Sony has announced that they've started shipping their second Blu-ray Disc player, the BDP-S300. The player offers a number of new features including the advanced Dolby Digital Plus audio codec, BRAVIA Theatre Sync and CD playback. Best of all, the BDP-S300 is priced at only $499.

The new BD player is compatible with most standard DVDs and has the added feature of 1080p upscaling through HDMI to 1080p capable HDTVs, improving the picture performance of existing DVD libraries.

The model also supports AVC-HD discs encoded with x.v.Color (xvYCC) technology, a new international standard for wide color space. The standard expands the current data range of video approximately 1.8 times allowing the player to output more natural and vivid colors similar to what the human eye can actually see.

The new BD unit incorporates BRAVIA TheatreSync utilizing HDMI connectivity, which integrates the operation of the player with a compatible BRAVIA flat-panel LCD television or audio/video receiver. With the touch of a button, you can automatically turn on and switch inputs to match connected devices.
Sony isn't done with the BDP-S1 either. They will be releasing a new firmware update next week that adds support for Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby True HD. If you'd like to read more, Sony's entire press release can be found here.