fiejul northern goldwyne

[Ling Baus]

For I am only human, and the convenience of streaming services has most certainly turned my head. All that content at the touch of a button and for a relatively low, sign-up-and-try-and-forget-about-it monthly fee.

The devil is in the detail. Aside from the whole argument for the value of physical media over streaming - which, in the case of vinyl, I'm very much on board with - 4K Blu-ray discs have still clung on in my mind as the superior choice when it comes to performance. For not all 4K pictures, nor all next-gen audio formats, are equal.

See, 4K Blu-ray discs run at up to 128Mbps. This is the amount of data sent to your screen every second. By contrast, streaming services tend to top out at around 17Mbps. And this will drop further depending on the speed of your internet connection and demand on the wider network. So 4K on disc should be better than 4K via your favourite streaming service.

What about sound? It's a closer call but there's still an edge for Ultra HD Blu-ray. Yes, you can get Dolby Atmos pretty much everywhere, but streaming services deliver it in the compressed Dolby Digital+ format while discs generally carry it in full-fat Dolby TrueHD. As for DTS:X, you need to be watching on a disc. And of the two next-gen audio formats, DTS:X is a bit more flexible. It works with standard surround sound set-ups and doesn't require extra overhead speakers the way Atmos generally does. You can also manually adjust sound objects, meaning you can crank up the volume of voices on a soundtrack making it easier to hear dialogue (a common gripe).

Ultimately, my old Blu-ray player should still deliver a better picture and sound performance than the same thing via a streaming service. Hurrah. I knew I should have been buying more 4K Blu-rays. So now, having finally decided to soak up those extra megabits, why was I left disappointed?

Alright, if you don't have the latest TV, you're watching on a smaller screen or you don't have much of a sound system, you may not notice these differences, but for those of us eager to be getting our TV and films "as the director intended", we don't want to miss out on so much as a smidgeon of AV information.

We've been here before of course, when low-quality MP3 downloads and then streams replaced CDs, despite being far inferior sonically. The good news is that we did eventually get lossless and high-resolution audio from streaming services. The quality did catch up with the convenience. And it's fair to say the gap between Netflix and 4K Blu-ray is already much (much) closer than MP3 and CD.

So we could all keep (or start) buying more 4K Blu-rays. I know plenty of people who do, whether for the reasons above or because they love physical media (and steelbooks). But for those who have left discs behind and have no desire to go back, there is hope.

Both Apple TV+ and Disney+ now boast up to 40Mbps and 30Mbps top data speeds respectively, though your experience will depend on your devices and network. Sony's Bravia Core service, meanwhile, offers genuine 4K Blu-ray-baiting data rates but is exclusive to Sony's flagship TVs. Bravia Core does point to the future of streaming, though, and of course the beauty of software is that it can be upgraded and improve over time.

I have mixed feelings about 4K Blu-rays after plowing a lot of time and money into the technology. The format has significant hurdles for everyday TV watchers that make me question its longevity. Yet the upgrades have been substantial, at times incredible, even with a dated home theater setup.

Compression adds posterization, artifacts, and color banding, an especially noticeable effect on large, uniform blocks of color like skies or grassy fields. Streaming fast moving action can also add pixelation or smearing. If the connection slows (which can happen even on the high speed fiber optic I have at home), image quality can drop to 1080p or lower resolution.

That said, how and where that 5.1 sound originates makes a difference. The Blu-ray versions had noticeably better clarity and presence for most scenes, especially those that leaned on surround audio. Individual soundtracks were easier to parse, with cleaner dialogue and a more enveloping surround effect.

For Frozen, I focused on the musical numbers. I could make out individual instruments alongside the vocals on the Blu-ray, with a bit more dynamic range in the low end. To test surround audio, I picked an early scene introducing the troll characters; a series of rumbles pans around the sound channels as the creatures appear. As with Heat, the sound separation was more distinct and directional with the Blu-ray.

However, the resurgence of interest in vinyl records shows a glimmer of hope. 4K Blu-rays and records share many of the same selling points. Both are better quality than their streaming counterparts, but often in subtle ways, best showcased with high-end equipment. Both can be pricey investments, with records and Blu-rays regularly $20 to $30 a pop alongside extra equipment like a turntable, amp, or separate disc player. In some ways, Blu-rays make for a stronger overall case than vinyl. Records and turntables, with their analog roots, are more fragile than Blu-rays. The online availability of film is also far more limited and volatile than most music, making a local physical reference all the more valuable.

Yet anecdotally, based on online chatter and the local brick and mortar stores I visit, vinyl is enjoying a larger resurgence. Blu-rays are mostly relegated to a few prominent online vendors like Amazon, with many titles dipping in and out of stock.

Blu-ray players in the same way as DVD players before them is becoming something you may almost buy at the store around the corner. This in heavy contrast to those early generations, where the bplayes hung high. And were sour...

Sony is one of the producers who are heavily involved in this market, but perhaps not necessarily in the heavy end of the market. In last year's collection of Blu-ray players, all count in below a kilogram, and the review sample being the smallest in the collection weighs 0.8 kg. We are, in other words in the light end. But is it any good?

The new series is obviously different from previous generations by having a much cleaner design. Outgoing models have received some pepper because of some of its slightly quirky design, with a little gratuitous almost flat pyramidal top. Maybe okay, but not very pleasing in my eyes. The new series is far more pure in design - not something that stands out, but it's really a brilliant design concept. In all its ease and simplicity there is something a bit chic with the Cubist and clean design.

And while we're at with weight - fair enough that 0.8 kg is not a lot of steel. But when it is combined with a compact design that these new players hold, it is not really saying wrong anyway. For a body that is half the width of a regular full-size HiFi component, it becomes a sensible relationship between size and weight. It has a pretty decent bulk density, and therefore feels straightforward to touch.

Physical noise from the drive is a very relevant parameter for both Blu-ray and DVD players. And BDP-S1500 is not complete silent during the entire process. But the good news is that the noise is very limited, and also has a pleasant character. It is also largely limited to startup and manouvering of Blu-ray playback. I am in possession of a Blu-ray player from Denon at 10 times the price of the BDP-S1500, which has much larger powerful noise problems. From Sony BDP-S1500 noise never is apearant others thatn when the sound is muted, and even then it is only faintly audible at a distance of two meters. Not flawless in other words, but very good for the price. Only wormwood is that it is a tad weaker in this exercise than an even more affordable player from Samsung, which I also have in my collection.

Sony was always top of the class in the exercise quickness in Blu-ray players' childhood and youth. And even though the terrain has largely been leveled eventually, Sony is still among the leaders in terms of speed.

The review sample of BDP-S1500 uses 20 to 25 seconds from standby to load the menu of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , one of the very few movies in the Norwegian market currently available with Dolby Atmos. This is certainly more than approved.

The remote control is an important part of AV components, especially Blu-ray players. BDP-S1500's remote control is odefinitively in the compact class, but it scores well on many parameters. One of the most important one is that it is a logical and easy to navigate. Equally important is that it has good transmission power of the control signals, and the player has good sensitivity for the orders given from the listening position. Here the remote for BDP-S1500 scores very good. Even commands given from a position behind a sofa cushion is promptly executed.

A direct button for Netflix means that you don`t have to scroll through menus to activate this streaming service for movies. Netflix has in quite a short time conquered the market, and is actually starting to get a very dominant position in relation to "linear TV." The fact that the remote has received a direct button for activating the streaming service is to my knowledge unique. And I like it - a HiFi and AV enthusiast is using too much time and frustration deep inside silly menus.

Sony BDP-S1500 is thus a smart player that offers services like Netflix via the player. It depends on wired network connection, or at least a solution with receiver for wireless bridge if you don`t have access to wired network near the player. This is a limitation that it is possible to grumble over, if you have talent for that excersise. But to me it makes sense as an intelligent solution for the most affordable player in a series, to politely refer to the more expensive models if you need WiFi. It is more than equally relevant to be impressed that the player has wired network and Netflix available.

90f70e40cf