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Panasonic RP82--One Player to Rule Them All! (1 Viewer)

MikeSRC

Second Unit
Joined
Jul 19, 2002
Messages
369
Paul, the Panasonic website is incorrect (as it often is). The RP-82 does not have this feature, nor does it have gamma adjustment.
 

Reece

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Apr 3, 2002
Messages
94
Bryan,

Since my previous dvd player was hooked up via optical I will not have to change anything.

I just purchased the cp-72 from J&R for about $180 after the rebate.The Panasonic $30 rebate is what really forced my hand on the sale. After reading all this good feedback on these players I'm excited on finally becoming an owner of one. Now that is COOL.

Thanks HTF!!!
 

Bryan Guth

Agent
Joined
Nov 5, 2002
Messages
43
Reece,

Enjoy! And please comment on how this player handles disc changes/load times, and all that jazz. At these prices, I may purchase one later on and have it as an alternate for movie marathons or longer discs like LOTR.
 

Steve Schaffer

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 15, 1999
Messages
3,756
Real Name
Steve Schaffer
I've had a CP72 for over a month. It's a bit faster at changing discs than the 7-disc JVC it replaced, and much less clunky sounding when doing so. The JVC did scaling but the Panny doesn't. The PQ on the Panny is a bit better for film based stuff and much better for video based material. The JVC had gamma adjustment and that's the only thing I miss. The Panny's gamma will change if you switch it from Normal to Cinema 1 or 2, but not by much.

I don't use the player to listen to music, haven't even played the one DVD-A disc I bought with it yet, so I wouldn't derive any benefit from paying $600 for one of the Denon models.
 

Andrew_Ballew

Second Unit
Joined
Feb 21, 2002
Messages
294
have a RP82 as well and it rocks. It's excellent video quality is comming from a very good video chip which is in it. I forgot the name, starts with an F. I do know the company which makes those chips makes their own video processor units.
Sage/Faroudja

The overall video quality is determined by several factors, though- not just the de-interlacing chip.
 

Craig W

Second Unit
Joined
Jul 28, 1999
Messages
445
Also note that the RP82, CP72, and RP91 use the better Panasonic MPEG decoder. The RP82 and CP72 have the bonus of a great deinterlacer by Faroudja where the RP91 has the advantage of 16:9 scaling of 4:3 material.

The lower models use a less robust MPEG decoder.
 

Andy Anderson

Second Unit
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Messages
317
Check out the new Denon DVM-1805. No DVD-A, but it's cheaper than the 1600. I think it's around $399 at local B&M's. Burr Brown DAC, Faroudja DCDi, and a 2MB buffer for uninterrupted layer changes, etc. Cool stuff. I think I just posted the same thing in another thread... :)
 

MikeSRC

Second Unit
Joined
Jul 19, 2002
Messages
369
The 1805 also doesn't have the higher grade Panasonic MPEG decoder that's in the 1600, as well as the Panasonic players mentioned above. The 1805 is a changer version of the 900, which hasn't been particularly well-received by those who have tried it (although I haven't seen it personally).
 

Chad Ellinger

Second Unit
Joined
Jun 18, 2000
Messages
269
Ok, I have to ask:
The CP-72 is the same player as the RP-82, minus a coaxial output, but with a 5-disc capacity as opposed to 1. With the current $30 rebate, it can be had for up to $60 less than the RP-82.
So if you don't need a coaxial output, is there any reason at all to buy the RP-82 over the CP-72?
 

RANDY FISHER

Second Unit
Joined
Sep 1, 1998
Messages
285
I got a chance to hook my RP-82 up last night and spin a few disks on it. These are very early impressions and I won't know more until I have viewed several DVD's in their entirety. Bear with this as I jump around a but here.

My first (3) DVD players were expensive >$1000 units. I had an early Toshiba unit and a Sony 7000 then a 7700. I purchased a Sony 700P (which is the player the RP-82 will be replacing) about a year ago. The quality of the 700P, picture and sound wise, was VERY good considering the under $300 price so I no longer look at those expensive players as a good investment. Spend the extra $$ on DVD’s or other stuff.

The unit itself a little cheap feeling, but looks kind’ a cool with it's mirrored silver faceplate. It's small and light @ 2 3/8" high and 5 pounds. The remote as stated elsewhere is a real cheap looking and feeling POS. It will due for initil set-up but thank god for my Pronto. I am not using the DVD-A capabilities at the moment but I could at some point get around to hooking the 6-channel output up and messing around with it. I am also using an outboard DD/DTS decoder but the unit does have one built in. I thought the menu system was a little bland and I miss the jacket picture feature that my Sony has. It’s the little things that thrill me I guess.

I hooked it up Via component video, ran a coax cable to my receiver, set up the unit for progressive out and made sure the “auto 1” and “normal” pic. modes were selected. After a quick configuration it was off to compare it to my 700P, which I left hooked up via component cables to my 36”XBR400. Initial differences were not that noticeable (not exactly what I would call night and day difference), however, after examining the picture quality more closely I noticed the RP-82 was indeed sharper, (Sony’s do generally have a softer image, not necessarily a bad thing), colors were a bit brighter…more vibrant (showing a little more depth), and most importantly scenes that would show a small amount of “jaggie” with my 700P were smooth as silk on the RP-82. I compared some scenes from AOTC, which I was familiar with after the repeat viewings over the weekend. In the scene where Obi-Wan and Anakin enter Amadala’s quarters in the beginning of the film, there are vents with lights shining thru them close to the floor along the hallway near the entrance. On my set-up with the 700P there was clearly a jagged edge on the vents and a general smearing of the light shining thru them. On the RP-82 the vents were as straight as an arrow and the light shining thru them sharp as a tack. I could see this clearly on a 36” tube so I would assume it would be that much more noticeable on a larger display. I plan on going front projection when my basement is finished off in a year or two. It will definitely make a difference on a large screen. The color thing also struck me a little off guard. When Obi-Wan enters Jengo’s quarters and Boba answers the door I could easily pick out some colored streaks in his hair that, while probably there in the image all the time, were more easily discernable on the Panasonic unit. If you see compression artifacts on a disk, (like Palpatines Red wall’s that move in AOTC) the RP-82 does not hide them, they are there to stay. I also tried out the notorious Titanic disk and it looked really good for non-animorphic with out scaling. I can’t really comment too much on the audio quality. I would assume that the digital output would sound the same from player to player and I am not using the 6-channel analog out. The drawer sound and access time were comparable to my Sony but the drive initially accessing the disk was noisier than the 700P (after the dead quiet 7000 and 7700 everything seems noisy). The front panel display is pretty small.

That’s it for now. This has been said before but if you are in the market for a low cost progressive DVD player, want one that is chroma bug free (I did notice the bug a few times with the Sony but not what I would consider bad) and has the best de-interlacing chip available look no further. If you already have a progressive player that you are happy with I am not sure I would recommend just ditching it for the RP-82 but if you want the best image quality from DVD (at a low cost) the Panny does seem to be the one to beat. Tomorrow night I am taking the unit to a friend’s house. We will be comparing it to his JVC unit on a 40” Toshiba RPTV.

Randy
 

Larry Sutliff

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2000
Messages
2,861
Ok, I set up my RP82 tonight; I used Avia for fine tuning. I set the DVD player to "darker" and am using the "Normal" mode. My first impressions:

I feel like I bought a new television, not a DVD Player. That how is dramatic the improvement is for me. Now I'm replacing a Sony DVP-S360, which was fine when I had a 32" RCA. Someone with a better DVD player may not notice the dramatic difference that I did.
I only sampled a couple of discs, GLADIATOR and SLEEPY HOLLOW, and the difference is like night and day for me. The color is so much more vibrant and the image is so much sharper and more detailed. I look forward to really doing some in depth viewing this weekend. Can't wait to crack open that LOTR:EE and watch ATTACK OF THE CLONES again.
 

Bryan Guth

Agent
Joined
Nov 5, 2002
Messages
43
Ah, the joys of experiencing such a stellar DVD player. I am continuing to revisit familiar discs and each one is revealing new detail, clarity, and even better color reproduction. I have to keep reminding myself I almost spent $1500 to reach this level of satisfaction! I doubt this will be the last DVD player I purchase (HD-DVD notwithstanding) but I am sold on DCDi technology and will not even consider another player without it.
 

RANDY FISHER

Second Unit
Joined
Sep 1, 1998
Messages
285
"How was the layer change compared to the sony?"

Jeff, I haven't actually observed a layer change yet. I won't get to watch some DVD's on it until this weekend. I'll report back then.

Randy
 

Bryan Guth

Agent
Joined
Nov 5, 2002
Messages
43
From my viewing experiences with this player, the layer change is noticeable but expedient. A minor blip and then it's on with the movie. However, I have noticed layer changes vary based on the disc itself. That has been something I have witnessed on every player I have tried.
 

Josh Lowe

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 19, 2002
Messages
1,063
It's not quite clear in your opening comments - so would you please elaborate on how you came to the conclusion that PQ from the 5X more expensive Denon DVD-3800 is no better than that of the the RP82?
I'll sell you my RP82 for $1200 if you like.
 

Aaron H

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jun 28, 2001
Messages
592
Could someone ellaborate on the "Auto1" and "normal" picture modes for this player? I can't seem to find them in the setup menu.

Aaron
 

DougR

Second Unit
Joined
Jun 15, 1999
Messages
354
Aaron,
push your "Display" button ( Remote).
When the "Title Bar" shows, click on the "Display" button 2 more times.The "Play Menu" bar shows up.
Use the Up/Down buttons on remote to toggle to the "Picture Menu"...... There it is ! ;)
 

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