The £680 HTP-BD3iS (shown) is a 5.1 system combining the Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray player with a 5.1 surround sound system, the HT-IS100.
It uses the tiny speakers made famous in the excellent DAV-IS10 DVD system, and all the surround processing and S-master digital amplification is built into the subwoofer.
The system will handle high-definition audio from Blu-ray discs, as well as standard Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks on DVD. The BDP-S350 player outputs 1080p/24fps pictures and will upscale DVDs to 1080p.
Video upconversion for all sources
The system can also accept video signals from all exisiting sources, either via HDMI connections or component and composite video sockets, and will upconvert them to 1080i resolution via a single HDMI cable connection to your TV.
Other features include Digital Cinema auto calibration as used in Sony's other IS systems, and a Digital Media port for connecting an iPod, MP3 player, mobile phone or other digital devices.
You also get an FM/AM/RDS analogue tuner with 30 presets, USB port, three HDMI inputs and one HDMI out, three optical digital inputs and one coaxial digital input.
For those who don't have room for a full 5.1 set-up, the £490 BDV-FS350 is a 2.1 Blu-ray system using the same BDP-S350 Blu-ray player, coupled with two S-Force PRO front surround speakers and a 16cm active subwoofer.
The prices quoted are from Sony's UK website, but a quick Google search will find them for considerably less.
