rp56 vs. rp91 (1 Viewer)

[Steve_SSS]

Obviously the rp91 is more expensive, however, to my understanding, the rp56 uses the more advanced sage chip. Can anyone explain which player is better and why. Also, more specificly, can you talk about the rph6 in general. Thanks

 

[Steve_SSS]

sorry, for the last part i meant, can anyone talk about the rp56 more in general

 

[nate n]

I have been debating about the two for about 2 weeks now. So i went out and bought both of them to compare. I have a panasonic 34" widescreen hdtv.
RP91
Very good picture. Colors are very vibrant, slightly better than rp56. Has many features, scaling, dvd audio, 5.1 output. Looks much nicer than rp56 aesthetically. No chroma bug. Built a little sturdier than rp56.
RP56
Uses sage chip(best chip) for deinterlacing. Picture is very good and film like. I could see no differences between the two dvd players except that the colors were a little richer with the rp91. But that's not to say that the colors are not good with the rp56, because they also look excellant. This dvd player is very limited in features. You're pretty much just paying for the sage chip and deinterlacing. There is no scaling feature and this player does not play dvd audio.
If you want the additional features get the rp91. If all you want is great picture quality, get the rp56 and save money. Here's a link that reviews both.
Link Removed
Good luck.

 

[George Fogel]

If your TV locks into "Full" mode when receiving a progressive scan image (as does mine) there is no choice: the only player that scales properly (ie, non anamorphic films will be displayed "unstretched") is the RP91. Got mine this week and will be setting it up tomorrow with great expectations.

 

[Jeff D.]

From what I understand, the RP-56 has some sort of chroma problem. Not exactly the chroma bug, but something that causes problems with heavily saturated colours (particularly red). Owners of the 56 can comment on the severity of this problem. However, if you're sensitive to the chroma bug then this may be bothersome. Incidentally - if you don't know what the chroma bug is - don't ask! Ignorance is bliss.
The RP-91 offers a stunning picture. No chroma bug (or any other problems). True, it uses the Genesis chipset, but apparently it is extremely well tweaked. Also, if the majority of your viewing is film-based material, the disadvantages of the Genesis won't be too troublesome.
For me the best feature about the 91 is its ability to scale non-anamorphic material to display properly on 16:9 sets. Essential for displays that "lock on full", but also an excellent feature for those that do not.
Of course, there is the DVD-Audio aspect as well.
Personally, I would choose the 91 over the 56. I am not too sensitive to the infrequent errors created by the Genesis chipset and, otherwise, this is a truly stellar player.
/Jeff

 

[JohnHN]

From what I understand, the RP-56 has some sort of chroma problem. Not exactly the chroma bug, but something that causes problems with heavily saturated colours (particularly red).

The problem is that the RP-56's deinterlacer has a feature called Cross Color Suppression (CSS) that (most people think) should have been left turned off but was instead switched on. There is no fix for this that I know of but scenes in which CSS is visible are rare. The best known is the one early on in Toy Story when Woody is making a speech. In some shots, the red lid of the toy box pulsates. In contrast, the chroma bug, which the 56 does not have, causes streaking. The chroma bug manifests itself much more frequently.

 

[Steve_SSS]

Can someone go into more detail about what the scaling feater does?

 

[Howard_S]

What about for interlaced video and sound?

 

[Steve_AA]

...Cross Color Suppression ....In some shots, the red lid of the toy box pulsates.

JohnHN: Do you know if this is also what's referred to by some as the "shimmer bug'? I think that's the name.

 

[Alex Prosak]

Steve_SSS
The scaling feature makes nonanomorphic DVDs fit a wide screen TV. I have this problem with some older martial arts movies. The movies are 1.85:1 widescreen versions which should completely fill the screen on my TV, since I have a wide screen. However since the DVDs are nonanomorphic, they will not automatically fill the entire screen and therefore I have the black bars on the top and bottom of my TV when I shouldn't. This also makes the picture look a bit screwy. Adjusting the format of my TV also does not correct the picture.
With the Panny RP91, the scaling feature will allow you to play nonanomorphic DVDs at the proper scale on a widescreen TV. Hope this helps.
If I continue to relentlessly bombard my wife with HT stuff, a RP91 will be in my future.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

For me, the RP56 was a better deal.
The CSS circuit improves picture quality on composite video-sourced material on discs like season 2 of The X-Files and the first few seasons of the upcoming Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The doubler also does some magic on poorly flagged discs (like a lot of anime titles that I own) that the RP-91 cannot.
Plus, I got it for less than $200, and I didn't need the anamorphic zoom function.
I view it as save $300 now and use it to buy another player for $300 in a year that will beat both players.

 

[JohnHN]

JohnHN: Do you know if this is also what's referred to by some as the "shimmer bug'? I think that's the name.

Probably but it's hard to be sure; "shimmer bug" is just what someone wrote. It isn't a bug, in any event; CSS is a feature that should have been turned off.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Probably but it's hard to be sure; "shimmer bug" is just what someone wrote. It isn't a bug, in any event; CSS is a feature that should have been turned off.

1) Actually, the flicker bug IS a bug; it is a bug in CSS. Future versions of CSS will likely not have the bug. And yes, they should allow you to turn CSS regardless

2) A CDR firmware upgrade could fix this if they decide to do it.

3) Unlike the chroma bug, the flicker bug is only apparent on a tiny handful of titles. I use my set's doubler for those.

4) It goes to show that there is no 'perfect' player yet. But we are close...

 

[Michael Buck]

I find myself in the position of debating between the RP91 and RP56 for purchase. The detailed article at hometheaterhifi.com makes it sound like the RP56 has the better progressive scan de-interlacing, but the scaling of non-anamorphic DVDs that the RP91 is *the* feature I want.

What is the future? It seems that, for now, the RP91 is the only player out there that does the scaling. Is it likely that more players will begin to offer this feature as new models roll out, or is this feature likely to go by the wayside?

If more players will feature this in the future, I should get the RP56 now, and get a scaling player in the future with a better de-interlacing chip inside.

If this feature is not likely to make it to new models, then I need to hop on an RP91 ASAP.

What does anyone think about this?

My TV is a Toshiba TW65X81 (around 2.5 years old), FYI.

 

[Tulli]

It seems that, for now, the RP91 is the only player out there that does the scaling.

Not true, the Malata N996 does it too. Besides, it has X-Y scaling.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I believe that JVC also sells a progressive scan player that does scaling. That being said, I do really like my RP-91 and would not consider purchasing another player without the scaling feature. This is a must for any 16x9 TV owner, regardless of whether your TV locks into FULL mode with a 480p signal (IMO, of course). Non-anamorphic widescreen titles look much better, and it is much more convenient to watch DVD supplemental material.