Sherwood BDP-5003 Blu-ray Disc Player - Product Review and Rating

In terms of Blu-ray Disc video playback 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. This was noticeable on several program sources, including The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Prince Caspian, and the Silicon Optix Test Disc.

With regards to standard DVD upscaling, the BDP-5003 does a good job and also produced good results on the Silicon Optix HQV DVD Benchmark Tests with regards to deinterlacing and 3:2 source detection, but needs a little improvement in noise reduction. The BDP-5003 did not do as well as the OPPO DV-983H upscaling DVD player used for additional reference.

For a closer look at the DVD upscaling performance of BDP-5003, check out some Video Performance Test Results using the Silicon Optix HQV DVD Benchmark Test Disc.

Audio Performance

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.

In using all the available audio connection options, audio performance was top notch, given the capabilities of each type of audio connection.

However, using the HDMI output connection was by far the most convenient and flexible option when used with the Onkyo TX-SR705 receiver. Two impressive soundtracks were from Master and Commander, which features DTS-HD Master Audio that was bitstreamed undecoded from the BDP-5003 and decoded by the Onkyo receiver, and 300, which features an Uncompressed PCM 5.1 Channel Soundtrack provided directly from the disc via the BDP-5003 through the HDMI connection.

What I Liked About The BDP-5003

1. Very fast start-up and disc load time. There has been a lot of improvement across the board on the start-up and disc load times for Blu-ray Disc players, and the BDP-5003 continues this trend.

2. Very good Blu-ray Disc Video Playback quality. Overall, the detail, contrast, and most color aspects of the Blu-ray images produced on the BDP-5003 live up to the format's capabilities.

3. Good standard DVD upscaling performance. This has been a trouble spot with many Blu-ray Disc players, but the BDP-5003 is an example of a Blu-ray Disc player that does a credible job with reference to standard DVD upscaling.

4. Very audio performance with available connectivity. If you have an HDMI-equipped home theater receiver with built-in Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD decoders, you can hear the full audio potential of the BDP-5003.

5. Easy-to-use onscreen menu system. Even if you are a novice to Blu-ray, the onscreen menus are very easy to understand and use.

1. Not Upgradable to Profile 2.0 (BD-Live). The BDP-5003 has not ethernet port or memory expansion slot.

2. No onboard decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD - Undecoded Bitstream output only. What this means is that to get the benefit of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD, you need a home theater receiver with HDMI audio access and built-in Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD decoders.

3. No 5.1 Channel analog audio outputs. Decreases audio connection flexibility when using non-HDMI audio equipped receivers.

4. Reds and Blues slightly oversaturated. Not a deal-breaker, just a notation that the color saturation is a little heavier on the Red and Blue part of the color spectrum, which adds a little color noise to the image in some cases.

5. Remote not backlit. This is a real pet peeve of mine. All remotes provided with Blu-ray Disc players should be backlit, especially with the increased use with video projectors in a darkened room.

Final Take

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

The BDP-5003 had a fast start-up time, about 10-15 seconds, 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, 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 1500 did exhibit more color saturation on reds 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, which is 3.5 Stars out of 5.

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