Sony BDP-S5000ES

When it comes to the Blu-ray technology, one can quickly think of Sony since it is the company that shocked the world by revealing the Playstation 3 and its native support to playback Blu-ray discs with amazing performance compared to the other competitors during those times. This led other companies to reveal souped-up Blu-ray players that deliver more of a home theater experience. With the Playstation 3 more focused on the gaming end, the Sony BDP-S5000ES Blu-ray disc player ties the loose ends by offering top-of-the-line features and breakthrough technologies.

Sony BDP-S5000ES Player Details

Design

Departing from the standard Blu-ray models that were introduced by Sony, the Sony BDP-S5000ES Blu-ray disc player goes for a thicker approach, yet maintains the clean dark gray look to match the other Sony equipment. Taking advantage of its thickness, the info display can be found on the bottom center and is big enough to hold more on-screen information. The disc tray can be found immediately above it, which is pretty traditional with the main buttons found on the right of the tray and the power button found on the opposite end. There are three light indicators that help determine the player’s state. The BDP-S5000ES can be stacked with other equipment too for a classic rack feel and the logos on the bottom right clearly tell the power that is within this system.

What is most interesting is the way the Sony BDP-S5000ES is constructed. It combines the frame and beam to increase its rigidness and finishes with a dual shield construction for added durability.

Actual user review:
“This player is the promise of Bluray fully delivered. As before, video is spectacular. Audio is spectacular in every codec as well. DTS master audio and Dolby HD are fantastic. The internal decoding and full bandwith 7.1 PCM output is a great plus for all of us that have audiophile equipment that does not include internal decoders for the new formats. This also ensures that users of HDMI version 1.1 equipment don’t have to fret about having 1.3 compliant equipment to enjoy the rewards of completely uncompressed 7.1 surround. Works beautifully with my Rotel 1069 preamp through HDMI. Best of all, the player is finally fast. The menus and additional features work seamlessly and instantly, no more “processing time” hassle. I’m using it with an Elite pro110 plasma and can attest that its video fidelity is reference quality. Build quality is impressive, the player feels like its built from a ton of bricks and it’s completely silent in operation, the fan is inaudible. The internet connection is excellent, just plug and go. In fact, this player has essentially zero negatives from any performance standpoint, NONE. It’s not a particularly attractive piece of gear but that is fine. Which, of course, leads to the only negative, its price. For those that want the very best in videophile equipment, the price is justified simply because its performance is, for the time being, second to none in all parameters. This player is the first evidence that bluray is now a mature technology with no performance or functional compromises. Hopefully all its functional advantages will trickle down to more affordable players soon. Very highly recommended.” – Edgar Betancourt (WI,USA)

Features

The Sony BDP-S5000ES is one of those updated players that are modernized when it comes to standards by offering full support for BD-Live technology so that viewers can enjoy unlimited bonus content as well as any Internet content that is supported on the disc. The user can plug in an Ethernet cable that is connected to the Internet to the back of the player to grant Internet connectivity so these features can be downloaded. Extras may include games extra scenes, trailers, and other exciting content that DVD and non-BD-Live formats fail to provide. In addition, it has the Bonus View picture-in-picture capability that was introduced in the Profile 1.1 specification.

Sound isn’t overlooked either when it comes to the Sony BDP-S5000ES thanks to its full support for up to 7.1 channels of HD audio that is lossless so the full sound is brought out. It uses the latest HD surround audio formats as well including DTS Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD so people that really want a movie theater environment will definitely experience that through the sound quality that it delivers.

The BDP-S5000ES also doubles as a fully-fledged DVD player as well so there is practically no need to use the old DVD players of the past. In fact, it can even play DVDs far better than the older standalone DVD players due to the fact that it can upscale the video to the max 1080p resolution making any DVD title look better than ever before. Custom installations are possible as well with the inclusion of IR inputs and the RS-232C.

Performance

While the features do not necessarily stack up with the price, the real deal breaker here is the amazing performance that the BDP-S5000ES delivers. First, it boasts the best HD image quality that other players fail to deliver with its Full HD 1080p resolution combined with Sony’s very own HD Reality Enhancer and Super Bit Mapping technologies that uses sophisticated hardware to automatically improve the quality of the picture just by analyzing each of the 2 million pixels. The performance is further enhanced by isolating the audio circuit board from the video processor for cleaner operation. Another interesting performance feature is the uniquely designed R-Core Transformer which keeps the operation noise down so the sound quality is better and doubles as an improved power supply.

Bottom Line

The Sony BDP-S5000ES Blu-ray disc player has just enough features to get any Blu-ray collector excited, but the performance and image quality clearly makes it one of the best players out there that come with the RS-232C input. It successfully combines a durable design with amazing image and sound quality.

Average User Rating:

• “The BDP-s5000es is an enormous improvement in both video and audio quality of any of the units that I have tried. First, the picture. Stunning is the only way I can describe it. I am viewing Blu ray movies through a 1080p projector on a 120″ screen. If there are any problems with the image in terms of color, saturation or clarity, you’ll see it with the picture that large. It is flawless. The few scenes I have been able to play so far all have better contrast, greater depth and more intensity than my previous player. The sound is equally as impressive. The BDP-s5000es has and outstanding built in decoder for these HD formats and an equally impressive analog output stage that allows for the most realistic recorded audio presentation I have ever heard. In the James Bond movie “Casino Royale”, James and Vesper walk out onto a terrace after losing a poker game to his rival. In the Dolby Digital soundtrack, the sounds of the city are all there in the background – clear, clean and pristine – a well recorded sountrack. However, when I played the same scene using the Dolby TrueHD soundtrack through the analog outputs of the 5000es, it felt like the walls of my room disappeared and I was outdoors. It was startling. The subtle spatial and sensory information that is lacking from many recordings was all there to be heard and felt. As for the setup, it was very quick and easy. There was one small quirk that I noticed. Because I am using the players decoder and analog outputs, I needed to go into the audio setup of the Sony to adjust speaker levels and positions. The setup process went quickly enough as I was able to match all of the speaker levels up or down in 1/2dB increments. The network connection went without a hitch. I plugged in the cable and it immediately checked to see if there was an update for the firmware. This is an important reason to consider Sony when making a purchase. As I mentioned, I have the original Sony Blu Ray player and after 2 1/2 years, they are still offering software improvements which allow it to work flawlessly with the latest BD titles. I have updated that machine at least 7 times (from v1.1 to v4.2), all for free, and each time the machine works faster and better. There are not many companies out there that continue to support their products with free upgrades and for such a long period of time. Most just want you to buy the newest model rather than improve your current one. Also, I saw a previous review about the loading time and thought I’d respond. There is a setting in the setup menu that decreases the time to boot up and load a disc dramatically by leaving the machine in kind of a standby mode. I didn’t time it, but I’d say the few discs I’ve tried to play so far loaded in under 10 seconds with this mode turned on. The downside is that the unit uses more power to do this because it keeps the fan and processor running even when the power switch is off.” – M.Skop (GA,USA)

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