RP-82 vs RP-91 (1 Viewer)

[John-Miles]

has anyone compared these two? any input on what the differences are. which one would people out there suggest?

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I only know that on paper, the RP-82 uses the same top-of-the-line MPEG decoder as the 91, and has a line doubler that beats the 91 (especially for poorly flagged and video-based material).

The 91 has better video DACs.

At least one person at AVS felt the 82 looks better than the 91.

The 82 doesn't have scaling abilities for non-anamorphic DVDs, which some people need.

 

[BobJ]

I liked the 82 better. The 82 has the same mpeg decoder as the 91 and has the Sage/Faroudja chip which the 91 doesn't have. The 91 has scaling, while the 82 doesn't. I would give the 82 a good, hard look if you don't need scaling and save the extra $200+.

 

[John-Miles]

What exactly does scaling do?

why would i need it?

 

[Michael St. Clair]

What exactly does scaling do?

It performs a vertical stretch on non-anamorphic letterboxed DVDs. While this doesn't actually improve the image of these DVDs, it makes the image better match the optimal scan rate of widescreen sets that have shitty 'zoom' modes of non-anamorphic letterboxed material and makes these discs look better on these sets.

 

[Howard_S]

At least one person at AVS felt the 82 looks better than the 91.

There's at least one person who thinks the RP56 is better than 91 and there's at least one person there that thinks a jvc, sony player etc. is better than the RP91.

Point is that you got to decide for yourself which is better. Most of the time the question is not which is better but which to them is more value. Like anything you probably want the more expensive perhaps higher rated unit but you can't justify the cost so you try to like a cheaper player over the more expensive player. The consensus is that the RP91 is simply better than the 82. It's the same old RP56 vs 91 debate. Decide for yourself. There are something that the RP82 does better and there are some things that the Rp91 does better. Overall I think the RP91 is a better all around unit. Better built better chips etc. whether that's worth the extra money is another question.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Howard,

I don't think the 82 is out long enough for there to be a consensus.

I guess you are discounting the opinion of our own BobJ who posted earlier in this thread and preferred the 82. I don't see anybody else in the thread so far picking the 91 other than yourself.

I have no problem justifying the extra expense of the 91. I do have a problem justifying the fact that at least a half-dozen players on the market blow away the 91 when playing video-sourced material like The Simpsons and typical anime titles.

I find it disappointing that Panasonic is keeping the same flagship model on the market for two years without upgrading it to a new one that uses a state-of-the-art deinterlacer.

 

[Josh Lowe]

the RP82 is a fine player. I replaced my RP91 with an RP82. The only thing I will miss about the RP91 is the greater # of tweaks in the User modes and scaling of non-anamorphic content. But my TV does a very good job w/ scaling so even that's not such a big deal. If your TV locks into FULL mode when receving a progressive signal, though, then the RP91 might be your best choice.

 

[Stephen_E]

i realise this might do better as a seperate post, but i was curious.. with a sony vega ( either regular or the xbr's ) would i need the scaling ability or the RP91 or would the RP82 do just fine? ( as far as anamorphic and non-anamorphic dvd )

also the same question goes to the Panasonic AE100 projector..

if anyone can answer this it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Michael Altmyer]

I have a Sony 32xbr400, 4:3 HD-ready with a widescreen mode. My RP82 works fine, the only down side is that the automatic mode is disabled, so to watch an anamorphic DVD you must enter the TV menu to turn it on manually. A little bit of a hassle, but the picture looks outstanding from the player.

 

[greg_t]

I guess we don't know yet if the 82 is firmware upgradeable like the 91?