Sony introduces massive Blu-ray disc changers for the one guy with 400 Blu-ray discs
Having made disc-changer units for CDs and traditional DVDs in the past, Sony inevitably had to make them for Blu-ray discs, which it's apparently finally ready to do. The company has announced two new "megachangers" that can hold and play up to 400 Blu-ray titles.
Both units can handle CDs and DVDs in additional to Blu-ray discs, and support 1080/60p, 24p True Cinema, and an array of 7.1 surround-sound formats, as well having an Ethernet port, which comes in handy when the device downloads info about your discs from the Gracenote database. The connectivity also allows you to access BD-Live content for compatible discs (if anyone is even bothering to tap into those interactive features).
If you want every bell and whistle, there's the $1,899.99 BDP-CX7000ES, which includes an RS-232 and IR inputs so you can control the disc changer through your home automation interface. It also supports Sony's Super Bit Mapping and HD Reality Enhancement technologies, which add some technical wizardry to boost image quality from your source material. If you don't need any of those features, the BDP-CX960 (pictured) is "only" $799.99.
Sony also unveiled one new single-disc Blu-ray player. The $699.99 BDP-S1000ES offers the same video processing technologies and RS-232 and IR inputs as the high-end BDP-CX7000ES while adding built-in Wi-Fi to its connectivity options. Both ES series player will be available in August, whereas the BDP-CX960 will be shipping sometime in the fall.