Blu-ray Player Reviews

• $1,000
• Digital Video Output: HDMI
• Video Upconversion: 720p, 1080i/p
• Audio Decoding: DD, DTS, MP3, WMA
• Ins and Outs: HDMI, component, composite and S-Video, coaxial and Toslink digital audio, two-channel and 5.1-channel analog audio
• Feature Highlights: Blu-ray Disc Player, upconversion of standard-def DVDs to 720p or 1080i/p via HDMI

Sony's BD player is now due several months after the Blu-ray format's introduction, and while we certainly hope it's worth the wait, it appears to have some baffling omissions. There is no Ethernet connection, it won't playback CDs, and as of now won't be compatible with HDMI version 1.3. While there are other players entering the market that also omit these features, it's more bothersome in this case since Sony's $600 PlayStation3 will reportedly have all of these features, and even playback SACDs to boot. Let's hope that the October release date allows Sony to incorporate some of these features. Still, in addition to BD playback, the BDP-S1 upconverts standard def DVD all the way up to 1080p, and while it won't decode the newest Dolby and DTS formats at full resolution, it too will decode uncompressed multichannel PCM and pass it over HDMI. In stores on October 25th.