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Quick review on 1080i scaling Liteon LVD2001 DVD Player (2 Viewers)

Marc Carra

Supporting Actor
Joined
Aug 31, 1997
Messages
767
I just picked up the new Liteone LVD 2001 DVD player, and the 1080i scaling works great. This player will scale any DVD (even copyprotected ones) up to 1080i resolution, and output it through it's component outputs. My primary DVD source right now is a Radeon equipped PC running Theatertek software. The HTPC scales all DVDs to 1080i so this is my benchmark I used to test the Liteon player. he Liteon will output 480P, 720P or 1080I. The latest firmware contains a very easy way to turn off region coding and macrovision so that all DVDs can be scaled to 1080i. The resulting picture is quite good. It is much more filmlike than a 480p image. The color rendition is as good if not better than my HTPC. Detail is not quite as good as the PC, but about 85-90% as good. There seems to be a bit more noise in some scenes than I am used to seeing with the HTPC, but nothing objectionable.

The p-scan button on the remote switches between 480i, 480p, 480 i Pal, 480p Pal, 720p and finally 1080i.

You can play just about anything with this player including MP3, JPG files, Mpeg files, Divx files, and Mpeg4 files. I have just been experimenting with DVDs so far.

All in all for the price ($195CAD), I'm very satisfied.

Marc.
 

Craig_Kg

Supporting Actor
Joined
Feb 25, 2002
Messages
768
Here's a quite detailed review.

Also, there's a detailed review of the video performance s a Samsung 931 on avs forum.
 

David Susilo

Screenwriter
Joined
May 8, 1999
Messages
1,197
More questions:

1. How much did you get charged for shipping
2. How's the built quality?
3. Does it have chroma bug?
4. Does it converts PAL disc to be diplayed on NTSC TV?
5. How's the layer change?
 

Marc Carra

Supporting Actor
Joined
Aug 31, 1997
Messages
767
David,

1) It was about $20CAD for overnight shipping.

2) Build quality is quite good, considering the price. The player has a good weight to it.

3) No Chroma bug. I did the Toy Story test.

4) Yes, it is supposed to convert Pal to NTSC. I don't have any Pal discs to test.

5) I haven't noticed any problems with the layer change.
 

Stephen Hopkins

HW Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2002
Messages
2,604
These are going on ebay for around $170 as well as a slew of other VERY similar players based on the same chipset going BIN as low as $135. The Bravo D1 is based on the same chipset but has DVI output and doesn't scale to 720p/1080i over component w/out a hack.

I have the Bravo D1 and am using DVI. PQ is great, features are great, Divx 3.11 suppport is fairly sketchy. The only real problem is the loader is noticably buggy. i out of every 5 discs i have won't play correctly on the first try. Open it up and close it again and it'll usually play right, but slow loading makes this a fairly bothersome process.
 

David_Rivshin

Second Unit
Joined
Dec 13, 2001
Messages
350
Marc,
You indicated that the LVD-2001 will upconvert copy protected (commercial) DVD's to 1080i on the component output, but the review that Craig pointed to seem to say that it did not. Can you double check that again, or better yet can someone else confirm it as well?

Also, for those interested Newegg.com also has the LVD-2001 for $150 and free shipping. They're generally considered one of the most reliable e-tailers for computer products. Nothing against PCClub, but I've just not heard of them before.

Cheers,
-- Dave
 

Ike

Screenwriter
Joined
Jan 14, 2000
Messages
1,672
How would one get the file to update the firmware? Is it on Liteon's website?

And, silly as this may seem, how would you rate the Liteon's performance compared to something like the Panasonic RP91? I'm talking with scaling turned on.

And on PAL material, I'm curious as to the squeeze problem. My knowledge of this particular problem is only that it exists. What is it exactly, and can it be cured? I'm going to be watching these on a 16x9 set, so will they still be anamorphic?

And I echo Dave's comments, are we sure that this player upconverts over component?
 

Nathan_R

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 4, 2000
Messages
717
I ordered mine today-- thanks for the newegg idea.

It has to upconvert over component as it has no other HD-capable outputs (no DVI or firewire). :)

Best regards,
~~Nathan
 

Carlo_M

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 31, 1997
Messages
13,381
Well y'all done and broke that review site! (bandwidth exceeded message)

So I'm curious about this product too, specifically if it is confirmed that:

1. It can indeed scale copy protected (commercial) DVDs. Going to the official LiteOn site says the following curious things:

a. supports 480p
b. scales 480i to 1080i

Now this is curious because pretty much most R1 commercial DVDs are 480p, no? Or can you have it choose to do either 480p or 480i per disc, and then the 480i option is then scalable??? :confused:

2. Is the resulting picture superior to, say, a Panny RP91 (or other high-quality DVD player) which I own and currently view through component video on my 47" HDTV.

Many thanks!
 

Marc Carra

Supporting Actor
Joined
Aug 31, 1997
Messages
767
The web site is confusing. whatever the format of a DVD (480p or 480i) , the player takes it and scales it to 1080i. You can do this with ANY dvd as long as you enter the macrovision disable code on the remote.

With 1080i scaling turned on, the picture quality surpasses that of the Panasonic RP91.

Firmware updates can be obtained right on the Liteon web site. They seem to provide updates quite often. I just downloaded one, and two days later there was a newer one.

Marc.
 

Marc Carra

Supporting Actor
Joined
Aug 31, 1997
Messages
767
One annoying thing I noticed so far:

When playing back some of my DVDR movies, the player emits a slight high frequency 'chirping' sound which can be heard in a quiet room. I put a pillow in front of it, and it went away :)

Marc.
 

David_Rivshin

Second Unit
Joined
Dec 13, 2001
Messages
350
With 1080i scaling turned on, the picture quality surpasses that of the Panasonic RP91.
*drool* you're really making me want one... However LOTR EE's have taught me that having a 5 disk changer can be a good thing.... I wonder when Panasonic (or anyone else) will release a more standard variety DVD changer with 720p/1080i scaling over component built in... I'm just never satisfied :)
 

Carlo_M

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 31, 1997
Messages
13,381
With 1080i scaling turned on, the picture quality surpasses that of the Panasonic RP91.
Oooh! This was my primary concern, as the Bravo D1 (which is supposedly similar to this model) was apparently ***not*** good for scaling over component connections. People here and at AVS said to buy the D1 only if you planned to use the DVI output.

I am now much more interested in this player. Normally I might not spend the cash on a risk, but I just moved apartments and was going to buy a CD player for the bedroom. Maybe I'll buy this and if it surpasses the RP91 I'll move that to the BR as a CD/DVD player and keep this one in the living room.

Now where did I put that credit card... ;)
 

Andrew Pratt

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 8, 1998
Messages
3,806
So do you always have to enter the macrovision defeat code on the remote if you want to scale 480P or is it a one time thing?
 

Brajesh Upadhyay

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jul 11, 1998
Messages
787
I think you only disable Macrovision once, same with region-coding. This player is a Bravo clone, as is the MOMITSU & the Neuston Maestro DVX-1201.

I was able to cancel my PC Club order & go newegg.com instead. Cheaper even with NJ tax.
 

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