Time for DVD upgrade? Elite DV37? Panasonic? Toshiba? (1 Viewer)

[Howard_S]

I have noticed that my Pioneer Elite DVL700 occasionally "skips" in DVD playback so I figure it's time to upgrade after 4 years. Afterall, it was first generation. Question is are the current DVD players way better than the one I have now? I don't have an HDTV and don't think I'll be getting one soon so that might be a factor in your advice. I'll be getting an Xbox and I don't know how good its DVD playback will be but it can't be as good as the great standalones out there right?
So which DVD player would you recommend? Since I have tons of Pioneer elite stuff I'm leaning towards the DV37 but if others are better I'll definately want to buy that.

 

[Jeff D.]

Howard:
Things have moved on quite a bit in the DVD world. The Pioneer Elite's might be nice to look at (the chassis, that is), but their real-world video performance leaves a lot to be desired.
The biggest concern with the Pioneer models is an excessive chroma bug. The bug manifests itself as streaky lines through deeply saturated colours, particularly reds. The Pioneer models suffer from this bug scales of magnitude more than other players.
Deinterlacing performance isn't that great either, though it isn't as bad as some.
Look to the newer Panasonic models, such as the RP-91 for excellent, chroma-bug free performance, as well as some nifty scaling functions.
Also consider the Philips model with the Sage deinterlacing solution.
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Jeff
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"They're coming to get you Barbara..."

 

[Hubert]

That's a pretty strong statement saying their performance leaves "A LOT" to be desired. The Elite that I saw hooked to a PRO-710HD looked downright amazing.

 

[Howard_S]

Wow. Ya that is pretty shocking and I'm in disbelief right now cause I always thought that Pioneer Elite stuff are good stuff, particularly their RPTV and their DVD players. So RP91 is better than the top Elite player?

 

[Sania M]

Actually the dv 37 and dv 38A I saw hooked up to a 710 in the showroom looked downright horrible. Jaggies were ridiculous. PIcture was soft and unclear. I preferred my JVC 70 BK and I'm not that big a fan of JVC, changing though. If your dealer will ever let you compare them side by side w/ a decent player the Pioneer Elite Dvd player would fall badly. My dealer will not.

 

[Howard_S]

You guys serious? Okay I'm still in shock but I'm starting to believe this now. I've always trusted Pioneer Elite gear. It can't be that bad can it? It does cost a lot of money.

 

[jason celaya]

the RP91 blows it away in picture quality but the Pioneer is built better.

 

[rajiv]

All of the Pioneer true progressive scan DVD players exhibit the chroma bug, but that doesn't mean they are all bad. The Pioneer Elite DV-38A is a fantastic transport, well built, multiple parallel audio & video outputs and is capable of DVD-A. The video parameters can be adjusted so that the chroma bug is less noticeable, but this varies from person to person. I have a DV-38A with a PRO-610 and it doesn't bother me as much as DVDs that have lots of edge enhancement, such as the "Phantom Menace".
My advice is to try out different DVD players and see which one you like. I know of people who have an all Pioneer Elite system, with the exception of speakers, and they like it because its relatively very good in audio, video and aesthetics.
The Pansonic RP-91 is also very good, but IMO it doesn't rank up to the Pioneer Elite DVD players for audio performance.
Rajiv...
[Edited last by rajiv on November 13, 2001 at 06:38 PM]

 

[Howard_S]

I'm now looking at the Integra line of DVD players. Do you think they're better?