Sony announced its BDP-S500 at IFA, but they were holding out on us until today. Their BDP-S2000es flagship bears the ES designation, which longtime Sony fans will recognize as their Elevated Standards gear. What do you get over the BDP-S500? Cleaner circuitry in the form of separate boards for audio and video, along with a sturdier chassis and IR-in. That’s not a clear deal for $1300 (vs the $700 of the S500), but we’re most disappointed with the lack of the profile 2.0 compatibility. When are Blu-ray players going to hit with the latest standard support?
· Elevated Standards (ES) single Blu-ray Disc player · Full HD 1080/60p with 24p True Cinema video output · Dolby Digital TrueHD/DTS-HD Master bitstream out via HDMI · Uncompressed multi-channel liner PCM · BD-ROM/DVD/CD playback · BRAVIA Theater Sync · DVD upscaling to 1080p via HDMI · AVC-HD with x.v.Color output · IR-in · High Quality, rigid construction with striking design · Separate audio/video boards for stunning sound and picture quality · Available this fall for about $1300
