New Panny DVD player with Faroudja DCDi & HDMI - MSRP $299.95 (1 Viewer)

[DaveGTP]

Just though you guys would be interested. Didn't find a post on it (I ran a search but didn't find the info). Thought I would share. Credit to the animeondvd.com and avsforum.com forums for the link. I've got a CP72 myself, but I thought some folks might be interested.



http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_el...12&cont_id=578

 

[BryanM]

Well,
If all of this is true and does pan out, I will have a reason to get rid of my XP50 and region free Bravo D1. The only thing holding me back on my fabulous XP50 is the no DVI (or HDMI to which there is an adapter) output. Hope it's true. Panasonic has been flaky with their specs online before. Here's hoping for the best.

 

[Scott L]

For those like me confused aobut HDMI: http://www.hdmi.org/faq/faq.asp

What do they mean by providing "high quality, uncompressed digital audio/video signal transmission?" This just means nothing is added to the signal such as Macrovision?

edit- ok, dug deeper and it just means HDMI sports over 5GB/sec of bandwidth, meaning it's *possible* for uncompressed material. Uncompressed on a DVD player would only apply to a CD. :p)

 

[Steve Schaffer]

None of these new players have the scaling feature of the RP-91, apparently.

I was hoping for a good cheap 5 disc changer with Faroudja chip like my current CP-72 which I know won't last forever, along with the scaling feature of the RP-91.

 

[DaveGTP]

Yeah, I'm happy with my CP-72 and hope it lasts for quite a while, but it's nice to see an alternative of sorts appear in the market.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Reading the press release more carefully, it looks like only the single disc S-97 has the Faroudja chip. It could be my imagination or just the way some newer dvds are mastered but my CP-72 seems to be doing klunkier layer changes lately.

I originally saw no use for dvd changers but now would not want to go back to a single disc player. It's very convenient to be able to load an entire 4 disc set like the LOTR EEs into the player all at the same time.

 

[Dom P]

S97 looks like a good DVD player for the money. Internet price will probably be around mid $200s. I've been looking at DVD players with the Faroudja chip and most are quite pricey. This looks like a solid choice at the price point. I just have to see what kind of video and audio DACs it has.

 

[Brad HP]

Is this known for certain or just a guess (I didn't see any mention of it either way in the press release)? I'm holding out hope that Panasonic will someday provide an updated replacement for the RP-91.

 

[Chris_Liberti]

I wonder which mpeg decoder it uses. If it is the same as the RP91/RP82 then this should be a hell of a deal. Does anyone know if this will output 720p/1080i from the HDMI connector?

 

[Ron Reda]

Hopefully, the S97 will have DACs comparable to what the new Denons are using which I think are 12-bit 108mHz or 12-bit 216mHz.

 

[Dave Mack]

Hey Ron, What's the PQ difference between 10 and 12 bit...?

Thanx, D!

 

[Carlo_M]

Well I'll be very interested in the S97 if it has the 4:3 aspect ratio correction for 16:9 TVs that lock on "Full". I have been fairly happy with my Panny RP91 which does show 4:3 correctly on my TV, but I have noticed that it combs on some video material (concerts) and mis-flagged material. It performs superbly on DVD-Audio though, so I hope the S97 will perform similarly in that respect...

 

[Don_Berg]

An updated Panasonic press release now states that the S97 will NOT have the Faroudja de-interlacer - so it will be similar to their other newer cheap player models.

 

[anthony_b]

I can't believe someone here is already assuming it will perform like the older cheap models....Lets wait until the player is available before we judge it. :rolleyes

 

[Carlo_M]

Well I'm not one who will assume it's as bad as the older players, but I have to admit, the odds are for it. The ones that have performed well in the Shootouts are the ones with the Faroudja chip, and the ones without tend to not do as well.

I wonder what the deal is with Panny and Faroudja - are they having trouble coming to terms? This isn't the first time that an upcoming Panny player was announced with the Faroudja chip, and then have it pulled before final spec, IIRC.

 

[David Judah]

I wonder if the Bass Plus feature is intended to give a little sub boost for DVD-A.

DJ

 

[David Kyser]

No this is supposed to mean that the DVD-S97
will feed an uncompressed 6 ch DVD-Audio signal thru the HDMI to Pani's new reciever. This is a big deal as the new reciever has the Ti digital amps, meaning for the first time you could listen to uncompresed (not the DTS or 5.1 track)DVD-A that is converted to analog only as it is being amplified.

 

[Stephen Tu]

I don't think that's right; the current version of HDMI doesn't support 6-ch DVD-Audio yet (will be supported next version). Only carries Dolby Digital AFAIK, maybe 2-channel audio also.

What's uncompressed is the video; HDMI is carrying uncompressed digital video, coming from after the MPEG decoder of the player.

 

[David Kyser]

Actually the reason the new pani reciever isn't due out till august is because they are waiting on HDMI's next revision which will allow the uncompressed DVD-a transfer. I lost the link I had, but that is what panny is telling the press.

 

[AaronJB]

I think there's a huge difference between 10bit/54mhz and 13-bit/108mhz of my Philips 963, to answer the question earlier in the thread.