Other Source Component Reviews

Sony Pictures also has its own streaming option, and it offered a free HD feed of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs until the Blu-ray release on January 4, 2010. Normally, it would charge $25 for the rental with only a 24-hour viewing window (are they crazy?), but I gave it a try since it was free. The 720p feed was excellent (slightly better than Netflix HD), but the audio feed is stereo and highly compressed compared with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-ray (which Best Buy sells for $25 and includes a Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Copy). The site also offered three additional free movies (Ghostbusters, Muppets from Space, and Steamboy). Unfortunately, Muppets from Space crashed three times during my viewing, which required a restart.

Disc Performance
Surprisingly, the BDP-N460 outperforms the recently reviewed $1,900 BDP-CX7000ES MegaChanger in our video processing tests. It doesn’t support motion-adaptive HD deinterlacing, which shows up in material from video-based cameras that are used on most concert titles and some HD bonus features. However, it aced all of our other tests on both high-definition and standard-definition material. Its upconversion abilities equal the output from the PS3, which is quite an accomplishment given its price point. But it falls short of the truly superior video processing solutions. The 24p Blu-ray output is outstanding, and if your display supports this resolution, it’s the optimal setting to avoid any unnecessary processing.

In addition to the fast boot-up time, disc loading is extremely fast—even with Java-intensive titles. While it’s not quite as fast as the PS3 or LG’s BD390, it’s just a tad slower than our Top Pick, the OPPO BDP-83. Once the disc loads, menu navigation is speedy, and remote commands react instantly.

During the Christmas holiday, I had some family in town that hadn’t seen J.J. Abrams’ fabulous reboot of Star Trek, so I had the pleasure of watching it again.

As expected, the video quality was amazing. In the opening scene, the Star Trek universe is thrown into chaos when Kirk slams the nearly crippled USS Kelvin into Nero’s Narada in order to save his crew, wife, and newborn son who are fleeing the battle. The internal audio decoding was just as impressive. It provided pinpoint accuracy of the discrete effects, ample dynamic range, and foundation-shaking bass.

After I viewed The Santa Clause DVD on the PS3, I decided to do a direct comparison between the two players. I borrowed a second copy of the DVD so I could do an almost instantaneous toggle between the two. The players were virtually indistinguishable in terms of color saturation, black levels, and sharpness. Then I upped the ante and compared the BDP-N460 with the OPPO BDP-83. While the Sony looked very good, the OPPO was a tad sharper in backgrounds and looked smoother and more film-like. Granted, I did this comparison on a 76.5-inch-wide screen. If your display is smaller, the difference may not be as noticeable. Regardless, the BDP-N460’s DVD output would impress all but the pickiest videophile.

Wrapping It Up
When we reviewed the Sony BDP-S360 last year, our only complaint was the lack of extra features and online connectivity. Sony has finally rectified that with its BDP-N460. Sadly, the Netflix performance is slightly worse than in other devices, but it’s not a deal-breaker when you add in all of the other streaming options. The BDP-N460 brings a lot to the table, with stable and fast Blu-ray playback, very good DVD performance, and loads of network goodies.