We do have a few Ultra HD Blu-rays that show the BDP-S6700 how it should be done in 2016 but we’ll stop labouring that point, for now. Colour presentation proved identical to two other players (Samsung UBD-K8500/Panasonic BDT-310) connected to the TV at their optimal settings and it would be next to impossible to tell the difference between the scaling of the Samsung (Ultra HD) player against that of the Sony. In the default video mode, so no need to touch any settings for discs, there was no unnecessary or unwanted processing visible, just the information presented on the disc sent bit-perfect. It would be something of a shock had the BDP-S6700 been anything other than a highly accomplished performer with Blu-ray disc of the Full HD flavour. When looking at 720p, and under, we would probably give the Blu-ray player the edge which would make it a good choice for some streamed video versus the built-in TV apps. Certainly when comparing test patterns played to a Sony KD-55XD93 via USB and from the BDP-S6700 itself, the two seemed identical, which is to say both were excellent at 1080p. You would need a projector sized screen to see any noticeable difference in the scaling capabilities of the BDP-S6700 and the better Ultra HD TVs out there. In fact, the BDP-S6700 can also pick up on 30 and 60 (and variants of) fps material, too, but is unable to pick up on that which is 25 or 50 so the likes of BBC iPlayer and anything on the streaming services calling for 50Hz output are not correctly displayed. One really good feature of the Smart Sony Blu-ray players is the ability to automatically detect and play network video at 24 frames per second (fps), which is the usual frame rate of movies and US blockbuster TV shows most players will output these incorrectly which causes stuttering on panning shots. Like many of the Smart TV systems we see now, in case you hadn’t guessed, virtually everything is treated as an app and the approach is pretty successful in fact, the TV department might want to take a leaf out that of the disc player's book as a lesson in simplicity. Most of the major video streaming services are present and correct, including BBC iPlayer, YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Wuaki and Demand 5 but there are many others, including Spotify and shortcuts to menu features. We did moan (a little) last year about some of the app icons looking a little low-res in the 2015 models but, thankfully, that seems to have been addressed. In fact, the disc playing ‘app’ is squirreled away right at the bottom of the screen, which is probably a sign of the times we live in. The home screen of the BDP-S6700 looks more like a phone, tablet or PC than it does your traditional disc player. Let’s see where the BDP-S6700 stands in an increasingly confused marketplace. The BDP-S6700 sits below the premium UHP-H1 audio and video player and above both the BDP-S3700 - which lacks 4K scaling – and BDP-S1700 which additionally doesn’t have wireless capability. Speaking of value, the suggested retail price of this Blu-ray Player is around £150, although it is already available at discount from online outlets. The BDP-S6700 does feature both 4K Ultra HD ‘upscaling’ and 3D support, although the former is of questionable value in most cases. As things stand, Sony is not quite involved in every possible chain of 4K delivery so they have work to do in order to live up to the, ‘from lens to living room,’ tagline which presently doesn’t quite hold true. Surprisingly, given the manufacturer developed Blu-ray and is heavily involved in the 4K Ultra HD and HDR revolution, this is not a UHD Blu-ray player and nor, at the time of publishing (May 2016), does Sony have one scheduled for release. Well, we will start by telling you what the Sony BDP-S6700 is not.
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