Finally the official specifications of the new Panny models are up in their site: RP62K/RP62S XP30 RP82 XP50 JW
Of course the CP72 is there too if you click around... Hmm, no shrink zoom & shift with the 72 and no coax digital out... No dice. Looks like I'm not going with a changer for a while. The 82 did not mention if it has disc settings memory, but then again, the 91 doesn't list it either and that has a 200 disc memory. No fully black version of the 82 either.
Can anyone explain to me why the XP50 is priced more than the RP82? Why would anyone buy an XP50 over an RP82? It seems like there should be an obvious reason but I can't see it in the specs.
Because it is super slim and has a mirror finish. Probalbly has a nice spousal acceptance factor for people with Bose mini systems.
So the 72 and 62 have "Zoom: 4:3 TV" and the 91 and 82 have "4:3 Shrink Function w/ Letterbox Zoom & Shift" I guess time will tell what the main differences between the 82 and 91 are. The 82 does include both DVD-RAM and DVD-A.
Woohoo, the RP82 has a coaxial output. My current player is using a coaxial connection and I didn't want to buy an optical converter when I upgraded. The RP82 looks like the player for me.
Looks like the 82 only has a 10-bit D/A chip instead of the 12-bit in the 91. That's the only thing I can find that is different, besides the $500 price differential!!!
Jeff, Don't forget that the main performance differentiator between the RP91 and RP82 is the Faroudja deinterlacing in the RP82 - just like the RP56 and RP62 have. A major negative concern with the RP82, given it's Faroudja deinterlacing, is whether or not it's zoom will be of the spectacular quality as that on the RP91 even though it probably won't be an automated zoom like it is on the RP91?
The RP-82 looks like it will be a very strong contender. This player will probably be the long awaited successor to my circa 1998 Sony DVP-S300. Eagerly awaiting initial RP-82 reviews...
Phil, are you 100% sure it has the Faroudja chip? If that's the case, then it's a huge difference between the 82 and 91 as you say. Superior de-interlacing, but inferior "zoom".
Eugene, All the "buzz" for several months over at AVS is that the RP82 as one member of a whole new Panasonic line to use the Genesis (now owns Sage/Faroudja) FLI2200 deinterlacer chip. The RP56 kicked off this strategic change for Panasonic. This link is typical of where the buzz is coming from: http://www.highfidelityreview.com/ne...snumber=390778 Supposedly there may be some "contractual" problem with Genesis/Faroudja whenever the FLI2200 IC is used in that certain external scaling functions are not allowed to be combined along with this chip. I don't know the details, but it's something like this that's preventing manufacturers from combining good scaling with use of the FLI2200 chip. Of course Genesis/Faroudja has now anounced their new FLI2300 chip that has scaling built-in along with the great Faroudja patented deinterlacing! This is why I'm very skeptical of the zoom/scaling in the RP82 really being good enough to deal with non-anamorphics the way the RP91 does, albeit perhaps manually in the RP82. But I'm certainly hoping that this is not the case and the no-scaler-with-FLI2200 issue has been taken care of with respect to the RP82.
Oh, that sounds like a good player for me too! So I can have DVD-A for a decent price. One question though, I know most people think it's irrelevent but to me, it's important, does it show Audio and Video Bitrate?
I don't have many non-anamorphic DVDs, so I am mainly interested in 2 things: 1) the ability to slightly shrink (and possibly shift)anamorphic material to reduce overscan and see the entire frame in progressive mode. 2) The ability to display 4:3 material at 480p (with possible shifting and shrinking to reduce overscan) and black window boxing. Resizing and deinterlacing letter boxed material that is not anamorphic is of little interest to me since I generally avoid buying these titles. Would the RP82 be a good player for me?
