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Sony BDP-S470 and BDP-S570 Blu-ray players: With 3D, iPlayer and LoveFilm

Sony has tweaked its Blu-ray line-up for Britain with the announcement of the BDP-S470 and BDP-S570 players, which can play 3D movies and access YouTube, LoveFilm and BBC iPlayer online

Nick Hide Managing copy editor
Nick manages CNET's advice copy desk from Springfield, Virginia. He's worked at CNET since 2005.
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Nick Hide
2 min read

Sony made a hippo-sized splash at CES 2010 with a herd of 'Monolith'-styled 3D TVs and Blu-ray players, set to dampen your home cinema this spring. It turns out the UK is rather a different set of swimming baths, and Sony has tweaked its Blu-ray line-up for Britain with the announcement of the BDP-S470 and BDP-S570 players.

They're very similar units, with both offering 3D playback and a host of online features, including full BBC iPlayer access, YouTube and streaming movies from LoveFilm. They replace the S770 and S370 models we checked out in Vegas.

The S570 is the more upmarket of the pair, lording it over the S470 with built-in Wi-Fi and a special noise-reduction feature for Internet video, so it looks better on a big-screen TV. The S470 makes do with grainy YouTube clips and a wireless dongle (sold separately) or just plain old Ethernet.

Both players can access Bravia Internet Video, Sony's catch-all term for the online stuff that's available on its TVs and Blu-ray players. Intriguingly, Sony says it "lets you watch the programmes you missed on popular 'catch-up' TV services" which implies more than just the announced iPlayer compatibility. It's possible ITV, Channel 4 and Five could be getting on this bandwagon too.

There are several other smart little touches too, such as a Gracenote actor database so you can quickly look up who that guy is in the movie you're watching. There's DLNA support for streaming content from your computer, plus an inelegant USB slot on the front to plug in movies, photos and music. DivX HD and MKV formats are supported. There's even a compatible app that lets you use your iPhone or iPod touch as a remote control, via Bluetooth.

Sony hasn't announced prices but promises these puppies will be in shop windows in May. Hopefully we'll have hands-on photo stories and full reviews by then.