Which Progressive Scan DVD player for under $200? (1 Viewer)

[Adam C.]

My father is looking for a Progressive Scan DVD player for under $200.

He is currently considering the Panasonic RP62, Toshiba SD3800 or SD4800, and JVC S500.

What one would you pick/ have picked? Thanks for any help.

 

[Patrick TX]

It depends on needs. If I needed to buy one locally, it would be a Panasonic RP82 / CP72, or a Toshiba SD4800.
I would take THIS JVC over them all. It will zoom/scale, whereas the Pannys won't. The Panny's aren't easy to find, nor are they very heavy duty. I would rank them 1 in picture, 3 in build quality. The Toshibas have a great picture, but have the chroma bug. They can be easily found at the retail level. The JVC 600 seems to be the best compromise IMO. I have one coming today from them, at $189 shipped. I plan on comparing my Panny CP-72K to it side by side. DVD-Audio as well.
http://www.vanns.com/avcom/De.dna?RG...cSKU&com=shwpg

 

[Bernie Lomax]

Sony 715P. I love mine.

 

[Jan Strnad]

I'm interested in the chroma bug. I have a Toshiba SD3800 (~$135 at Best Buy) and enjoy it. However, I'm told that it has the chroma bug.
What should I be looking for to ruin my enjoyment of the picture?
See picture here
I originally went shopping for a Panasonic, couldn't find one, and ended up with the Tosh.
I gather that the pictue is better on the Panny, but the build quality is rather poor. Still, if you want the best picture, it seems to be the choice in this price range.
Now, who can point out that chroma bug to me? I've been to a review site that explains it, but I'm not seeing it somehow.
Thanks!
Jan

 

[Patrick TX]

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volu...bug-4-2001.html

 

[Jeff Braddock]

Well Adam, I just got the JVC and like it a lot. I don't have a TV that is capable of displaying progressive so I have to watch in interlaced, but even then the picture is still better than it was. And I got it for around $150 at Best Buy plus I get a free copy of Resivoir Dogs. I think the promotion ends on it today. It had the features I wanted, the main ones were progressive scan, optical and digital coax.

 

[Jan Strnad]

Patrick,

I've seen this article, but the problem I'm having is linking their sample pics with what I see on my own screen. I have a different [bi]Toy Story[/i] set than the site uses for its example, so I can't do a straight comparison.

Can you point out the chroma bug on the picture I posted? I need to know where to look and what to look for.

Thanks!

Jan

 

[Ken_VW]

I have the Panasonic CP67S. So far it has been fine. I have only had it a month or so. Were I to buy again, I think I might opt for the Panasonic RP62s the single disk version and kept my old 5 disc CD player for music CD's only.
I think the 5 disc changer for DVD movies is a pain. Others may disagree, I'm interested to know what others use(multi or single)

Ken

 

[Patrick TX]

If you have the Fifth Element it is easily seen on the red button sequence. There is a scene in Toy story with Woody & Sarge on a shelf that shows it as well (or something like that). Mainly bright RED. It is not that big of a deal to me, personally. Would I buy a player with a known bug, with bug free players being so cheap AND good? NO WAY.

 

[Don Munsil]

Jan,

That's the right scene to look at. I don't see any chroma bug in your photo, but the image is quite blurry. Perhaps your television isn't really dialed in for sharpest possible focus, which would have the side effect of reducing or eliminating the chroma bug. It also would reduce the vertical resolution considerably.

If you have the deinterlacing locked into "video" mode, or you have the still mode set to "field," that would also hide the bug, but also kill your vertical resolution.

Basic rule of thumb - if you have a player with the chroma bug, and the bug is not visible while viewing this scene in Toy Story, something is reducing the vertical resolution of your system. Either the TV has too much overlap of the scan lines, or some processing step is filtering the signal.

Or it's possible that it's there, but this picture is just too blurry to see it clearly. The Toshibas do use a FIR filter to upsample the chroma, so the bug won't be as clear and sharply defined as it is in our sample screen shots. But it still isn't hard to see. Is there any way you can borrow a player that doesn't have it, so you can make a direct comparison on your own screen?

Don