Help me decide between rp56 and rp91 for a Toshiba 50H81 (1 Viewer)

[ace peterson]

I have a toshiba 50h81 coming next week and was looking for the perfect progressive dvd player to hook up to it. I have been reading a lot of threads regarding the topic. It seems to be the consensus that panasonics are superior simply for the fact that they don't contain the dreaded "chroma bug." I don't want anything pulsating or shimmering on our brand new tv!
I was going to buy either the rp56 or the rp91, but basically I needed to "think out loud". I am also trying to justify spending $499 vs $229.
First off, does the rp56 have the chroma bug or not? Most places I read say it does not, but a few threads around here have said that it does have it. I wonder if they just have their facts backwards? Settle it once and for all, does the rp56 have the chroma bug?
From what I have gathered, it appears that the best reason for owning a rp91 is it's ability to properly scale non-anamorphic material. This is a great feature, but if I purchased the rp56 all I would need to do is change video modes on the 50h81 correct? Would that fix the problem with the black bars? And I'm sure it all depends upon the aspect ratio of the material I'm viewing.
On the dvd Fantasia 2000 the intro appears full screen on my old 27" tv, but when the main program starts it switches to widescreen version. Then black bars appear. How does that intro appear on a 16x9 tv? Is it 4:3 or does it appear full screen? If I had rp56 would I need to flip viewing modes on the 50h81 for the intro? If I had rp91 it would all be done automatically?
What does the rp91 do with "full screen" material? I own The Wizard of OZ and 102 Dalmations that are 4:3 fullscreen versions.
The rp56 has better de-interlacer chip in it. Is this going to be an issue for me since I watch mostly dvd's?
The rp56 has only optical out and not a digital coax output? Is a 3' monster optical cable good enough or is there a need for a "beefier" optical cable? I already own a good digital coax cable.
Right now I'm leaning towards the rp56 because I'm having a hard time finding the rp91 in stock anywhere. The $250 savings could always be used in other places. I'll probably be wanting one of these blue-laser dvd players when they come out so I'm leaning towards cheaper right now. Unless your thoughts and opinions persuade me otherwise... Please let me know what you all think!
This is a great forum!

PS- Is the Moulin Rouge dvd non-anamorphic? I didn't see it listed on the back!?

 

[Kwang Suh]

The RP56 does not have the chroma bug. However, the RP56 has the very annoying flicker bug.
The RP56 does not have any sort of scaling functions.
The RP91 has some weird quirks as well, but supposedly nothing major.
If I were you, I'd wait for some of the newer models coming out from Denon and Panasonic.

I'll probably be wanting one of these blue-laser dvd players when they come out so I'm leaning towards cheaper right now

Don't hold your breath for these, you'll pass out for sure

 

[ace peterson]

If I were you, I'd wait for some of the newer models coming out from Denon and Panasonic.

*shake* Can't wait because my TV comes next week!

 

[Kwang Suh]

Well, you're doing yourself a disservice then. Progressive players are advancing at a very nice rate, and since the present players are all annoying in some way or another, you might regret not waiting.

 

[Jeff D.]

I actually see no reason to wait: the Panasonic DVD-RP91 is here now and it is an excellent performer.

The picture quality is first rate - no chroma bug and it produces an absolutely gorgeous picture. Shortcoming? Perhaps the use of the Genesis chipset for deinterlacing, though Panasonic has done an admirable job of tweaking it and it is probably one of the best Genesis players out there. If the majority of your DVD viewing will be film-based (ie. watching major motion pictures), then you'll be more than happy with the Panny. If you watch a lot of video-based material, you might be slightly disappointed with the video quality - though even then you could turn off the progressive output and let the Toshiba's excellent line doubler do the work.

But, the single most important feature of the RP91, which many a 16:9 owner has learned they can't live without, is the scaling capability for non-anamorphic and 4:3 DVDs.

The Panasonic will allow you to watch non-anamorphic DVDs in their proper aspect ratio while leaving your TV in its 'Full' setting - ie. having the TV run at its maximum resolution, as opposed to its zoomed mode. Not quite as good as true anamorphic but, given the right transfer, bloody close. It will also properly proportion 4:3 material, with black bars on the sides, as opposed to the gray bars of the Toshiba.

Toss in DVD-Audio, CDR/RW capability, MP3 playback and nice build quality, and you've got a very nice little machine.

/Jeff

 

[Stefan A]

I have been confused about one issue in this thread. On the Toshiba 50h81 (which I have), you can put it on Theaterwide 2 for non-anamorphic dvd's. Are you saying that I would get even better resolution if I had the 91 and zoomed the material from the dvd player rather than the TV? I was always under the impression that I would not need the zoom on the player because me TV did it.

If this is the case, than I recommend that the original poster go for the 91 - or wait for the 82 to come out. The 82 will zoom, have the better deinterlacing chip, and have dvd-a. Plus, the 82 will be A LOT cheaper than the 91. I think that is what I am going to wait for.

 

[Jeff D.]

Quote:

What the RP91 is doing is not zooming - it is scaling. There is a significant difference between the two, and the poster would want the benefits of scaling, not zooming.
/Jeff

 

[Kwang Suh]

What the RP91 is doing is not zooming - it is scaling. There is a significant difference between the two, and the poster would want the benefits of scaling, not zooming.

No. They are the same thing. There are just better ways to implement scaling/zooming than others.

 

[Marc Rochkind]

Jeff (or anyone):

Can you give some more detail about the effect of the Toshiba's Theaterwide 2 zooming on scan lines?

On my 56X81 (a few years old), zoomed non-anamorphic 1.85:1 images look extremely good, and I don't see any spread-out scan lines. I would think that I would if there were only 346 lines being used.

(I've viewed these images both with and without progressive scan.)

Are you sure the TV isn't somehow scaling the picture from 346 to 480 (or even 540p), perhaps in conjunction with the line doubler?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I own a Toshiba 56H80 16x9 TV along with the RP-91 player. My experience has been that the Panny's zoom/scaling mode provides a vastly superior image for non-anamorphic widescreen material than the Toshiba's TheaterWide2 zoom mode. On a really good non-anamorphic transfer, such as The Abyss, you would swear you were watching an anamorphic transfer.

The other benefit to the RP-91's zoom/scaling feature is when you are watching supplemental material. These special features will be in various formats on the same disc -- anamorphic, full frame and letterbox. With the RP-91's auto scaling feature, you can leave your Toshiba in FULL mode at all times and let the DVD player automatically handle the display of the various formats. With a non-scaling player, you will need to constantly switch viewing modes on your Toshiba TV as the supplemental material changes formats.

The RP-91 is significantly more expensive than the RP-56, but as a 16x9 TV owner I will never consider another DVD player that does not have built-in scaling. The feature has become that important to me.

 

[Marc Rochkind]

Scott, any insights about whether the superiority of the RP91's zoom over the Toshiba's is due to the former doing it in the digital domain, whereas the Toshiba is stuck with doing it after conversion to analog?

Can you see the fatter scan lines when the Toshiba is zoomed?

I believe that zooming in the player is better. I'm trying to understand EXACTLY what the Toshiba's zoom mode is doing.

 

[David Echo]

I too am leaning toward picking up a Panny RP91 to pair with a Toshiba 50h81 but I have yet to begin pricing them here in Canada yet, do any other Canadian posters know off hand what they are going for up here? The RP56 as well? I'm looking to pick up the dvd player in April so I can unload my previous Panny on my sis for a wedding present!

Thanks in advance.

Dave

 

[jeff peterson]

I've got the 50H81 and I'm wondering if I get a prog scan player; am I supposed to disable the TV's line doubler and/or 3:2 conversion?

If so, how?

 

[Richard Travale]

David, you can get the RP91 from Link Removed for $799.99. They also have free shipping in Canada for orders over $200. I saw one at a local A&B Sound for $899. I will be ordering one of these after I have picked up my Tosh 50H81 in the next few months.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Scott, any insights about whether the superiority of the RP91's zoom over the Toshiba's is due to the former doing it in the digital domain, whereas the Toshiba is stuck with doing it after conversion to analog?

Marc, I am no expert on this, but I would imagine that your thoughts are correct.

 

[greg_t]

The 50H81 and similar Toshiba sets upconvert a 480i or 480p signal to 540p and it cannot be disabled. I believe that this is new for this years models. There is alot of information on this on the home theater spots toshiba forum.

 

[Jonathan Wong]

The best price I found for the RP91 is $800 Canadian with tax included. I owned a 56H80 and I'm in the market of progressive scan player as well. However the new RP82, which has the same features (including the 4:3 scaling) as the RP91's but with much lower price tag, holds my decision. Maybe I'll wait for the RP82.

JW

 

[David Echo]

Thanks for all the input guys, any word on when the RP82 will be streeting?

Dave

 

[Jeff D.]

Quote:

Absolutely not. The TV is doing no scaling. The difference between 'Full' and 'TheaterWide2' is simply a change in raster size.
/Jeff

 

[Michael Lee]

To answer the post script that Ace asked: Yes, Moulin Rouge is anamorphic.