Yamaha BD-S2900 Blu-ray Disc Player - Product Review and Rating

In terms of Blu-ray Disc video playback quality, the BD-S2900 certainly held its own when compared to other players I have reviewed. Color was accurate and detail was on par with what is expected when viewing Blu-ray Discs (see Bu-ray Resolution Test example.

The only shortcomings in Blu-ray quality was that, although the black level response was acceptable, I felt is was slightly-less-than-optimum (even with the Black Level Control option switched to "darker"). Another shortcoming was a very slight elevated video noise level, but this was not noticable when viewing real-world Blu-ray Disc material.

With regards to standard DVD upscaling, the BD-S2900 did well on color accuracy, details, and acceptable performance on video noise reduction, but did not do well on some of the Silicon Optix HQV DVD Benchmark Tests with regards to deinterlacing, displaying horizontal scrolling video titles over film source material, or many film cadences.

In other words, with regards to DVD upscaling, the BD-S2900 did not do well on standardized tests, nor as as well as the OPPO DV-983H upscaling DVD player used for additional reference.

NOTE: All Blu-ray Playback and DVD Upscaling tests using the Silicon Optix Test Discs were conducted with all video adjustment settings set to factory defaults. The BD-S2900 features more extensive custom picture adjustment controls for Contrast, Brightness, Sharpness, Color, Gamma, and two types of Video Noise Reduction setting options which can refine the image quality to the user's own tastes for both Blu-ray and DVD playback.

The BD-S2900 offers both on-board audio decoding and bitstream output for compatible home theater receivers. Also, Yamaha offers a complete array of audio output options, including a set of 5.1 channel analog audio outputs option, which increased its connection flexibility with non-HDMI-equipped home theater receivers.

Whether playing Blu-ray, DVD, or CD source material, I found no fault with the BD-S2900. This is certainly a Blu-ray Disc player that delivers in the audio department.

SD Card Slot Feature

One of the added features to the BD-S2900 (which is becoming more common on Blu-ray Disc players in general), is the inclusion of an SD Card Slot. On this player, one function of this card slot is for viewing digital still photos. The digital still photo menu is very easy to use and scales images for display at 1920x1080 pixel resolution. The only downside is the lack of the ability for the BD-S2900 to play back MP3 audio files or video images stored on an SD Card.

What I Liked and Didn't Like About The Yamaha BD-S2900

There is a lot to like about the Yamaha BD-S2900, including:

1. Fast start-up and disc load time. Although the time needed to load disc content can vary from disc-to-disc, depending on the amount of BD-Java content, the actual startup and disc loading times were very good with the BD-S2900.

2. The BD-S2900 demonstrated very good Blu-ray Disc playback with both real-word examples and the Silicon Optix HD Blu-ray Edition Test Disc, with minor deficiencies in Black Level response and video noise reduction.

3. Excellent audio performance and connectivity. The audio quality was very good from Blu-ray, DVD, and CD source material. Connectivity very flexible with both HDMI and 5.1 Channel analog audio output capability.

4. HDMI1.3a connectivity for audio and video. RS-232C connection provided for control applications used in custom home theater installations.

5. Easy to use remote control, onscreen menu, and well illustrated user manual.

No product is perfect and the Yamaha BD-S2900 has its disadvantages, including:

1. Profile 1.1 (Bonus View) specification - Not upgradable to Profile 2.0 (BD-Live). This means that the BD-S2900 can access advanced functions, such as Picture-in-Picture commentaries with secondary audio, but cannot access additional internet-based interactive content associated with a growing number of Blu-ray Disc titles.

2. No Ethernet connection for internet-based disc content or for direct firmware upgrade downloads.

3. Lackluster DVD upscaling performance. Although the BD-S2900 performed very well as a Blu-ray Disc and CD player, it came up a little short in terms of DVD upscaling quality, mostly revealed by the Silicon Optix DVD Benchmark Test Disc.

4. No SACD or DVD-Audio playback. Although this is not a deal-breaker, for high-end users, SACD and DVD-Audio playback would really make this a complete disc media player.

5. No Divx, WMA, or VCD playback. No MP3 or video access via SD Card.

6. High Price Point may be a disadvantage in current economic climate.

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 Discs and Audio CDs, but fell a little short with standard DVD playback.

The BD-S2900 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.

The BD-S2900 certainly held its own when compared to other Bu-ray Disc players I have reviewed. Color and detail were excellent, although I felt that a little improvement in black level performance and, to a lesser extent, video noise reduction, could be in order.

With regards to standard DVD upscaling, the BD-S2900 did only an average job on tests using the Silicon Optix HQV DVD Benchmark Test Disk.

The BD-S2900 offers both on-board audio decoding and bitstream output for compatible home theater receivers. Also, Yamaha offers a complete array of both digital and analog audio output options.

Whether playing Blu-ray, DVD, or CD audio source material, I found that the BD-S2900 reproduced audio material well.

It is a disappointment that although BD-S2900 offers Profile 1.1 (Bonus View) functionality, it does not have an Ethernet port to allow access to Profile 2.0 (BD Live) functionality and cannot be upgraded.

The BD-S2900 is expensive for what you get in terms of features, but does perform well for its core purpose: The playing of Blu-ray Discs.

I give the Yamaha BD-S2900 a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.