During the Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) Expo currently under way in Denver, Colorado, Sony not only rolled out two new Blu-ray players, but also a 200 disc server/Blu-ray burner.
First the crown jewel of Blu-ray equipment. The HES-V1000 is a storage and media device equipped with a 500GB hard drive for storing pictures and movies attached to a 200 Blu-ray disc holder/burner. The V1000 costs around $3500 dollars, but boasts a "ethernet connection [that] shares the XMB (Xross Media Bar) interface with the PlayStation 3 and PSP consoles". An interesting concept and possible trend we could see from Sony in the future. With its ability to "…stream to other devices, including the PS3…" the V1000 could be a hit amongst high end videophiles.
Last but not least the Blu-ray players. The two models, the BDP-S2000ES and BDP-S500 both support 1080p visuals and run at 24fps, but the S200 has Sony’s new Elevated Standard (ES) which includes "dual shield construction, a rigid drive bracket, and a rigid beam chassis, all to give the best playback performance".
Rounding out the information on the new S200 player, home entertainment and HD enthusiast will be glad to see that it supports: "Dolby Digital TrueHD/DTS-HD Master Bitstream out via HDMI, uncompressed multi-channel liner PCM, BD-ROM/DVD/CD playback, Bravia Theater Sync simplified system interoperability, DVD up-scaling to 1080p via HDMI, AVC-HD with x.v.Color output, and IR-in."
Whew.
Both players are still fairly costly at $1300 and $700 respectively. We at PSU are still wondering where the $199 Blu-ray player for the "average joe" is, but I guess that is just a dream right now.
Stay tuned to PSU for more information on SONY and the CEDIA expo.