Sony BDP-S500 (BDPS500) Multiregion Blu-Ray player

Price: $639.99

NB: In some rare occasions a PAL Blu-Ray disc may not be both 50 and 60 Hertz. In such a case of your TV isn't 50 Hertz (most are) certain rare discs may not play correctly.

Step up to the BDP-S500 Blu-ray Disc™ player, featuring Full HD 1080p video plus Dolby® TrueHD and DTS® HD audio decoding.

Enter the next level of high definition with the stylish BDP-S500 Blu-ray Disc™ player. Built with rigid beam construction and a motorized sliding front panel, the BDP-S500 is a videophile's delight. The pristine images from high definition Blu-ray Disc movies and 1080p DVD upscaling will make your HDTV come alive. Amazing 24p True Cinema output and cinema-tuned picture presets allow you to see movies exactly as the director intended. Featuring LPCM, Dolby® TrueHD and DTS® HD audio decoding for ultra-realistic sound, this player is also a treat for the ears. And with BRAVIA® Theatre Sync, you can control your compatible BRAVIA HDTV and Sony AV system with the press of a button.

BD-ROM Playback
Rival your local movie theater with the power of Blu-ray Disc technology in your Home Theater. You can enjoy movies from Hollywood's biggest studios, and enjoy all of the great features, sights and sounds that Blu-ray Disc technology has to offer. Blu-ray Disc technology delivers Full 1080P picture quality and up to 7.1 channels of surround sound. Movie Night will never be the same!

DVD Upscaling to 1080p via HDMI™
Get the most out of your existing DVD collection by having them upscaled to 1080p quality. Your DVD's will look and sound better than ever when you play them back on your new Sony Blu-ray Disc Player.

BRAVIA® Theatre Sync™ (HDMI-CEC)
Sony® created BRAVIA® Theatre Sync™ technology to go beyond basic digital audio and video transmission. Based on the HDMI-CEC function, the BRAVIA® Theatre Sync™ feature will be included on select BRAVIA® Theatre home A/V systems and components. This useful function reduces the hassle and time consuming job of powering up, routing signals, etc. to the simple push of one button.3 Want to play your Blu-ray Disc Player on your Sony® A/V system– Easy, just push PLAY on the BRAVIA® HDTV remote and everything is taken care of for you. Even when the system is off! Want to power down everything once you've finished enjoying it– Push one button and the TV and A/V system powers down. BRAVIA® Theatre Sync™ helps make things a whole lot easier to operate.

BD/DVD/CD playback and AVC-HD with x.v.Color output
Play back all your favorite Blu-ray Disc Movies, DVD's, Audio CD's, and AVC-HD (delivers digital picture and sound quality comparable to that of High Definition, but on a DVD) discs with all of our Sony Blu-ray Disc Players.

Full HD 1080/60p and 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 BDP-S500 can output your films at 1080/24p for a true film-like experience at home. Of course, The Sony BDP-S500 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!

Video Codec Format : MPEG2/MPEG4-AVC/VC-1
Blu-ray Disc technology is compatible with many different types of video codec for recording your favorite films onto the disc. So regardless of the High Definition recording process used by the studio making the movie, Sony's Blu-ray Disc Players are ready for them all, in glorious Full 1080p HD.

Cinema Tuned Picture Presets
What do you get when the world's best filmmakers and the best makers of Home Theater products get together– Answer: Exclusive Cinema Tuned Picture Presets on your Sony Blu-ray Player! , we made getting a "best picture" for your movies even easier. Whether you view your movies in a dark theater, or in a bright room, we got you covered with picture settings all carefully selected by the same engineers that make Sony's movies in Hollywood.

Uncompressed Multi Channel Linear PCM Output
Blu-ray Disc technology not only delivers a phenomenal picture, but incredible sound as well. Many Blu-ray Disc movies take advantage of the capacity on the disc to offer an Uncompressed Multi Channel Linear PCM soundtrack of your favorite movies. With up to 7.1 channels of surround sound, Uncompressed Multi Channel Linear PCM is completely lossless and lets you hear the movie with incredible clarity and realism that you never experience before on DVD.

Dolby® Digital Plus decoding capability
Dolby Digital Plus is Dolby's next-generation audio technology that can offer up to 7.1 channels of surround sound. Dolby Digital Plus also offers a higher-quality experience than the Dolby Digital soundtrack you are used to on a standard DVD.

Dolby® TrueHD, dts®-HD Bitstream out over HDMI™
The future of surround sound arrives with Blu-ray Disc technology. With the BDP-S500, you can enjoy incredible new audio codecs from both Dolby Laboratories and Digital Theater Systems (dts). Simply by connecting your Blu-ray Disc player to the HDMI connection on your A/V Receiver, the BDP-S500 can either output or internally decode Dolby TrueHD & dts-HD. - Dolby TrueHD delivers lossless studio master quality audio designed specifically for high definition entertainment like Blu-ray Disc movies. An incredible sound stage, dynamic range and a stellar Home Theater experience await you with Dolby TrueHD. - dts-HD gives you sound quality that matches the crystal clear image of Blu-ray Disc media. With up to 7.1 channels of surround sound and audio that is indistinguishable form the original studio version, dts-HD promises you an extraordinary surround experience.

BD-Java Interactive Capability
Blu-ray Disc technology offers the potential of a new level of interactive experiences, with seamless on-screen menus and hi def bonus materials for a more dynamic home theater. With the extra capacity on Blu-ray Disc media and BD JAVA programming, content creators have an open canvas to design new ways for customers to interact with their favorite movies.

• Multi Channel 192KHz/24bit Audio D/A Converters
• Quick Set Up
• FL Off/Dimmer Mode
• Parental Control
• Front Slide Down Door
• Popup Menu
• HDMI™ Connection Output(s) - 1 (Rear)
• Component Video (Y/Pb/Pr) Output(s) - 1 (Rear)
• S-Video Output(s) - 1 (Rear)
• Optical Audio Output(s) - 1 (Rear)
• Coaxial Audio Digital Output(s) - 1 (Rear)
• Analog Audio Output(s) - 2 Channel; 1 (Rear)
• IR Input(s) - No
• Composite Video Output(s) - 1 (Rear)
• PCM Output(s) - Linear PCM Decoding; Linear PCM out via HDMI™ bitstream
• Limited Warranty - 1 Year Parts / 1 Year Labor
• Dolby® Digital - Yes (Decoding); Yes (HDMI™ bitstream out)
• dts® Output - No
• dts® Decoding - Yes (HDMI™ bitstream out)
• Dolby® Digital plus Decoding - Yes (HDMI™ bitstream out)
• MP3 Playback - Yes (Content must be in DVD+R/+RW/-R/-RW format.)
• Dolby® TrueHD Decoding - Yes (HDMI™ bitstream out)
• LPCM - Yes (multi channel decoding); Yes (HDMI™ bitstream out)
• Analog-to-Digital Converter - 192KHz/24bit
• Menu Options - No
• Remote Control Functions - Multi Brand TV Remote Control
• Screen Saver - Yes
• DVD+R Read Compatibility - Yes
• DVD+RW Read Compatibility - Yes
• DVD-R Read Compatibility - Yes (Video Mode Only)
• DVD-RW Read Compatibility - Yes (Video Mode Only)
• High Definition - Full HD 1080/24p and 60p1
• BD-ROM - Yes
• BD-R/RE Read Compatibility - Yes (BDMV format)
• JPEG Playback - Yes (Content must be in DVD+R/+RW/-R/-RW format.)
• x.v.Color™ - Yes (AVC-HD Media Compatibility)
• CD - Yes (CD-DA)
• DVD - Yes (Video)
• Dimensions (Approx.) - 16 15/16 x 3 15/16 x 14 1/4" (430 x 99.2 x 361mm)
• Weight (Approx.) - 10 lbs 9 oz (4.8Kg)
• Remote Control - Multi Brand TV Remote Control

BLU-RAY (AKA BLURAY) HI-definition players are not the same worldwide. In fact a BLU-RAY disc from one of the three REGIONS won't usually play at all on players from the other two regions. Unless you buy one of our MULTIREGION BLU-RAY players.

What are these regions and why are they? See below.

But is there such a thing as a MULTIREGION BLU-RAY player and if so will you need a special Multisystem TV?

Yes, MULTIREGION BLU-RAY players do exist today and no you don't need a PAL-NTSC TV to display the BLURAY movies. Any working TV with HDMI input will work fine.

BLU-RAY REGIONs A and B and C and DVD REGIONs 1 and 2 will be available around March 1st 2008.

What are BLU-RAY "Regional Codes"? "Country Codes"? "Zones"? and will they affect you and me?

Hollywood producers want to control the home release of movies in different countries because theater releases are often on different dates in the world wide release of a movie. A movie may come out on Blu-ray Disc in the U.S. when it's just hitting screens in Europe so to prevent various regions of the world from buying the BLU-RAY movies before they have come out in cinemas, thereby reducing the box office sales of those films and certainly the eventual BLU-RAY dvd release as well of those films there are devices created to stop such TV viewing of new movies.

Besides being able to see movies before approved release dates many films come out in various edited versions. Some have scenes deleted or augmented in various versions but if you want the complete unedited version of your favorite film and it isn't available in your country you might normally have no way of ever seeing it unless you traveled to a country having your version available. But just because you can see it in that country doesn't mean you can take it home and view it on your player and on your TV. Quite the contrary. That's where a multiregion BLU-RAY DVD player comes in.

To block you studio require that the Blu-ray standard include codes to prevent playback of certain discs in certain geographical regions. Each player is given a code for the region in which it's sold. The player will refuse to play discs that are not coded for its region. This means that a disc bought in one country may not play on a player bought in another country and even if it could there is the matter of the VIDEO STANDARD to deal with. There are two standards in regular DVDs and two in BLU-RAY (Please read below about this as actually in HDMI there are NO video standards) and they are NTSC and PAL. These alone make it impossible to view a disc of one standard on a TV that isn't of that standard even if you have a MULTIREGION BLU-RAY DVD player. The TV must match (unless you have a BLU-RAY discs playing in a MULTIREGION PLAYER via HDMI output)!

These TVs do exit and come in all video standards, formats (tune type CRT-LCD-PLASMA etc.) sizes and voltages. Or you can buy a quality DIGITAL VIDEO STANDARDS converter such as a TENLAB and simply use any working TV on earth to view your movies.

But please note: If you out a BLU-RAY movie via the HMDI cable to an HMDI TV of any standard (PAL, NTSC, SECAM etc.) you will see a perfect picture as BLU-RAY and HDMI have done away with the traditional Video Standards like PAL, NTSC etc. If you have a BLU-RAY region C disc it will play on all BLU-RAY players worldwide as there is no REGION C lock on them. So any BLU-RAY region free for regions A and B or any BLU-RAY player that is not multiregion will play all REGION C BLU-RAY discs on any TV with HDMI input. Miracle, the age of having to deal with non-compatible video standards has ended. Only REGIONS A and B are still incompatible and with a MULTIREGION (AKA MULTI-REGION, MULTI REGION etc.) player one can view any and ALL Blu-Ray movies on any TV on earth with HDMI.

To be confusing however please note: If your TV does not have an HDMI input then you will still be stuck needing a PAL-NTSC TV or a video standards converter to view BLU-RAY movies via the RCA or S-VIDEO video output.

3 regions (also called locales or zones) have been defined, and each one is assigned a number. Players and discs are often identified by their region number superimposed on a world globe. If a disc plays in more than one region it will have more than one number on the globe.

Region A: North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia

Region B: Europe, Greenland, French territories, Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand