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Just bought a new Sony BRAVIA TV? Looking forward to all that Blu-Ray goodness and a general warm fuzziness of pleasure at your spiffing home cinema setup? Well, cover your eyes and sob a little now, as Sony unveils the BDP-S1E - a standalone enthusiast player with some marvellous features that sadly even the latest BRAVIA sets can’t enjoy.
The BDP-S1E is the upgrade to the over-priced and vaguely unpopular S1, launched last year to collective gasps at its mighty pricetag, and has such improved niceties as BRAVIA Theatre Sync, which turns on your Sony TV and receiver when you press the play button, and 24p, which plays discs at the same 24fps speed at which they were filmed. That should apparently cut out the judders that can blight panning shots.
All well and good, but so far none of Sony’s BRAVIA sets are actually compatible with Theatre Sync or 24p; in fact there aren’t any in the company’s catalogue yet. True 7.1 digital surround sound is still handy, as is HDMI 1.3, but to miss out on what’s perhaps the biggest draw to this deck, the 24p functionality, is a kick in the teeth when you’re looking to pay AU$1,399 ($1,172).
Sony BDP-S1E Preview [CNET Australia]
I strongly disagre with this review as this BRD’s launch is in line with the new Bravia launch that features the Bravia-Sync and 24P.
So infact you’ll be able these features with the new Bravia…in anycase, the primary use would be to watch BR Disks so whatever HDTV you own..you’ll benefit from the superb picture and sound quality.
Thanks for the comment, JT. This isn’t actually a review, just general news - if Sony would like to send us a BRD-S1E and matching BRAVIA set I’m sure we could comment for ourselves on the benefits or otherwise of 24p.
What still stands, and I believe is relevant to more people in number than those thinking of buying a next-gen BRAVIA TV, is that the headline features won’t work with their existing sets. Obviously Sony are planning to release some compatible TVs, but where does that leave anyone who has bought - or was just about to buy - a TV from the existing BRAVIA line? I recognise that they’d still be able to watch Blu-Ray discs, but then they’d be able to do that on a lower-cost alternative player (such as the PS3, for instance) and not pay for features they’re unable to use.
Why am I not surprised about this new model / replacement?
So far I’ve been disapointed with every Sony product I have purchased. The quality of the S1 & its performance is such that we should be entitled to our money back. I’ve had it up to my eyeballs with this half baked crap.
You are technically incorrect. It’s kind of harsh sounding, sorry. Anyways the Sony VW-50 can except and display 24P.
Yes, the VW50 can display 24p, but it’s a projector not a BRAVIA TV. It also doesn’t appear to have (or at least the Sony site doesn’t make it obvious) Theatre Sync.
I’m not critiquing Sony for the sake of it, in fact I like a lot of their products and I think they’ve got a distinctive and successful design style. My concern is that people buying Sony TVs now expecting to be able to watch top-quality Blu-Ray disks probably won’t realise that, since currently only the projector range is compatible with 24p, feel disappointed with their purchase in a few months time. That’s partly what leads to experiences like Marvyn Kae’s, which are undoubtedly worse for the company in the long run.