Panasonic S77 upconverting dvd player (1 Viewer)

[Ryan Peddle]

This model, I've been told will be released by the end of March.

It's a progressive scan model with the Faroudja dcdi de-interlacing chip.

I guess this is the little brother to the S97 which is already out.

Anybody know any info or have any thoughts about this model?

 

[Wayne Ernst]

From what I've read, it should compare favorably with the S97. However, we've been down that road before with players. On paper, the announcements seem very impressive. However, when the product arrives and gets put through the paces, it stumbles badly. One good thing about the S77 is that the price looks to be about $50 less than the S97.

I just installed my S97 last evening. I picked it up from a local retailer for $259 + tax. At that price, there was no way I was going to wait for the S77. The S97 replaced a 4 y.o. Panasonic that wasn't a progressive scan model. I still need to do lots more testing on the S97. I did play a bit of Top Gun last evening, and it did look good. However, I only have a 32" set at the moment - and it will be about 6 more weeks before I get the plasma set.

I did think the audio was quite impressive though. I listened to a few Dave Matthews CDs and the sound was quite a bit better than the old Panny that it replaced.

The only thing that remains to be known at this point on the S77 is whether it includes the HDMI cable in the box or not. My S97 did, so that alone, might be worth the small additional expense. Oh, the build date on my S97 was January 2005.