S300 Menus, Remote, and Measurements

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S300_AVMenu1.JPGThe Sony BDP-S300 menus are sort of an enigma to me. Where I'm used to hitting the menu button and having the menu pop up (usually you have to stop playback), with the S300, depending on the state of the player, you get access to different menus. If you want to change many of the settings that I've already described, you'll need to stop playback and select the Setup menu. But if you would like to change how the picture looks, you'll need to have a disc playing and then you can select A/V Control. Let's cover that menu first.

S300_AVMenu2.JPGYou have a choice of Video Control and Audio Control. Under Video Control you can choose one of the provided settings of Standard, Theater Room, and Brighter Room. Of course the Brighter Room is the brightest setting with the Theater Room being the darkest. You can't adjust these settings in any way. There are however three different Memory settings which can be adjusted by the user. The available adjustments are White Adjust (adjusts the brightness of the white areas), Black Adjust (adjusts the richness of the dark areas), Hue (adjust between green and red), and Color Level (adjusts the color saturation). The White and Black Adjust and Color Level options each has 9 different settings with the Hue having on 5.  The Audio Control menu only gives you the option of engaging the Audio DRC which is essentially a compression codec that will equalize the volume of a Dolby Digital soundtrack. I suggest you leave it set to Off unless you are listening to your movie at a low volume and are having a hard time hearing some passages and can't turn it up.

Editor's Note: We typically recommend you make all adjustments on your display and use a Setup disc such as AVIA or Digital Video Essentials to do so. In the event that your player does not allow you to get an accurate calibration (particularly when dealing with white and black levels) then the player controls should be utilized to get you the rest of the way.

S300_Setup_Vid.JPGUnder the Setup menu there are a number of options in the Video Setup menu that can be changed after your initial setup. TV Type (4:3 or 16:9), 4:3 Video Out (Full - stretches the picture or Normal - puts black bars on the sides), and DVD Aspect Ratio (Letterbox or Pan and Scan) which are all pretty typical of DVD players these days. The YCbCr/RBGPC (HDMI) setting is a bit more confusing. Just remember if you are using an HDMI connection to choose YCbCr. This allows the display to do the conversion to RGB which it is probably better at doing than the Sony BD player. The studio level RGB (16-235) is typically recommended for use with an HDCP compliant DVI connection. RGB (0-255) typically crushes whites and blacks on many displays.

S300_Setup_Aud.JPGUnder Audio Setup, you'll want to leave Dolby Digital and DTS where they are unless you have a receiver so old that it won't decode Dolby Digital or DTS and then you should set them to Downmix. If you are using a ProLogic receiver and the stereo outputs, set DTS Downmix to Lt/Rt and if you are using a stereo receiver, set it to Stereo. Lastly, if you'd like the player to decode all the DTS and Dolby Digital audio tracks for you and are connected via HDMI, then set Audio (HDMI) to PCM. If you want it only to decode the Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks and send everything else to your receiver for decoding, set it to Auto. There are Language, Parental Control, and Options screens that you mostly shouldn't have to touch but you will want to go to the Speakers screen and make sure your Audio Output Mode is set to 5.1 Channel if you are running a surround sound setup and are connected via analogue outputs.

Remote Control

S300_remote.JPGThe remote control for the Sony BDP-S300 is black, thin, and lightweight.  Like far too many remotes I deal with these days, it is not backlit and the buttons are pretty much all the same size so it is near impossible to tell them apart in the dark. For the owner, it is going to end up coming down to either waiting for a lighter scene in the movie or memorizing the button locations. There is a Braille dot on the Play button which will help, but other than that you are on your own for the most used video control buttons. The circular control in the center works well but the rounded buttons that surround it are sort of difficult to distinguish from each other.

The only real problem I had with the player and control was that it took sooooo looong to do just about anything. Every time you hit a button you weren't sure if the command wasn't received or if the unit was just taking its sweet time. Powering up the unit took a good 45 seconds. I would literally press the Open button, go look for a movie, and return just as the unit was finishing powering up and the tray was extending. That's just silly. Getting to each of the menus also seems to have a delayed reaction to the remote commands. It wasn't so annoying that I threw the remote across the room but it did irk me from time to time.

Video and Audio Measurements & Testing

Since the Sony BDP-S300 player is certain to be used for upconverting standard DVDs to 1080p via HDMI, it was imperative that we explore how well the player handled the source interlaced signals coming off of standard definition DVDs. In particular, we were looking for solid deinterlacing and jaggie reduction performance, noise reduction and the ability to easily navigate unflagged 2:3 cadences. All final test scores were derived using the Sony's BDP-S300’s HDMI output in 1080p mode unless otherwise specified.

Audioholics/HQV Bench Testing Summary of Test Results

Perfect Score is 130
Sony BDP-S300 Benchmark total score: 50/130

Test

Max
Points

Results
1080p

Pass/Fail

Color Bar

10

5

Pass

Jaggies #1

5

0

Fail

Jaggies #2

5

0

Fail

Flag

10

5

Pass

Detail

10

10

Pass

Noise

10

5

Pass

Motion adaptive Noise Reduction

10

5

Pass

Film Detail

10

0

Fail

Cadence 2:2 Video

5

0

Fail

Cadence 2:2:2:4 DV Cam

5

0

Fail

Cadence 2:3:3:2 DV Cam

5

0

Fail

Cadence 3:2:3:2:2 Vari-speed

5

0

Fail

Cadence 5:5 Animation

5

0

Fail

Cadence 6:4 Animation

5

0

Fail

Cadence 8:7 animation

5

0

Fail

Cadence 24fps film

5

0

Fail

Scrolling Horizontal

10

10

Pass

Scrolling Rolling

10

10

Pass

Total Points

130

50


All tests were done with the HDMI outputs at 1080p.  Any failed tests were checked in 720p as well.

Test

Max
Points

Results
1080p

Pass/Fail

HD Noise Reduction A&B

25

25

Pass

HD Video Resolution Loss

20

20

Pass

Jaggies A&B

20

20

Pass

Film Resolution Loss

25

0

Fail

Film Resolution Loss - Stadium

10

10

Pass

Total Points

100

75


Comments on Audioholics DVD Torture Tests

I was really surprised at the lackluster upconversion abilities of the Sony BDP-S300. When playing standard definition DVD's noise was apparent as were jaggies. The lack of 3:2 pulldown indicates that you should perhaps consider letting your display do the deinterlacing by sending an interlaced rather than progressive signal. For Blu-ray playback, the unit performed well despite it failing the two Resolution Loss tests.

 

Post Reply
Charles Nelson posts on February 07, 2009 00:56
Sony BDP-S300 offers HDMI, component video, S-video and composite video outputs. Its HDMI connector also carries digital audio. People are researching for prices on the players.
allargon posts on January 03, 2008 17:24
I plan on buying a 42" Panasonic Plasma 720p tv. Would it be worth buying the Sony BDP-S300 to go with? Will this increase picture quailty(when using blu-ray discs) compared to a standard upconverting dvd player? I'm pretty set on the 720p set because of the price. They have them at sears $1099 with two years intrest free financing till Jan 5. Def buying it I can get them to knock a $100 of that price. Figure that might be easier to do if I pick up a Blu-ray player at the same time. So should I go for the blu-ray to, or is it not worth it unless I buy a 1080p tv. Thanks for the input.

Worth buying? No, I would get the Sammy BD-P1200 despite its reputation for bugginess. At least it internally decodes Dolby TrueHD and provides bitstream audio support. Yes, you will see an increase in PQ even on a 42" 720p set unless you sit far away. (It will still have a better picture!)
funked up posts on December 31, 2007 15:52
I plan on buying a 42" Panasonic Plasma 720p tv. Would it be worth buying the Sony BDP-S300 to go with? Will this increase picture quailty(when using blu-ray discs) compared to a standard upconverting dvd player? I'm pretty set on the 720p set because of the price. They have them at sears $1099 with two years intrest free financing till Jan 5. Def buying it I can get them to knock a $100 of that price. Figure that might be easier to do if I pick up a Blu-ray player at the same time. So should I go for the blu-ray to, or is it not worth it unless I buy a 1080p tv. Thanks for the input.
velcrometer posts on December 29, 2007 12:21
OneCall.com has the Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray Disc / DVD Player for $279.77 with free shipping. That's the lowest total price since a deal last week at Circuit City, and that deal required in-store pickup and had far more sales tax hassles. Get five Blu-ray Disc movies for free via this mail-in rebate. "Features include 1080p output, DVD+/-R playback, and HDMI, component, S-Video, and RCA video outputs." Deal ends tomorrow.

http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=88133 [onecall.com]
dobyblue posts on November 20, 2007 21:03
lifamily;329822
What a piece of garbage for $500.00. I hope Sony loses their shirts on the blu-ray format. Maybe, just maybe this will teach them a lesson to play nice and come up with one unified format that everyone can afford and enjoy. I don't hate Sony, I just despise their defiance and ignorant ways of thinking things through, because its the buying public that gets burned, not Sony.


It doesn't matter if Sony loses their shirts on Blu-ray, there are more powerful companies like Panasonic and Samsung involved - Blu-ray will not lose to HD DVD.

There are also 17 companies with patents in Blu-ray Disc technology - it is not "Sony's format" as many ignorant people may have you believe.

http://www.mpegla.com/pid/bluray/ [mpegla.com]

CyberLink Corporation; Dell Inc.; Hewlett-Packard Company; Hitachi Ltd.; Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.; LG Electronics Inc.; Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic); Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; Pioneer Corporation; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.; Sharp Corporation; Sonic Solutions; Sony Corporation; TDK Corporation; Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.; and Warner Home Video Inc.

Sounds to me like you're describing the HD DVD format as most people were behind Blu-ray as the next optical media disc before Microsoft stepped in and gave Toshiba the extra boost they needed to go ahead with their format. Toshiba are the largest patent holders in DVD technolgy and it is their greed that forced them to go ahead with HD DVD, which keeps the income pouring in for them....or at least it would if the format sold discs!

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