David_Tamari

Multi region player with best PQ

I've looked at all the lengthy threads for the Lite On 2001 (now defunct I guess), the Philips 963sa, etc, and I can't figure out which multi-region DVD player offers the best picture quality.

I have a Vidikron Vision 2 projector and a Faroudja line doubler. The Vidikron can display PAL, so I don't need an NTSC to PAL converter (the Faroudja only accepts a 480p NTSC signal, but it can be bypassed).

I would appreciate any help.

John Lloyd

Have you considered the Momitsu V880? I am currently using it with my Dwin projector and it works very well. You can even create custom memories; this should allow you to have separate settings for PAL and NTSC. I will get around to doing this one of these daya but at the moment I don't find the PAL->NTSC conversion to be that distracting.

Jay Blair

I just purchased a Panasonic RP91 codefree from JVBDigital.com. This player does PAL 576i but does not convert from PAL to NTSC. I'm running this through an iScan HD scaler and letting this do the PAL to NTSC conversion. Running 1080i from the HD is truly beautiful. The color rivals anything I've ever seen before. I also have the LiteOn LVD-2001 and even though its 1080i output is quite good, the Panasonic easily beats it when run through the HD. Just comparing 480i/P out of the Panasonic to the LiteOn at 1080i, then the LiteOn easily wins, but if you have a good scaler, I doubt you can do much better than the RP91. If your Faroudja doesn't upscale, then I would go with the LiteOn or the Momitsu. The LiteOn is still available as a Norcent (M501?) model, same player just a different name on it, and it even will accept LiteOn firmware.

David_Tamari

Thanks, John and Jay. I'm choosing between the Momitsu and the Norcent. Since I have no DVI input and the Momitsu seems to be even buggier than the Norcent, I'm leaning toward the Norcent DP501M. On the other hand, the DVI input on the Momitsu might come in handy one day.

I'll post again when I've made up my mind and hooked my new machine up. Meanwhile, if anyone can help break the deadlock, I'd appreciate it.

David_Tamari

Well, I discovered to my astonishment that my Pioneer 47ai, which I was using as an R1 player, will also play almost all of my PAL discs, since most of them are R0, and convert them to NTSC.

So I borrowed a friend's Momitsu to compare the converted 480p NTSC output of the Pioneer routed through the Faroudja line doubler with the straight 1080i PAL output of the Momitsu.

The converted 480p through the Faroudja won handily. Thank goodness, because the friggin' Faroudja listed for $9,000 when I bought it and, even though I bought it used, I still paid plenty for it.

I understand it's possible to have my 47ai modified to play all regions, but rather than shipping it off to have the warranty voided I think I'll just back up my paltry collection of R2 and R4 discs (all of which are DVD-5 except one) to R0 discs.

And that solves that.

Now, anyone know whether there's an easy way to convert the 47a to all-region?