I need everyone's help choosing a DVD Player (1 Viewer)

[Marvin Richardson]

Hi all. I purchased a Pioneer DV-444 DVD player at Ultimate Electronics on Friday for $249.99. I have a regular Sony KV-27S66 27" television and a Sony STR-DE1075 receiver. I hooked up the DVD player to the receiver with a S-Video connection, which is the best I can do right now. After using the player for a while, I noticed that the picture on the television was off. There were faint black lines laced through the image, which was only really noticeable when light tones (skin, off-white) were displayed on the screen. I tried connecting the S-Video directly to the TV and saw no difference. I also tried the same DVDs in the same setup on my PS2 and my roommates DVD player and did not see the distortion.

I was very happy with the player otherwise. The poor progressive performance didn't matter to me, as I won't be in the market for an HDTV for a couple of years, and by that time a better DVD player will be out. The MP3 playback was very good, and any DVD I threw at it worked fine with the exception of the black lines. I decided to return it to Ultimate Electronics and get a different model unless anyone can think of something I haven't done to this player to get rid of this.

I narrowed it down to the JVC XV-S70BK for $279.99, the Panasonic DVD-RP56 for $229.99, the Sony DVP-NS400D for $229.99 or the Sony DVP-NS500V for $299.99. Which one should I choose? Progressive doesn't matter to me, MP3 is nice, but not required. My main interest is the highest quality video and audio I can get in my current setup. Compatibility is the other main requirement, since I have 400+ DVDs. Ease of use is good too. If anyone has any other models in mind, for $300 or less sticker, that might help to, assuming they have it at Ultimate Electronics.

Thanks all for reading this lenghty post and for any help you can give me.

 

[JohnHN]

Is it possible that with the Pioneer that the black lines you see are simply scan lines?

If progressive is irrelevant I would take the Panasonic 31 over the 56; it's almost identical save for lack of progressive.

Frankly, any of these models will be fine. The main advantage of the Panasonic 31 is absence of the chroma bug, which causes streaking on some types of material. Weighing against that are some usability quirks, like lack of a time remaining display and the fact that you have to hit a special button when you stop or the machine eventually forgets where it was on the disk(you can work around this if you have a programmable remote with macros).

Sonys are good machines but they have (on purpose) a somewhat soft downconversion of "anamorphic" widescreen material (that's most widescreen material released recently).

I would avoid getting a progressive JVC. On the progressive JVCs I have used, the interlaced signal is derived from the progressive signal. You can get deinterlacing artifacts (combing) even though you aren't even using progressive. I imagine that the plain vanilla interlaced JVCs are fine but I don't know much about them.

 

[Grant B]

sticking with sony will get your remotes all working with the other components

also the control s functions will be unified

 

[John P Grosskopf]

Are the lines horzontal and regularly spaced at about 1 to 1&1/2 inches apart from the top of the image to the bottom?
If they are, you are probably the unfortunate victim of the negative effects that the Macrosvision copyguard process wreaks upon various DVD player/monitor combinations.
What you might be describing is the effect of the "Colorstripe" portion of the copyguard signal which is meant to make bootleg copies appear as if they are being watched through window blinds of light blue or black color.
On a screen your size, Colorstripe lines would be about 1 to 1&1/2 inches apart, and particularly visible across skin tones and lighter colors. This effect is particularly visible on lower-end TVs that have only RF anatenna inputs and require an RF converter box between the player and the television to display a picture. It has been know to also occur with some TVs through composite and SVHS inputs as well. I have never heard of it happening with component inputs though.
The only full proof solution for Colorstrip bleed-trough is getting a player that has Macrovision disabled, as most stand alone video processing boxes and enhancers do not filter out the Colorstripe portion of the copyguard signal when installed between the player and monitor.
If budget is an issue, the Daewoo DVD5700 available for $99.95 at just about any Sam's Warehouse store is a great option that offers a ton of features and performance for just a little cash. This player's firmaware is upgradeable by CD-ROM, and can be made Macrovision free, region free, and RCE immune.
The site listed below offers instructions on how to use the remote control to make the 5700 region free, and supplies firmware upgrades that tweak the player for best performance by removing the Macrovision from the player's outputs. No region changing is needed once the unit is set up, and any disc plays when you load it.
http://www.dvd-wizards.com/darrenk/D...-5700patch.htm
The DVD5700 does not offer progrssive output, but it has quite good picture quality and component outputs. It offers decent onboard PAL to NTSC conversion and vise versa.
I've purchased several for every viewing room in my house, and am also keeping a couple in "mothballs" for back-ups.
At $99.99 it's a no brainer.
PLEASE NOTE:
This forum majorly frowns upon bootlegging, so the information above is not to be taken as endorsement for such behavior.

 

[Marvin Richardson]

Thanks for the input all. I decided to go ahead and get the Sony DVP-NS700P for $279.99. Main reason I got it is because I thought the remote looked a bit more user friendly. After hooking it up and trying it out with some of the DVDs I'd seen the black lines on (Planet of the Apes (2001), Planes, Trains & Automobiles) I did not notice any of the problems I was having before. I'm convinced it was the Pioneer player.

I'm much happier with the Sony for the DVD part of it, its just unfortunate that I can't play MP3s.

 

[John P Grosskopf]

Just thought of something: If you have access to any of the James Bond, DVDs try them in the player that is causing you difficulty.

These discs are not Macrovision encoded (to the best of my knowledge), and if Macrovision is the culprit, they should play without the lines you describe.

If the lines still show up, than it's something definately wrong with the player.

 

[Marvin Richardson]

Well, as I said, I got the Sony model so I no longer have the Pioneer. I'm much happier overall with the DVD functionality so have no intentions of taking it back. I'm no longer seeing the lines on any of the 20 or so DVDs I've thrown at it, so I'm satisfied. Seeing as how I have 400+ DVD discs and only 3 MP3 discs, I think it is more important to get the DVD part right.

Thanks anyway!

 

[James Miller]

Not quite the same issue I don't think, but:

Well, went ahead and bought to Pioneer 440 over the weekend. (I chose it over the Panny 31 primarily because the Pioneer offers COAX digital out, and I don't want to have to buy a new optical cable if not necessary)

One possible concern: The scan lines on the Pioneer seem much more "noticeable", particularly on the brighter elements in darker scenes than on my other player- the only one I've ever used- a Sony 7000. I understand the the Pioneer, by default, shows a sharper image than the Sony line- a funtion of anamorphic downconversion. Perhaps I just need to acclimate myself to the Pioneer. However, just an example, during Jurassic Park III, during the scenes where Alan Grant and the missing boy are hiding out in an abandoned truck after escaping a Raptor attack; a dark scene, the faces of the two characters seem to exhibit VERY noticeable scan lines, creating a most UNfilmlike image.

Any one else with the Pioneer 440 (or other models) notice similar problems out of the box? Are there any picture settings that I would change to lessen this effect? (without negatively impacting the other parts of the picture) I figure, if nothing else, I will just try notching back on the "Sharpness" setting a point or two.

Other than this the player works flawlessly... colors seem more vibrant than on the Sony...