Sony BDP-S360 Blu-ray Player

[Agostinho]

Hi I am quite new in this field and have recently bought a Sony BDP-S360 Blu-ray player. My understanding is that it can upscale normal DVD or home made DVD to 1080p .... better picture anyway. I have tried it and I did see some difference between playing the DVDs by normal DVD player and by the blu-ray. However, the difference is very small - Blu ray is only slightly better. Is this normal or am I supposed to see pictures very close to high definition quality?

Another question is that it is quite noisy. The sound of this player is like the old fashioned dot-matrix printer when the player is operating - loading etc. Do you think only this player has this funny noise or all players are about the same?

:P~:-P~:razz:

[martintyler]

i'm afraid there is a lot of misinformation when it comes to 'upscaling' DVD

If you are watching on an HD LCD or Plasma screen, then the screen will upscale to the native resolution of the screen, it has to, its the only way it can display it.

So whether the DVD or bluray player upscales it, or the TV does it (or an AV amp does it) it's being done.

Now, that doesn't mean it will all be equal, some chips are better than others at doing the upscaling - but to most people you wont see much difference (certainly not on the kind of screen sizes most people have)

Can you see much difference when playing an actual bluray disc?

All the marketing rubbish that says a DVD player or bluray play upscaling is making a DVD 'close to HD quality', is just that, rubbish.

[deckard]

Welcome!

Martin's advice is spot on, so I haven't really much else to add. I have an S360 too and I've been pleasantly surprised by it, showing at 720p on a 83" screen, but DVD performance is still only DVD quality, that's a limitation of the disc/format rather than the player. Nice Blu-ray playback though!

[Agostinho]

Thank you for your confirmation :clap: As long as the picture quality is what it is supposed to be, I will happily accept it.

In fact, I do see the quality difference particularly the date (on home made DVD). My DVD player gives me a blurred one whereas the S360 gives me a very sharp quality. However, the difference on the images (the people in the film) is not very big although I can still see some difference.

I have not yet tried a blue-ray and watch it. But I am prepared to buy or hire one very soon - Can't wait !! :typer:

[iaria]

Welcome to Av-Talk :thumbup::clap2:
Gerry

[Pegasus]

Another point to remember is that the ultimate current screen resolution is 1080p, with 1080i in second place, and 720p much further behind. Playing even a Blu Ray Disc on a Blu Ray Player, and watching on an LCD screen with only a 720p resolution will not give you the best definition - added to that the pundits say that you really also need a screen size in excess of 40" to get the best out of a Blu Ray disc.

So if you are watching your Blu Ray on a small screen with 720p rersolution you will probably not be impressed with the result. It will be better than standard digital, but only just. Upscaling DVD players will sometimes be noticably better than a standard dvd player, but not always. These comments are my personal view, which I am sure many others will not agree with.

[matt_d]

Another point to remember is that the ultimate current screen resolution is 1080p, with 1080i in second place, and 720p much further behind

I would disagree with this. I find 720p gives a much better image on my screen than 1080i.

Matt

[Sgt.colon]

Another question is that it is quite noisy. The sound of this player is like the old fashioned dot-matrix printer when the player is operating - loading etc. Do you think only this player has this funny noise or all players are about the same?

I have a S360 and it is noisy when loading and there is some noise also while playing certain disks. Not all players are like this. My Panasonic is very quiet.

[Chris morse]

I would disagree with this. I find 720p gives a much better image on my screen than 1080i.

Matt

I still don't really understand this. In my thinking:
1080i is interlaced...does that mean it has 540 lines on screen at a time?
720p is progressive....does that mean there are 720 lines on screen at a time?

If that's right, surely 720p is better than 1080i?
Is this correct?