Sony's Elevated Standard (ES) Series represents the company's top-shelf offerings in the receiver and Blu-ray categories. The newest Blu-ray addition to the ES Series is the BDP-S1000ES ($699.99). We have not performed a hands-on review of the BDP-S1000ES, but here is an overview of the player's features. This Profile 2.0 player supports BonusView/picture-in-picture playback and BD-Live Web functionality, and it offers both onboard decoding and bitstream output of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. It features built-in 802.11n for a wireless network connection, as well as the ability to stream photos from a DLNA-compliant device. However, this player does not support any type of video-on-demand streaming or download service, such as those offered by Netflix, Amazon, and CinemaNow. Compared with the basic Sony-branded BDP-S560 ($349.99), the BDP-S1000ES adds multichannel analog audio outputs, comes with external storage, and employs some higher-end video and audio design elements.

In terms of video connections, the BDP-S1000ES offers HDMI, component video, S-video, and composite video outputs. This player supports both 1080p/60 and 1080p/24 output resolutions via HDMI. The setup menu offers three preset picture modes, plus a memory option--with adjustments for contrast, brightness, chroma, hue, gamma, and noise reduction. This ES model also includes some higher-end Sony technologies: Super Bit Mapping smoothes out background shadow and color gradients, HD Reality Enhancer sharpens moving edges, and Precision Cinema HD provides higher-quality upconversion of standard-def content.

The BDP-S1000ES has the full suite of audio outputs: HDMI, optical and coaxial digital, and both 2- and 7.1-channel analog. The inclusion of multichannel analog audio outputs makes this model a good choice if you own an older, non-HDMI A/V receiver. As I mentioned, the BDP-S1000ES has onboard Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding, and it also passes these high-resolution audio formats in their native bitstream form over HDMI, for your A/V receiver to decode. You can set speaker size, distance, and level for the multichannel analog outputs. Audio adjustments include A/V lip sync and an audio filter (sharp or slow) for analog signals. This ES model adds a headphone output mode that's designed to create a sense of 7.1-channel surround sound through connected headphones.

The BDP-S1000ES's disc drive supports BD, DVD, CD audio, AVCHD, MP3, and JPEG playback. You can add the player to your home network using either the back-panel Ethernet port or the internal 802.11n wireless module. The BDP-S1000ES comes with 4GB of external memory to download BD-Live features, which you add using a back-panel USB port. A second, front-panel USB port supports photo playback, but not digital music or movie playback. The player lacks advanced control ports, such as RS-232 or IR (these ports are available in the top-shelf BDP-S5000ES).

High Points
• The BDP-S1000ES supports 1080p/24 playback of Blu-ray discs.
• The player has internal Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding and can pass these formats in bitstream form over HDMI. It has multichannel analog audio outputs for use with an older A/V receiver.
• It supports BD-Live Web content and can play picture-in-picture bonus content.
• You can wirelessly connect the BDP-S1000ES to your network via 802.11n and stream photos from any DLNA-compatible device.
• Sony supplies 4GB of external memory.
• This player includes technologies like Super Bit Mapping, HD Reality Enhancer, and Precision Cinema HD not found in step-down models.

Low Points
• The USB port doesn't support movie or music playback.
• This player does not support any type of video-on-demand or music streaming, and the DLNA streaming function does not support music or movie streaming.
• The BDP-S1000ES does not offer RS-232 or IR ports for advanced control.

Conclusion
For those of you who own an older A/V receiver that lacks HDMI connections, the BDP-S1000ES is Sony's least expensive new model to include multichannel analog audio outputs. This ES player also offers higher-end video technologies than basic Sony models and has Blu-ray essentials like BD-Live support and onboard high-resolution audio decoding. However, it lacks some features, like video-on-demand and music streaming, that you can find in less-expensive Blu-ray players.