Sylvania NB500SL9 1080p Blu-Ray Player with HDMI Cable: Review and Manual

Just got a Sylvania NB500SL9 1080p Blu-Ray Player. It came with a high quality HDMI Cable, which is still not to be taken for granted. The price was right - $150 at Costco. At this point in time this is an excellent price and this purchase allowed me to cross over into the world of HD movies. Now I don't have to think twice about buying a movie. I just get the Blu-ray version!

Even on a 1080i Sharp SH12U the picture quality is truly impressive and better than I used to get from simple upconverting of regular DVDs. One particular feature I like a lot is noise reduction which can improve the quality of old grainy footage. But don't over do it! Shrek's skin can easily become smooth as a baby's bottom with very low level noise reduction.

It takes a little bit of time to load the BD videos. My guess is that this is caused by the heavy bandwidth requirements of Blu-ray DVDs and I expect that probably even better models have some issues in this area. I was able to connect the coaxial digital audio to my Philips HTS3544 home theater with great results.

One thing that this player was unable to do is play PAL DVDs (regardless of the zone). Not a very big problem for me, because I have other options and don't realy have a lot of PAL movies.

Sylvania NB500SL9 1080p Blu-Ray Player

Sony BDP-S350 and Sony BDP-S550 Blu-ray players: Manuals

After using a few similar pieces of equipment most people don't really need a manual to figure out how to approach a new TV, DVD or a digital camera. But whenever something new, like blue-ray systems is rolled out it is a wise move to have a look at the manuals. After all, consider the fact that a manual is something you can have for free before you even buy the product (which is when you get the manual in the box).

Sure, Blue-ray is not much different from DVD players in most respects. There are a few things you should pay attention to:

• Video connections. Unless you use high quality connections you will not get the HD signal that you are craving for.
• Network connections. I bet your old DVD player did not have any?
• Settings displays. There will be a few items you have never heard of

Sony BDP-S350 blu-ray player manual
Sony BDP-S550 blu-ray player manual

What is Blue-Ray Disc Matching? Sony HT-SS2000.

I you happen to leisurely search the web for an inexpensive Blue-ray disc player chances are you will come across an attractively priced ($400) unit called Sony HT-SS2000 - Blu-ray Disc Matching Component Home Theater System. Unless you do your homework you may end up with a decent home theater system, but without a Blue-ray player. How is that possible you may ask? Well, quite simply, just because this unit has the words Blue-ray Disc in its name does not make it a Blue-ray player. It is primarily an audio system, but because it is capable of processing high-resolution audio signal outputted by true Blue-ray players. In essence, that's all, folks. To make things even more confusing, Sony uses the same bluish color scheme for this unit as Sony's true Blue-ray Disc systems

Sony HT-SS2000 Manual



See also:
Panasonic Blue-ray home theater