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Zenith DVB318 and Denon 2200 in da house (1 Viewer)

John-Tompkins

Second Unit
Joined
Jan 21, 2003
Messages
326
I just recieved my Zenith dvb318 and have had the Denon 2200 for 4 months. Viewing is done via a Panasonic ae500 and so far the only connection used is component output set at 1080i on the Zenith and of course 480p on the Denon. Im not by any means a videophile and my comparisions werent done a/b style as I dont have two copies of any movies currently so I had to stop and change the disc.

In a word every thing good you've read about the Zenith via component is true. It upscales to 1080i via component and looks the best Ive seen so far. There are some issues that I incured, first on my 96 inch screen I have cropping on the right side by about an inch plus theres a small one inch white line up top about an inch or so down from the top of the screen at 1080i but at 480p or 720p the picture size is correct with no cropping and no white line. I dont think the Zenith is defective however as Ive seen this before with the rca dtc-100 on the Panny, I think its a compatibility issue. This isnt a deal breaker for me as Im willing to zoom out the picture by about an inch and that takes care of the cropping and the white line ( I can live with that considering the pq).

When I first installed the Zenith I decided to pop in a movie before recalibrating with avia..that was a big mistake, my first impression wasnt postive at all. I then proceded to recalibrate...I cant believe the HUGE differences in the settings from the Denon. The contrast,bright,color,tint,sharpness were all totally different by a long shot (example is contrast at minus 12 on zenith but minus 5 on the denon. I was able to go to +1 on the color on the zenith, the most I could go on the denon is -4.

I demoed first element, gladiator, love actually, finding nemo, fast and furious. The improvement in pq to my eyes was fairly easy to see, The picture was less grainy, smoother and the colors looked just right (sometimes the denon can look a little saturated). The denon on some scenes lookes kinda grainy.
Somebody else compared it to hbo hd but I think its more like showtime hbo (imo hbo hd is just a tad better then showtime). The Zenith still isnt hd but somewhere in between regular dvd and hd. I am looking forward to reading reviews of the zenith against some of the big boys..for 200.00 shipped its a no brainer imo
Im gonna try the dvi input after a couple of days and also experiment with 720p but even if they flunk out.. its already earned a place in my rack with the component 1080i input..

PS. Yea, I guess I ought to throw in the usual comments...The remote isnt all that great but its functional and the build quality seems like the build quality of say a 200.00 dvd player :) . The loader seems fairly quiet and I didnt notice layer changes (but they never did really bother me anyway). When I hit next chapter button there is a bit of a pause (slower then the Denon)

Im not gonna comment about the audio yet as I wasnt paying much attention, but I dont expect any differences for movies anyway (digital is digital)...Im gonna keep the Denon 2200 for sacd/dvd-audio and regular cd playback

If you get the Zenith be sure to go into the setup menu and turn off compression and vocal...as these two are set to "on" as a default.
 

John-Tompkins

Second Unit
Joined
Jan 21, 2003
Messages
326
I have just went a second round with my new Zenith, watched Rules of Engagement, U571, Pirates , Jurassic Park III and listened to a few music cds.

This unit clearly has a better picture then 480p of the Denon 2200 (at least on a PJ at 96 inches)..Maybe somebody with a 25~65 inch rptv wouldnt notice it as much (maybe some not at all). The biggest increase to my eyes is the picture is smoother and less grainy and its lets you see the finer details. I wouldnt expect true HD but it will probably be the last jump up before true hd-dvd gets here (If and when).

I paid more attention to the sound and as I expected the Zenith (via digital out) didnt effect or deteriate the sound at all in movies or cd's (cant tell a difference). I dont know how good the dacs in the Zenith are and dont care, as my Integra DTC-9.4 pre-pro has upsampling wolfson dacs ( 192 khz)..I wouldnt ever have a need to use a cheaper dvd players dacs as they will almost always not be as good as your pre-pro/reciever

PS. The Zenith is slower then the Denon all around, disc loading, chapter search etc.
 

Robert James Clark

Second Unit
Joined
Oct 25, 2001
Messages
353
Hmmm.

I just ordered a Zenith dvb318 for my Panasonic AE500 and it's a little disturbing to hear about the cropping and white line on yours.

Hope it's more of an individual problem than one on all players...
 

Jay Blair

Second Unit
Joined
Nov 3, 2001
Messages
333
Someone over at the AVS forum is saying the white line occurs after you change resolution, but once you shut the player off and turn it back on the white line goes away. Not tried myself since I don't own the Zenith.
 

NickSo

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Messages
4,260
Real Name
Nick So
That was me (sonick182) who found out that swithcing resolutions made the white line show up. If you turn it off, and turn it back on again without switching the resolution, the white line goes away.
 

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