Sony BDP-S360 Blu-ray Player Review

Sony is the major manufacturer and pioneer of Blu-ray technology so we would expect their players to be absolutely cutting edge when it comes to the design, performance, and the features on the player. Therefore it was slightly surprising when the previous model, the BDP-S350 lacked a few of the major features that made Blu-ray so appealing.

Firstly, there was no out of the box for the BD-LIVE (Profile 2) Blu-ray profile. Although later available as a firmware update, early buyers of the player had to make do with Profile 1.1. This meant that the ability to download exclusive content and extras was not possible - bearing in mind this was one of the big selling points of Blu-ray, it was a bit of an oversight. The second feature missing was the ability to decode DTS-HD Master audio. Whilst High Definition video is the primary selling point of Blu-ray, many home cinema owner and enthusiasts are also looking to get the most out of their sound system and so high definition audio is a must, so it was again slightly strange that this feature was missing.

The lack of these features though did not stop the 350 selling in huge numbers, and it became one of the best selling Blu-ray player around, very quickly. The new Sony BDP-S360 Blu-ray player looks set to continue this amazing sales trend, and thankfully resolves the shortcomings of the previous model.

The design of the Sony BDP-S360 is much improved - it looks more like an established player now with its sleek black lines rather than the slightly cheap looking blue finish of the previous version. Even the remote manages to look better, and in typical Sony style, is very well laid out. The remote does not have an eject button which is unusual these days, but it certainly doesn't bother me.

The connection on the player do not bring up any surprises and all the sockets you need are all present - a single HDMI output, component video, and digital coaxial and optical for the sound if you need them. The rear also features a USB socket so you can plug in a USB memory stick to store any BD-LIVE downloaded content. In order to do this you will need to connect a network cable to the ethernet port on the rear - this will also enable you to download firmware updates in the future. There is no wireless option with the BDP-S360 unfortunately, although Sony have confirmed that models higher up the range will have this on board.

Blu-ray performance is as good as you would expect, and the "x.v.Color(TM)" system that Sony have included does a good job of ensuring that colours are more natural looking and vivid rather than being too garish as we saw with some older Blu-ray players.

Overall, I'm very pleased that Sony has finally bought out the player with the features that everyone was expecting, and the BDP-S360 Blu-ray player is a welcome improvement over the previous model and will grace anyone's home cinema!

For more home cinema reviews and more information about the Sony BDP-S360 visit Home Cinema Buyer.

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