Just How important is a DVD Player?

DanielCSCS

Precisely, is their an apple to orange difference between the quality of outputted material between dvd players. What features and components seperate dvd players? Can the average joe perceive a quality difference in audio and video?

DVD Player A: Has 54MHz/12-bit video DAC
selectable interlaced/progressive-scan component video output (progressive scan requires an HD-compatible TV)
Faroudja DCDi de-interlacer with 3-2 pulldown processing
2MB buffer for quick layer change
dual 192kHz/24-bit Burr-Brown audio D/A converters


DVD Player B: 108MHz/12-bit video D/A converter
192kHz/24-bit audio D/A converter


Player A, happens to be a Denon, Player B is happens to be a Sony. Theres a $250 difference in price, cmon is their $250 performance difference?

PolkThug

There are definitely differences!! Don't let price be your guide, there are at least three Denons with the "chroma bug". See DVD player list, with and without chroma bug

A good way to judge a DVD player is to watch the first 5 minutes of "Bring it On". Notice the reds in the cheerleader outfits. On bad DVD players, the outfits will look more "2-dimensional".

Since CC has a good return policy, I actually bought 2 DVD players of different brands and prices (Panasonic S35 $99, Pioneer $179), had a shoot out with them, then took the loser back to the store for a full refund. The cheaper Panny actually did better. A scene that is also a good test is the "love scene" from Matrix Reloaded. Look at how the fire light reflects on Neo and Trinity's skin, some DVD players have problems with this and the color gets "blocky". After I set the Panny to the "Cinema2" setting, the Pioneer could not hang with it.

Regards,
PolkThug

Phil Dawson

Remember that a new DVD player should play DVD-Audio. Get yourself a good DVD-A disc and go use your ears.
Phil

goingganzo

the beter the dvd player the beter the pic and sound. i am not saying the most expencive i am just saying the beter.

determan your price range then pick a good dvd player in it.

fireshoes

Just messin' with you, ganzo

steveinaz

If you have a HDTV, you'll definitely want "Progessive Scan." If you have standard analog television, PS will be a moot point. I've been very impressed with Toshiba and Panasonic DVD players that were in the $125-$190 price range. It looks like the Pioneer models are very good deals too, though I've never owned one.

Airplay355

aw man, u mean its my dvd player that makes that scene blocky? damn i thought it was the cable. now i have another thing to upgrade...i have tha panasonic rv32 if u wanted to know....another scene that will look bad on bad dvd players is the sunrise in the lion king in the beginning of the movie ( the colors dont fade evenly amnd inside the whales mouth in finding nemo, the reflection of the water on the roof of his mout is blocky.

if i switched from a cheap s video cable to a nice component video cable, would that make some of the blcoknes go away? or just make it worse?

PolkThug

Airplay, look in the setup menu on your panny, in the video section. NOT the menu that takes up the whole screen, but the "mini-bar" menu. Use the 'display' button on the remote, click it till you get to 'picture menu', 'picture mode', use the up/down cursor to find C1 or C2. C2 will correct 95% of the blockiness.

I am assumning our pannys are similar...

Regards,
PolkThug

Dr. Spec

Judge for yourself, but I was astonished at the difference in PQ and SQ when I upgraded from a Toshiba to the Denon 2900.

Polkthug - you have a very nice HDTV. I recently set-up and calibrated one of those with a Denon 1200 and Signal Cable component video cables. The PQ is first rate. You owe it to yourself and your TV to at least try an upscale player and compare it to what you are using now. If you don't, you'll never really know the difference.

PolkThug

Yeah, I would love to try out a high-end DVD player. It is really funny I have a $79 DVD player going into a $2800 HDTV (and the Monster component cable connecting them cost as much as the DVD player).

Know anyone in the Kansas City area with a good DVD player I could demo?

I think my "live-in girlfriend" would shoot me in my sleep if I spent more money on the theater room. She already flipped out when I told her that a second PSW505 was on the way! (I can't wait to experiment with that)

Regards,
PolkThug

Dr. Spec

The new Faroudja and Silicon Images decoders in the latest Denon units are nothing short of amazing.

Detail, image depth, color rendering, black levels - all first rate. You WILL see a substantial improvement in PQ over a $79 DVD player.

The 57S700 is Hitachi's latest and it shows. It is an extremely good picture with a quality DVD player. Plus, you have the capability of adjusting colors separately as part of the user menu, which makes calibration a snap.

BTW, that TV is pushing red about 8% from the factory, so calibration with DVE or Avia is a must. I used DVE for that particular TV and we used the DVD Night Time mode as a base and went from there. We did brightness, contrast, sharpness, color levels, red push, and color temp. We disabled the noise filter and the auto-color functions, as they just weren't needed with a quality player like the 1200. The final PQ after settling on High for the color temp was nothing short of stunning. Better than my set, and I'm using a better player than the 1200. I'm amazed and very impressed with Hitachi's latest offerings - they are a true leader is HDTV right now.

HBombToo

Originally posted by Dr. Spec
Judge for yourself, but I was astonished at the difference in PQ and SQ when I upgraded from a Toshiba to the Denon 2900.

Doc. I have not spent much time looking for it but I read I can disable the vidio dac while listening to SACD or DVD-A on my 2900... can you bring me in for a quick landing here?

And YES the PQ is stunning from the Denon 2900... My modest Sony 57 is justa beautifull!

HBomb

Dr. Spec

Going from memory, but you have to select Pure Direct #1 or #2 on the on-screen menu and tell it what to shut down. And then you manually switch the player to Pure Direct #1 or #2 on the face plate and away you go. There are two PD settings to give you more flexibility when processing video or audio and want to give priority to one or the other without having to go back to the OSD each time.

PolkThug

Originally posted by HBombToo
And YES the PQ is stunning from the Denon 2900... My modest Sony 57 is justa beautifull!

HBomb

Hmm... HBomb has a 2900, I got a 57S700, and we live about 20 mins away....

PhantomOG

Originally posted by PolkThug
Airplay, look in the setup menu on your panny, in the video section. NOT the menu that takes up the whole screen, but the "mini-bar" menu. Use the 'display' button on the remote, click it till you get to 'picture menu', 'picture mode', use the up/down cursor to find C1 or C2. C2 will correct 95% of the blockiness.

just noticed my Panny has a "cinema mode" as well. looking at the manual online isn't very descriptive. I wonder what exactly it is doing in these modes??

It only says "Mellows movies, enhances detail in dark scenes"

Someone linked the website above that compares all the DVD players. I found that site to be extremely useful. I picked up my Panny RP-56 a couple years ago for a little over a hundred and I think it is awesome for the money I paid. It has a Faroudja chip in it.

Dr. Spec

Originally posted by PolkThug
Hmm... HBomb has a 2900, I got a 57S700, and we live about 20 mins away....

A marriage made in HT heaven. Offer Henry some beer and he'll come right over.

HBombToo

Originally posted by Dr. Spec
Offer Henry some beer and he'll come right over.

Tour2ma

i am shocked, shocked i tell you to find that drinking is being encouraged at this site...

danger boy

Originally posted by Dr. Spec
The new Faroudja and Silicon Images decoders in the latest Denon units are nothing short of amazing.

Detail, image depth, color rendering, black levels - all first rate. You WILL see a substantial improvement in PQ over a $79 DVD player.

The 57S700 is Hitachi's latest and it shows. It is an extremely good picture with a quality DVD player. Plus, you have the capability of adjusting colors separately as part of the user menu, which makes calibration a snap.

BTW, that TV is pushing red about 8% from the factory, so calibration with DVE or Avia is a must. I used DVE for that particular TV and we used the DVD Night Time mode as a base and went from there. We did brightness, contrast, sharpness, color levels, red push, and color temp. We disabled the noise filter and the auto-color functions, as they just weren't needed with a quality player like the 1200. The final PQ after settling on High for the color temp was nothing short of stunning. Better than my set, and I'm using a better player than the 1200. I'm amazed and very impressed with Hitachi's latest offerings - they are a true leader is HDTV right now.

The good Dr. brings up a good point. i always forget to mention about TV's. turn off the auto color and the noise filters. noise filters most often times will make your picture appear somewhat soft.. auto color sometimes will make the colors to appear over saturated... color/hues/tint/contrast/brightness should all be on manual.. and set up with a AVIA or similar set up disc.

HBombToo

Originally posted by Dr. Spec
Going from memory, but you have to select Pure Direct #1 or #2 on the on-screen menu and tell it what to shut down. And then you manually switch the player to Pure Direct #1 or #2 on the face plate and away you go. There are two PD settings to give you more flexibility when processing video or audio and want to give priority to one or the other without having to go back to the OSD each time.

Done deal Doc and thanks.

The 2900 continues to amaze me.

HBomb

PolkThug

Hbomb, I'll look you up once we get past the turkey holiday. I should have my second psw505 by then, and also my Monster 3600 will be here. We wouldn't want any "dirty" power, lol. Then we can have a DVD player shootout. (I'm trying to round up some other DVD players as well.

beer and pizza and beer provided.