This past weekend
Casablanca colleagues Tracy Ball and Brenda Lantow shared (on the Cassie
Tips List) news of their success with a newer model Sony Blu-ray
player. I pass this on as I receive many queries about Blu-ray decks
that are compatible with the HD disks created by the Next Generation
Casablanca editors ---
"We recently purchased a Sony BDP-S470 Blu-ray player and have
put it through the paces with both commercial and Cassie-generated DVDs
and Blu-ray disks.No playback issues so far.
Our Cassie setup is an
S4100 with Bogart 2.4c and Arabesk 4.6. The S470 is connected via HDMI
to an A/V receiver which is in turn connected via HDMI to a 1080P
monitor.
For the Blu-ray test, the footage was shot in HD with a
Canon HV-20, input via Firewire to an HD project on the S4100, edited
(including added still photos, added audio, titles, etc.) to a 46 minute
program, and burned via the AVCHD(DVD) setting to a Verbatim BD-RE
disk. The Sony played the entire program without a hitch. Both video
and audio quality was excellent.
For the AVCHD on DVD test, clips
were shot on a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 (point-and-shoot), transferred
to a USB flash drive, input to the S4100 via Media Manager, exported to
an HD project, edited (including added audio and titles) to a several
minute program, and burned via the AVCHD(DVD) setting to a TDK DVD-RW
disk. Again, excellent playback on the Sony with no issues. (One can
also play the Panasonic AVCHD files directly via front panel USB
connection with the camera or a USB flash drive.)
We also tested
about a dozen older Cassie-generated DVDs, some of which go all the way
back to the first Arabesk, with no issues. A couple of these would not
play on another player, but the Sony did not seem to have any
difficulty. Similarly, no playback issues with commercial DVDs of
various vintage and the upscaling looks very good.
So, we are
ready to retire our trusty 10 year old Pioneer DVD player, which has
always played anything we threw at it. The Sony BDP-S470 seems to be an
able replacement and sells for about $185. The nearly identical S370
sells for about $20 less but apparently will not get the 3D software
upgrade when (if?) it is available. The S570 is about $50 more and adds
built-in WiFi (wired ethernet on the S370 and S470) and 1 GB internal
memory to support BD Live (external USB flash drive required for this
purpose on the S370 and S470). Other than the aforementioned
differences, all three models appear to have identical technical specs
regarding file formats, etc.
Hope this is useful to those in the
market for a Cassie-compatible Blu-ray player. So far, this model is
looking good to us."
Tracy Ball and Brenda Lantow
Lantow
Productions
Quincy,
CA
