Greetings All,

I am really interested in the new Sony ES BDP-S2000ES Blu-Ray player for my 990-7500 system.

I was advised awhile back by one of the outlaws that:

"The Model 990's DVI switching is 1080P compliant. Therefore, a new processor would not be necessary to pass full 1080P HD video from either a BluRay or HD DVD player. While it is true that the Model 990 will not internally decode the new Dolby and DTS Codecs (Dolby True HD and DTS Master Audio) by purchasing a player with a built in decoder and MC analog outputs you'll be able to playback these lossless formats in their full high-resolution state."

My questions are: Will the above Sony-ES player meet the criteria as described above? Does anyone have any suggestions about adding a Blu-Ray player? Would I be smarter to wait for the new 990 upgrade later this year?

BTW, I have an outstanding Media Center computer connected to the system and I could always install a Blu-Ray player in it but I don't know if that would give me the True HD and DTS Master Audio capability.

TIA...

See my comments in the 990 forum thread ...

This thead has got me wondering... will the availability of BluRay players with internal processing of the new codecs impact sales of next-gen processors?

Frankly, IMHO something like the Panasonic BD50 is a real godsend. In my case, I'm pretty happy with my 970. And (at least as far as bass is concerned) I've even got EQ processing in the system via an SMS-1.

That starts to make me question the two biggest temptations to jump from the 970: (1) processing of the new codecs; and (2) room EQ. Granted, full frequency room EQ is a different animal than bass EQ, but who knows if I'm even going to like what EQ above 80Hz will do to the sound of my system? (which I've spent 2 years dialing in.) I've heard good things ABOUT Trinnov and Audessy, but I've never actually heard them in my system.

Makes me wonder why I would want to jump into another processor. Unless there are huge sonic improvements in the 2 channel domain on the 970's replacement, I could be content staying where I am for a while.

Any of you guys have similar reservations?

I doubt that it will have a tremendous impact, although I don't doubt that it will have at least some impact, especially if we see a Blu-ray player that also supports DVD-A/SACD. It provides an ideal upgrade path for retaining perfectly good processors, but there's also a huge and almost irrational desire for HDMI v1.3 in the marketplace. I saw more than one thread at AVS asking why we didn't have HDMI v1.3 receivers yet six months before the specs for HDMI v1.3 were published - that mindset is still powerful, and will continue to drive upgrades. Players like the BD50, on the other hand, can provide an alternative for folks who plan to keep existing hardware.
There are certain reasons that I could use to justify an upgrade to my trusty 990. Having unified video processing to allow all inputs to go to a single input on the TV, for example, would be a nice feature for ease of system use. Room EQ systems like Audyssey and Trinnov may have some appeal, but by themselves I don't find them sufficient to sway me. Having HDMI presents both convenience (less cabling, for example) and headaches (HDCP, for example).