What makes a $2000 dvd player better than a $200 one? (1 Viewer)

this is a stupid question. What makes dvd players that are a couple of thousand dollars better than a dvd player that is a few hundred. I use a sony dvp-ns400d, and I think the picture looks great. How much better can it get? sorry for the newb question.

I'm moving this to Audio/Video Sources. The question may be simple, but I suspect the answers are complicated.

M.

In truth, I suspect not much. I had an 800 dollar progressive scan DVD player and recently switched to a Panny RP82--the Panny RP82 had BETTER picture quality and had better features.

It pays most to research the player before buying them -- there are countless resources on the web regarding who has the best chipsets/best performance.

Let's not forget that there is more to a DVD player than video. These players do audio too. In my experience, the difference between budget DVD players and high-end DVD players is much closer in the video department than in the audio department. Thus, the budget player may hold its own in terms of picture quality, but audio (e.g., CDs) is a completely different story.

interesting, I always wondered that

The decoding of audio by a dvd player may change from player to player. However, if you have a receiver decoding the audio then the ability of an expensive player to decode audio is moot.

I may be overstepping my bounds with this assertion but I believe most mid to high tier receivers are capable of better decoding than the average mid to high level dvd player.

gammite

The weight.

Lewis,

Absolutely! Let's certainly not forget fit and finish, and the prestige that comes with knowing that you spent $2000 on a DVD player.


Man-Fai,

Good point. It is very likely that a $2000 DVD player will serve as a better transport than a $200 model. In a high-end 5.1 system that is commensurate with the $2000 DVD player, the difference in transport quality is often night and day.

Man-Fai,

There are a number of solutions for digital output from a player to a processor -- most of which are proprietary.

SACD:
dCS, Accuphase and Sharp have stereo solutions, all proprietary.

Pioneer has a multi-channel firewire solution, specific to the DV-47ai player / 49TXi receiver for the time being.

DVD-Audio:
Denon, Meridian, Muse and MSB (via player modification) all have proprietary solutions available for multi-channel.

Pioneer has a multi-channel firewire solution, specific to the DV-47ai player / 49TXi receiver for the time being.

I think that's everyone out there with digital solutions, but I could be mistaken.

Regards,

wow, I think I can learn alot hanging around these forums. thanks guys

I don't know about the $2000 players, but here at work, we use a lot of $800 players - the Pioneer 7400 industrial players.

This player gives us a lot of useful features...

1. Autostart programming. Power comes on in the morning; most of the DVD players go to Title X, Chapter Y, and go into repeat play automatically.

2. RS-232 control. Many of the players are directly controlled by a supervisory AMX system.

3. Blackburst synchronization, for when you need two or more players to play back in perfect sync.

4. Perhaps the most important is endurance. We have perhaps a dozen players now - the first ones we installed - that are pushing the four year old mark. This translates to 14,000 hours of power on and playing a disc. (We average about 3500 hours/year.)

Off hand, I don't recall having any transport failures, either. Presently, we're running about fifty of these puppies at the same time.

Leo Kerr
[email protected]

Don't forget DAC chips and other technical thingies from companies like Faroudja and Silicon Images. Come to think of it..Faroudja is fun to say.


Faroudja

Expensive video goods are the past,Faroudja's dvd "engines" are all over the map[price wise] in dvd players.Audio remains much more subjective compared to video,which is why some companies creating such models,and some even bound by it["high end"].
I personaly think that above a $1000 or so price,the "diminishing returns" apply rather fast,of course you could still brag about it as Keith pointed out. YMMV.

Man-Fai,

I don't disagree that these digital solutions are expensive, but your choice of words indicated absolutes...

Regards,

A (slight) hybred is a DVDPC, which would fall into the 1,500-2,000 range. These provide a scaled native resolution to match your front projector's native scan rate for the best possible picture. They also offer the ability to upgrade as the market produces new and improved video and audio without having to buy a whole new player. Some offer the ability to scale other source material like a VCR, cable or laser disc player to the same scan rate (with an imput on the back). Also, something cool like a movie count down introduction before each dvd or ability to play other region's DVDs.

The mod that moved this topic from the basic forum made the right choice. this topic was replied to alot over here, thanks guys