Blu-Ray Disc Player: Excellent picture quality on Blu-ray and DVD; DVD upconversion up to 1080p; HDMI output. Right away, everyone in the room took notice of the S300 Blu-Ray Disc player’s picture quality, it’s always reassuring when out-of-the-box results are at least on par with expectations, exceeding them is of course a nice bonus.

SONY’s BDP-S300 Blu-Ray Disc Player is an important product that gives Blu-ray some much-needed traction in the affordable player category. Combine that with recent news from rental powerhouse Blockbuster that it’s expanding Blu-ray titles in its stores (at the expense of HD DVD in most cases), and the BDP-S300 seems like a no-brainer.

HQV Benchmark Results: The BDP-S300 Blu-Ray Disc Player scored very well against the Standard Definition HQV Benchmark Disc, passing most tests with flying colours, and was able to sync film cadence test 3 :2 faster than many other recently tested DVD and BD/HD players.

o Color Bar/Vertical Detail: Pass – Score 10 out of 10

o Jaggies Pattern 1: Pass – Score 5 out of 5

o Jaggies Pattern 2: Pass – Score 3 out of 5

o Flag: Pass – Score 10 out of 10

o Image Detail: Approved – Score 10 out of 10

o Noise Reduction: Pass – Score 10 out of 10

o Motion Adaptive Noise Reduction: Pass – Score 10 out of 10

o Screening 3:2: Pass – Score 10 out of 10

o Film Cadence: Pass – Score (Combined) 40 out of 40

o Mixed 3:2 Movie, Horizontal Text Tracing: Pass – Score 10 out of 10

o Mixed 3:2 Movie, Vertical Text Tracing: Pass – Score 10 out of 10

o Total Score: 128 out of 130 possible.

And the remote is good: it controls both the player and the TV.
Unlike Sony’s first-generation BDP-S1 (and Pioneer Elite’s BDP-HD1), the BDP-S300 will play CDs, either from its analog audio outputs or any of its digital audio outputs, including HDMI.

Once loaded and running, the BDP-S300 performed like a gold medalist. The best Blu-ray discs looked great at 1080p/60 or 1080p/24. And for those of you using 720p displays, or displays that don’t accept 1080p input, the player also performed wonderfully when set to 720p or 1080i output.
The Sony BDP-S300 Multi-Region Blu-Ray is a sure winner
Sony’s BDP-S300 Blu-ray player is a good one, with excellent Blu-ray Disc playback quality and solid standard-definition DVD upconversion for your legacy collection.

Description: Everyone will marvel at the amazing picture and sound quality of this second generation Blu-ray Disc player. With notable features and versatile performance, the BDP-S300 is an incredible value.

BDP-S300 Strengths: Image Quality

Strengths: Great picture and excellent sound.

Weaknesses: None for me

Summary: I bought this Blu-Ray player last July to watch movies and it has worked perfectly since day 1. I am not a picture-in-picture viewer (which this does not have) nor do I play any of the games that are on some of the discs. I wanted a Blu-Ray player that would give me Full HD video and great sound. The audio sounds great on my surround sound system when I use it. Sometimes I just use the TV speakers and the audio is great. If you are interested in a Blu-Ray player with great video and great sound, this player is for you.

Strengths: Plays Blu-Ray discs, converts standard DVDs. Full 1080p output. Good variety of audio outputs.

Strengths: Great picture when playing Blu-ray Disc. I connected all audio connections at once except Coax, and everything worked automatically… Great sound.

While the Sony BDP-S300 is an entry-level Blu-ray player, entry-level doesn’t necessarily mean cheap. You will get a capable HD video player. VD is mediocre at best and only decodes Dolby Digital Plus. If you already have an upconvertible DVD player and don’t mind Dolby TrueHD decoding and the plethora of high-definition DTS formats, this may be the Blu-ray player for you.

Summary: Sony has finally released its second-generation Blu-ray player at half the original price of the original! The BDP-S300 looks like a bargain compared to its previous BDP-S1 model.

In addition to the cost benefit, you get more with this player. Unlike the previous model, the S300 can play CDs as well as DVDs. Also, it seems to charge a bit faster than the previous model.

All in all, the BDP-S300 delivers what it promises.

The new BDP-S300 model can output 1920 x 1080p (progressive) HD video, currently the highest resolution HD signal available via an HDMI(TM) connection. The player supports various video formats including MPEG2, MPEG4-AVC and VC1.

For those who own an HDTV without HDMI, an analog component output for 1080i (interlaced) is also available.

The new BD player is compatible with most standard DVDs and has the added function of converting 1080p via HDMI to 1080p compatible HDTVs, improving picture performance of existing DVD libraries. .

Watching PIRATES I and PIRATES II, I found the image striking and vivid with no artifacts. My receiver offers 5.1 DD, so I can’t take advantage of the uncompressed PCM codec. However, the Dolby digital audio track was quite impressive. All in all, this is an excellent player at a very good price.

This is a great BD player for under $500! The image quality is amazing!
Excellent upscaling quality for DVD movies

It is mentioned below that it cannot be done without regions. Only partially true. A California company already sells this model in a Multiregion version. You can play any region A and B Blu-Ray Disc movie and display it on any TV that has HDMI input, regardless of the video standard (PAL-SECAM-NTSC, etc.)

This is a drive we’d buy for ourselves if it weren’t for the fact that we can’t make it region free, because we have a huge collection of DVDs with movies from regions 1 and 4. If you’re going to play only region-free discs (” region 0″) or region 1, then this drive is a great choice, especially for its cost/benefit ratio: excellent price and excellent DVD image quality, if the relative slowness of this drive doesn’t bother you.

I haven’t gone through all the bells and whistles yet, but the image quality blew me away. Even my wife, who doesn’t really get the whole ‘high definition’ thing, was very impressed. We watched Pirates/Caribbean 2 and couldn’t believe the quality.

Pros: Excellent picture quality, Inexpensive for a Blu-ray player, Offers HDMI upscaling to 1080p

Anyone who wants to experience the tremendous pleasures of watching Blu-ray Disc movies, and at a reasonable starting cost, is recommended to check out the Sony BDP-S300.

This is a great Blu-ray DVD player. It enhances regular DVD viewing and presents Blu-ray Discs in full 1080p (if you have a 1080p HDTV).

The video and sound quality is amazing!

Very good product for the money. It’s worth getting if you want to get the best picture from your large widescreen HDTV.

“I’ve had this Blu-ray player for about 2 weeks now. I bought my first Blu-ray movie last weekend and was blown away by the full 1080p picture it produces and the full digital sound is impressive. Be sure to buy a hdmi cable for this player and you won’t be disappointed. It will also convert standard DVD to near HD quality.”

Have this unit for a week and I love it. I bought it for my husband from bestbuys appliances, the price was great, the units are great and I would definitely tell everyone to buy this if they want a good Blu ray without emptying their wallets.