Panasonic RP82 vs. JVC SA600BK (1 Viewer)

[WillNE]

Hi I was wonder which of these players is the best in picture quality, sound quality, reliability, and playing dvd's without skipping. The Panasonic RP82 or the JVC SA600BK I have noticed the seem to be very similar. Do either of these have the chroma bug? Is there a list of dvd players with the chroma bug anywhere on the net? Thanks.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Check the Secrets Shootout here:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...ut-1-2003.html

The JVC 600 should perform on par w/ the older JVC's in that shootout since it uses the same Mediamatics all-in-one chip. Neither RP82 nor JVC 600 should have the chroma bug.

IIRC, there's a list of players w/ and w/out the chroma bug on that site. Might be part of the group of articles that make up the Shootout guide.

_Man_

 

[jeff lam]

The JVC has better sound quality according to the S&V tests and the panasonic has better picture quality.

 

[Patrick TX]

I have both players right now. I would say the Panny has an edge (slight) in Video, & the JVC is built MUCH nicer. The sound is the same to my ears. The JVC will zoom, & the Panny will NOT. Remote on the JVC kills the Panny. I have the 600 in the for sale section today. I'm moving to silver Rotel, & the JVC is black.

 

[WillNE]

Anyone else know any thing about either of these? Has anybody had any problems with either skipping or freezing up? Thanks.

 

[dpippel]

I have the XV-SA600BK and love it. For what it's worth, I directly compared this player to the vaunted Panasonic RP82 on my 57" widescreen HDTV and decided to keep the JVC. Film mode deinterlacing is excellent, although it's not as flawless in flag reading on mixed mode material as is the RP82. It's video mode deinterlacing is soft and the RP82 definitely bests it there, but its picture controls, scaling abilities, convenience features and build quality make up for that in my opinion. I've had no problems with skipping, lockups, or lip sync.

 

[Len Cheong]

Doug or Patrick,

Could you guys elaborate on the Zoom function and the picture adjustment capabilities of the JVC? When would you use the Zoom function? I assume when you would want to eliminate the black bars (God forbid) or if you are viewing a jpeg and want to see something up close. My question also is how is the quality post zoom. What about 4:3 material, can you watch it in its correct ration on a widescreen tv?

 

[elMalloc]

I wouldn't get the RP82, at least I wouldn't recommend it until my problem gets solved. FIrst of all it's been discontinued, and second of all mine is not playing any DVDs anymore. How can I recommend it - when it was working it was pretty good, I guess.

-ELmO

 

[Han]

When would you use the Zoom function? I assume when you would want to eliminate the black bars (God forbid)

No. When watching non-anamorphic widescreen material. Either a non-anamorphic feature like, Gross Pointe Blank or Armageddon, or the zillions of extra features on most DVDs that the producers don't bother to make anamorphic.

 

[Peter Loan]

Coming from a Toshiba 4800, a player that actually scaled non anamorphic transfers, the JVC's zoom feature is a bit disappointing. The problem is that a good portion of the picture is cropped on the sides when the zoom function is used. Anyways, the picture is very nice when watching film based material and this player has the fastest layer switching I have ever seen in a player.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

How much is cropped w/ the JVC?

I assume you've done a direct comparison w/ the Toshiba to make sure it's not just TV overscan that's "cropping" the sides for the JVC, correct?

_Man_

 

[Peter Loan]

Mai-Fai,

I'd say that the JVC crops a good 10% off of the sides. The zoom mode isn't meant to perfectly frame non anamorphic transfers, it just 2X the windowboxed frame. Remember, the JVC can display 4:3 material(letterboxed or straight 4:3) in either windowboxed or in full mode.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

You are sure it's 2x zoom?

I ask because 2x zoom is actually a lot. The proper zoom would be ~1.333x although one would need more like ~1.2x to account for 5% overscan, if desired. At 2x zoom, you'd throw away ~33.3% of the picture.

_Man_

 

[Peter Loan]

Man-Fai,
I meant 10% on each side and this was just a rough estimate. I just retested the zoom and yep, it's just a 2X. A good chunk of both sides is cropped off and 33.3% off the entire frame is definitely a possiblity. I'm not sure how to measure this, got any tips?

 

[Len Cheong]

Peter, when the 4:3 mode is used in a widescreen tv does it have black bars on the sides?

 

[Steve Schaffer]

The JVC has scaling, which does work only on properly flagged non-anamorphic discs. It puts black bars on the sides of 4/3 material, and expands non-anamorphic widescreen movies to fit a 16/9 screen with the tv in "full" mode, just as you'd set the tv for anamorphic discs. The scaling feature is NOT a 2x zoom.

I used a JVC with the scaling feature and it very reliably put black bars on the sides of 4/3 stuff like special features and movies whose OAR was 4/3.

The problem is that on a non-anamorphic widescreen disc that is not properly flagged (and there are several of these around like Titanic), the scaling won't work and can't be forced. In this case you can use the zoom, which still looks better than the tv's zoom but it does give too much overscan.

The Panasonic RP91 has the scaling feature and it can be forced for improperly flagged movies. Don't know if this is possible with Toshiba's scaling feature or not.

 

[Peter Loan]

Len,

I think Steve has answered your question, but you can choose to have the 4:3 frame stretched out on the 16x9 screen or windowboxed with bars on the side.


Steve,

The JVC automatically expands properly flagged non anamorphic material? Mine just seems to put black bars on the side and I have to manually activate the zoom feature and that crops quite a bit off of the sides. Which non anamorphic transfers are properly flagged?

 

[Brad Newton]

When using the JVC zoom mode.....does the zoom icon disappear on this model?

 

[David Coleman]

I have had both units. The original 600 series I got was defective so I exchanged it for a RP82. I had the Panasonice for about 2 weeks before I exchanged it back for a new 600. I like the 600 much better!

First let me say that I don't have a 16x9 display so I can't speak to those features. What I can say is that as far as Anamorphic downconversion, the JVC beats the Panasonic HANDS DOWN! The picture is incredibly sharp and colorful (more colorful than the panasonic) on films and credit scrolls on films are lock solid. On video originated material I have to give it to the panasonic. I must say that as far as video originated material is concerned I found both players to be less than my old Toshiba 2109.

Audio??? Hands down for the JVC!!! The audio is the reason I returned the Panasonic 82. It has the worst audio I've heard produced from any DVD player! Wheter I used the built in DD/DTS to listen to or used my digital coaxial to listen thru my receiver, it emited the worst BOOMING sound i've ever heard! I mean it was downright nasty!! It made watching something like SW: Episode II unbearable! I was less impressed with it's CD/DVD-A/Mp3 performance than i was with the JVC. The JVC does better audiowise in all categories.

Ergonimically there are preferences for the JVC for me. When watching DVD-V you can press directly on the keypad for any chapter. With the Panasonic you have to go through the display menu. Now the 82 advantages I liked where that you can program any playable disc in the order you want (can't do that with DVD-V and Mp3 on the JVC fortunately I wouldn't really use those features).I also like the fact that the JVC offers a JPEG viewer. Now if your files are larger than 480x640 it will take time to load and they pic will exhibit compression artifacts. If you resize your pics to 480x640 or smaller they will load with no delay and no artifacts.

Having formally had a Toshiba 2109 I noticed an immediate improvement in pq with the JVC, the 82 in anamorphic downconversion looked remarkably similar to my old Toshiba even down to some of the same downconversion artifacts. Like I said before only working on 4x3 so I can't make the anamorphic mode comparison. I definitely give the video mode edge to my old Tosiba over the other two.

With the newer 600 series I have been able to play every disc I've put in there with no problem pic and audio quality are above what I had and to me rate over the 82. I have been very pleased with my purchase and highly recommend!

David

 

[Peter Loan]

Brad,

Yes, the zoom icon disappears after a few seconds. An associate of mine has the 500BK and the icon stays on...weird.