Sony BDP-N460

Pros: Good Blu-Ray picture quality; network connectivity; BRAVIA sync.

Cons: Poor non-Blu-Ray performance, especially Netflix HD content; inferior DVD upconversion; no WiFi.

Summary: Very disappointed in this player so far. Purchased it for Netflix capability but HD content playback from Netflix is sluggish and jerky, as if on an old PC with a slow processor or weak video card. Picture and motion quality from the Roku HD player connected to the same TV and the same router is much, much better; the difference is pronounced, not subtle.

DVD upconversion is also noticeably inferior to the Sony DVP-NS700H upconverting DVD player I had been using previously. The picture is -very- soft, almost to the point of looking out of focus, even with the TV's sharpness setting turned up to maximum. Again, the difference between the two units is highly noticeable.

I will give Sony tech support a chance to address this problem before I return the unit. It's been a big disappointment so far.

Updated on Nov 25, 2009

UPDATE: I called Sony and went through three levels of tech support. They agreed with my description and assessment of the Netflix HD picture quality and said that nothing could be done about it. I also called Netflix and while they seemed to be familiar with the issue, none of their suggestions worked. Unless I can solve this some other way, I'm going to return the player.

Updated on Dec 22, 2009

UPDATE 2: Feel somewhat vindicated now that CNET's review agrees with mine vis-a-vis "jerky" Netflix playback ("We also noticed that the overall streaming video quality seemed to be slightly worse than we're used to seeing. We saw more "jerky" playback than we're used to seeing on other players".) Decided to keep the player as its other features, including Amazon HD Video on Demand, are fine; holding out hope that Netflix playback can be improved with a firmware update in the future.

Updated on Jan 1, 2010

UPDATE 3: Sony issued a firmware update in late December, but it appears to have had no effect on the Netflix HD streaming quality. It looks the same as it did before. I don't gather that the update was directed at this problem, but it remains nonetheless.

Updated on Mar 6, 2010

UPDATE 4: For reasons unrelated to this issue, I upgraded my cable internet service to Cablevision's "Optimum Boost," which among other things is supposed to more than double Internet speed. Indeed, I'm now seeing over 20 Mbps on [...]. Nevertheless, the problem remains; the Netflix HD video is still "jerky". Apparently the problem is not the network. I think it may be that the Sony does a poor job handling the Netflix stream compared to the Amazon stream, such as, e.g., upconverting from 720p to 1080p.

UPDATE 5: I did some more experimenting with the player, this time removing the HDMI connection and using component instead, setting the player's component output to 720p. This did not correct the jerky motion problem; it looked essentially the same. So the HDMI interface between the player and the TV is also not the issue.

Updated on Jul 10, 2010

UPDATE 6: The June firmware update had no effect on the problem. I think it's officially hopeless.

Updated on Oct 10, 2010

UPDATE 7: The solution to the Netflix problem appears to be to turn the CineMotion feature off on the Sony Bravia TV for the HDMI input to which the BDP-N460 is connected.