Panasonic rp-56 and rp-91... same video quality? (1 Viewer)

[Jason Blaydes]

i'm gonna order the panasonic rp-56 tomorrow as long as it has the same video quality as the rp-91. as far as i've read and understand from this forum they do... but i'm just making sure before hand. thanks for any help, peace

 

[RyanDinan]

Jason,
They most definately WON'T have the same picture quality, as they both use different de-interlacing chipsets. The RP91 uses the older Genisis, and the RP56 uses the new Sage/Faroudja chipset (which is better from what Ive seen).
However, the Sage/Faroudja chipset doesnt offer scaling of non-anamorphic images like the RP91.
The RP91 has 12-bit 54MHz Video D/A's, and the RP56 has 10-bit 54MHz D/A's...
I would say that the RP56 *should* de-interlace better than the RP91 on average, but I can't say that it will look better since the RP56 may use cheaper circuitry...
I'm looking at the RP56 as well...I just wanted to wait for some reviews. Too bad the RP61 was cancelled..
-Ryan Dinan
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[Jim A. Banville]

I can't comment on the RP91, but I received a RP56 this past weekend and it does have as good a picture as any other 480p player I have ever had in my system (Toshiba SD5109, Mitsubishi DD6000 and Sony DVP-NS700P). Unfortunately, like many 480p players, I can't select the "lighter" black level in 480p mode. My Sony TV requires the lighter setting or else I get faint horizontal banding (a known issue with SONY HiScan HDTV's). I'm considering selling the less than week old RP56 for $240/shipped (in US)if anyone is interested. I still have my old Panasonic RV31 interlaced player I'll continue to use until I find another 480p player that better suits my needs.
[Edited last by Jim A. Banville on September 24, 2001 at 10:55 AM]

 

[RyanDinan]

Hi Jim!
Are you saying that 480P mode forces below black (0 IRE) instead of NTSC black (7.5 IRE)?
Seems wierd that they disabled that....
I was looking at this player as an upgrade to my 3 year old Proscan player....
-Ryan Dinan
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[StaceyS]

Jim, I would like to learn more about what you are seeing.
Below black and 0 IRE are not the same thing.
The lighter/darker option turn on/off setup. Lighter has black at 7.5 IRE while darker has black are 0 IRE.
Below black is different. If black is at 7.5 IRE, below black is lower and the same goes for 0 IRE. (you can have - IRE)
The MPEG decoder in Panasonic players does not pass below black when black is at 0 IRE. This is not a good thing. It is a subtle artifact on certain DVDs. (most Paramount.)
The progressive scan output should always have black at 0 IRE. This is why I am interested in Jim's problem. I wonder if it may be something else all together.

 

[Jason Blaydes]

so should i buy the rp56 or rp91? i'm willing to pay the extra $200 bucks for the rp91 if it's going to give me better video quality. that is my main concern. i don't care about dvd-audio, i don't care about scaling since i have a 4:3 tv set, and i don't care about built in DD 5.1 and DTS decoders since i'm getting a new receiver that has those already.
so really the only extra thing i can think of that the rp91 could have over the rp56 is video quality. i've found the rp56 for $190 bucks on-line, and the cheapest i've found the rp91 is $417 bucks.
so in my case, which do you think i should get? has anyone compared these two models side by side? thanks for any help, peace

 

[Frank_K]

To Jim Banville,
I am also looking for a progressive scan upgrade for my Sony 53HS10, and was comparing the Panasonic RP91 with the Sony NS700P, and of course concerned with not triggering banding.
Have you tried the Sony machine? How does it look with the Sony Hi-Scan TV? Is there banding? How is the sharpness compared with the Pana 56?
A couple of pros and cons I've read about:
Sony has the chroma unsampling bug, but the Pana doesn't.
The Pana reads the progressive flags as supplied on the DVD, which is not always correct producing picture troubles.
The Sony meanwhile, reads the picture itself, which is apparently a better procedure.
Thoughts, please?
Frank