JVC 721BK Progressive/DVD-A player (1 Viewer)

[ReggieW]

I purchased this machine two weeks ago from an e-tailer in Canada for $345.00 shipped. The only difference between this and the 723GD, is that the 721 is Black. Does anyone else out there have the 721? I have read many positive reviews on this player in various HT magazines, and found it a great value for the money (geez, I remember it was going for $599.00 six months ago). I would appreciate any comments on this model if there are any other owners of the 721 or 723. I have been very impressed thus far, and feel fully vindicated by this purchase so far.
Reg
P.S. - Also, how's the DVD audio? I will be purchasing a few in the coming weeks, but they're so damn expensive! If any of you know where I can pick a few up for around 25% off, please do let me know.

 

[Ernest]

I purchased the 723 in March and found it to be an excellent player, especially for the price. It is as good as any player on the market when processing DVD's in progressive scan that are flagged correctly. The unit will deliver a very film like picture with no flickering. The unit does not have the chroma bug problem, though I for one think that topic has been given far to much attention and is more nit picking than a concern.
I suggest you set the unit to "SMART" and "16 x 9 NORMAL" assuming you have a 16 x 9 TV. When you play a DVD the progressive scan light will stay on if the software is flagged correctly. If the light blinks on and off the DVD is not flagged correctly. (If the light does not come on then the DVD is video source, such as Merlan, Attila, etc. In the case of the blinking light change the setting from "SMART" to "FILM". "FILM" is used for poorly flagged DVD's which you will find are "Letterbox" not
"Anamorphic". You will notice the progressive scan light stays on because the unit has lock on the reading. "SMART" should work just fine for Video sourced material.
16 x 9 Normal is a really neat feature. In many cases 16 x 9 Normal will reformat a letterbox DVD, 4 x 3, to 16 x 9. Examples are Clear and Present Danger, White Squall, The Abyss. If you did not know it you would think the DVD was processed Anamorphic. If the DVD does not contain instructions to tell the player to reformat the letterbox to 16 x 9 the picture will appear "Windowboxed". You can then use the Zoom feature to correct the problem. After selecting Zoom then select "Resume" to delete the Zoom box in the upper left hand corner.
I did encounter one problem with my unit that hopefully you will not. My player would not read "The Messenger" and had a hard time reading "Close Encounter". I called JVC, 800-252-5722 options 2-4-2, and was told there has been a software update and I neeeded to send my player to JVC repair center for the upgrade. Even though my unit was over 90 days old, JVC said they would provide the upgrade at "No Charge". I sent the unit to them on July 5th and it was repaired and returned to me on July 12th. I should receive it tomorrow.
Good luck with your new player I am sure you will like it, I realy like mine.

 

[ReggieW]

Thanks Ernest.
I did not experience the difficulty with the "Close Encounters" disc. Since my player was recently purchased, it probably already had the upgrade incorporated which you required. Sadly, I only currently have a 4x3 set, so the progressive end won't benefit me until I pick-up a 16x9 set hopefully next year sometime (waiting for prices to drop a little more). My JVC RX-778V 110 watt receiver was purchased two years ago in the days when DTS was a $200.00 or more option ( and VERY few discs even had it), so I didn't pay extra for the DTS decoder. The JVC is one of the only players on the market with the decoder built in, so voila, now I have DTS! I will begin taking advantage of the DVD-A feature as soon as I pick-up a few of the discs. I have heard the fidelity on them and was thoroughly impressed. I never thought I would hear something better than a DTS CD, but DVD-A certainly raises the bar even more.
Reg