Sherwood BDP-5003 Blu-ray Disc Player

The BDP-5003 is Sherwood's first venture into Blu-ray Disc player territory. Features of the BDP-5003 include playback of Blu-ray Discs at full 1080p resolution, bitstream output for both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD via its HDMI 1.3a output, and playback compatibility with standard DVDs, most recordable DVD formats, CDs, and CD-Rs/RWs. Another bonus is that standard DVDs are upscaled up to 1080p via the HDMI output. The BDP-5003 adheres to Profile 1.1 (Bonus View) specifications, but does not have an Ethernet connection or provisions to add memory capacity that is required for Profile 2.0 (BD-Live) upgradability.

In using this player for several weeks, I found it was easy to use and delivered very good video and audio quality with Blu-ray Discs, DVDs, and audio-only CDs.

The BDP-5003 had a fast start-up time to get into disc loading mode. However, although faster than my comparison Blu-ray Disc players in terms of actually loading a Blu-ray disc, it still took some time to start the disc, depending on the contents of the disc.

With regards to Blu-ray video quality, the BDP-5003 certainly held its own when compared to other players I have reviewed. However, the 5003 did exhibit more color saturation on reds and blues than I expected.

With regards to standard DVD upscaling, the BDP-5003 does a credible job and did fairly good on the Silicon Optix HQV Tests, but did not provide the stellar upscaling performance of the OPPO DV-983H upscaling DVD player.

On the audio side, the BDP-5003 does not offer onboard audio decoding, but does provide undecoded bitstream output for compatible home theater receivers. In addition, the 5003 does not come equipped with the 5.1 channel analog audio output option. The lack of both on-board decoding and a 5.1 channel analog output option was a disappointment as it prevents access to Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD output for non-HDMI audio equipped receivers.

Another disappointment is that although BDP-5003 offers Profile 1.1 (Bonus View) functionality, it is not upgradable to Profile 2.0 (BD-Live capability).

Although BDP-5003 delivers good overall audio and video performance, and deserves consideration for those factors, the lack of both advanced onboard audio decoding and internet connectivity for Profile 2.0 upgradability, does affect its final rating.

For additional looks at both the features and performance of the Sherwood BDP-5003, check out my supplementary Photo Gallery and Video Performance Test Results.