Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony BDP-S500 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player

It lacks support for streaming DTS-HD Master Audio over HDMI. It downgrades that signal to regular DTS.

It supports BD-ROM Profile 1 only, although the player started selling after October 31st, so it should support Profile 1.1. I don't think that can be upgradeable by changing the firmware.

Load time is very slow. Around 1.5 minute from pressing standby button to the moment you see an image on the screen.

Remote is not backlit. If you don't memorize where the buttons are on the remote you have to turn on the lights to operate it when watching a movie in a dark room.

The Display function only shows time elapsed of the title, but not time left.

Cover is not as blue as the picture suggests, but almost black.

As I have noticed in different audio/video stores, picture quality is the same than cheaper model Sony BDP-S300 and Samsung or Panasonic players.

BRAVIA Theatre Sync (HDMI-CEC) is very useful, very nice feature, but I don't know if it works with TV and receivers that aren't from Sony.

Picture quality from regular DVD's is about the same compared to a DVD player with the ability to upgrade signal to 1080p. Picture quality from a Blu-ray disc is 10% to 25% better than regular DVD (upgraded to 1080p via HDMI) but noticeably worse than HDTV at 1080i coming from a terrestrial antenna (over the air).

If cost is important, I would recommend that you wait a little bit longer for a new model to be released, since it will cost less and will come with some of the things this BDP-S500 lacks.

My TV: Sony KDL-40XBR5. My receiver: Sony STR-DA5300 ES.

I decided to acquire a BD player that was able to decode HD Audio like Dolby True-HD. I therefore traded in my BDP S300 and exchanged it for the higher end model - the BDP S500.
Despite preferring HD DVD formatwise, I really wanted to be able to experience the best of all films in Hi Def and that meant going purple and getting both formats.

The drawbacks of the BDP S500 are primarily that it is a Profile 1.0 BD standalone player. Blu-ray is an incomplete format, rushed onto the market so as not to be left behind by HD DVD which is a completely finished Hi Def format.
There are two further Profiles that are forthcoming for Blu-ray players:
Profile 1.1 sees the introduction of extras such as picture in picture etc that are available on HD DVD players but are not available on Blu-ray until very recently, with the introduction of a few players like the Panasonic DMP BDK30.
The other is Profile 2.0 which has not yet been introduced and at this time there is no sign of any players appearing enjoying that profile.
This profile features full internet connectivity via an ethernet connection, another function enjoyed on HD DVD players but completely missing on BD Players.
Obviously being Profile 1.0, the BDP S500 enjoys none of the features that will be available in Profiles 1.1 or 2.0 nor is it possible to upgrade this player to incorporate these features. As a result the arrival of Blu-ray discs that have these features will simply be a case of playing the film only for the BDP S500 and its fellow Profile 1.0 players.
- Another drawback to the BDP S500 is that it does not decode DTS-HD Master Audio. Therefore, any discs in that format will be decoded as normal DTS.
It is rumoured though that Sony are going to provide a firmware update which will allow DTS-HD Master to be decoded via this and other Blu-ray players. The sooner the better frankly.
- Like all BD machines, the BDP S500 is limited as to what CDs and DVDs it can play. Anything outside of a conventional CD or DVD eg a CD-R or DVD-R etc will not be able to play.
My last criticism of this BD player is the clunkiness of the Java menus and the time that they take to load, particularly when playing a 50GB Blu-ray disc chock full of extras eg Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.
This loading time and overall Java interactivity has been helped though by Sony's recent firmware update 3.50 for this player. Loading times have improved since I applied this firmware to my player.

So what is good about the BDP S500?
It decodes Dolby True-HD superbly, giving a deep and very rich sound indeed when played back via my Onkyo HDMI Amp. Films like Close Encounters and The Fifth Element are simply superb, sound is beautifully clear across all channels with no distortion whatsoever. Surround sound is amazing and is never intrusive.
Despite not(yet)being able to play back DTS-HD Master, the BDP S500 can play back DTS-HD and conventional DTS sound. Both are superb and give an incredible audio experience.
Ditto for its ability to playback Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus.
- Visually the BDP S500 plays back a stunning 1080p Hi Def picture and this fantastic picture is really what the Hi Def experience is all about.
- Lastly the build of this machine is very good and I just love the the robotic fascia that lifts up and down prior or after the disc tray opening and closing.

So there you have it, a mixed bag. I bought the player for its strengths and was fully aware of its aforementioned limitations. It has not disappointed me in my expectations of it but just be aware of the Profile 1.0 concerns and others that I have outlined. If like me, you can do without those features, then go ahead and pick one up because this is a fine Hi Def player which will be even better if it gets its rumoured firmware update to be able to decode DTS-HD Master Audio.

This is the best player I have owned so far. I have owned the LG blu-ray/hd-dvd combo, PS3, Bdp-s1, Bdps300 and the HDA1. It loads as fast as any of them, about 45 seconds, then 15 - 30 seconds to play depending on how new the movie is. Firmware updates help the java loading on newer movies. I gave it four stars for not have DTS HD Master bitstream, but they could easily update its firmware to send it down the pipe. For upscaling it is amazing. The detail on peoples hair etc. is super fine.
Unlike what people say, regular DVD players that upscale, can't TRUELY upscale, they just line double. The Blu-Ray players have the processing power to TRUELY process the pixels into a higher resolution. I have owned the DENON 3910 DVD player, and even this superb player could'nt upscale like this one. I bought this player for the HDMI 1.3 for Bitstream HD Audio and support for High bandwidth colors. The BDP-S300 isn't HDMI 1.3, so it lacks future abilities for higher color gamut. All in all this is the best player in its price range. I have hooked it up to both a LG 47lc7df LCD and a Mitsubishi WD65833 Diamond series DLP. Both look crystal clean.
Movies will very on quality depending on the transfer and age of material.

First off, I like Sony products. I have a Bravia TV. All my video cameras are Sony bla bla bla.
OK I Bought my BDP-S500 on Jan 11, 2008. I took it home, put in Spiderman III. It went into load mode for 5 min, 10 min, 45 min. So I reread the instruction. Reset the machine, unpluged it etc. Same thing...
That night I went to best buy and bought Blade Runner. It Works, Cool great show, except don't hit chapter fwd or back. The machine shuts down and resets itself. The next morning I called Sony product support. They said, "Oh Yea, you need to do a firm ware upgrade.... We will send you a disk by return mail". Two days later a disk from Sony is in my mail box. I installed it per the instructions. It took thirty Min, and the end it gave the code that everything was OK. Happily I reloaded Spiderman. Nope didn't work, Bladerunner stills plays, and DOES NOT shut down on fwd or reverse. But now trying to go to System Menu shuts everything down. When I returned it to the store (Fry's) they said this is the third one that has acted up. The Sony rep was there at the same time and she took down all sorts of notes, then called her boss. He said you need to do a firmware upgrade.... sigh. I think Sony knows about this problem and the are keeping it under the radar. I returned it today, and I'm looking for something to replace it. I like the 24p aspect of the S500, and I'm not a gamer so the PSIII is not really an option. Any thoughts out there? Picture and sound were great while it worked.

Update, I bought the PS III (and then returned it) It worked but took for ever to play a BluRAY disc.

Then I went to Samsong, It was great except would not play Blu-Rays that I had "cooked" myself. (Yes, you can make your own using Toast 10 and a DVD Burner).
Now I have the Sony BX-1. It's fast to load, great picture, and plays my Blu-Ray disc

I purchased this machine to replace a Samsung BD-P1200 and am quite impressed with the features and quality of its playback capabilities. I did have to update the firmware from 3.0 to 3.1, which took about 20 minutes to complete, but I am very pleased with its performance. The only thing about this machine is that it was manufactured in China and not Japan.