Blu-ray Sony BDP-S350

What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision

£ 230 * * * * *

Sony’s entry-level Blu-ray deck means business. It’s a superb achievement in terms of both form and function

For
Breathtaking Blu-ray playback; excellent DVD upscaling; solid, punchy, dynamic sound

Against
No onboard decoding of DTS-HD Master Audio

What is it with Sony? Not content with blowing us away with the STR-DG820 receiver , it’s blessed us with another hotly anticipated product, the BDP-SD350 Blu-ray player. It’s so new, it’s not on sale until early September!

The first thing that grabs your attention are the player’s dimensions, or lack of them. Compared to the company’s BDP-S300 machine, the new model is 45 per cent smaller overall and only 22cm deep. Its chassis has been strengthened and embossed while a new fan has been fitted to reduce noise.

Connectivity includes an HDMI output, a coaxial digital output, an Ethernet connection and recessed USB input. Although the player is only Profile 1.1 out of the box, Sony will be releasing a Profile 2.0 firmware update shortly after launch.

The player’s menu system features Sony’s new Xross Media Bar (XMB), which will be familiar to all you PS3 owners. It’s nice to look at and easy to navigate.

On the picture front, the BDP-S350 outputs 1080p/24fps images and can upscale standard-definition DVDs to 1080p. All HD audio formats can be output as Bitstream.

Alternatively, it can decode HD audio formats internally, apart from DTS-HD Master Audio, and output them as LPCM. There are no multichannel analogue outputs.

Real clarity to the image
Obviously, picture performance is our major concern, and you’ll be glad to know that the Sony excels. With Blu-ray discs, the BDP-S350 delivers detail, crisply defined edges and smooth motion. There’s a real clarity to the image that similarly priced players can’t muster.

Cars’ three-dimensional landscapes look stunning. The Sony digs out every last ounce of detail during darker moments such as the explosive tunnel scene from Die Hard 4.0.

With DVD playback, it’s one of the best upscaling Blu-ray players we’ve come across. Play a few chapters of Spiderman 3 and it’s the clarity of image and lack of noise that impresses the most.

Sonically, the Sony’s solid, controlled, punchy approach to Blu-ray soundtracks is hugely entertaining. The BDP-S350 isn’t even fazed with CD playback. Considering you’re listening to a Blu-ray player, the Sony sounds rhythmic, composed and detailed.

Granted, the Sony might not tick all the feature boxes, but if you and simply desire an entry-level Blu-ray player, the BDP-S350 is perfect.

HD DVD
No

Blu-ray
Yes

DVD-Video
No

DVD-A
No

SACD
No

CD
Yes

MP3
Yes

DivX
No

DVD-R/-RW
Yes

DVD+R/+RW
Yes

DVD-RAM
No

HDMI out
1

HDMI 1.3a
Yes

DVI out
0

Component out
1

RGB Scart out
0

S-Video out
1

Composite out
1

Optical digital out
1

Coaxial digital out
1

Phono audio out
1

FireWire out
0

Multichannel analogue out
No

Video scaling
1080p

24fps
Yes

Dolby Digital Plus decoding
Yes

DTS HD decoding
Yes

Dolby TrueHD decoding
Yes

DTS HD Master Audio decoding
No

Dolby decoding
Yes

DTS Decoding
Yes

PCM decoding
Yes

Dolby Digital Plus HDMI output
Yes

DTS HD HDMI output
Yes

Dolby TrueHD HDMI output
Yes

DTS HD Master Audio HDMI output
Yes

PCM HDMI output
Yes

Dimensions (hwd, cm)
6x43x22