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...

The Sony BDP-S2000ES is probably not your best choice for pairing with the 990. Aside from the lack of Profile 2.0 (which my player, the Profile 1.1 Panasonic BD30), there is a larger problem. The Sony Style site is just a tad deceptively worded, as it lists "TrueHD decoding" as a feature, but then adds the caveat "(HDMI bitstream out)". Similar wording is used for Dolby Digital Plus and DTS, and there's not even any mention I could see about DTS-HD. I would dispute the idea that they can claim "decoding" if all they are able to do is pass the undecoded bitstream over HDMI. Based on some information that I found elsewhere, the S2000ES does not offer internal decoding of the new codecs (TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, or even Dolby Digital Plus).

If your budget allows for a player in the 2000ES's price range ($1300), the forthcoming Panasonic BD50 (MSRP $700) may be a much better fit for your needs. The BD50 will decode DD+, TrueHD, and DTS-HD MA internally and then deliver them over multichannel analog outputs, thus meeting the criteria described by Outlaw. It is also Profile 2.0 (thus supporting all of the various extra features offered under the Blu-ray spec). Being a descendent of Panasonic's BD30, I would expect the BD50 to also provide disc access and load times significantly better than the S2000ES (which is reported to be based on the Sony S500 platform).

As for the Media Center PC, I don't know enough about current sound cards and Blu-ray playback software to know if they have incorporated support for decoding TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. I haven't heard about folks taking this approach, though, which makes me suspect that it's at the very least difficult to do right now.

Gonk,

The depth of your knowledge never fails to astound! Thanks for the info and for saving me $500 as I will most certainly be buying the BD50 instead---when they start showing up.

Will the BD50 play music CDs as well as all DVD formats?

My computer techs don't know the answers as to computer sound cards and Blu-ray s/w specs yet but are going to try to find out. I will report any interesting findings.

Thanks again...

Yes, the BD50 will play CD's and standard DVD's.

Get a PS3!

That doesn't work so well for folks who want to hear the new audio formats but don't want to buy a new receiver or processor. Granted, it was the best choice for a Blu-ray player for well over a year in spite of that limitation (other players being glacially slow to load, permanently hardware-restricted to Profile 1.0, and lacking support for DTS-HD and sometimes even TrueHD), but I see that finally starting to change with hardware like the BD50 on the horizon (Profile 2.0, onboard decoding for all next-gen audio formats, no worries of fan noise, and a full-featured IR remote included in the box).

Don't know if anyone's posted this here lately, but an option to get new sound formats out of a PS3 into something with analog inputs:

http://www.gefen.com/gefentv/gtvproduct.jsp?prod_id=5277

BB

Very interesting idea, especially for gamers who are interested in also using their PS3 for BD's. At $400, though, that makes it, a PS3 (even the most entry-level model), and a PS3 remote of some sort more expensive than the MSRP for a BD50 if someone just wants a BD player.

One question that comes to mind is audio processing. It's not a factor for 990 owners, but there's no mention of bass management or time delay - that makes me think that you need to have your player take care of those for you. That should be workable. The other point of interest would be the DAC's included, of course, and a third HDMI input would have been good to see (for Blu-ray, HD-DVD, and DVD-A/SACD). It's certainly a concept that has some real merit - hopefully it delivers the goods, because there are definitely cases where it could see use.