RP-91 or RP-56? (1 Viewer)

[MattGuyOR]

I know that the RP-56 has a better chip in it (Sage), but what exactly does that improve? Will the average person be disappointed with the 91 if it doesn't have that chip?

 

[Sean-D]

That depends on If you have a television with a progressive scan input. If not, since there both built on the same MPEG decoder interlaced performance should be very similar. In the case of the chip performance go with the RP-56. But remember the RP-91 decodes DVD-Audio.The sage chip has a better deinterlacer and therefore produces a better picture by reading the 3:2 pulldown cadence of film (24 frames) vs. video(60 frames). A poorly designed chip will get tripped up very easily and drop frames causing artifacts and a distorted picture.
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Sean-D.
"If at first you don't succeed...,remove all evidence that you ever tried."
[Edited last by Sean-D on October 15, 2001 at 09:49 PM]

 

[Chuck C]

Both have different de-interlacing engines...the RP91 has a Genesis chipset on roids and the RP56 has secretly incorporated the new Sage/Faroujda de-interlacer. FWIW, people seem to be very content with the RP91's progressive scan performance to the point where it has become #1 amongst enthusiasts in the prog-scan DVD market.
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Chuck
http://www.hometheaterinsider.com
[Edited last by Chuck C on October 15, 2001 at 09:47 PM]

 

[Dalton]

I had the RP91 and it never looked good on my Panasonic 56" HD ready tv. I tried all the tips and tweaks posted here and on other forums but to no avail. Calibrated my set with the 91..no better. I even swapped it for a new one with the same results. I loved the audio performance of the 91 but I couldn't see what others saw abotu the picture. It just never looked that great. I really wanted to like the 91 but it just doesn't have good de-interlacing performance. I ended up with a JVC xv-fa95gd which has alot of the same features of the 91 but with a lower price. It is also a 7 disc changer(DVD-Audio as well). It doesn't sound quite as good though but the picture is very good. The picture still wasn't "superb" though so I recently added the rp56. WOW what a nice picture for such a low priced player. It don't have all the bell's and whistles of the 91 but it puts out a better picture on my set than the 91. I am going to keep the JVC also though because it is past it's return period. The jvc also does a nice job scaling non-anamorphic discs and the dvd-audio performance is very good(not as good as the 91 though). So now i end up with most of the features of the 91 but i am using 2 players. I would have liked to keep the 91 though if the picture quality was to my liking. I am not trying to knock the 91 and some 91 owners might think i'm nuts prefering the 56, but hey it just looks better on my set to me. My $.02.

 

[MattGuyOR]

Thanks for the info guys.
Dalton, have you tried playing any non-anamorphic dvd's on the 56? I don't know if I could buy two and was just wondering how my older non-anamorphic discs might look on the 56 without scaling.

 

[Billy Fogerty]

I have my RP91 feeding a Toshiba 56H80. The picture is so good, it looks 3 dimesional. The scaling feature on this player is really cool. Just leave the tv in full, and the player does the rest. Even nonanamorphic discs take on a whole new look. An amazing player.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

I agree the RP91 can give an excellent picture especially if you tweak it using the User settings.
My brother has the RP56 and it too displays a great picture.
Where the difference is in the audio - the RP91 is very impressive and does double duty as a solid CD transport as well.
Factor in the scaling ability for nonanamorphic DVDs and you 've got a tough combo to beat.
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Every man is my superior, in that I may learn from him.
MyHTSetup

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I own an RP-91 and would not trade the scaling feature for the lower cost of the RP-56. If you own a 16x9 TV and have a large collection of non-anamorphic DVD's, this feature is wonderful. Also, it's a great convenience to leave the TV in FULL mode (I have a Toshiba 56H80) when navigating the extra features on a disc. The player handled the changes on the extras from full frame to anamorphic widescreen to non-anamorphic widescreen automatically. I no longer need to constantly switch viewing modes on the TV while navigating the extras.
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My DVD Collection
AFI 100 Films to watch: 40 -> 4

 

[Dave Miller]

I'm gonna put my 2 cents in and say that the scaling feature is phenomenal! Worth getting the RP-91 just for that.
Peace,
DM
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"We all end up dead, the question is how and why."

 

[Dalton]

Matt,
The rp56 doesn't scale non-anamorphic discs

I use my JVC xv-fa95gd for that and it does just as good as the rp91 for non-anamorphic scaling(IMHO). Having had the rp91 for while I can say it does do a good job on non-anamorphic discs.