Sony officially announces $600 BDP-S300 Blu-ray player
posted Feb 27th 2007 4:19PM
That sound you just heard? It was silence -- the silence of thousands of BDP-S1 Blu-ray players sitting unsold on warehouse shelves, gathering dust and wondering why they did to deserve the wrath of the dreaded Osborne Effect. Because unless retailers do some serious price shaving off of the first-gen machines, Sony's official promise today of a cheaper, smaller, and more functional box landing this summer will likely convince all but the most impatient consumers to drop the S1 right off their radar. On the plus side, those of us who haven't yet picked sides in the "format war" will be treated to a much more attractive product in the BDP-S300, from its CD friendliness and Bravia Theater Sync to bonuses like AVC-HD support for playback of conent that employs x.v.Color (Sony's version of the wide color space xvYCC technology). Keep reading to check out the remote that comes paired with the S300, then forward this post to your buddies who blew $1000 on its lonely predecessor.
Hey Sony, take a hint from Apple's MO: announce products at or very-close to release time (notable exceptions from Apple: AppleTV [oops], and iPhone [blame the FCC]). It's bad enough that consumers are holding back due to the HD-DVD/Blu-ray format war. btw Nicely written blurb, Evan.
Am I the only one concerned by these two comments in the article:
"Bravia Theater Sync"
(ie: Sony standard)
"that employs x.v.Color (Sony's version of the wide color space xvYCC technology)"
(ie: Another Sony standard)
I'll admit I know nothing about these two "Sonyisms," but don't we want to get AWAY from Sony owning/changing everything?
Yes, thats why people support HD DVD (along with lower prices and better or equal picture quality)
"that employs x.v.Color (Sony's version of the wide color space xvYCC technology)"
(ie: Another Sony standard)
It's not sony's version of xvYCC color. It's Sony's marketing name for xvYCC color. In every respect it is totally standard as part of hdmi 1.3 and xvYCC color specs
It still makes no sense to buy this standalone Blu-Ray player when PS3s are sitting on the shelves everywhere for the same price.
The PS3 cannot upconvert standard DVDs though. I bet the s300 will.
Yes it does. From the press release: "It has the added feature of 1080p upscaling through HDMI to 1080p capable HDTVs, improving the picture performance of existing DVD libraries."
How much will these things REALLY cost when they arrive? The online market is usually much cheaper than the original announced MSRP.
And I'm guessing that the remote control shown for the player is a Bluetooth remote like the one for PS3?