Pioneer DV-434: You Get What You Pay For (1 Viewer)

[Chris Taplin]

Double post... Opps... ;-)

 

[Chris Taplin]

Robert,
I am well aware of the fact that the Pioneer RPTVs lock into full mode when receiving a progressive signal. The 6200 has a scaler that allows it to make a DA conversion of a 4:3 DVD to display in full mode progressive. What I'm getting at, is why can't a DVD player do the same thing with a non-anamorphic letterbox movie? Wouldn't this result in a better picture than switching to interlaced? And yes I am aware of my sets inability to do 3:2 conversion; that's why it costs $2000 less. The Progressive DVD players will do this for me and again a non-anamorphic DVD would benefit from this also.... Am I missing something here? Or is this feature not possible or not valuable enough for Toshiba or Panasonic to address?
Chris
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Carbon Based Bipedal Lifeform
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Yamaha DSPA1-B&W 602/CC6/601
Hsu TN1220HO Sub + Hsu 250W Amp
Toshiba 2109 DVD/Pioneer Elite CLD79 LD
Sony CDP-90ES/Pioneer SD582 RPTV
RC2000Mk2 controls it ALL!

 

[Robert George]

What I'm getting at, is why can't a DVD player do the same thing with a non-anamorphic letterbox movie?

A DVD player can't control the monitor. Screen modes are a function of the monitor. Perhaps using the term "aspect ratio control", as it applies to the 6200, is misleading. The 6200 isn't really controlling the aspect ratio of the image you get on the TV. In progressive mode but using the "4:3" setting on the Toshiba, the Pioneer monitor is still in full mode displaying the incoming video signal in a 16:9 screen ratio. The 6200 is performing a conversion of sorts with the 4:3 DVD image. Circuitry in the player is reformatting the 4:3 image within a 16:9 frame and adding black bars to the sides to fill the extra space. In a way, this is the reverse of what DVD player does to an enhanced transfer in 4:3 mode with downconversion. Maybe we should start referring to what the Toshiba and Panasonic progressive players do with 4:3 material as "upconversion" to be more accurate.
What I understand you would like a player to do is to reformat a 4:3 letterboxed image by "zooming" it in to fill a 16:9 frame then outputting that to the monitor in progressive mode. I don't think they can do that, at least not economically enough to put it in a reasonably priced DVD player.
Robert

 

[Scott Kriefall]

What I understand you would like a player to do is to reformat a 4:3 letterboxed image by "zooming" it in to fill a 16:9 frame then outputting that to the monitor in progressive mode.

That's exactly what I want. I presently use a PC-based player to accomplish this, but would rather have an easier to use standalone player that'll do the same thing.
I fail to understand what is so difficult about this. Certainly it'll increase the cost of the player, but I'm willing to accept that -- as long as the overall cost isn't totally ridiculous (i.e. the supposed $5000 Princeton player). I could believe that the price might increase by a few hundred dollars, perhaps.

 

[anson]

That's a feature that my outboard scaler has and definitely could be a feature built into a progressive player.
There is probably another HTF discussing this already, but MSB is about to offer a progressive modification to interlace players that essentially adds an internal scaler with support for reframing and scaling. Those with digital projectors (and CRT and RPTV) will find this modification to be most excellent! Think Princeton at a much lower price point.

 

[Jim A. Banville]

If the cost of the mod by MSB is in line with their other mods (my guess is their mod will be around $300), you could probably just sell your old player and buy a new progressive (from the factory) player, like the 5109, for just a little more.
Jim

 

[Scott Kriefall]

I did a bit of searching, and I think you're referring to the "Cinematrix" board. This does sound like a nice upgrade and I'd definitely be interested if the price were indeed $300, however everything I've found suggests that the price of the upgrade will be closer to $900.
This would mean that the cost of a decent interlaced player plus the upgrade would be close to $1500. That's certainly better than the proposed $5000 price tag of the Princeton player, but is still rather expensive IMHO -- especially compared to the relatively low cost of an HTPC.
I might still consider it, but not until I hear some good reviews and positive experience with the upgrade.

 

[Scott Kriefall]

... This upgrade also looks like it'll be overkill for use with an RPTV that requires 480p input, and which won't support the 600p, 720p, 768p, and 1024p resolutions provided by MSB's implementation of the Cinematrix board.
Apparently there are cheaper versions of the upgrade available that only provide 480p support, but MSB won't offer those? Is there any other US-based dealer that will offer the less-expensive options, or will these only be available in Europe and elsewhere?
Guess I need to do some more research...

 

[anson]

Yes, I was referring to the Cinematrix mod. $900 is a bargain if this thing does what it professes to do, which allows it replace more expensive interlaced-input scalers (like Crystal Vision and FE Quadscan) with something that taps into the digital video stream as it leaves the DVD transport! It is overkill for a RPTV, whereas an off the shelf progressive DVD player is inadequate for many digital projectors as they don't output SVGA, SXGA, etc. We should be seeing reviews of this mod soon, I hope!
Sorry for getting off topic. I just thought I'd bring this up as a very enticing progressive alternative. Back to the 434...