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

[david*mt]

Can someone post a list of all the online stores that are selling the LVD2001? By the way, are any retail stores such as Bestbuy, Circuitcity, Target, Walmart, etc. selling it?

 

[Jonny K]

I bought mine from NICX in Vancouver, Canada.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=10402


Jonny K.

 

[JohnSterling]

Mr. Bob...I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on the 1080i picture after you update the firmware. If you already like to 1080i, you should be pleasently surprised after the update.

 

[Robert P. Jones]

JohnnyG -

How is it obvious? Do you need the Sencore analyzer you use to find your findings? Not saying I don't believe you - no reason not to - just want to know your approach.

My display's HD has been set in both 720p and 1080i by the Accupel HD signal generator, well accepted in the calibrator community for its efficacy, along with the Sencore. The Sencore does more - HD plus NTSC; the Accupel is strictly HD - 720p and 1080i. But it does both superlatively. I have talked with Greg Rogers at Accupel about it on occasion.

My display's HD color decoder was also set by the same instrument, the Accupel, and the color is absolutely glorious on any HD that is brought in via OTA or Comcast Cable HD, both of which respond exactly the same on color/tint and all color decoding.

No, I definitely don't think my display device is in error. I have no reason to believe it is in error, and every reason to believe it is completely tits'd out. It looks "absolutely mahvelous, dahling..."


JohnSterling -

You and me both!


Mr Bob

 

[Matt Odegard]

That shows that upscaling to 1080i is lossy - so I prefer a true 480p player!

How so? How can you loose anything from a 480i signal when upconverting to 1080i? It's adding information not removing it.

If anything everyone said the 1080i picture of this player is better than its 480p picture.

I guess I don't understand your logic in saying it's upconversion is 'lossy'.

 

[Don_Berg]

Perhaps you didn't read the post before mine, where someone tested it and commented "when switched to 1080i, the resolution drops noticeably" - so it lost resolution in 1080i compared to 480i or 480p mode, thats defined as "lossy"

 

[Matt Odegard]

OK, but why would a 1080i picture thats lost resolution look better to people than 480p with no loss of resolution?

I haven't viewed this player or seen it in action. But, something doesn't sound right. With a loss of resolution as you say, you wouldn't think the 1080i picture would look better than its 480p mode. Maybe he tested wrong? Or maybe its just his player?

 

[JohnSterling]

Matt:
With the 1080i, you're getting more scanlines....therefore a more 'filmlike' or 'smooth' picture. The comments on the lossy-ness are in how detailed that picture is. If you took a photograph and you nailed the focus 100%...you'd have a crystal-clear photo. If you JUST SLIGHTLY missed the focus...say by 99% or 98%...this second picture would look a little softer than the first.

Reguarding the signals coming out of the component outputs on the 2001...the higher frequencies of those signals are what make the image very 'crisp' and 'focused'. If you read one of Mr. Bob's earlier posts, he finds that some of those high-freqency signals are dropping off in 1080i mode, while they are not in 480p. That's the 'lossy-ness'.

At this point it's a matter of personal preference. The slight loss of image resolution is easily overcome by the stunningly smooth picture of the 1080i. I couldn't be happier with the 2001. Hope some of that made sense.

 

[Matt Odegard]

OK I see now, I wasn't quite understanding that. I wasn't sure how its picture was lossy when its in fact upconverting. I figured it was if anything, adding some detail, not loosing it.

Thanks

 

[david*mt]

Where can I find the firmware updates at?

 

[Matt Odegard]

Here Right click - save as and then unzip the files, throw them into a folder and burn it to cd.

 

[Dave Simpson]

Hey guys,

I bought this player yesterday from our good pal Johnny G. The unit thus far offers no real improvement over my previous player, the much-hated, much-maligned Pioneer 434. But that's only because the 2001 is connected simply by S-vid to my 12 year-old Trinitron. That'll all change tomorrow once the UPS guy delivers my new Sanyo PLV-Z1 pj Although the Z1 can't make full use of the 2001's abilities, I expect the pair to produce a fabulous 480p image via component.
For anyone considering this player, I heartily recommend contacting Johnny at NBT Electronics. Great price, great service (Johnny burned me a copy of the v2.29 firmware while I waited), and a pleasant fella, to boot. Thanks again, Johnny! Cheers.

DS.

 

[david*mt]

Is there anyplace I can order the LVD2001 online and return it for a refund if I don't like it? I just don't want to spend the money on it and be stuck with it if it doesn't improve on my current dvd player.

 

[Robert P. Jones]

JohnSterling -

You said I had mentioned something about dropoff in 1080i. That wasn't me, that was somebody else.


What I said was that the 1080i is a "definite" pic and the 480p was a "tentative" pic.


I definitely prefer the 1080i pic over the 480p pic, and have noticed no relevant lossines in picture structure, with the LO in 1080i. In fact, there was no meaningful lossiness even when viewing the Snell and Wilcox pattern from VE, nor res patterns on both VE and AVIA. I surmise that since the 1080 is being derived from the 480, such patterns are not necessarily relevant when a synthesis from one to the other is going on. Only when used as they were originally meant to be used.

My eyes tell me the 1080i is the better pic, as far as image structure goes - even tho color decoding is different between the 2, hopefully to be remedied in the firmware update I haven't done yet.


Mr Bob

PS - Was it here where I read that PCClub has a $30 rebate going on, making the price $109 now?



David*MT -

All the resources I have seen here for buying this unit allow return privileges, usually within 30 days. Some do include a 15% restocking charge, however, and of course none will refund your shipping costs.

 

[David_Rivshin]

PCClub currently has it listed for:
$139.99
$-30.00 rebate
$+18.00 shipping (to NY)
--------
$127.99 net

Dell currently has it listed for $133.06 and free shipping.
That is $5.07 more expensive, but you don't have to worry about filling out or waiting for a rebate.
I don't know about the return/restocking policies at either, but I'm sure they're posted on their respective web sites somewhere.

Also, it looks like the LVD-2002 is slowly trickling out. It's missing the PCMCIA slot and adapters, so it should be cheaper once it's in good supply. There are rumors that it will not have the macrovision or region coding hack, but so far those are just unsubstantiated rumors based off a throwaway line on the website. I'm hoping it will use a newer (quieter) DVD-ROM drive, as I could care less about the PCMCIA slot. If anyone gets their hands on an LVD-2002 please post a quick review, as I'd certainly be interested in any impressions.

-- Dave

 

[david*mt]

Can you give me the link to it at Dell? I can't seem to find it on their site.

 

[Robert P. Jones]

Keep the tax in mind. I heard I coulda saved the 8.25% sales tax if I had bought it at another place rather than newegg.com which was where I got mine. With some of these you have to pay sales tax, depending on where they send them from. For me, that's CA. If their warehouse is in CA that they send them from, I have to pay the tax. They also listed NY for having to pay sales tax. Not so if it is from other states.

8.25% of $130 is a bit over $10.


Mr Bob

 

[JohnnyG]

Mr. Bob, it was "obvious" because blacks were grey when I first connected the 2001. I checked the colour decoder performance and it looks normal to me. Maybe there's more to the newer firmware than "meets the eye" and it'll be interesting to compare notes once you get yours updated. I'm happy to send a CD your way...let me know.

 

[JohnnyG]

Dave, it was a pleasure dealing with you! I'll be interested to hear your impressions when you get the Z1 up and running!

 

[David_Rivshin]

David,
If you look under "Home & Home Office" and then "Software & Peripherals", put LVD-2001 in the search field and it should come right up. If that fails, try this link:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...&page=external

-- Dave