Panasonic RP82 vs. JVC SA600BK (1 Viewer)

[JasonLC]

I would say the RP82 wins hands down against the JVC for pure progressive and interlaced PQ. If you want to really see the JVC's get blown away, try playing a progressive video DVD like Ice Age and compare the JVC and RP82 side by side on a progressive display. The RP82 will have a much more 3D looking and sharper PQ then the JVC. When it comes to properly flagged progressive film they are close in PQ, but the RP82 still gives a sharper and more 3D looking PQ then the JVC. Of course some people might prefer the JVC because it shows a softer more film like PQ then the RP82 on progressive film sources. I prefer the more detailed, sharper, and more 3D looking PQ myself. As far as audio performance, the RP82 transports the DD and DTS bitstream just as well as the JVC to my Sony DA4ES receiver. I couldn't test the DVD-A playback because I am comparing the RP82 to my JVC XV-S500(Same guts as 600 but without DVD-A)that I got rid of. I do have a JVC XV-SA70BK in the bedroom on an interlaced setup though and it has been very reliable for 1.5 years now. I think both players are just about the same for multi-format playback such as VCD/SVCD etc. Haven't tested out the DVD-R formats, but have heard the RP82 does play all 4 of them properly! I would also like to note that the RP82 has a MUCH better PQ then the JVC on VCD and SVCD discs because of the superior Sage Fli2200 DCDi deinterlacer and it handling of progressive video sources. The JVC had a decent PQ for VCD and SVCD, but was notably softer and less defined then the RP82. As far as MP3 playback, the RP82 blows away the JVC because of the way it displays the WHOLE file name properly on screen and even plays the MP3s randomly properly. The audio quality of the 192kbps+ MP3s on the RP82 sound transparent to me to CD via digital output. The JVC does have excellent zooming capabilties if you have one of those prehistoric 4:3 TVs and need to botch the picture and espect that the director meant you to see. Of course the RP82 only has a 2X fixed zoom for 4:3TVs which I feel if you zoom that is all you will need anyways. The scaling is nice for non-anamorphic material on the JVC, but there are very few non-anamorphic DVDs out there, and even if you have a few of them you can zoom them with your HDTV's zoom mode if you have a half way decent zoom mode on your HDTV and it will looks just as good with no scan lines. Basically what I am saying is if you have an old school 4:3 TV and like to botch the picture with zooming, and that is all you will do with a DVD player then the JVC is for you. If you want the best progressive film PQ, multi format playback PQ, best progressive video PQ, and best MP3 playback and featues in a DVD player under $1000 out there, then get the RP82/XP30/XP50. I don't recommend the CP72 because of horrible quality control and component output grounding problems. I went through 2 CP72s and had no luck in getting a good one so I got the RP82 and will never look back. Long live and RIP to the mighty and all superior RP82.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

and even if you have a few of them you can zoom them with your HDTV's zoom mode if you have a half way decent zoom mode on your HDTV and it will looks just as good with no scan lines

I don't know about that. How close to the TV do owners of such "half way decent" TVs sit? Is it really the TV doing good zooming? Or is it just the owners sitting far enough away to not be bothered by the zooming? I suspect it's somewhere in between. And anyway, if people are gonna be very picky about PQ, then there's probably good merit to doing the scaling/zooming before any DA-conversion w/ a likely higher quality scaler in the player than the TV. Also, subtitles handling will likely be better when zoom/scaling is done on the player side.

_Man_

 

[NatL]

I need a new DVD player. I was thinking long and hard about waiting for the right universal player. But after reading enough, I decided on the JVC. The deal-breaker for me was the scaling ability b/c my TV locks on full mode w/progressive.

I may not be getting SACD right now, but it looks a lot like a format where the only way to get a decent one is to pay a lot. There are lots of available SACD's, and yet no players, really. That is rather strange. I will just wait for now.

I read this elsewhere, but I'll throw it out again. While I saw, w/ pricegrabber, that the best price, shipped, for the JVC SA600BK was about $175, Bestbuy has the FA900BK (same unit but with a 7-disk changer) for about $210 - that is, $280 + plus tax ($10-ish, but depends of course) + free shipping - $80 mail-in rebate.

I took that deal.

N

 

[Peter Loan]

I've played a bunch of non-anamorphic discs(Wild Bunch, Office Space, Romy and Michelle, Nightmare Before Christmas, Dune, Vertigo) and the JVC hasn't scaled properly on any of them. It seems that most transfers of this type are not flagged properly, or perhaps my player is set up incorrectly? I've tried both 16x9 normal and auto modes on my SA600BK.

 

[Dzung Pham]

When I was deciding between these two players, I went with the JVC because I felt that in my system, PAL to NTSC conversion was more important than top notch deinterlacing. Of course, you also need to have the it region-free modified but the JVC works very well with PAL discs. The Panasonic does not possess PAL to NTSC conversion capabilities as far as I know.