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

Nathan_R

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 4, 2000
Messages
717
Buggy little player, but I like it. I had to turn macrovision back *on* to upscale movies to 1080i and 720p. Black Hawk Down will now play, as well as Dreamcatcher. With macrovision off, the disc would just skip around and play random audio. Changing the setting back to on fixed all my problems.
:)
 

Nathan_R

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 4, 2000
Messages
717
Strange machine. 720p is one of the options with the P-Scan. My Panny PT-56WXF95 can do 720p, but my convergence is too off to watch anything. I can't tell how good it is compared to 1080i. I'll fix that this week and give it a try again.

I upgraded to firmware 2.29, by the way. I'm not sure what the deal is with the macrovision toggle. With it off, it would scale but breakup badly or display the image only in the top righthand corner of the screen. Toggling back to "on" fixed that. Perhaps it's a mislabeling in the firmware or OSD. It doesn't make sense to me either.

I just watched Dreamcatcher in 1080i all the way through. Not bad (the pic, not the movie). I was pleased with the layer change-- not the shortest in the world, but not too distracting.

For $150 shipped, I won't complain. I'm going to try some R2 discs when I get home.
 

Dalton

Screenwriter
Joined
Aug 19, 2001
Messages
1,199
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Real Name
Dalton
Nathan,
I have the same TV as you. Let me know how you like this unit after you get a chance to play with it a little more. I love the picture my Philips 963 puts out but i am interested if this player can best it with the upscaling.


Dalton
 

Estevan Lapena

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Messages
211
Well, I'm going to pick one up tomorrow in Vancouver. Hopefully they'll be in stock. The Divx/Xvid is a NICE feature IMO and with future firmware upgrades this machine can only get better.
 

Nathan_R

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 4, 2000
Messages
717
I haven't fixed the 720p on my tv, but I did play around with some different discs.

I popped in Disc 1 of the 1st season of the Simpsons and it displayed correctly-- no stretching. I didn't have to tell it anything about aspect ratios in the "initial" menu.

I also tried out the multi-region capabilities with an R2 copy of Taxi (a gem of a french flick!). No conversion problems that I could see-- the video was flicker-free. It let me upconvert the disc, as well. I watched the opening in 1080i.

As long as the little player doesn't die an early death, I'm in love. I may have to do something about that red light around the power button when the unit is off. Who thought that was a good idea?

:)
 

Marc Carra

Supporting Actor
Joined
Aug 31, 1997
Messages
767
David's review will be a bit late. The 'brand new' player I sent him doesn't want to work. I'm going to send it back for a replacement as soon as I get it back from David. If I lived a bit closer, I would just give him mine to review, but we are about 6 hours apart :frowning:

Marc.
 

David Susilo

Screenwriter
Joined
May 8, 1999
Messages
1,197
Marc is THE absolute best seller :emoji_thumbsup: :emoji_thumbsup: :emoji_thumbsup: . I've lost count how much time he had spent assisting me with this player from the day of shipping until today (and his help continues on).

I'm going to see where I can get this player soon, especially I won't be in the office for the rest of the week :frowning:
 

Estevan Lapena

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Messages
211
So this player does a VERY good job with the PAL ---> NTSC conversion?, namely because I want four R.2 PAL DVD's and was wondering what I should expect visually. As of now I have a Zenith 27" non Digital CRT.

1) Mulholland Drive: 2 Disc
2) The Deer Hunter: 2 Disc
3) Apocalypse Now: 2 Disc
4) Wild At Heart

And also I was wondering about extra's if they would look as if they were NTSC?
Soon enough I am going to get a 92" screen with a LCD projector and was curious to know if those above DVD's look as good if not better than their R.1 counterparts.
 

Nathan_R

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 4, 2000
Messages
717
My only other reference point for PAL-> NTSC conversion is my Malata 996 (which I haven't used in a while). I think the LiteOn is on par with the Malata. Keep in mind, though, that it looks good to *me* and I'm no reviewer, so your mileage may vary.

By the way, there's a 2-page thread on this unit on the AVS as well. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0&pagenumber=1
:)

[edit] Blah, I noticed stuttering on my R2 Eyes Wide Shut. Movement isn't completely fluid. I'll have to hook the Malata back up to see how it handles the same scenes.
 

Marc Carra

Supporting Actor
Joined
Aug 31, 1997
Messages
767
I discovered another cool feature with my Liteon player last night. It will play MP3's from a DVDR as well! I burned nearly 1000 songs on a DVDR and the player recognized the DVD as containing MP3s. Cool stuff.

Marc.
 

Estevan Lapena

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Messages
211
Just got my player from NCIX's location in Vancouver it came to $223 CAD exactly. I've been tinkering with a couple of settings (region codes + macrovision) but overall, on my old Zenith 27" its working Very well and I am impressed. This week I plan on bringing the player to a friends house and try out the 1080i scaling with these R.1 disc's.

1) 2001: A Space Odyssey
2) Carlito's Way : Collectors Edition
3) Platoon Sp. Ed.
4) Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas: Criterion Collection
5) Scarface (new one)
 

Mando-R

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
Messages
62
I have a few questions.

I'm minutes from ordering this DVD player, but a couple of things cross my mind.

Does it have optical audio output? Is optical audio output worth it? What's the difference between optical and coaxial?

Is this DVD player an investment that will be worth the money spent three months from now when I have an HDTV? What's the price on the Samsung dvd player that this was compared to? Is it the best DVD player for under 200 dollars?

My Phillips 27" TV has a component video input, but it is obviously not a high definition TV... Would using progressive scan on my TV still allow better image quality? What are the features of a high definition TV that I should look for, that would allow the best image quality from this DVD player?
 

Brajesh Upadhyay

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jul 11, 1998
Messages
787
Got my player last night. Below are my first impressions. (The LiteOn is connected via component to my Panasonic PT-53WX52 HDTV, ISF calibrated.)

This is a slim, but fairly heavy player. The 1080i output is soft as reported. Tried a few discs ("Desperado" SuperBit mainly) & so far I can't see much of a difference between 480p & 1080i. The 480p actually seems a tad sharper. Good thing is I didn't notice the chroma bug or combing. Need to do more tests though. The PAL -> NTSC conversion not as good as my Malata N996. I tried my R2 "Deer Hunter" SE & the PAL speed-up was very noticeable.

Got to play with it more, but so far I'm unsure I want to keep it.
 

Nathan_R

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 4, 2000
Messages
717
Mando,

1) Yes, it has an optical out, which serves the same function as the coax out. Personally, I prefer coax out, but many people like the optical out. Determining which is better is much like the DD v DTS debates.

2) The Samsung is $299, and upconverts over DVI. The LiteOn is $150 and upconverts over component. As my TV doesn't have DVI and I'm not a fan of it anyway, the Liteon suits me perfectly.

3) Does your Phillips support 480p (so-called EDTV)? If it doesn't, you cannot use the progressive scan capabilities (or upconverting for that matter). You'll have to wait for your HDTV to do any upconverting.

Hope this helps a bit.
Best regards,
~~Nathan
 

Brajesh Upadhyay

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jul 11, 1998
Messages
787
Is this DVD player an investment that will be worth the money spent three months from now when I have an HDTV? What's the price on the Samsung dvd player that this was compared to? Is it the best DVD player for under 200 dollars?
If you're getting an HDTV, you should get one w/DVI. The LiteOn 2001 doesn't have DVI output, so you should get a Samsung, Bravo or another player w/DVI. These players are around $200 I believe. On whether this is the best player under $200, I don't know. The well regarded Denon 1600 can be had around $300, although I believe it's now discontinued. The new Panny players all suffer from the chroma bug. My recommendation would be the Pioneer 563 universal player--no chroma bug, good picture quality, plus DVD-A & SACD.
 

Estevan Lapena

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Messages
211


Really! Sh*t, that’s what I basically got the player for! Was this the case for all of your Pal discs? This is very important to me because I plan on getting a couple of R2 Pal DVD's that are not on the cheap, and if the speed up is annoying that may be a little bit of a problem.
 

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