Panasonic RP82--One Player to Rule Them All! (1 Viewer)

[StaceyS]

What turned me off to the RP82 was it's rudimentary handling of non anamorphic material.

There is nothing rudimentary about it. It plays them in their original shape exactly like the official DVD spec says it should.

I have all the titles you are talking about and when I watch them on my 16:9 display I use the aspect ratio control on the display.

If you use the aspect ratio control on some DVD players like the RP91 or Toshiba and feed into a digital display, you loose horizontal resolution. This is because it treats the black bars on the left and right as picture content and the A/Ds only sample so many times per line.

 

[Bryan Guth]

And, to confirm Stacey's comments, I own all of those DVDs as well and although I have only checked out Armageddon and Titanic on the RP82, both were gorgeous for non-anamorphic transfers. Conversely, on the Sony 999, Titanic shimmered like the iceberg that fateful ship hit. Check out any scenes that show the railings on the ship's deck and you'll see what I mean---they don't stay still on the Sony, but on the RP82 they're rock solid.

 

[MikeDE]

I'm not technically minded, so pardon these questions if they seems dumb. I have several 3-d dvd's that are said not to work right on progressive scan players. Is there a way to knock that out so I can still play them in 3-d? Also, my Fisher won't play some of the extras on AOTC and a nothing on a couple of other discs. Does the Panny have problems with not playing some things?

Thanks!

 

[DavidJ]

FYI, I do have plenty of non-16x9 DVDs, and many of them may never be available in 16x9 editions. So I'm trying to decide whether to wait for a player w/ the fli2300 chip OR buy a Panny RP82/CP72 or Toshiba 3800 or JVC SA75 (from last year). I really don't want to get a player expecting to replace it in a few months although the JVC can be had very cheaply (~$130) and might serve well to hold me over.

Depending on your display, I would stay away form the JVC. That or you can buy mine . I bought the JVC last year after a lot of research because I was planning on getting a new HD set this year. Well I now have my HD set and the JVC's progressive output is not compatible with it. Hence the reason I am following this thread, I am looking for a new player. Dvd players are not disposables to me and I am a little ticked off with JVC at the moment.

 

[BarryS]

Does anyone know about the RP62K? I have my eye on this one. It's a bit less expensive than the RP82, as I suppose it has less features.

I notice that the RP82 has built-in Dolby Digital and DTS decoders, where the RP62k only has optical outputs. What purpose does this serve? If you have a DD/DTS reciever, why do would you need a built-in decoder in the DVD player?

Thanks

 

[Brajesh Upadhyay]

Brajesh, if you get a chance (continued from AVS), try the 82 with a commercial DVD-A produced to the current 1.1 standard. For interests sake, your firmware version would be good to know.

Craig, my firmware is L02665D287. What are some 1.1 standard DVD-Audio titles to try? I have the new R.E.M. DVD-A coming -- will that do?

 

[CraigF]

Brajesh, that is good news re the firmware version, it is the first time I've seen somebody report 2.87 for a Region 1 player, so any results you find would be very interesting. Some time ago I suspected the firmware upgrade from 2.82 could be because of DVD-A (since the DVD-V was already perfect), but it was a player from another region, so could have been for something not relevant to us. I do not know all the suspected "1.1" discs. Two you can be sure of are either of the Yes DVD-A's, I mention them just because of the relatively wide variety of machines used in reports of issues with them. If you don't want to try either of them, another Warner/Rhino release from this year is a good suspect, as are some mentioned in the AVS thread. Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

[Brajesh Upadhyay]

Craig, read this page of the thread @ avs. It looks like adding a subwoofer in the player's setup menu fixes the DVD-A playback problem.

 

[Bill Kane]

Brajesh,

My new RP-82 from OneCall shows a July 02 factory date. What's the procedure to call up the firmware version?

tks

 

[CraigF]

Thanks Brajesh. I am cfraser in those threads, it is my usual moniker on boards when allowed. I tried to post Brian's findings wherever the DVD-A issue was discussed (he isn't normally a poster at AVS or here apparently), as a means of closure, or at least panic and frustration reduction.

Hope the 82 works out well for you.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

If you use the aspect ratio control on some DVD players like the RP91 or Toshiba and feed into a digital display, you loose horizontal resolution. This is because it treats the black bars on the left and right as picture content and the A/Ds only sample so many times per line.

Does anybody know if this loss of horizontal resolution would happen w/ the current line of Panny widescreen TVs?
I just bought a Panny 53wx42.
Thanks.
_Man_

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Depending on your display, I would stay away form the JVC. That or you can buy mine . I bought the JVC last year after a lot of research because I was planning on getting a new HD set this year. Well I now have my HD set and the JVC's progressive output is not compatible with it. Hence the reason I am following this thread, I am looking for a new player. Dvd players are not disposables to me and I am a little ticked off with JVC at the moment.

Not compatible?? In what way? I just bought a Panny 53wx42 and still not sure what to do about a player.
Thanks.
_Man_

 

[StaceyS]

Man

It really depends on the A/D in the display. It is a really simple test to see it, it just requires a copy of Avia.

Put in Avia and go to 200 TVL pattern. While looking at this pattern switch from full mode to 4:3 within the RP91. (or what ever DVD player that performs aspect ratio control.)

If you see severe aliasing, then it has the problem. If you do not, you are good-to-go.

This is usually only a problem on 480p sources where the A/D may only samples 720 times per line. This is usually not a problem for 720p or 1080 where it samples many more times per line.

 

[Ari]

Do any of you know where I can get the RP82 cheap? J&R and Onecall don't seem to have it in stock. Crutchfield does but I was hoping to get it cheaper...

Sorry if I'm hijacking the thread...

 

[Brajesh Upadhyay]

What's the procedure to call up the firmware version?

You almost need three hands to do this, but this is what you do... Turn the unit on w/no disc inside. On the unit itself, press & hold down Stop, then Pause, then Open/Close, then press the number 7 on the remote. The firmware version will show up for a few seconds.

 

[Bill Kane]

that works, thanks -- firmware version D282 for July 02.

 

[harana]

Hi Brajesh,

I checked my RP-82 firmware and it is also D282 for July 02 manufacturing date.

You mentioned that your firmware is L02665D287. I have a few questions:

What is your manufacturing date?
What are the fixes/ improvements in the D287 over D282?
Does this have DVD-A bug where you have to set "sub" on?
How can I upgrade my firmware?

Thanks!

 

[Chris Hesh]

Do any of you know where I can get the RP82 cheap? J&R and Onecall don't seem to have it in stock. Crutchfield does but I was hoping to get it cheaper...

Ari. I am having the same problem finding it for a nice price.

 

[Brajesh Upadhyay]

Haseeb, my RP82's manufacture date is September 2002. Got my unit from Crutchfield. I don't have the answers to your other questions.
Ari/Chris, the RP82 is $213 shipped with a $20 coupon at Crutchfield. That's a pretty decent price (even if it isn't the cheapest). E-mail me if you want the coupon.

 

[Ari]

Now, even Crutchfield has gone out of stock... Has Panasonic decided to discontinue the RP82?? Or has there been an unexpected surge in demand for this model??