Search results

  1. Keith Smith

    Jacques Demy French DVDs

    I have the two individual albums and recommend them both highly. I also have the American version of Umbrellas, and will never watch it again, because the video of the French version is so much better. Yes, both have English subtitles available. In Demoiselles, it's also fun to see...
  2. Keith Smith

    Code-free DVD players?

    On the two HD sets on which I viewed my CyberHome 500, I saw no evidence of the progressive scan problems reported by others. My observation was that on my large screen set, the Pioneer Elite 710HD, the video quality of the Cyberhome was not nearly as good as what I'm accustomed to seeing...
  3. Keith Smith

    Code-free DVD players?

    I've had the CyberHome 500 for a couple of weeks,now. I did the bios upgrade on my November build player. On my Pioneer Elite 710HD, the video quality was less than I'm accustomed to seeing with my Malata 996. Edges were not as smooth, and it just didn't look as good. Also, I found it most...
  4. Keith Smith

    Evita DTS DVD (French R2)

    You might also consider the Italian version. I've had mine for about a year. The DTS audio is excellent. I do not watch my American version anymore. There are forced Italian subtitles, but I can pan the video upward on the screen while the subtitles stay towards the bottom, out of the video...
  5. Keith Smith

    Thoughts on my new JVC XV-SA70

    The JVC player has the same Panterra chip that I have in my two Malata N-996 players. Unfortunately, the x-y scaling feature was not implemented by JVC. For me, this is the most used feature in watching my 80+ PAL DVDs. I can get rid of the typical overscan, and size up the picture to my exact...
  6. Keith Smith

    Malata vs. Sampo

    I have three Sampo 611 players and two Malata 996 players. The Malatas have excellent PAL to NTSC conversion and the great x-y scaling. After watching on a Malata, I frequently find it unpleasant to watch DVDs on my Sampos. I see a lot of conversion artifacts and video noise as well as a...
  7. Keith Smith

    Where can I get a R2 anamorphic disc (any disc) for as cheap as possible?

    At Bensonworld you can get the Arthaus Musik DVD Video Sampler II delivered to your door for $10, or less. Not only will you have anamorphic video, on several chapters, but also DTS audio. Keith Smith
  8. Keith Smith

    c-band

    I'm using a Pioneer Elite 710HD in my home theater, and my 10' antenna and multiple receivers fed by it are at the heart of my system. The C Band antenna gives you access to lots and lots of video signals. Look at http://www.lyngsat.com/ to get an idea of what's on the many satellites. For...
  9. Keith Smith

    How do I know if my Malata has the latest firmware update

    Ron: Hold down the "Pause" (corrected) button on your remote control for five seconds and you will see the version number and date for the firmware. Do you also have the upgrade switch on the back of the player? This was added with the November '01 build. In getting started, a good first...
  10. Keith Smith

    Also jumping on the code-free MALATA DVD-N996 bandwagon

    Ron: Australia is a good place to buy DVDs. The Australian dollar is only worth about 50 cents U.S. and there's a lot available there that's not available here. I have an account with http://www.ezydvd.com.au/ and have ordered from them numerous times. Start with http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/...
  11. Keith Smith

    Also jumping on the code-free MALATA DVD-N996 bandwagon

    The x-y scaling that the Malata N996 does is continuous,as is the panning. Thus,it enables you to precisely adjust the picture and to position it on the screen as you choose. When I first play an anamorphic DVD, I will typically reverse zoom it so that the picture extends just to the sides of...
  12. Keith Smith

    Also jumping on the code-free MALATA DVD-N996 bandwagon

    The new modded JVC players do use the same Mediamatics chip that is used in the Malata N996, and if you could just get the JVC picture to display on your screen properly, it should look just like the Malata picture. Unfortunately, however, the JVC lacks some of the most desirable features...
  13. Keith Smith

    Also jumping on the code-free MALATA DVD-N996 bandwagon

    In my post above, I reported having perfect DTS audio from my Malata N996 via my Denon 5700 receiver. This is after the November firmware upgrade. Previously, I had occasional audio dropouts on a few DTS DVDs and had real problems getting DTS CDs to play without dropouts. Now everything plays...
  14. Keith Smith

    Also jumping on the code-free MALATA DVD-N996 bandwagon

    Ron: The DTS dropout problem for the N996 was fixed by the November firmware upgrade that your new November built player will have. Now, the Malata is a robust DTS player, even handling DTS CDs flawlessly through my Denon 5700. I also have the RP-91 (unmodded) and bought the Malata to be...
  15. Keith Smith

    Not impressed so far with video quality from Panasonic RP91 DVD player...

    I have the Pioneer Elite PRO-710HD and would say that the internal line doubler is so good that for anamorphic DVDs, the interlaced DVD video is hardly distinguishable from a progressive player output. My interlaced player is the Elite DVL-91, and if I were only watching anamorphic R1 DVDs, I...
  16. Keith Smith

    Cambride Soundworks

    I have had the Newton S300 surround speakers since last summer and really like their performance. Their dispersion is most impressive, and I also find that the sound from my front speakers now seems to come back and envelop me, rather than staying at the front of the room, as it used to. The...
  17. Keith Smith

    Anu international DVD ordering horror stories?

    My favorite French source is alapage.com. I've ordered from them four or five times with no problems, sometimes finding DVDs in stock with them that I don't find at cinestore or zone2dvd. Only once did alapage not seem to be able to get a DVD that I had ordered -Greed by Laurant Garnier- and so...
  18. Keith Smith

    Dr. T and the Women...a question...

    Seeing the posts here makes me want to watch this Altman movie again. I bought the DVD when it was first released, had a lot of fun watching it, and had not watched it again. In my memory of it, I do not recall most of what has been described above. I did like the performance by Richard Gere; I...
  19. Keith Smith

    It's A Great, Great, Great, Great DVD World

    I just completed watching the new DVD release of Mad, Mad World and give the video and audio quality very high ratings. I had seen the movie in its original Cinerama release and liked it very much, at the time. I still like the music very much, but did not find much in the movie that seems...
  20. Keith Smith

    JVC 723 PAL-NTSC Conversion?

    In the Regional DVD section of this forum I see a report of a PAL Region 0 DVD being played on a JVC 723, giving a normal picture on an NTSC tv set. My question is whether the JVC really does do the PAL-NTSC conversion for non-region encoded DVDs. The Pantera chip from Mediamatics that it uses...
  21. Keith Smith

    Consumer Reports: Speaker Ratings

    I have been a great fan of Consumer Reports for many years. I always want to check their report before making a purchase. However,I hardly ever purchase their top ranked items. I believe that their rankings are valid according to the criteria that they state in each report. With loudspeakers...
  22. Keith Smith

    RP-91 Audio Questions

    All of the DVD-Audio discs that I now have are six channel, except for Casino Royale which is a two channel DVD-A disc. On my Denon 5700, using the direct digital input mode with Casino Royale gives a front panel display of 96k. Apparently, the RP-91 is passing 96k to my Denon 5700. None of my...
Top