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Sony BDP-S550 1080p Blu-ray Player  | 
 enlarge | Brand: Sony
Category: CE
Buy New: Too low to display
New (20)
Avg. Customer Rating:  66 reviews
Color: Black
Media: Electronics
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 6.4
Dimensions (in): 17 x 8.8 x 2.4
MPN: BDPS550
Model: BDPS550
UPC: 027242737518
EAN: 0027242737518
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | Bonus View & BD-Live (Profile 2.0) w/1GB flash memory for local storage | | • | Full HD 1080/60p & 24p True Cinema Video Output | | • | Dolby True HD/DTS-HD decoder built-in with 7.1ch out. Quick start up mode. | | • | Dolby TrueHD & DTS-HD bitstream out over HDMI (V1.3) | | • | x.v.Color for AVC-HD |
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Product Description
The BDP-S550 model supports BonusView (Picture-in-Picture) featured on some of the new Blu-ray Disc theatrical releases. This model also features an external port for local storage, so users can add optional flash-based memory. The BDP-S550 ships with a 1GB storage device.The player features 1080/60p and 24p True Cinema output. It is compatible with most standard DVDs and features 1080p upscaling through an HDMI connection to capable HDTV sets, improving the picture performance of existing DVD libraries.The model offers 7.1 channel Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus decoding and bit-stream output, as well as dts -HD High Resolution Audio and Master Audio bit-stream output. The BDP-S550 adds dts-HD High Resolution Audio and dts-HD Master Audio decoding as well as 7.1 channel analog audio output.The player supports AVCHD discs encoded with x.v.Color (xvYCC) technology, an international standard for wide color space reproduction. The standard expands the current data range of video by about 1.8 times, allowing the players to output more natural and vivid colors similar to what the human eye can actually see. The player also features compatibility with an array of video formats, including BD-R/RE (BDMV and BDAV modes), DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW (Video Mode), CD, CD-R/RW (CD-DA format), and JPEG on DVD/CD recordable media.The new model features a slim design with reduced depth and height compared to previous models matching Sony's new home-theater-in-a-box systems, the HT-SS2300 and HT-CT100 T-SS2300, also announced today. Optimized for Blu-ray Disc, the new component systems feature three 1080p compatible HDMI inputs making them the perfect match for a Full high-definition home theater when connected to a new Sony BRAVIA 1080p HDTV.
Amazon.com Product Description
Bring home the future of Blu-ray Disc technology with BD-Live and the BDP-S550 Blu-ray Disc player. The S550 is the step-up model to Sony's BDP-S350. It adds a gigabyte of onboard memory, so you can enjoy expanded Blu-ray capabilities like BD-Live interactive features right out of the box, and dts-HD compatibility for studio-quality sound.
BD-Live takes your movie experience to a whole new level. Download and stream bonus content such as additional scenes, shorts, trailers and movie-based games. Equipped with a built-in Ethernet port, the BDP-S550 makes it easy to access specially created BD-Live content and Bonus View features. A USB port that allows you to add more storage to access the growing number of special features that will be available given the immense storage capacity of Blu-ray discs themeselves. This player outputs a Full 1080/24p True Cinema picture and upscales your existing DVD collection to 1080p when using the HDMI connection. Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD delivers studio master quality audio which is designed specifically for high definition entertainment. Make the most of all of these features with the icon-based Xcross Media Bar, which provides simple navigation of the player's menu system.
Key Features  Slim chassis- True 1080p Output (Learn more)
- 7.1 Channel Dolby Sound , Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD (Master Audio and High Resolution Audio) (Learn more)
- 1 Gb of onboard memory and a USB Port Allows More Storage for Access to More Special Features, Like Bonus View (Learn More)
- Ethernet connection for BD-Live Compatibility and firmware updates (Learn more)
- Higher Bit Rates mean less video compression (Learn more)
- Emmy-Award Winning Xross Media Bar Interface (Learn More)
- Bravia Sync for Easy Connectivity (Learn More)
Learn More
|  See Everything Your HDTV Can Show You with Full HD.
6 Times the Picture Data on DVDs
See everything your HDTV can show you. Blu-ray Disc's Full HD 1080p resolution produces over 2 million pixels per frame to produce a razor-sharp picture with unmatched depth and clarity that takes full advantage of the capabilities of today's 1080p HDTVs. That's six times the picture data contained on DVDs, which are encoded at only 480p. 24p True Cinema Video Output
Most of all Hollywood movies are shot at 24 frames per second, and Blu-ray Disc movies are mastered at 24 frame per second, so it is only fitting that the Sony Blu-ray Disc Players can output your films at 1080/24p for a true film-like experience at home. Of course, Sony Blu-ray Disc Players can also output at 1080/60p for more traditional HDTV sets on the market. Either way Sony has you covered for the best picture possible in Full 1080p.
Backwards compatible and Upscaling
All existing Blu-ray Disc players will play your standard DVD collection without a problem. And with built-in 1080p video upscaling, they'll look even better. |
 In the digital world, picture quality is not just about resolution, but also about bit rates. The higher the bit rate, the more data that is processed, typically resulting in higher video quality. DVDs have a maximum video bit rate of about 10 megabits per second (Mbps). In comparison, Blu-ray Disc is capable of video bitrates up to an incredible 40 Mbps. The bottom line, higher bit rates allow for the least amount of data compression for HD video that looks closest to the original video source.
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Dolby TrueHD internal decoding and bitstream output via HDMI for the Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD (Master Audio and High Resolution Audio) codes delivers studio quality audio designed specifically for high definition entertainment like Blu-ray Disc movies, with up to 7.1 channels of surround sound that is virtually indistinguishable from the original studio version. 7.1 channel analog output provides connectivity to older receivers, making the player compatible with your existing audio system with 7.1 analog inputs. The BDP-S550 is compatible with Dolby TrueHD, Dolby’s next-generation lossless technology developed for high-definition disc-based media. Dolby TrueHD delivers tantalizing sound that is bit-for-bit identical to the studio master, unlocking the true high-definition entertainment experience on next-generation discs. When coupled with high-definition video, Dolby TrueHD offers an unprecedented home theater experience that lets you enjoy sound as stunning as the high-definition picture. - Delivers enthralling studio-master-quality sound that unlocks the true high-definition entertainment experience on next-generation discs.
- Offers more discrete channels than ever before for impeccable surround sound.
- Compatible with the A/V receivers and home-theaters-in-a-box (HTIBs) of today and tomorrow.
- Dialogue normalization maintains the same volume level when you change to other Dolby Digital and Dolby TrueHD programming.
- Dynamic range control (Night mode) enables you to customize audio playback to reduce peak volume levels (no loud surprises) while experiencing all the details in the soundtrack, enabling late-night viewing of high-energy surround sound without disturbing others.
 Xross (pronounced Cross) is Sony's Technical-Emmy award-winning graphic user interface for Sony WEGA and BRAVIA televisions and PS3 and PSX game systems. The interface features category icons spread horizontally across the screen that organize the viewing options (TV, Music, Internet, Tools, etc...). When a category icon is selected on the horizontal bar, a vertical bar appears showing the viewing options within that category. Using the directional pad on your remote, you can easily maneuver horizontally from category to category, then scroll vertically through individual viewing options to easily navigate through the wide range of programming available on today's televisions. |
 BD-Live is a Blu-ray feature that enables you to access special content via an internet-connected Blu-ray player. Because it's not coded into the disc, BD-Live content is always updated, always fresh. With BD-Live, your Blu-ray disc is different every time you view it.
Check out the latest previews, download special scenes, exclusive features and ringtones, and participate in online communities or games.
As BD-Live continues to grow and expand, even more features will become available, customizing features and content to your location or preferences.
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| Blu-ray Disc has 5x more storage capacity than DVD, which allows more content to fit on the disc. The extra storage capacity also means more room for special features like inline navigation, Bonus View, interactive games, deleted scenes, director commentary and more | Navigate to special features, other scenes, or settings without leaving the content you are watching.
| Bonus View lets you watch special features and commentary inline without leaving the movie.
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HDMI Features x.v Color 
RGB Color Range
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xvYCC Color Range
| Thanks to the adoption of a newly approved international color standard called xvYCC (an option in the HDMI v1.3 spec and which Sony participated in creating), the color space has been greatly expanded.
All Sony XBR HDTVs support the xvYCC color profile (Extended YCC Colorimetry for Video Applications), or "x.v. color" for short. Standard RGB color space allows the display of a portion of the colors that are viewable to the human eye. The next generation "xvYCC" color space actually offers an available range of colors that exceeds what human eyes can recognize. - Next-generation "xvYCC" color space supports 1.8 times as many colors as existing HDTV signals
- Lets HDTVs display colors more accurately
- Enables displays with more natural and vivid colors
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Deep Color  | So, where x.v. color expands the available range of colors your HDTV can display, Deep Color increases the number of colors your HDTV can display within that range, for smoother transitions from color to color.
- Lets HDTVs and other displays go from millions of colors to billions of colors
- Eliminates on-screen color banding, for smooth tonal transitions and subtle gradations between colors
- Enables increased contrast ratio
- Can represent many times more shades of gray between black and white
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 As a leader in products with HDMI connectivity, Sony has created BRAVIA Sync to gobeyond simple audio and video transmission. When combined with a select number of BRAVIA televisions and other Sony audio and video products, in addition to audio and video transmission, control functions will betransmitted via the HDMI cable. With "One Touch Play," operations that took several steps have been reduced to one. Press the PLAY button on the remote, watch the audio and/or the video component(s) turn on then the BRAVIA television turn on and switch to the correct video input–Simple–Easy–BRAVIA Sync.
Inputs and Outputs
- Analog Audio Output(s) : 2 Channel: 1 (Rear)
- Coaxial Audio Digital Output(s) : 1 (Rear)
- Component Video (Y/Pb/Pr) Output(s) : (Y/Pb/Pr) OUtput(s): 1 (Rear)
- Composite Video Output(s) : 1 (Rear)
- Optical Audio Output(s) : 1 (Rear)
- S-Video Output(s) : 1 (Rear)
- Ether port for firmware updates
- USB port for BD-Live External Memory
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Specifications
Weights and Measurements - Dimensions (Approx.): 17 inches x 8 3/4 inches x 2 3/4 inches (430 x 220 x 70 mm)
- Weight (Approx.): 7 lbs 4 oz (3.3Kg)
Audio Features - Dolby: Yes & Dolby TrueHD bitstream out over HDMI (V1.3)
- Dolby Digital plus Decoding: Yes
- Dolby TrueHD Decoding : Yes
- dts Decoding: Yes
- dts Output: Yes
- dts-HD Decoding: Yes
- LPCM: Yes (multi channel decoder): Yes (HDMI bitstream out)
- Dolby True HD bitstream output: Yes
- dts HD bitstream output: Yes
Capability Video Features - BD-R/RE Read Compatibility: Yes (BDMV & BDAV format)
- BD-ROM: Yes
- DVD+R Read Compatibility: Yes
- DVD+RW Read Compatibility: Yes
- DVD-R Read Compatibility: Yes (Video Mode and VR Mode)
- DVD-RW Read Compatibility: Yes (Video Mode and VR Mode)
- JPEG Playback: Yes
- x.v.Color Technology: Yes
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| Customer Reviews: Read 61 more reviews...
 Great Do-It-All Player (Finally) October 12, 2008
349 out of 352 found this review helpful
Well, I just got the player a couple of days ago from Amazon, and since nobody has reviewed it, yet, I thought I'd first provide a comparison to the 350 and then my impressions to give a full overview.
COMPARISON
This is the "big brother" of the Sony BDP-S350 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player. What are the differences (Apart from more than $100 at the time of this writing)? One big one (for some) and two minor ones:
- It does 7.1 ANALOG Audio out. (Big deal for some people, like myself.)
- It decodes ALL next-gen audio formats (the 350 does not decode the one that is not used much, and I am reading that they will upgrade that via firmware, so minor difference).
- It is BD 2.0, which is the newest and for now final Blu-Ray format. (The 350 can be upgraded to it by buying and installing a memory card, so also only a minor difference.)
The last two are nice if you want a player that is future proof without you actualy needing to fiddle around with it. Unless you really hate doing things like firmware upgrades, I don't think they are worth the price difference between this unit and the 350, though.
The real difference is that this player does 7.1 ANALOG Audio out (see my experience below). So IF you have a receiver that cannot be connected via HDMI, but that is otherwise so good (was so expensive) that you do not wish to switch it out, and it has 7.1 ANALOG Audio in (often called "External In" or "Pre In"), you can connect this player via 8 (yes, eight, not a typo) analog audio cables to the receiver, and still receive all 7.1 channels of Audio. I, for instance, own a Denon 5805 receiver (original cost several thousand dollars), which I do not want to switch out. By spending the additional money for this player, I can have pretty much the same experience as if I had an hdmi capable (newer) receiver. So mostly, this only applies to people who are willing to spend a lot of money for a perfect audio experience. One thing to note: You can not get the full 7.1 Audio via either optical or normal digital connection. The audio quality will be downgraded to accomodate that those cable formats can't transport the data fast enough for the full quality. Another thing to note: This does not concern the actual picture quality, just the audio.
BOTTOM LINE: IF THIS IS A GOOD UPGRADE OVER THE 350 DEPENDS COMPLETELY ON YOUR RECEIVER, and is more likely if your receiver is older and was expensive. If it wasn't I would get the Sony BDP-S350 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player.
IMPRESSIONS
So, how does it actually work. I have it connected to a 720p TV via hdmi, and a Denon 5805 receiver via 7.1 analog (I have a 7.1 speaker system).
Installation
Installation was pretty hassle free, except for fiddling with the audio to get it to work just like I wanted it to (took about 1-2 hours, which is normal if you add this kind of component to a system like mine). The non-audio setup was only 5-10 minutes (take it out, plug it in, press a few buttons, ready).
For the analog audio, you can tell the unit which speakers (up to 7.1) and speaker sizes (small, large) you have, how far they are from the listener (in feet, fronts and the surround pairs can only be configured in pairs, hard to configure if your sub or surrounds are far away for some reason), and finally speaker level (per each speaker, front and surround pairs can be seperately configured here). It also provides a test tone. Apparently the bass management is done through how you configured the size of the other speakers, and if you tell it small for all you have to have a sub. I am running configured through the unit so far, even though I have a receiver that can redigitalize the analog audio inputs (which I will probably try in the future once I have listened to it like this for a while, so I can compare better). So my impressions below are for having the Sony do all the processing.
Operation
The unit comes on relatively quickly, and starts playing a Blu-Ray disk in about 30 seconds or so, which was a positive surprise after having read the horror stories about waiting times for the last generation of these players. Still noticable slower than a standard DVD player for DVDs. DVDs start faster in this player, though, and can be upconverted. The user interface is mostly graphical, kind of like the PS3s, and you get used to it quickly.
Video / Audio Quality
I was very positively surprised about the video and audio quality produced by the unit, both for Blu-Ray and DVD. The Blu-Ray picture was sharp with great colors and color gradients, and I did not spot any conversion artifacts in 720p (I had the unit do the conversion). In short, the picture is what true HD picture should be. The sound was amazing. Even though right now the movies I played still have no "real" 7.1, but 5.1, I thought localization was fantastic, and the quality crystal clear. The surround was well defined without drowning out the voices. Caveat: I have only played a few movies at this point, so this might be due to fantastic sound engineering. I was not used to the bass management, though, the Denon does that different (it has automatic room correction), so if your receiver does not redigitize the analog signal to apply its own bass management, etc., you might run into a little bit of a problem here (I thought it still sounded great, but then I am not a bass fan). In the end, the unit does not come with automatic room correction, and the bass is one point where that could make quite a difference depending on your setup / room. (This last part applies more to the audio-nut community, for whom it might be a big deal, though, and who are a large part of the target audience for this player as far as i can tell.)
DVD upsampling looks like a "fuzzy" HD picture. I did not spot any abvious artifacts, but then I only took a quick look (I did not buy the unit for DVD playback / upsampling, but for Blu-Ray). Sound was good for DVDs as well.
BOTTOM LINE: Great unit, better than I thought in both picture and audio. If you need 7.1 analog, and can't/don't want to spend 2G on a Denon or Oppo, buy it. You will get 7.1 analog with good basic configuration options, but don't expect automatic room adjustment level results.
 Pristine video. Crystal clear audio. October 16, 2008
104 out of 105 found this review helpful
Let me first start out by stating that I'm living in an analog world. I'm using component video and 7.1-channel RCA connectors for audio. This ability, combined with Profile 2.0, was the primary reason I waited for the Sony BDP-S550.
Out of the box, the unit is surprisingly small. It's full-width, but only half the depth of every other component I have in my rack. This all but guarantees the new Blu-ray Disc player will sit proudly at the top of my six-and-a-half foot tower of electronics. It's a pretty unit with a slight bluish black complexion so I don't mind, really. I was just surprised. My previous foray into Sony disc players was the DVP-S9000ES which was a 40-pound, brass-plated monster.
The initial setup was a breeze. I like the matrix-like setup menus. The only tweaks I had to make were to set the Audio Output Priority to multi-channel analog and [eventually] to set the BD Audio Setting to "Direct". This last item was critically important and almost made me return the unit. By allowing menu-based sound effects to be mixed into the BD audio, it introduced a ~150ms audio delay in watching Blu-ray Discs. I was horrified until, on a SWAG, I changed this setting. Phew!
After playing a few minutes from every Blu-ray Disc I bought, I threw in a few reference quality DVDs. The upconversion from 480i to both 480p and 1080i (via component video) was excellent. It was almost too good, showing the limitations of some of my lesser DVDs. Film grain in the recently remastered "Dirty Dancing" DVD [Disclaimer: this is my fiancee's disc] was more obvious on this player than I've seen on any of my other DVD players. There are extensive noise reduction settings available in the player, but the film grain was more a testament to the clarity of the player rather than distracting.
I also tested 4x3 (1.33:1) DVDs and audio CDs, just to be sure the player could be my end-all, be-all player. Initially, the player stretched the 4x3 DVD to fit my 16x9 screen, but I eventually found the Screen Format video settings, which when set to the non-intuitive value of "Fixed Aspect Ratio", displays all DVDs in their proper aspect ratio.
In conclusion, the video on my 1080i RPTV is pristine; the best I've ever seen. The player-decoded 7.1-channel audio is also crystal clear. I didn't expect to hear an improvement over optical DTS-ES or THX-EX, but the difference is amazingly obvious. The player *does*, unfortunately, suffer from the -10dB subwoofer output limitation, which is very irritating (and the cause of only 4 stars). Relative to all the other channels, the line-level subwoofer output is over 10dB too low. This causes a major disparity in perceived output between the seven main channels and the subwoofer. I'm hoping and praying Sony will release a firmware upgrade to fix this in the very near future. Until then, I've got all the other channels set to -10 to -12dB with the subwoofer set to 0dB, which is almost close to the correct value for my home theatre.
If you can live with or compensate for the very low subwoofer output, or use HDMI for audio and video, then I do not hesitate in strongly recommending this player to anyone looking for an excellent, user-friendly, fully-functional and surprisingly inexpensive Blu-ray Disc player.
Just a few more features needed November 23, 2008
48 out of 49 found this review helpful
I have owned the Sony BDP-S550 Blu-ray player for about three weeks. It is my first Blu-ray player. With the right Blu-ray program material, the audio and video quality is as good as all the positive reviews here attest. The audio is the tricky part to set up, but I worked it out in about ten minutes. I set the audio mode to "Direct" instead of the default "Mix" to ensure that the player outputs lossless audio (when such a soundtrack is available on a disc) instead of lossy Dolby Digital or DTS core. I connected the player to my non-HDMI Denon receiver equipped with 5.1 analog inputs using three pairs of RCA audio cables. The player's rear surround left and right are left unused in my case. If you don't have a 7.1 channel receiver, you can set the S550 to down-mix 7.1 soundtracks to 5.1, and output lossless audio to the analog outputs. The results are incredible, I never knew my sound system could sound so realistic and dynamic. I didn't need to adjust subwoofer level compared to my previous DVD player.
Next, I want to note some features that are lacking, which I thought should have been included, as well as other nit-picks. None of these major flaws in my opinion, but here they are:
1) The S550 does not have frame-by-frame advance. Only pause and play.
2) No slow-motion.
3) No zoom feature. It would be useful for letterboxed widescreen material in a 4:3 format. You would have to use your TV's zoom, if available.
4) The S550 does not display what chapter you are viewing, neither in the unit's front display nor the on-screen display. Only when you press the chapter back/skip buttons does it tell you the chapter number on-screen. But then you are at a different point in the movie.
5) The USB port cannot be used to play music or view pictures off a USB flash drive. To my knowledge, the USB port only serves as a place to insert the external memory for BD-Live functionality. At least Sony provided a 1-GB USB flash card for that purpose.
6) Fast-forward and rewind are quite sluggish.
7) The display button only reports the video resolution that the player is outputting, such as 1080/24p or 1080/60p. It does not tell you the video resolution of the program material on disc, which may be 1080i, 480i, or other in the case of bonus material.
I do like a few nice touches on this player:
1) BD-Live functionality works great, granted I've only tried it with "Transformers." I hooked the player up to a cable modem directly, and I could download the features in mere seconds.
2) Besides regular fast-forward, rewind, and chapter skip buttons, the S550 has advance or reverse buttons take you forward or back in 10-15 second increments. Press the button multiple times to increase the time jump. It's very useful when you want to catch a mumbled piece of dialog again, or to see an instant replay of an action sequence.
3) The player will resume where you last stopped a non-BD-Java enhanced disc if you power down the unit, as long as you don't eject the disc.
4) The display button puts on-screen the time elapsed or remaining in a movie, audio codec (such as DTS HD Master) with sampling rate and number of active speakers, and video codec with instantaneous bit rate. When playing an uncompressed LPCM track, the display tells you the bit resolution as well (16-bit, 24 bit, etc.).
5) The player allows you to change audio tracks on the fly with every Blu-ray disc I have tried. This might just be a general Blu-ray feature, but I appreciate it because with DVD, some discs locked you into a particular audio track, and you would have to return to the disc menu to change it.
This is a solid player all-around. Despite a few nit-picks, I highly recommend the Sony BDP-S550.
Great Player October 16, 2008
28 out of 32 found this review helpful
I just received mine yesterday. It was up and running in 10 minutes. This included removing my old DVD player. The upscaled, standard DVDs looked great. I've only purchase on BluRay disk so far, but the picture and audio were fabulous.
I was worried buying the unit without seeing it in the store first after all the complaints about slow boots and loads with last year's models. However, this unit appears to be as quick as my old DVD player when loading either standard DVDs or the one BluRay disk that I have.
Wonderful unit October 17, 2008
23 out of 25 found this review helpful
I just received this unit. It took just a few minutes to plug it into the HDMI port on my Sony Bravia TV and use the quick start menu. The Blu-Ray disk playback is amazing. The older DVD's I have tried look better than my 3 year old Sony DVD that was also connected to the HDMI port. I moved that unit to component video for a backup.
It was nice to have everything go smoothly and have such great quality now.
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