Explore The Future Of Entertainment: Open up the full potential of High Definition with Blu-ray Disc™ from Sony

IFA, 28th August 2008 - Sony’s Blu-ray Disc™ is enabling a revolution in home entertainment. From disc players to high-end audio-visual systems, VAIO™ notebook PCs and PLAYSTATION®3, Sony offers a multitude of ways to experience the new standard in High Definition pictures, games and recording media.

“Blu-ray is here to stay,” said David Walstra, Director, Home Video Marketing of Sony Europe. “And we are bringing the benefits of the technology to consumers in diverse and exciting ways. There’s already a choice of Blu-ray players that extends from the entry-level BDP-S350 to the perfectionist’s dream BDP-S5000ES. Alternatively, you can watch Blu-ray movies with PLAYSTATION 3, or maybe get behind the camera yourself then edit your own HD movie using the VAIO FW notebook.”

Blu-ray Disc™ Players BDP-S350 and BDP-S550

These next-generation Blu-ray players are brimming with advanced features not found on conventional DVD players. Both players can exactly reproduce the 24 frames per second of the cinematic original, so that what you see at home is as close as possible to the theatrical experience, completely free of the inaccuracies forced by the standard conversion to DVD. As well as this sought-after 24p True Cinema feature, each player offers outstanding audio. The BDP-S550 even has support for DTS-HD Master Audio Decoder and 7.1 Ch analogue audio output which means that it can be connected directly to a legacy home-theatre receiver without HDMI for the ultimate movie and surround-sound experience.

These Blu-ray disc™ players are a must for HDTV owners since they are capable of the ultimate in High Definition: 1080p Full HD. They also feature Precision Cinema HD Upscale, which can increase the resolution of standard DVDs (480i) to 1080p, so existing movie collections will also look outstanding on an HDTV. Furthermore, the BDP-S550 comes with BD Live, a feature enabling users to access studio-specific online content including blogs, interviews, competitions and special added-value content not included on the disc. The BDP-S350 is BD Live-ready, and customers can download the software upgrade directly to the player from October onwards.

For all their advanced functionality both players are easy and intuitive to use thanks to their XcrossMediaBar interface, and BRAVIA Sync technology makes connecting and operating them together with BRAVIA televisions and Home Theatre systems as simple as it can be.

High-End Blu-ray Player BDP-S5000ES

ES stands for Elevated Standard, which encapsulates what this superlative Blu-ray player is all about. Engineered to meet the most demanding requirements of the serious Home Theatre devotee, the BDP-S5000ES will push the High Definition experience to the limit.

The player combines outstandingly clear and vivid picture quality with the very best audio. Advanced 14-bit video processing technologies like HD Reality Enhancer and Super Bit Mapping selectively sharpen detail, enrich colour and disguise imperfections in the original source. Superior analogue output is assured by the high performance 14-bit/297MHz digital/analogue converter (DAC).

When it comes to audio, the BDP-S5000ES creates sound that matches the video for quality and precision. It offers decoding for the latest High Definition audio formats including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD, with 7.1 channel Linear PCM output as well as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD bitstream audio output to external AV receivers or decoders.

Existing DVD collections get the HD makeover thanks to Precision Cinema HD Upscale technology, which boosts resolution all the way up to 1080p, revitalising the viewing experience. When a Blu-ray disc is the source, 24p True Cinema delivers absolute fidelity to the cinematic 24 frames per second, perfectly reproducing the original as it was meant to be seen.

A high-stability Precision Drive HD transport mechanism and ultra-rigid frame and beam chassis construction suppress vibration and yield near-silent operation.

To make the most of the extra features becoming available on Blu-ray title releases, the S5000ES is compatible with BD-Live, enabling it to access exciting online services and extra content, such as commentaries and special features, which can be downloaded from the Internet and saved on the included 1GB USB flash storage device.

In addition, that Internet connection, via the player’s Ethernet port, will allow future firmware enhancements, allowing the player to be kept up to date with any developments in features or functionality.

Installation is fully customisable, and the player can be used with the Sony SCD-XA5400ES Super Audio CD player and the Sony STR-DA5400ES AV receiver to create the ultimate total entertainment system.

VAIO FW-Series Notebook with integrated Blu-ray Disc™ drive

Surprisingly compact, yet with an impressive and unique 16.4-inch display the Blu-ray equipped VAIO FW has everything you need to make HD editing a reality. As befits a machine designed for peak multimedia performance, the FW-Series is based on the new Intel Centrino 2 platform, boosting everything from multitasking and memory speed to battery life.

With the ability to write as well as read Blu-ray Discs™ on selected models, the VAIO FW lets you edit and store up to 50GB of personal HD video content on a single disc. An exclusive and powerful combination of software including Adobe® Premiere Elements 4.0, VAIO Movie Story and Click to Disc/Editor is pre-installed so you have the tools you need to handle HD video right out of the box.

Adobe® Premiere Elements 4.0 makes editing HD and SD video quick and straightforward even for novice users, while the highly innovative VAIO Movie Story lets you create fun movie clips from the mass of stills and video most of us have on our hard disks. Unlike complex, time-consuming editing software, VAIO Movie Story is fast and very simple. It uses a ‘Face Detection’ module to bring faces to the centre of the screen, and ’12 Tone Analysis’ to synchronise transitions with the background music of your choice. In a matter of minutes, it will convert a mass of raw content into something you can share and enjoy again and again. Once everything’s done, Click to Disc does just as its name suggests and lets you save your work to Blu-ray Disc™ with the absolute minimum of steps.

The specially designed, best-in-class screen packs in the visual superlatives Sony is renowned for, including 100% colour fidelity. The WXGA++ (1600 x 900) resolution means masses of workspace as well as perfectly reproduced 16:9 widescreen HD format movies or personal HD video content. Enhanced blue spectrum range – where human vision is highly sensitive – allows extremely accurate reproduction of the colour variations that can be perceived by the eye, while Sony’s exclusive X-black LCD screen enhancement boosts contrast and delivers remarkable, natural colour. Selected models feature double lamp technology for superlative brightness, further optimising an already exceptional display.

In order to make sure that HD movies sound as good as they look, the range uses Dolby Sound Room® technology to recreate the immersive quality of a small home theatre on the notebook’s own speakers or headphones.

BRAVIA Theatre BDV-IT1000

This visually stunning Blu-ray home theatre uses ultra-slim drive units developed by Sony inside an array of stylishly thin speakers. The result is superb audio quality from an astonishingly compact form factor. Sony’s S-Master digital amplification delivers a massive 700W total power through the 5.1 setup, which features wireless rear speakers for maximum convenience and flexibility. The main control unit incorporates a Blu-ray drive for breathtaking HD visuals, and the system can also upscale DVDs to 1080p quality. What’s more it’s BD-Live Ready, able to be upgraded with a simple download via its Ethernet port and the addition of a USB flash memory device. With Blu-ray titles the BDV-IT1000 can deliver the full cinema experience, with 1080/24p picture resolution, Deep Color and x.v.Colour, and it will also decode and play the latest High-Definition audio formats – Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio – for better than CD quality sound to match its amazing pictures.

PLAYSTATION 3

PLAYSTATION®3 pioneered the use of Blu-ray, introducing the thrill of High Definition gaming to the mass market. With its integrated Blu-ray drive, PLAYSTATION 3 lets users watch their favourite films in HD resolution right up to the ultimate 1080p if connected to a Full HD-capable television via an HDMI™ cable.

“Sony”, “WALKMAN” and “BRAVIA” are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sony Corporation. All other trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.