Sony BDP-S350 Blu Ray Player

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Im new here, and quite out of desparation. I bought a blu ray player recently (sony bdp-s350) which received favorable reviews from What Hi-Fi. I bought an HDMI cable and connected it to my Panasonic TX-32LX75X LCD TV. Let me also add that I live in Riyadh in the middle east if you find the model no.s strange. Anyway, very happilly I studied the blu-ray players manual and connected everything exactly as instructed. Let me mention that my TV is HDMI ready - its not full HD. I played a DVD (no blu ray disks yet). I was totally appalled by the image quality. I could not believe my eyes. Especially dark scenes. You can clearly see the transition scenes between the different shades of black (other colors also). It looked like a badly copied DVD (which I loathe). Does anyone out there have an explanation for this? I am going to buy the Sony X series 40inch end of this month. But now I am not so sure; spending so much money and getting a scary picture like this.

I need your help - where is the prob? My TV? (i know its not a top notch one, but got it for a bargain)

Thank you so much!

Andre

 

[Gerrardasnails]

northernlights:
Im new here, and quite out of desparation. I bought a blu ray player recently (sony bdp-s350) which received favorable reviews from What Hi-Fi. I bought an HDMI cable and connected it to my Panasonic TX-32LX75X LCD TV. Let me also add that I live in Riyadh in the middle east if you find the model no.s strange. Anyway, very happilly I studied the blu-ray players manual and connected everything exactly as instructed. Let me mention that my TV is HDMI ready - its not full HD. I played a DVD (no blu ray disks yet). I was totally appalled by the image quality. I could not believe my eyes. Especially dark scenes. You can clearly see the transition scenes between the different shades of black (other colors also). It looked like a badly copied DVD (which I loathe). Does anyone out there have an explanation for this? I am going to buy the Sony X series 40inch end of this month. But now I am not so sure; spending so much money and getting a scary picture like this.

I need your help - where is the prob? My TV? (i know its not a top notch one, but got it for a bargain)

Thank you so much!

Andre

Check what resolution your player is set at. When I bought my S550, the default was 480p and I was not amused until I realised. Set it to 720p or 1080p (and let your screen deal with it).

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you. Its set to 1080p. From the very beginning. I tried lowering the resolution to 720p - no luck. Bad TV?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

northernlights:Thank you. Its set to 1080p. From the very beginning. I tried lowering the resolution to 720p - no luck. Bad TV?

It's hard to say but the player upscales superbly and I mean really really well - nothing like you described.

 

[bayc oldboy]

hi

I have just recently connected up s-350 (hdmi to lcd tv lg6000 32 inch not full hd) and after checking all the settings (the lg accepts 1080p 24 frames)and i thought the picture was really bad ie loads of pixellation then i checked the hdmi input on the tv and it was set to vivid which i changed to my own preferences and now i find the picture very pleasing not like wow but the sound has been the main gain even though i have an old amp (not true hd) it has even brought dvds a new lease of life

 

[Anonymous]

While our discussion is going on about the Sony player, I am wondering what is the problem - may it be the TV? I have a Yamaha DVD and SACD player which I have used before buying the Sony. Its set on progressive scan and even though I know my Panasonic LCD is not the hottest around ($650), it gave good picture quality with the Yamaha. Black was black and grey was grey. It did not look like a mosaic puzzle. Last night I watched Silent Hill on my Sony Blu Ray player again. My Goodness - it is shocking. Especially where the mother looking for her daughter, decends downstairs, the horn goes off and everything goes black. She lits up a zippo and the pixels are just everywhere and horrible. Someone commented that the Sony upscales DVD really, really good. I really, really wished I could say the same. In fact, that is why I bought the player in the first place, because of reading countless reviews and good ole what hi-fi 5 star rating. I would really like someones advice. Where is the problem? OH, and before I forget, I have tried Component Video also - no improvement and slightly less sharpness - but the pixels are everywhere still.

My setup is like this: HDMI from Sony player to Panasonic LCD (not full HD). Video out is set to HDMI and 'auto' - which means that it would automatically detect the most ideal screen resolution, which in this case is 1080 i or p, not sure. Animated movies like Over the Hedge, Ice Age etc looks spectacular. But otherwise most DVD's suck totally. I watched The hills have eyes II. The dark scenes in the tunnels are so bad, I cannot make out a thing. In fact, every dark scene is pixelated with blue, and red and what have you.

Guys I am sorry for harping on and on about this. Not to mention this lengthy description, but I finally realized that this is the only place where I can find help. I live and work in Riyadh in the middle east. The sales people (all due respect to them all) have got extremely limited knowledge about these matters. They sell things. If you are not happy, they will repair it (broken or not) becuase that is the two options available here. I am planning to buy a SONY Bravia within the next few days. It costs an arm and a leg. I dread to think the picutre will look the same on it, becuase then, this whole LCD, HD, Blu-ray story is an entire hoax. I have not lost all hope yet. Just waiting for someone to give me some advice that will work (No offence to bayc oldboy and the other chap who tried).

Andre

 

[pete321]

If it's blacks you're worried about, forget the Sony X series TV and go for a Pioneer Kuro plasma, either the new KRP models or you may get good deals on the PDP-LX5090 at the moment. If you get a Pioneer and then search Pioneer KRP or 9G owners forum (depending on what model you get) you should be able to find the correct picture settings for a TV which has been ISF calibrated.

I can't imagine it's your blu-ray player, although some actual discs are better mastered than others. I use a Sony BDP-S350 via HDMI to an Onkyo 905 amp passing through a 1080p 24fps picture to my Pioneer PDP-LX5090 and the black detail is superb, it's even better if I miss out the Onkyo amp and connect direct to the TV.

My guess would be that the settings on the TV are not right, backlight and or brightness too high perhaps. Either way if you're getting a new TV, blacks will definately be black if you go Pioneer.

There is a useful DVD you can get with some good pictures for setting up brightness, contrast and colour on your TV, perhaps try this 'Monster/ISF HDTV Calibration Wizard DVD'.

 

[Sorreltiger]

I watched 'Son of Rambow' last night - Sony BDP-S350 via Yamaha RX-V3800 to HD Ready Pioneer PDP-4280 ÿ- and the picture quality was absolutely stunning in every way. ÿI would reiterate what has already been said - there's nothing wrong with the player. ÿBTW, if you leave it on "Auto", DVDs will be output at their native resolution. leaving the TV to do the upscaling. ÿGreat if it's good at that, but not so good if it doesn't upscale well. ÿPerhaps you were previously using your DVD player to upscale?

 

[Anonymous]

I would like to thank everyone for their input into this matter. I will check, and recheck the settings. And I forgot to say this also. I did not get a manual (in English) with my player, so I downloaded it from the net. There is no chapter that really deals with "Upscaling" is there? If I understand correctly, when you make your selection for video output (HDMI, component, or video, s-video) it will automatically do the upscaling accordingly. Sorreltiger did not mention if Son of Rambow? was DVD or Blu ray. I have to assume DVD, seing thats the issue here. Previously with my Yamaha DVD player, I switched progressive scan to on.

I will go through everything step by step again. In the manual, they (Sony) mention that not all TV's are compatible with this player and that some 'artifacts' (nice word for hideous thing) may be present. So I feel I am really experiencing some of those. I also want to say like chap Sorreltiger, that the result is STUNNING. I believe (and hope) that will be soon.

One more thing - the HDMI cable I bought is about $30. Could it be the weak link? I am following the HDMI cable forum also, so it seems price for HDMI calbes are not an indication for quality - though I nearly dropped dead when I saw that Chord Co charges almost a 100 pounds for 3 m cable.

Chiao

 

[Anonymous]

Instead of leavin the blu ray player set to auto, try and set it to hdmi 1080p so this way the blu ray player is upscaling the picture before it gets to the TV. DVD quality looked rubbish before i did that.

 

[Andrew Everard]

northernlights:though I nearly dropped dead when I saw that Chord Co charges almost a 100 pounds for 3 m cable.

Then this should do for you once and for all...

 

[Sorreltiger]

As Ginder says, set the Blu-ray player to upscale and try that - don't leave it on Auto. ÿ'Son of Rambow' was a Blu-ray disc, but I tried using the Sony to upscale DVD when I bought it and it was pretty good (not quite as good as the Kuro, but close).