and DVD is OK, nothing to brag about but decent. Professional reviews will give more info about cadence and other things, I spend my time watching movies not calibration disks.
Only thing new is the Gracenote that gives some info on the title but will interrupt playback and return the movie to start position.
-AMAZON/NETFLIX
If you know the 460, the interface is the same (very basic) but with an interesting difference on the audio side. With the 460 I can get DD 5.1 from Amazon and only get audio from Netflix if I set HDMI AUDIO to PCM. With the 570, all the streaming comes in PCM even if HDMI AUDIO is set to AUTO. I think it's a bug with the 460 that happens only with few receivers (no audio unless PCM is set) that is now fixed with the 570. I know, a little confusing.
There is an IP video noise reduction that defaults to 2. I set it to zero because I hate any kind of NR. Picture gets softer in most cases.
Picture quality with Amazon is good and so-so with Netflix but nothing that can be blamed on the player. BTW, my Internet connection is good, 18 Mbps hard-wired.
Gracenote doesn't work with Netflix or Amazon, but you don't need it.
-OTHER WEB SERVICES
There are 1 or 2 services not present on the 460 and few "coming soon". The most important is the Qriosity, from Sony, that promises to rival Netflix/Amazon. There is a Qriosity icon as a placeholder on the menu axis. More info here: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/11/s...february-2010/
-DLNA
Doesn't exist. Firmware upgrade ? Shame on you Sony.
UPDATE: DLNA was implemented June 2010, well, sort of. The file support is very basic and the player can only play very few types of video. I could only play .mpg standard definition, that's all. Most servers, like Tversity, PS3 Media Server and others don't work or work with limit functions with the S570. There are reports that Playon is now working fine with the player.
-USB DISK AND FILES SUPPORTED.
I used a pendrive to test quite a few file formats. Here is the result:
.M2TS Both movies recorded from my Canon Camcorder and the Hauppauge HD-PVR played perfectly. Great !
.MPG No problems, as expected.
.WMV Played without a glitch.
.MKV The video recorded with Makemkv didn't play at all (msg about corrupted file). The video recorded with Handbrake played but with a lot of pixelation.
.M4V Same as above. Also created by Handbrake.
.ISO Not recognized at all. Didn't show up on the playlist.
.MOV Same as above.
.AVI Same as above.
I think the only good news so far is the flawless playback of the 2 M2TS files.
UPDTATE: MKV is now playing fine from the pendrive. The player supports FAT32 only, very limited if you plan to use it for large files. NTFS HDD is NOT supported.
-SACD
This is the Grand Finale: Absolutely fantastic . My Pioneer 94 can take DSD direct (no PCM conversion) and the sound is great. I set the receiver to "pure direct" and the sound was warm, tube like, beautiful. Obviously the receiver plays the big role here but the 570 did everything you could expect.
MY SETUP:
.Panasonic P65V10
.Pioneer 64 receiver
.Sony BDP S570 player
.U-Verse 18 Mbps Internet Service
.Everything through HDMI links.
I hope I gave you some highlights on the 570. Overall it's a great deal and a bargain considering what it can do.
