Pioneer 440 or Panasonic RP56? (1 Viewer)

[James Miller]

Which of these players provides the best interlaced a/v performance? (audio = DD or DTS 5.1)

Which player is least likely- based on current DVD titles- to exhibit playback problems? (chroma bug, discs won't play, lock-ups, longer layer changes, audio dropouts, etc)

I can get the Pioneer for $179 and the Panny for $229- locally- both of which are more than acceptable. The only questions is a/v interlaced quality and highest compatibility with exisiting and forthcoming media.

 

[Matt DeVillier]

I honestly think it's a toss up. The Panny has prog-scan, so it's more future-proof, but neither machine has any issues with interlaced material AFAIK

 

[Thomas_Berg]

my dad has the RP56 and it is a great little player. picture is arguably the best under $500, it has no chroma bug, and it has really fast menu switches. that's something most people don't take into account when shopping, but it is really nice to use!

 

[JohnHN]

Unless you expect to use progressive scan soon, like within six months, you should save $50 dollars or so and buy a Panasonic 31 instead of the 56. They are identical (I have both) save for progressive scan. By the time you buy a TV that can handle progressive, some of the quirks in the current progressive sets should have been worked out.

Panasonics have some usability quirks vis a vis Sony and Toshiba (not sure about Pioneer). They don't display time remaining and you have to punch a special button before you hit stop or the player eventually forgets where it was on the disk. But they are good players otherwise.

 

[Jeff_A]

I would go with the Pioneer since you wont be using progressive scan anyway. I just got a 440 and its a great player. I havent had any problems with it at all.

 

[James Miller]

Well, went ahead and bought to Pioneer 440 over the weekend. (I chose it over the Panny 31 primarily because the Pioneer offers COAX digital out, and I don't want to have to buy a new optical cable if not necessary)

One possible concern: The scan lines on the Pioneer seem much more "noticeable", particularly on the brighter elements in darker scenes than on my other player- the only one I've ever used- a Sony 7000. I understand the the Pioneer, by default, shows a sharper image than the Sony line- a funtion of anamorphic downconversion. Perhaps I just need to acclimate myself to the Pioneer. However, just an example, during Jurassic Park III, during the scenes where Alan Grant and the missing boy are hiding out in an abandoned truck after escaping a Raptor attack; a dark scene, the faces of the two characters seem to exhibit VERY noticeable scan lines, creating a most UNfilmlike image.

Any one else with the Pioneer 440 (or other models) notice similar problems out of the box? Are there any picture settings that I would change to lessen this effect? (without negatively impacting the other parts of the picture) I figure, if nothing else, I will just try notching back on the "Sharpness" setting a point or two.

Other than this the player works flawlessly... colors seem more vibrant than on the Sony...

 

[Drake]

I'm not familiar with the 440. If it's anything like the 434, stay away! Here's a link that reviews the RP56 (scroll way down on the page). Sounds like a good choice.
Link Removed

 

[Eric Alderson]

I picked up the 440 last week and it looks fine here. I am using the 16x9 mode on my player and TV (Vega 27"), so scanlines are pretty much non-existent. My VCD's look pretty good and my only SVCD looks amazing for being on CDR media.

 

[Matt DeVillier]

The pioneer 440 does have a very bad case of the chroma bug. The picture on the 440 is really not that good. It's very grainy looking. I wish I had never heard of this problem. It's annoying as hell. I may take the pioneer back, but I'm not sure what to get. Does anyone know if the panasonic 31 has the bug?

AFAIK, most (all?) panasonic players use their own MPEG decoders, which do not have the chroma bug. I have a Panny RA-60 and it does not have the chroma bug