Scott Weinberg
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2000
- Messages
- 7,477
It's a Samsung DVD-S221. It seems like a pretty solid machine. (Sears - $99.99) But this one's got a few cool little bells and whistles that my old player (brand and model name withheld due to sheer embarassment) did not.
These questions will be simple for most of you hardware gurus, but I'm just a guy with a TV, mediocre receiver & speakers, and this new player.
Digest Play? What is it? Will I ever use it?
Bookmark Feature? Does it come with Windows? What is it?
Zoom Function! Cooooool!
3D Sound Function (Phantom Surround) - This one's my biggest mystery. On the player's Main Menu, I can choose between PCM and Bitstream digital outputs, but the 3D function apparently only works with the PCM option. I'd like to make my measly speakers sound as good as possible, so any advice on this one would be appreciated.
(Yes, this player has DTS capability! But I forgot to buy the gawldurn s-cable thingy.)
Here's a funny story: I get the player home and hook it up easy cheezy. I pop in the closest disc (When Harry Met Sally) just to give my new toy a spin. What's this? Fullscreen? Weird! I go back to the DVD menu and look for a Widescreen option. There's none. I fiddle with various buttons for about 5 minutes and then look on the back of the DVD cover. This disc doesn't even HAVE a Fullscreen tranfer on it! NOW I'm really confused.
You've probably guessed by now what was wrong (aside from me being a total imbecile): the setting on the DVD player was set to "Widescreen television". I switched it over to letterbox, and woop. I'm a genius.
Oh yeah, what's 'dynamic compression' and will I need to be vaccinated for it?
Can someone explain what the "Black Level" option means without bringing race into it?
That pretty much sums up my questions. If anyone's familiar with this particular DVD player, please let me know what you think of it. I think I'll be pretty happy with it, plus the price was right!
Thanks in advance,
These questions will be simple for most of you hardware gurus, but I'm just a guy with a TV, mediocre receiver & speakers, and this new player.
Digest Play? What is it? Will I ever use it?
Bookmark Feature? Does it come with Windows? What is it?
Zoom Function! Cooooool!
3D Sound Function (Phantom Surround) - This one's my biggest mystery. On the player's Main Menu, I can choose between PCM and Bitstream digital outputs, but the 3D function apparently only works with the PCM option. I'd like to make my measly speakers sound as good as possible, so any advice on this one would be appreciated.
(Yes, this player has DTS capability! But I forgot to buy the gawldurn s-cable thingy.)
Here's a funny story: I get the player home and hook it up easy cheezy. I pop in the closest disc (When Harry Met Sally) just to give my new toy a spin. What's this? Fullscreen? Weird! I go back to the DVD menu and look for a Widescreen option. There's none. I fiddle with various buttons for about 5 minutes and then look on the back of the DVD cover. This disc doesn't even HAVE a Fullscreen tranfer on it! NOW I'm really confused.
You've probably guessed by now what was wrong (aside from me being a total imbecile): the setting on the DVD player was set to "Widescreen television". I switched it over to letterbox, and woop. I'm a genius.
Oh yeah, what's 'dynamic compression' and will I need to be vaccinated for it?
Can someone explain what the "Black Level" option means without bringing race into it?
That pretty much sums up my questions. If anyone's familiar with this particular DVD player, please let me know what you think of it. I think I'll be pretty happy with it, plus the price was right!
Thanks in advance,
