Sony BDP S760 first thoughts

[PJPro]

Well, I've had a bit of a play and things are looking a lot better. I had the 360 outputing via HDMI at 720P (same as the PS3). So, effectively, it was downscaling for Bluray and then the Kuro was upscaling a little bit to 768. It was almost enough to make me weep.

So, I've set the 360 to output at 1080P (same as the Bluray disk). The Kuro is now responsible for downscaling when Bluray is playing. There's still some judder but it's much reduced. The picture still looked a bit naff so I've played with the modes on the telly and changed from Movie to User mode. The User mode is a configuration set which was posted on another site which I haven't really used (until now).

There doesn't appear to be a setting which I can use to tell the 360 to just output DVDs as they come. So, for DVDs, the 360 upscales to 1080P and then the Kuro downscales to 768. Even so, the picture is much improved over the 720P setting.

The SQ of the 360 wasn't up to much, so I've turned all the sound processing off leaving such things to the Onkyo 606. This makes a much better fist of it. Infact, I'd say the SQ is now better than with the PS3.

I suspect the team tested this box with a Full HD TV, so won't have come across the problems I've had. It's just as well for me that the Kuro does a mighty fine job of scaling.

So, I think I'll hang onto the 360 as I suspect, given the limitations of my HD Ready TV, there's little point in spending much more. Or is there?

 

[Clare Newsome]

If you've a receiver that can decode HD formats, you should let it do so, not the player (unless the player is of noticeably higher quality) - so you've made the right decision there re Onk doing the duties.

The Sony should have a setting allowing you to play discs at native resolution - that'll send DVDs out for your Pioneer to upscale and Blu-rays for it to downscale to perfectly suit its resolution. As the scaler in the Kuros is so great, i'd opt for that.

But i've seen the S360 - even on a 50in Kuro - look magnificent, and outperform the PS3 all-round, so please persevere!

 

[PJPro]

Clare Newsome:
........The Sony should have a setting allowing you to play discs at native resolution........

This is the setting I've been looking for but have failed to find. My googling hasn't turned up any pointers. Does anyone know where I can find it?

 

[aliEnRIK]

PJ ~ surely the player doesnt HAVE to upscale? SD content would definitely look better upscaled by your tv

 

[PJPro]

aliEnRIK:PJ ~ surely the player doesnt HAVE to upscale? SD content would definitely look better upscaled by your tv
Agreed. But I am unable to find a setting to just output whatever is on the disk.

 

[Anonymous]

Had a quick look at the online manuel.

Looks like you can change the up scaler settings under 'Cinema Conversion Mode' (pg42-43)

Not sure if you tried this already?

 

[Anonymous]

PJPro:aliEnRIK:PJ ~ surely the player doesnt HAVE to upscale? SD content would definitely look better upscaled by your tv
Agreed. But I am unable to find a setting to just output whatever is on the disk.just seen this , i gotta go working , ill post the setting when im back ..

 

[Deleted member 2457]

PJPro:The very least I'm going to do is challenge their price promise (see this).

Make sure you are very quick as that deal will go quicker than cup cakes at a pop party.

Because richer sound will not price match if it is out of stock.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Just heard richer sounds are going to reduce this player down to £80.00 on boxing day.

 

[Anonymous]

No such luck i'm afraid its the S360 they are reducing

 

[Anonymous]

they are reducing the 360 to 80.00?

I will be there when they open if thats the case.

Were did you hear this?

 

[Anonymous]

Just had a look at the manual online. If you haven't already done so.

Under output video format select HDMI then auto (page 42-43).

Also set the BD audio settings to direct rather than mix (page 45). Then set audio DRC to wide instead of auto (page 46). I found this to make things more dynamic.

There is a table on page 62 that shows how things are output with various settings.

My 350 outputs DVDs at a different resolution to BDs. I use componant but according to the manual that shouldn't have any affect.

 

[PJPro]

canada16:
they are reducing the 360 to 80.00?

I will be there when they open if thats the case.

Were did you hear this?

See here.

 

[PJPro]

SimL:No such luck i'm afraid its the S360 they are reducing
It's the 360 I've got. I wonder if I can convince them to give me the deal now.....their price promise lasts 7 days and they promise to match any price if the product is in stock (even online prices).

I assume this price is only available on the DVD region 2 player. However, the hack to convert it to DVD multi-region is super trivial.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

PJPro:SimL:No such luck i'm afraid its the S360 they are reducing It's the 360 I've got. I wonder if I can convince them to give me the deal now.....their price promise lasts 7 days and they promise to match any price if the product is in stock (even online prices). I assume this price is only available on the DVD region 2 player. However, the hack to convert it to DVD multi-region is super trivial.

Or you could return it, and then buy it again.

 

[PJPro]

NSYGrinner:
Just had a look at the manual online. If you haven't already done so.

Under output video format select HDMI then auto (page 42-43).

Yes, I have read the manual. Unless I am misinterpreting the statements therein, setting the Output Video Format to Auto simply tells the player to scale the disk to the screen. It starts at the highest possible scaling and then iterates down through the possible scaling to find one which suits i.e.

1080P->1080i->720P->720i.....etc

NSYGrinner:
Also set the BD audio settings to direct rather than mix (page 45). Then set audio DRC to wide instead of auto (page 46). I found this to make things more dynamic.

Yes, I've already done this. Audio processing is handled by my AV Amp

NSYGrinner:
There is a table on page 62 that shows how things are output with various settings.

My 350 outputs DVDs at a different resolution to BDs. I use componant but according to the manual that shouldn't have any affect.

Interesting. I'll give your video setting a whirl to see if it works....although if the manual is correct, it shouldn't. I assume you are hitting the Display button on the remote to confirm the resolution being produced by the player?

 

[Anonymous]

PJPro:canada16:

they are reducing the 360 to 80.00?

I will be there when they open if thats the case.

Were did you hear this?

I will be there at 10:00. Even though I have a PS3, Cant pass that up, if everyone is saying better pic and sound.

See here.

 

[PJPro]

PJPro:SimL:No such luck i'm afraid its the S360 they are reducing
It's the 360 I've got. I wonder if I can convince them to give me the deal now.....their price promise lasts 7 days and they promise to match any price if the product is in stock (even online prices).

I assume this price is only available on the DVD region 2 player. However, the hack to convert it to DVD multi-region is super trivial.
I have spoken with the deputy manager at Boscombe (Paul). He's checking out the deal at Superfi and will get back to me. The tricky bit is the three free Bluray films. Apparently, the 360 now comes with a certificate in the box. The 2,500 boxes RS bought 6 weeks ago don't. He thinks I may get the certificate when I register my product but is investigating. He still needs to confirm availability at Superfi before he will match the price (£119).

I asked about the Boxing Day deal. They have 15 units in stock and the first 15 people through the dorr who want them will get the deal only. I did challenge this but he stated that the product on offer was the DVD region 2 version only which he claims are being delivered on Boxing Day. I think if you've bought the DVD region 2 version within 7 days of Boxing Day you moight have a case to pursue.....but it appears they aren't selling any in the run up to Boxing Day (or after) for this very reason.

He did state that I could return my current player and then chance getting at region 2 version on Boxing Day but I'd probably need to queue from 06:30.

Of course, if the multi-region version is available on Boxing Day, at a much reduced price, I will be pursuing the issue with RS.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

I can remember my dad and brother in law queing on boxing day at richer sounds to get a dvd player for £10.00 they both did get one.

 

[PJPro]

Well, the Boscombe branch have rung me back and they are prepared to give me £17 back. They mentioned something about next day delivery. Not sure what that's got to do with it. I'll argue the toss in the store and am aiming to get the full £20 refund. I'm also going to chase the three free Blurays as well.

 

[matengawhat]

i opted for the 760 as i didn't think the 360 was a big enough jump up on the ps3 which is remarkable good even with the noise

 

[Anonymous]

What are the settings on the S760 to output video in its native format?

Thanks

 

[PJPro]

matengawhat:i opted for the 760 as i didn't think the 360 was a big enough jump up on the ps3 which is remarkable good even with the noise
Yes, that's what I was thinking....but I only wanted similar performnce to the PS3 without the noise. At the end of the day the 760 provides wireless networking (that I don't need), analog outs (that I don't need), audio processing (that I don't need) and video scaling (that I don't need). Is there much left?

 

[PJPro]

PJPro:NSYGrinner:
Just had a look at the manual online. If you haven't already done so.

Under output video format select HDMI then auto (page 42-43).

Yes, I have read the manual. Unless I am misinterpreting the statements therein, setting the Output Video Format to Auto simply tells the player to scale the disk to the screen. It starts at the highest possible scaling and then iterates down through the possible scaling to find one which suits i.e.

1080P->1080i->720P->720i.....etc

NSYGrinner:
Also set the BD audio settings to direct rather than mix (page 45). Then set audio DRC to wide instead of auto (page 46). I found this to make things more dynamic.

Yes, I've already done this. Audio processing is handled by my AV Amp

NSYGrinner:
There is a table on page 62 that shows how things are output with various settings.

My 350 outputs DVDs at a different resolution to BDs. I use componant but according to the manual that shouldn't have any affect.

Interesting. I'll give your video setting a whirl to see if it works....although if the manual is correct, it shouldn't. I assume you are hitting the Display button on the remote to confirm the resolution being produced by the player?
I tried your suggested setting and, as predicted by the manual, the DVD was upscaled by the 360 to 1080P/50p. I confirmed this using the Display button in the remote. So, DVD upscaling is still present.

Many of the options on the 360 have the same names as the PS3. The PS3 has a option which turns off DVD upscaling. This is absent on the 360 (so it seems).

 

[PJPro]

PJPro:Well, the Boscombe branch have rung me back and they are prepared to give me £17 back. They mentioned something about next day delivery. Not sure what that's got to do with it. I'll argue the toss in the store and am aiming to get the full £20 refund. I'm also going to chase the three free Blurays as well.
Hmm. Only got the 17 quid refund. It seems next day postage is mentioned in their Price Challenge. So the price paid was £122.95; not a bad price. The 3 free Blurays, they claim, are a Sony promotion but they are looking into it. I have also emailed Sony asking for my movies.