Sony BDP-S570 Review

£230 for a 3D Blu-ray player already? Madness! It’s not like that’s an online retailer’s discounted price, either: it’s what Sony Centres are charging.

True, the Sony BDP-S570 looks a bit dull, but that pales into insignificance in the face of a spec that includes Wi-Fi for streaming and accessing web content such as BBC iPlayer, as well as 1GB of internal memory.

It’s significantly quicker at loading discs than its rivals, too, regardless of the format. What’s more, it’s quite comfortably the best performer we’ve seen at this level. Considering it’s also one of the cheapest in its price group, that’s a pretty impressive feat.

You better believe it
The BDP-S570 produces the most genuine and believable 3D pictures we’ve seen. Where some players produce pictures that can look a little like layers of flat objects, the Sony is more whole and solid.

Play Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and you don’t get a cut-out of Manny stuck on a background, you get a woolly mammoth in your lounge.

Motion and colour are handled even better when you switch to standard Blu-ray.

Review continues after the break...

Up the scale
The S570's also a master at upscaling standard-definition DVDs, blasting out a nicely sharp and balanced picture.

True, it doesn’t quite manage to find the very finest of details, but the overall picture is mighty impressive and it’s as good as any of its main rivals.

To cap it all off, the Sony's a great-sounding player, offering punch and a full-bodied sonic delivery. Oh, and while we’re talking audio, it’s worth mentioning that the S570 will even handle SACDs.

The one downside is the lack of a secondary output for HD audio, so owners of last-generation receivers will only be able to get standard-def sound with 3D. If you can deal with that, this is a great way into 3D.