Which new DVD player to get? Help, please! (1 Viewer)

[GerardoHP]

I have about 500 dollars to spend on a new player but I don't know what to get. I'm not very good with technology so I could really use some help from the experts here.

What I'd like:

A multiple disc player for when I need to play several CD's during parties, etc.

I heard there's a type of player that automatically converts the anamorphic/non-anamorphic signal when I'm watching DVD's that have material that is enhanced and material that isn't like trailers, documentaries, etc. I have a 16x9 TV and would like to avoid having to constantly switch between squeezed and unsqueezed to watch the same DVD.

I also heard that there are DVD players that can play non-anamorphic movies to make them look almost as good as anamorphic (God, this is where I wish I had kept some notes but perhaps the word "downconversion" was used there?)

Is that too much to ask for 500 dollars? Can anyone help me? Thanks in advance.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Well, I think you're looking for the same player I (and some others) have been after for a long time now, but nothing perfect exists yet.

I ended up settling for the "ancient" Panny RP91 for ~$300. It's not a changer, but will do what you're asking. I'm still waiting for mine to arrive. As far as PQ, it's supposed to be quite good for film-based DVDs although not great at handling badly flagged DVDs. OTOH, none of the players w/ top notch deinterlacing offer the anamorphic upconversion (aka aspect ratio scaling) that we want, so the RP91 is probably the best we can do right now UNLESS your HDTV can accept DVI input.

IF your HDTV can accept DVI, then you should consider the Bravo D1 ($200) or the Momitsu V880 ($300)--actually, the latter might also work for component, but I'm not sure. I don't know the details about their aspect ratio scaling, but it sounds like they offer this. Don't know how automatic it is though.

Caveat: Whether the upconversion/scaling can be done automatically will depend on whether the DVD is flagged correctly. If not flagged correctly (in many cases), then you will get windowboxed effect (ie. bars on all sides if letterbox content or side bars if 4x3 fullscreen) and require manual zooming via the player to scale it fully.

And finally, if you must get a changer, your only option might be one of the new Panny changers. BUT if your HDTV size-to-viewing-distance ratio is something like 2.5:1 or less, then you might find the PQ of the scaled images quite awful. I tried the S35 (single-disc) and found the scaled images unwatchable at 1.8:1 size-to-distance ratio (on my 53").

_Man_

 

[Jeff Gatie]

JVC offers a changer with aspect ratio scaling, albeit not as good as the RP91. It does not allow manual scaling for incorrectly flagged non-anamorphic discs, but it works well otherwise. The build quality on JVC's also leaves something to be desired. But the price is right!

http://www.jvc.com/product.jsp?model...L026943&page=2