Sony DVP-S360 DVD Player -- Not the Most Bang for the Buck
Written: Dec 06 '00 (Updated Dec 06 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Comprehensive Set of Features, Component Video Output
Cons: Can't Do Progressive Scan, Costs More than Similarly-Equipped Models
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| radioguy's Full Review: Sony DVP-S360D DVD Player |
The DVP-S360 is Sony's bottom-of-the-line single-disc DVD player. You can usually find it on sale for about $250. Compared to other single-disc players with similar features, the S360 is a bit pricey. It's not hard to find players with the same feature set, or sometimes an even better one, for around $200.
The S360 plays regular DVD's, audio CD's, and Video CD's (VCD's). It's not rated as being capable of playing CD-R's, though you some DVD players will handle material that they're not officially supposed to be able to play. Using what Sony calls a "precision drive" system, the S360 features an advanced DSP with servo-motor with active tilt control. I found the picture quality to be of the usual good quality we've all come to expect with DVD players. Unlike a few models that don't do quite as well in the image-quality department, the S360 maintained sharp picture detail, even in the black areas which can suffer from artifacts on some players.
The specs on the S360 are high, as they are with all DVD players (in fact, they're all identical). The video digital-to-analog converter (DAC) is a 10-bit, 27mHz circuit. The audio DAC, for converting the regular stereo audio track from the disc to analog output, runs with a 96kHz/24-bit linear PCM specification. The Dolby Digital/DTS datastream runs directly off the disc to the optical and/or coaxial digital audio output jacks. As is true of just about all recently-introduced DVD players, the S360 is not noted on the DVD newsgroups for having any known compatibility or performance issues with any broad-market DVD movie discs.
Like all but the few progressive-scan DVD player models, the S360 puts out an NTSC-standard 480-interlaced (480i) video signal. With an interlaced signal, each video frame (1/30th-of-a-second) is divided into two fields (1/60th-of-a-second), the first containing the 240 odd lines of the frame, and the second containing the 240 even lines of the frame. The reason most DVD players put out an interlaced signal is that all standard color TV's have interlaced displays. However, DVD is a major improvement in resolution over broadcast TV, which displays 330 interlaced lines, and VHS tapes, which display 240 interlaced lines.
If you own an H/DTV-ready set, meaning a TV with analog video inputs and the ability to display at the 480-progressive level or higher (480p -- all 480 lines are projected on the screen once every 1/60th-of-a-second, i.e. double the horizontal resolution quality of 480i), you might be interested in a progressive-scan DVD player. However, these are more expensive than 480i-output DVD players, starting at around $400, but with many models at $1,000 or more.
No matter what their resolution, DVD players are all very similar in looks. The S360 is no exception to this, with its rectangular black box, of similar proportions to a VCR, but with a bit less height. You can get it in any color you want, as long as it's black. Unlike some of the higher-end Sony DVD player models, the S360 doesn't come in a silver version to match the case color of Sony's Wega TV's.
The S360 includes a single component video output. The highest-quality type of output generally available with consumer-level video gear, the component output uses three RCA jacks, carrying the video signal input from three cables: luminance (black & white picture detail), chrominance (the yellow-blue color detail), and the second chrominance (the yellow-red color detail). As long as your TV has component video inputs (this is becoming a standard feature on the better TV's of 27 inches and above, and is even found on some smaller sets).
If your TV doesn't have component video inputs, the next option going down the line, in terms of quality, is an S-Video connection. The S360 sports a pair of S-Video output jacks. The S-Video jack uses two lines (all in one cable and with one jack) which carry the signal as luminance and chrominance. Finally, the S360 has a pair of the standard, single-line, yellow RCA-jack composite-video output jacks.
For analog audio output, the S360 has two analog stereo L/R audio jacks. Each set lines up with one of the sets of S-Video/composite video output jacks. You can use this L/R audio output to feed the audio input jacks on your TV or on a stereo or A/V receiver. If playing a Dolby Pro Logic-encoded DVD disc into an A/V receiver that has Dolby Pro Logic surround sound (they almost all have at least this, and many also have the more-advanced Dolby Digital and, sometimes, DTS surround-sound capability), you can also get a Dolby Pro Logic signal from the set's L/R audio outputs.
If you have an A/V receiver with its own Dolby Digital/DTS surround sound decoder, you can feed the digital surround-sound datastream from the S360 with either its coaxial or optical digital audio output jacks. Since this DVD player has both types of digital audio connections, you'll be able to connect any Dolby Digital/DTS-equipped A/V receiver to it. This isn't a huge issue, since most A/V receivers have both the optical (carries the datastream on a thin fiber-optic cable) and coaxial (carries the datastream on a regular coaxial cable, similar to that which connects your cable box to your TV).
Since the S360 doesn't have its own Dolby Digital/DTS decoder, it doesn't have the six-channel analog RCA-jack outputs you find on DVD players which have this feature. Ironically, while the internal digital surround-sound decoder is only found on more expensive, mid-priced players (one or two people have called me that!), you only need it if you have one of the lower-priced A/V receivers (usually in the $180 to $200 range) that don't have their own Dolby Digital/DTS decoder, but can amplify surround-sound signals from their six-channel analog audio inputs and then feed the five surround speakers, plus woofer, of a surround-speaker configuration (these receivers are usually called "Dolby Digital/DTS-ready").
Along with the usual VCR-style player controls (play stop/start, still), the S360 features smooth-scan high-speed forward/reverse, "SmoothSlow" forward/reverse, 4-tap letterbox filter, frame-by-frame forward/reverse, DVD repeat, DVD program, DVD shuffle, and DVD resume play. Operation of the unit is eased by its extensive graphic-user-interface menus which control the various functions.
A virtual surround-sound mode simulates, with two regular speakers, such as those in your TV, the surround sound effect. It does this with a combination of reverb and delay, adding to the sense of dimension you can get with a pair of speakers.
A "custom parental control" gives you an Ueber-V-Chip type of mastery of up to 50 DVD's. Lest you worry about your thoughts drifting off on a revery of awesome power over your offspring, possibly leading you to leaving a parental-control menu on screen until the image burns in (easy for me to say!), the S360 provides you with a screen saver function. To keep you up to date on the unit's functions, you'll enjoy a bit rate indicator along with a layer indicator. There's a DVD-text/CD-text feature which can give you various textual information on the discs you're viewing/hearing, such as the disc names, track names, artists names, and lyrics.
The remote on the S360 is typical for Sony. In fact, it more or less appears that, with minor variations, Sony uses the same remote for all their Audio/Visual products. While it's provided with an extensive set of control buttons, which can handle just about anything the DVD does, the S360's remote requires a wee bit of jiggling in order to hit all the control points while holding the unit with just one hand. As well as controlling the S360, this DVD player's remote will control video gear made by Sony and by other major manufacturers.
As long as your other video gear is black, the Sony S360 will fit in with your color scheme just fine. In fact, since black goes with just about anything, you could even slip this baby in alongside a silver Wega TV or, at the risk of committing apostasy, one of the new silver Panasonic sets such as the CT-27SX10 (see my upcoming review of this new Panasonic set). The front panel of the S360 is 17 inches wide and 2-3/4 inches high. The depth of the machine is 10 inches. The S360 won't break your back during installation, as it weighs in at a svelte 6 pounds, 3 ounces (2.8 kilograms, to put it in terms to which drug importers can relate).
If you're shopping for a DVD player and you're a fan of Sony products, the S360 will provide you with a well-equipped machine at a competitive price. While the S360 is about $25 to $50 higher-priced than the current going rate for entry-level players from well-known manufacturers, you do know that, with this unit, you receive a complete complement of video (component, S-Video, composite) and audio (analog stereo, coaxial digital surround, optical digital surround) outputs.
As long as you have a standard color TV (meaning a set which only displays images at a maximum of the old NTSC standard of 480i and can't operate at the 480p or higher level of image detail), this player should be fine for you. If you do have an H/DTV-ready set, a TV which can display images at 480p or higher, the S360 would still be a perfectly adequate player for you, but you might want to consider moving up to a progressive-scan DVD player.
Sony is one of those brands that generates a fair amount of buyer loyalty, partly from years of pompous-yet-effective advertising, which managed to give their products a sheen of superiority in the consumer collective-consciousness, and partly from a dogged determination to maintain a consistently high level of quality and value throughout their product lines. Add to that a real yen (if you will) for innovation, and you can see that Sony has mostly earned the marketplace loyalty.
This DVD player is a typical Sony product -- you're not going to squeeze every last bit of value out of the dollars you invest in it, but for a bit more than you'd pay for a similarly-equipped machine from another manufacturer, you'll get a well-made product with that confidence-inspiring, baloney-free name plate.
Recommended:
Yes
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radioguy
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