Blu-ray player. What is Blu-ray Technology ?

Sony BDP-N460 Blu-ray Disc Player (Black)



Plays Blu-ray Disc movies in Full HD 1080p
Instantly streams online entertainment from leading providers
Upscales DVDs to near high definition
BD-Live ready
Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD Master Audio decoding

Product Description

Experience Blu-ray Disc movies in Full HD 1080p quality with stunning HD sound that supports enhanced audio formats including Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD Master Audio. You can also play and upscale your DVDs to near high definition. Connect to the internet and instantly stream thousands of movies, videos, music and more from Netflix, YouTube, Slacker and other leading content providers with the Sony BDP-N460 Network Blu-ray Disc player.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Date : 2010-01-11 (4)
Summary : Checking It Out !

Only had player for a short time, but seem to work very well. No mecanical problems so far.
Streaming worked well. Believe I made a good choice.

Date : 2010-01-10 (5)
Summary : Nice Player
This is a very nice player that works as described. Does fantastic blu ray with my 720p projector. You can really see the difference with the big screen. Netflix has been a problem so far, first night I was able to stream a movie, but haven't been able to log in since. Having to go through Sony has been the problem. Having to turn on and off player and ejecting disc manually has been the only mechanical inconvenience, but happy with player otherwise.

Date : 2010-01-10 (4)
Summary : first blu ray dvd player owned
I longed to purchase a blu ray player, becease of the hype surrounding the quality video and sound. I am not dissappointed, however it is not what I expected. Let me explain further, at the time of my purchase I also bought a home theatre sound system with the expectation that viewing the blu ray dvd along with the recommended hmdi cable and a home theatre system the sound alone would blow me away, that was not the case. The sound quality was good the picture quality good, but what I was actualy looking for was excellent video and sound.
Kenny Hutson

Date : 2010-01-10 (5)
Summary : The step above the stuff found in most stores
I found by accident that the wife bought for me from the local "club" store the 350 model for Christmas (she asked me to empty the car and there it was!). While checking it out online I found that for the same money I can buy the next model up. The 450 model works well with my 2 year old Sony XBR flat screen mounted in the family room. I had already ran a Ethernet cable up to the room, something you need for it's added features. I've been watching some free web stuff from YouTube and the like. Keep in mind your going to need High Speed Internet, and a USB 2.0, 2gig or better (I'm using a 4) flash dongle which plugs in the back. Sony recommends using a Sony product and is short on specifics otherwise. The Blue ray disks are amazing to watch. Keep in mind that blue ray format is still evolving, and you'll need the INTERNET to update the built in software; something which has happened twice so far.


Date : 2010-01-09 (5)
Summary : Sony (fun) BDP-N460 Blu-ray Disc player- FUN!
We have owned this for under a week and love it. no more pay per view through the cable company... We have a samsung 42" 720 ppi TV- everything looks GREAT on it..
The setup of the player was easy, I was able to instantly watch netflix, fast loading, with no problems. Netflix was clear, crisp, sound was good.
Blu-ray discs are amazing... had to move our speakers around a little in order to appreciate the sounds.
listening to the "slacker" radio station that loads with this machine- great!
If I ever have problems I may change my review, but so far, fun fun fun!

More Images

Sony BDP-S360 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player

Blu-ray Disc player with Full HD 1080p output for Blu-ray Discs and upconversion of standard DVD video to 1080p
BD Live capable for accessing bonus content from BD-Live Blu-ray Discs via Ethernet port connected to your home network
24p True Cinema capable lets you watch films at their intended 24 fps (frames per second); Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD
Outputs: 1 HDMI, 1 component, 1 composite, 1 analog audio (2-channel), 1 digital optical audio, 1 digital coaxial audio, 1 Ethernet
Includes remote control and composite AV cable; measures 16.9 x 8.1 x 2.2 inches (WxDxH)

Product Description
The Sony BDP-S360 Blu-ray Disc player provides a movie experience worthy of your HDTV. Plays Blu-ray Disc movies in Full HD 1080p quality and upscales the quality of your DVDs. Supports BD-Live technology to download bonus interactive entertainment on select movies. Supports Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD audio codecs for up to 7.1 channels of high-definition sound. With QuickStart Mode your movies will start approximately six seconds from the moment you turn on the player.




Sony BDP-S360 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player

Panasonic DMP-BD60 Bluray Player (Black)



Most Recent Customer Reviews
Date : 2010-01-07 (5)
Summary : Excellent Blu Ray
The Panasonic player is top of the line. I researched before buying and glad I chose this one. The selling point in my mind was the SD card slot. I take the card from the camera, put it in the slot and watch my stills and videos right on my 62 inch TV. One HDMI cable and you're set up. Beautiful picture quality and easy to use remote.Panasonic DMP-BD60 Bluray Player (Black)

Date : 2010-01-07 (5)
Summary : Great disc player!
I shall state up front that this is my first Blue-Ray player and have owned it for one month. The picture it displays on my 46-inch Samsung LCD TV is beautiful. After much research on the TV and player, I was expecting great results. I have them. Blue-ray playback is astounding. The DVD resolution upscaling is truly amazing. Mind you, my viewing is on a screen where flaws are easily discernible. What's really surprising is even compressed (avg 70%), backup copies of movies I own look fantastic! My only gripes are: 1) the player's startup is slow (the time it takes to turn on, open the tray and start reading the disc, but again, this is my first Blue-Ray player so maybe it's no slower than other players and I'm just being impatient. 2) The Open Tray button sticks a bit, sometimes requiring a second or third push on the console (but not the remote). This isn't annoying enough to warrant return to the seller. Internet connectivity offers data streaming (eg. news, weather, sports and stocks). I don't care about that. Video streaming is something to consider. This unit is not Netflix compatible but does offer Amazon Videos which I tried and works well over 5Gbs cable. In comparision, Netflix upper echelon memberships are a much better deal, so you should decide if you'd rather a Netflix player. Once again, this did not influence my decision. I wasn't looking for a unit with bells and whistles. I wanted a Blue-ray player that produces great disc playback and upscaling, and that's what I have. Panasonic (IMHO) has always produced quality electronics. I have never shyed away from its products and would choose over contendor Sony and Toshiba players. This unit definitely lives up to my expectations. At sale price of $140 on Amazon, it's a great bargain. I highly recommend this disc player.

Date : 2010-01-06 (4)
Summary : First impression: Did I steal this from Amazon?
I can't believe Amazon gave me this player for $124.99. I feel like I stole it. The picture and audio quality rivals that of very expensive players. I'm very happy with this purchase and I may just have to start looking harder at Panasonic products. Very impressed! It's products like this that will help push more Blu-ray movies out of the door at retailers.

Date : 2010-01-05 (4)
Summary : Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-ray DVD Player
This is my second HD DVD player. A year ago, I bought a Toshiba HDDVD player and watched the Planet Earth series on my Panasonic 42" plasma TV. It was breathtaking. Alas, I had guessed wrong about HDDVD beating the Blu-Ray format, and now a year later there are no discs being produced for the HDDVD. It's a pity, because I believe the Toshiba HDDVD player gives a better picture than the Panasonic Bluray player. The screen displays of the Toshiba were also more pleasing than the Panasonic Bluray player. Both the Toshiba and the Panasonic are frustratingly slow to remote commands, and they are both black. I find both of those qualities to be negative. I don't know why components have to be black; all of mine are. It makes it difficult to find their controls without getting your eyes right up to them.
I haven't attempted to make any other functional comparisons of HDDVD and Blu-ray, but superficially, it appears to me that the best technology lost in this contest. Thirty years ago VHS won over BetaMax in a fair contest of superior technology, but Blu-ray over HDDVD seems tainted by Time-Warner refusing to support the HDDVD format in favor of the Blu-ray format. The best man doesn't always win in America.
The Panasonic Blu-ray player works easily with the remote control for my Panasonic plasma TV, so that is a positive. The price of the Bluray players is now acceptable, so Blu-ray DVDs should become more plentiful and therefore not so costly as they are even now. Time will tell.

Date : 2010-01-05 (5)
Summary : It works
this is my first blu ray player. I set it up and it works. I am pleasantly surprised.



Panasonic DMP-BD60 Bluray Disc Player (Black)

High definition DVD, also known as HD-DVD (which actually stands for High Density DVD), is one of two competing high definition storage formats - the other being Blu-ray (http://www.the-hdtv-tuner.com). The need for a new, high capacity storage format, has been primarily brought about by the rapid rise in popularity of HDTV in Japan and the US. HDTV has much higher bandwidth than either NTSC or regular DVD discs, so in order to record programs from HD-DVD higher capacity discs, of at least 30GB, are required.

High definition video is also being used increasingly to make Hollywood movies as it offers comparable quality to film at much less cost. Therefore, the studios plan to release future movies on one or both high definition formats.

HD-DVD was developed by Toshiba and NEC and has the support of the DVD Forum, along with a number of Hollywood studios. Currently those studios which have announced support for HD-DVD are; Universal Studios, Paramount Studios, Warner Bros., and New Line Cinema. It has a capacity of 15GB for single-sided discs and 30Gb for double-sided. It doesnt need a caddy or cartridge and the cover layer is the same thickness as current DVD discs, 0.6mm. The numerical aperture of the optical pick-up head is also the same as DVD, 0.65mm.

Because of its similarities to current DVD, high definition DVD is cheaper to manufacture than Blu-ray, because it doesnt need big changes in the production line set-up. Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray have backward compatibility with existing DVDV discs. That is that current DVDs will play in HD-DVD player, although new high definition DVD wont play in older DVD players.

High definition DVD currently supports a number of compression formats, including MPEG-2, VC1 (based on Microsofts Windows Media 9), and H.264 which is based on MPEG-4 and will be supported by the next version of Apples QuickTime software, which will be included with Mac OS X Tiger.

About The Author

Kenny Hemphill is the editor and publisher of The HDTV Tuner (http://www.the-hdtv-tuner.com) - a guide to the kit, the technology and the programming on HDTV.

Blu-ray vs DVD



Will Blu-ray replace DVDs?


Yes, that's the expectation. The Blu-ray format has received broad support from the major movie studios as a successor to today's DVD format. In fact, seven of the eight major movie studios (Disney, Fox, Warner, Paramount, Sony, Lionsgate and MGM) have released titles in the Blu-ray format. Many studios have also announced that they will begin releasing new feature films on Blu-ray Disc day-and-date with DVD, as well as a continuous slate of catalog titles every month. For more information about Blu-ray movies, check out our Blu-ray movies section which offers information about new and upcoming Blu-ray releases, as well as what movies are currently available in the Blu-ray format.

However, the two formats (Blu-ray and DVD) will most likely co-exist for quite some time until HDTVs become more widespread.


Will Blu-ray be backwards compatible with DVD?


Yes, several leading consumer electronics companies (including Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Pioneer, Sharp and LG) have already demonstrated products that can read/write CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs using a BD/DVD/CD compatible optical head, so you don't have to worry about your existing DVD collection becoming obsolete. In fact, most of the Blu-ray players coming out will support upscaling of DVDs to 1080p/1080i, so your existing DVD collection will look even better than before. While it's up to each manufacturer to decide if they want to make their products backwards compatible with DVD, the format is far too popular to not be supported. The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) expects every Blu-ray Disc device to be backward compatible with DVDs.


Why should I upgrade from DVD to Blu-ray?


The simple answer is HDTV. If you've ever seen high-definition (HD) video on an HDTV, then you know just how incredibly sharp the picture is and how vivid the colors are. In fact, HD offers five times the amount of detail compared to standard-definition (SD). The problem with today's DVDs is that they only support SD and don't have the necessary storage capacity to satisfy the needs of HD. That's where Blu-ray comes in, it offers up to 50GB of storage capacity and enables playback, recording and rewriting of HD in all of the HD resolutions including 1080p. The format also supports high-definition audio formats and lossless audio.

In addition to the greater video and audio quality, the extra storage capacity also means there will be plenty of room for additional content and special features. This combined with the new BD-J interactivity layer adopted by Blu-ray will bring the menus, graphics and special features to a whole new level. For example, you will be able to bring up the menu system as an overlay without stopping the movie, and you could have the director of the movie on the screen explaining the shooting of a scene while the scene is playing in the background. The advanced interactivity combined with the networking features of Blu-ray will also allow content producers to support new innovative features such as downloading extras, updating content via the web, and watching live broadcasts of special events.

Thanks to the greatly enhanced HD video and audio quality as well as the advanced interactivity and networking features, Blu-ray represents a huge leap forward in the DVD viewing experience and will offer consumers an unprecedented HD experience.


What is the difference between Blu-ray and DVD?











Will Blu-ray replace VCRs?


Yes, as VCRs don't support recording of HDTV programming consumers will soon need to replace them. Blu-ray recorders combined with hard drives offer a very flexible alternative for those that want to record HDTV. While HD-DVRs already allow consumers to record HDTV, the amount of HDTV programming that can be recorded and archived is limited by the size of the hard drive. Blu-ray recorders will offer a solution to this problem as they allow consumers to record the video to Blu-ray discs and then free up the hard drive. This should make them popular among people that want to archive a lot of their HDTV recordings. The Blu-ray recorders will also offer a lot of compelling new features not possible with a traditional VCR:

# Random access - instantly jump to any place on the disc
# Searching - quickly browse and preview recorded programs in real-time
# Create playlists - change the order of recorded programs and edit recorded video
# Simultaneous recording and playback of video (enables Time slip/Chasing playback)
# Automatically find an empty space to avoid recording over programs
# Improved picture - ability to record high-definition television (HDTV)
# Improved sound - ability to record surround sound (Dolby Digital, DTS, etc)



What about Blu-ray for PCs?


There are plans for BD-ROM (read-only), BD-R (recordable) and BD-RE (rewritable) drives for PCs, and with the support of the worlds two largest PC manufacturers, HP and Dell, it's very likely that the technology will be adopted as the next-generation optical disc format for PC data storage and replace technologies such as DVD±R, DVD±RW, and DVD-RAM.

Yes, mandatory managed copy (MMC) will be part of the Blu-ray format. This feature will enable consumers to make legal copies of their Blu-ray movies that can be transferred over a home network. Please note that "mandatory" refers to the movies having to offer this capability, while it will be up to each hardware manufacturer to decide if they want to support this feature.

No, Blu-ray players will not down-convert the analog output signal unless the video contains something called an Image Constraint Token (ICT). This feature is not part of the Blu-ray Disc spec, but of the AACS copy-protection system also adopted by HD-DVD. In the end it will be up to each movie studio to decide if they want to use this "feature" on their releases or not. The good news is that Sony, Disney, Fox, Paramount, MGM and Universal have already stated that they have no intention of using this feature. The other studios, which have yet to announce their plans, will most likely follow suit to avoid getting bad publicity. If any of the studios still decide to use ICT they will have to state this on the cover of their movies, so you should have no problem avoiding these titles.