Oppo Digital - OPDV971H

MPEG Maker: Mediatek MPEG Model: MT1389FE Deinterlacer Maker: Genesis Deinterlacer Model: FLI-2310     MSRP: $199.00 Website: http://www.oppodigital.com

THIS IS AN UPDATE FROM A BENCHMARK REVIEW PUBLISHED IN THE SPRING OF 2005, BECAUSE THE PLAYER NOW HAS NEW FIRMWARE.

The 971H is the premier DVD player from a brand new company here in the US: Oppo Digital. The company is a spring off from the electronics giant, BBK Electronics. BBK has been in the business for a long time and is a world leader in the electronics field with total manufacturing output matching Sony and Matsushita. If the 971H is any indication, we have a lot to look forward to from Oppo Digital.

As you can see from the Benchmark scores, the 971H is an outstanding budget DVD player. But I must advise you that the scores only pertain to the DVI output. This player’s component outputs do not support progressive playback, only 480i, so we were not able to plot a video frequency response curve. I was quite surprised, because I’ve never seen this before. The DVI video board in the player houses the Genesis FLI-2310 video processing chip, so the component video connections cannot take advantage of it.

This is the second union of the FLI-2310 and a Mediatek MPEG decoder. Ever since I first tested the Mediatek chips, I’ve been hoping for their fusion with a high line de-interlacing solution. The first player that I tested with this was the Toshiba 593 DVD/VCR combo. Unfortunately, that player had inconsistent performance from unit to unit, and the implementations of the chips were not what they should have been. I left feedback with Toshiba on this, but they didn’t take advantage of the suggestions. When Oppo originally sent me their player, I found some problems that needed to be addressed, so I let them know, and they fixed them. I must say I was extremely impressed with how Oppo handled the issues I brought up, as well as the issues that I’ve seen raised on some of the Internet A/V forums. In fact, Oppo has been consistently releasing firmware updates since our original testing, and they added some new features to the player that would normally demand a whole new model from most manufacturers. This includes support for DVD-Audio playback, full control of the True Life features of the Faroudja video processing, and a brand new remote!

This player offers the standard upscaling resolutions of 480p, 720p and 1080i. The Faroudja chip seems to be set up appropriately, and they have updated the player to include processing for 2-2 based cadences with their Video 2 setting. This is a feature that is already implemented on newer players or is available as a simple firmware update for existing players. The Genesis chip has the same limitations as every other player using it. This includes somewhat sluggish transitions between film and video material and the unfortunate macroblocking issue. When I used my standard A Bug's Life test, the player did show signs of the macroblocking bug, but it isn’t as bad as some other players such as the Teac Esoteric UX-1 or Samsung HD-1000. This is really the only drawback I am finding with this player on my reference playback system.

The Mediatek chip is utilized to its fullest potential here. The player breezed through our chroma tests with no signs of banding or jaggies at all. The chip is also extremely fast with menu navigation and supports a seamless layer change.

Oppo has addressed the issues I found with the cross color suppressor being defaulted to "On" and now has an available setting for control. We always recommend that this setting be left off for normal DVD playback. On top of that, the TrueLife features of the Faroudja processing are now included. This is a sharpening filter of sorts that also offers some noise reduction features as well. Personally, I am not a big fan of these features, but it is nice to see Oppo include this kind of tweak ability to the end user.

Some of the bonus features of this player include excellent PAL support with PAL to NTSC conversion. The player also supports DiVX and MPEG-4 files. On the audio side, you’ll find an internal Dolby Pro Logic II decoder that can be used with the analog audio outputs. There is now full DVD-Audio support with bass management and time alignment.

Conclusions

If you are in the market for a budget DVD player, with a DVI output, and which has exceptional video performance, the 971H definitely meets these criteria. This player passes below-black, has no pixel cropping, and there are no signs of Y/C delay. I personally can’t wait to see what Oppo has in store for us next. Congratulations to Oppo Digital on making a great player even better!

Sylvania - DVL1000F

MPEG Maker: Unknown MPEG Model: Unknown Deinterlacer Maker: Genesis Deinterlacer Model: FLI-2310     MSRP: $89.99 Website: http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProducts/ConsumerElectronics/

I don’t know about you but whenever I see the name Sylvania, the first thing I think of are light bulbs. But nowadays it seems like every manufacturer out there that has anything to do with consumer electronics is putting out a DVD player. Production costs on these things must be pennies for so many companies to be diving in.

The Sylvania DVL1000F is a pretty basic design. The case is larger than you would expect when you unbox it, but this thing is as light as a feather. I didn’t get to see what MPEG decoder they were using because the video board is actually upside down when you open it up and I wasn’t going to take it apart. They are using the Genesis FLI-2310 video processing chip though, which has Faroudja’s algorithms for de-interlacing and scaling. This chip always does well with our tests but brings some other problems to the table.

For those who don’t already know, the Genesis/Faroudja FLI-23xx series of chips have been around for quite awhile now. Genesis has already moved on to their new “Cortez” chip since this release, but it is still widely used in lower cost DVD players for de-interlacing and scaling. The problem with this chip is the random digital noise it adds to the image with some displays, especially in darker areas of the picture. It is very reminiscent of bad noise reduction that can’t be turned off and resembles large blocks of noise in darker regions. It is almost as if the player is doing some kind of retention of certain parts of the image at times. For anyone who has a display that shows this problem (some displays don’t have an issue with this for some reason), I always say steer clear. Even if you don’t see the problem right away, it will haunt you eventually. I have a $20,000 projector in my reference home theater room, and it shows the problem and makes players that use this chip a non-option for DVD playback. If you don’t know whether your TV will have this issue, make sure the retailer you buy the player from has a good return policy just in case.

Since I knew this player used the Faroudja chip for its video processing duties, I was very curious to see how it would do with our core video processing tests. I knew there probably wouldn’t be any surprises on the de-interlacing front, but you just never know how good or bad things can be when it comes to core video performance.

The 1000F did surprisingly well. The HDMI output does not clip head or toe room (a rarity in budget players) and didn’t have any issues with pixel cropping or Y/C delay. The MPEG decoder did fine in our CUE tests, and since they are using the Genesis chip, this player passes our 4:2:0 chroma test, which requires the use of a chroma filter. The component video output didn’t fare quite as well. It suffers from some rather severe Y/C delay, so you should stick to HDMI if you are considering this player. Out of curiosity I did some tests to see if this player's cross-color suppression function was appropriately turned off. This has been an issue with some other Faroudja-based players we’ve tested in the past. Thankfully, the Sylvania has this set to off, but I didn’t see anywhere in the menu to turn it on if you want to use it. This is a feature that is mainly geared towards video processors that may handle composite video signals which have chroma interference in the luma channels. I don’t think I’ve seen a DVD to date that needed this feature turned on.

The HDMI output supports resolutions up to 1080p but will not pass 480i. This is a limitation of the Genesis chip, which doesn’t have a pass through. While this is not a surprise, I would still like to see a manufacturer offer this option. It would allow the end user to bypass the Genesis processing and avoid the macroblocking artifacts associated with it. I guess you could get this result by using the component output at 480i, but then you would have to deal with the excessive Y/C delay. You just can’t win them all these days can you?

As expected, the 1000F did very well in our de-interlacing tests. The FLI-2310 always has, and Sylvania has appropriately included two modes for the chip. The FLI chip requires a separate mode to enable the 2-2 processing that it is capable of. The weird thing is this mode doesn’t seem to hurt any other processing, so I would suggest just putting the player in Auto 2 and leaving it there. This should deliver the best viewing experience regardless of the content you watch.

From a usability standpoint, the 1000F is pretty good, but I had a few nitpicks. The setup menu is very limited in what you can do. None of the features of the FLI chip are accessible, which may or may not be a big deal to the end user, but are always nice to have. Navigation is pretty fast, which is always nice, and chapter skips are very fast. The layer change was probably the worse part of the user experience and clocked in at a VERY sluggish 1.75 seconds. Any player that takes longer than a second for a layer change at this stage in the game is unacceptable in my book. Sad to see that a player that does so well in so many other areas has an issue like this.

Conclusions

In the Sylvania DVL1000F, we see yet again a design that is less than $100 but still does an extremely good job in video presentation and features. It is a shame to see that macroblocking is still an issue with the Genesis chip design, and I will continue to warn consumers that they should ensure that they buy a player using this chip from a retailer that has a good return policy as results can vary greatly depending on the display used. But if your display doesn’t have issues with FLI-23xx based players, this one is a steal for a spare player!

Video Frequency Response
Sylvania

Oppo Digital - DV-970HD

MPEG Maker: Mediatek MPEG Model: MT1389EE Deinterlacer Maker: Mediatek Deinterlacer Model: MT1389EE     MSRP: $149.00 Website: http://www.oppodigital.com

Oppo Digital made a big name for themselves just awhile back with their first entry into the DVD player market: the 971H. That budget player was one of the first to combine a Mediatek MPEG decoder with the popular Faroudja FLI-2310 de-interlacing/scaling chip. What resulted was a player that had an outstanding core video section, excellent de-interlacing, and a great price. But the 971H had its issues. For one thing, it would only do de-interlacing and scaling via its DVI output, leaving component video users in the cold. The Faroudja-based video processing also has issues with some displays causing “macroblocking” artifacts that can make the playback of DVD near unwatchable depending on how bad the interaction between the display and player is. The DVI output is also an issue for some. DVI was originally intended for PC applications, so it is a bit limited in its overall capability. But for those who looked past these issues, the 971H was a steal. Now, Oppo Digital has released an even bigger steal, the DV-970HD. This new player incorporates even more features and flexibility, at an even lower price!

The 970HD is based on the popular Mediatek (MTK) MPEG decoder, just like its predecessor, but the implementation is different this time around. Oppo Digital has eliminated the Faroudja processing and is relying solely on the processing inside the MTK chip. While this does result in a hit in overall video de-interlacing performance, it eliminates the risk of macroblocking artifacts if your display is susceptible to those issues.

The changes don’t stop there. The 970HD doesn’t use a DVI output, but rather the new HDMI standard. This means you can output digital video AND audio. It also means you have choices for output color space and support for high-resolution audio via a single connector. And because HMDI supports 480i video signals (DVI is limited to 480p and up), the 970HD comes in as a very attractive digital transport for feeding an outboard video processor. The 970HD also adds support for progressive playback via the component outputs and SACD support, making it a true universal DVD player. This is without a doubt the most complete feature package I’ve seen from a player at $150. Universal players are normally twice that price at the low end.

Like the 971HD, there is a lot of support for extra features in the 970HD. On the video side, you’ll find support for DIVX, MPEG4, DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD Video. There is also smartcard and USB support on the front panel. On the audio side you’ll find support for MP3 and Windows Media Audio, along with both high-resolution audio formats: SACD and DVD Audio. The 970HD supports the new HDMI v1.1 specification, so DVD Audio’s high-resolution multi-channel PCM sound can be output digitally via HDMI. This is also the only player I’m aware of that allows SACD’s DSD sound format to be converted to high-resolution PCM (88.1kHz/24bit) and transmitted via HDMI as well! End users should be aware that your receivers or surround processors need to be HDMI v1.1 compliant as well to use this feature.

From a usability standpoint, the 970HD is about the same as the 971H. Oppo packaged the same remote control that was later offered to 971H owners. While it is still not the best remote out there, it is A LOT better than their old design and gets the job done. The player’s set-up menus are very easy to navigate and have options for setting up the picture and preferences for audio output, including adjustments for audio output levels, crossover, and delay. The 970HD lets you pick between bitstream and PCM for the HDMI output. Unfortunately if you pick PCM, all Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks will be converted to PCM for output. I’ve never tested a player that has done this before. You can work around this by using the standard digital output for DVD movie soundtracks and the HDMI for high-resolution audio if you intend to use this player for DVD Audio or SACD.

A bug that I ran into with the 970HD is playback of DVD Audio and SACD via HDMI. I am currently using the Anthem Statement D2 A/V processor in my system, and it is HDMI 1.1 compliant. But for some reason, the only way to get the full output support of DVD Audio and SACD is if I set the output of the 970HD to 1080i. Otherwise it is truncated in both resolution and number of channels present. Anything other than 1080i results in stereo only playback, even if 5.1 sound was selected. I informed Oppo and Anthem of the issue, and it is being looked into. Oppo has tested this feature on numerous receivers that support HDMI 1.1 and apparently some have this issue and some don’t, so if this is an important feature to you, make sure you check it out if you purchase this player. Oppo’s customer support is superb, so I am quite sure that they will do anything and everything they can to help.

The speed of the 970HD is outstanding. Disc loads are extremely fast, chapter skips are almost instantaneous, and the layer change is completely seamless. Absolutely no complaints in this department!

I was excited to see how the 970HD would test in our benchmark. I realized right up front that the MTK MPEG decoder would only do so well in our de-interlacing tests, but I was looking at this player more from the transport standpoint, so its core video performance was the most important aspect to me. And Oppo hit a home run here.

When I first received the 970HD, I immediately tested it with an output resolution of 480i. This is the resolution I was the most interested in as I have several outboard video processors at my disposal and a few of them accept 480i via HDMI. Immediately I found a problem. The Mediatek had severe CUE issues when outputting 480i. This was strange, because I’ve tested lots of MTK based DVD players before, and chroma performance is usually near perfect. When I switched the player to 480p, all of the CUE issues went away! Now that is REALLY bizarre. The player did the correct upsampling with a progressive output, but not interlaced. I talked to Oppo about it, and they relayed the information to Mediatek to see if it could be resolved. A few weeks later I got news from Oppo that a firmware fix had been developed! After installing the firmware (software download), I re-checked and sure enough the problem was completely solved! Just another reason Oppo Digital has continued to impress me over and over again with their product support!

The rest of the core video performance testing went quite well. The only limitation I found was the selection of output color space. DVD is mastered in YCbCr 4:2:0, and most (if not all) MPEG decoders upsample this to YCbCr 4:2:2 for output. Unfortunately, the engineers at Mediatek have noticed issues with the 4:2:2 output, so selections for this chip, and the 970HD, are limited to RGB and YCbCr 4:4:4. While not a huge deal by any means, I still like to see support for 4:2:2. Both color space outputs are mapped correctly and pass below black and above white information.

For pixel cropping, I measured all output resolutions for both the HDMI output and the component output. The HDMI output had different results with every resolution. 480i had 1 pixel cropped from the bottom, 480p had no cropping, 720p had 2 pixels cropped from the right side, and 1080i had only 1 pixel cropped from the right side. While we like to see no pixel cropping at all, less than 2 on any side and 2 or less overall for any output resolution isn’t too shabby. The component output was a different matter. The 480i output was the same as the HDMI 480i output, but the 480p output was cropping 4 pixels from the top, 1 from the right, and 3 from the left. Definitely a bit more excessive on this output, and our suggestion is to use the HDMI output if possible.

Another issue I found when I initially got the player was the default white level for the component outputs. It was on the high side, but lowering the player’s contrast setting to -3 fixed the issue. Oppo came through again with new firmware which adjusted the output level to the appropriate level by default. The component output measured in at exactly 100 IRE as it should.

Neither the HDMI output nor the component output suffers from Y/C delay. I measured the component output using a bowtie pattern and a digital oscilloscope, and Y/C timing was perfect. For HDMI, I used a Y/C delay test pattern from the new Anchor Bay Technologies VRS test disc.

The Mediatek MPEG decoder did as I expected with our de-interlacing tests. This chip is slightly better than average, but it can be a bit sluggish when it comes to locking on to a cadence. It does trip up with a few of our more difficult tests, but I expected as much from an all-in-one chip solution. What did surprise me though was the Mediatek’s diagonal line processing. Using the “3 angles” test from the HQV Benchmark DVD, I was pleased to see that Mediatek has developed some type of diagonal line processing for video-based material. While it wasn’t quite to the level of popular solutions like the Realta HQV or Faroudja DCDi, it did a very commendable job with the lines.

The Mediatek chip did a fine job with the majority of our 3-2 based cadence patterns, including incorrectly flagged ones, video flagged, and high detail. It also supports a 2-2 cadence pretty well with no obvious artifacts in our test using the Natural Splendors DVD.

Overall, I would say the Mediatek did an above-average job in our de-interlacing tests for an all-in-one solution, but it still does not live up to the bar set by the higher line video processing chips out there now. Keep in mind though, this player costs a fraction of the price of players normally incorporating those chips.

Conclusions

Once again, Oppo Digital has proved that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get an outstanding product. The 970HD would make an excellent digital transport for feeding a standalone video processor, but it also holds its own very well too. Support for both DVD Audio and SACD via HDMI is just icing on the cake. If you are looking for a solid transport, then add the DV-970HD to your short list of capable players. If you are looking for a great budget DVD player, this may just be your ticket.

Video Frequency Response
Oppo Digital

Sony - DVP-NS75H

MPEG Maker: Sony MPEG Model: CXD9804R Deinterlacer Maker: Unknown Deinterlacer Model: Unknown     MSRP: $119.99 Website: http://www.sony.com

It has been awhile since I’ve tested a Sony DVD player, mostly because I just haven’t been receiving any to look at. I was pleased with their recent turnaround in performance when they started moving away from the previous MPEG decoders they were using. Although I like some of the decoders they used in the past for speed and core video performance, they weren’t paying off for de-interlacing and scaling duties.

The DVP-NS75H represents the best progressive scan player I’ve tested from Sony so far. Surprising because it is also one of the cheapest players they’ve released. I am not sure what MPEG decoder they are using here as it has the standard Sony stamp on it, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it is a Mediatek design. The player is quite fast and performs very similar to some other MTK based players I’ve tested.

The NS75H isn’t the prettiest player on the block, but it isn’t cheap looking for its price either. The chassis is straightforward plastic, but it doesn’t look gimmicky either. Build quality is what I would hope for. Of all the players I tested this go around, it had the most impressive internal design with a decent power supply board.

From an operability standpoint the NS75H does quite well. It is very responsive, and its user interface is straightforward and easy to operate. The player has an HDMI output and supports upscaling to 1080i. Sony obviously cut back on the price by not including SACD, but with the dearth of new titles on the SACD format, I am not surprised. Those looking for high-end Sony audio should probably check out some of their higher priced offerings.

The core video performance of the NS75H is just above average for a progressive scan player nowadays. The player does not suffer from any of the CUE issues that plagued so many of Sony’s early DVD offerings, and it retains the full dynamic range of the image via HDMI and component video by passing below-black and above-white information. It does not use a chroma filter for 4:2:0 material, which is the only reason I am not completely sure this is a MTK based player.

Y/C delay is a problem with the component video output. The player has well over a full pixel of delay with this output. The HDMI output didn’t show any signs of Y/C delay and is definitely the preferred output choice for this player.

Pixel cropping is an issue with both outputs and rather excessive on the left side of the image.

In our de-interlacing tests the Sony did better than expected. It passed the majority of our tests and should do quite well with standard DVDs on the market. The player had no issues with 3-2 and 2-2 based material and actually did quite well with video based material. The video processor did a very commendable job with diagonal line processing using the HQV test disc. This is another reason I think they may be using an MTK MPEG decoder, as the results have been similar with other players using this chip.

The NS75H did trip up with some of the mixed flag material. I saw some light combing with our Galaxy Quest trailer clip around the planet and ship engine, and the player combed immediately with our mixed flag test. This has become common with just about every player out there using an all-in-one chip solution for their decoding and de-interlacing.

Conclusions

It is great to see so many low priced players starting to really offer decent video performance. In the early days there were some rare apples that popped up on occasion and impressed us, but lately I’ve seen some great offerings for people to choose from for well under $200. If you are looking for a solid progressive scan player with HDMI support for any room in the house, the Sony DVP-NS75H is one to consider.

Video Frequency Response
Sony

Microsoft - Xbox 360 HD DVD Add-On

MPEG Maker: Microsoft MPEG Model: Deinterlacer Maker: Microsoft Deinterlacer Model:     MSRP: $199.99 Website: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/default.htm

Last year, Microsoft delivered their next generation gaming platform, the Xbox 360. This platform combined state of the art high definition gaming with media console features, making it a well rounded entertainment hub. When we tested the 360 in our DVD benchmark, it set the bar for performance from a game console with DVD playback. Since then, Microsoft has offered several software updates through Xbox Live and has recently shipped out the HD DVD add-on. This add-on allows the 360 to play back the new HD DVD format on top of standard DVD support. We decided to test the add-on as a standard DVD player to see if Microsoft has indeed raised the bar again.

The HD add-on is relatively small and reminds me of the older stand-alone Jazz drives that you could attach to PCs or laptops. Its shape and aesthetics are very similar to the main console, and connection to the 360 console is made through a simple USB cable. The add-on comes with a CD that walks you through setting the drive up.

The performance of the add-on is very similar to the 360 as a standard DVD player. Like the main console, the resolution is limited to 480p. The console supports resolutions of up to 1080p, but the DVD forum mandates that all DVD players limit their analog video outputs to 480p, so I guess we’re stuck with that for awhile.

All of the video processing and de-interlacing is done in software, and Microsoft developed all of their own codes for this. They did quite a good job, but fell short of what you might expect from a high-line progressive scan DVD player.

This player does not seem to be cadence based, but rather relies on the flags to decide how to de-interlace. This makes it quick to recover from a hiccup in the flags, but combing is evident at each hiccup. The add-on passed the same tests as the 360, but this time it passed our Bad Edits test.

The add-on failed most of our tests that have breaks in cadence or flags. This is what separates a good progressive scan player from a great one. There is a reason that names like Gennum, Faroudja, and ABT have become synonymous with great DVD playback. Rather than rely on the disc's flags (which are usually poor), they examine the cadence of the material and make smarter decisions on how to combine the progressive fields and deliver a progressive image.

For video based material, the add-on is average. It passed our motion adaptive tests but does not feature any diagonal line processing for video-based material. Jaggies were abundant using the 3-Clocks test on the Silicon Optix Benchmark DVD.

On the core side, the add-on does extremely well. Response times have not changed at all. This is a really fast transport, and navigation is basically instantaneous. It is almost unnerving how fast this player navigates menus and chapters. I wish some of the DVD player manufacturers would take note. The layer change is nearly seamless, and clocked in just under a half a second.

Core video performance is also quite good. The add-on passed all of our CUE tests with the exception of the 4:2:0 ICP test, which requires an extra chroma filter to pass. There are no signs of Y/C delay, and pixel cropping is limited to 2 pixels on the left and 1 on the bottom.

All of the video levels are correct, and this player passes below-black and above-white information. The output retains the full resolution of both the luma and chroma signal, and the analog video frequency response remains unchanged from the original 360 console.

Conclusions

We will be serving up a complete review of the HD DVD add-on very shortly that will cover the full capabilities of this accessory as a HD DVD player. For now, the add-on continues the performance of the 360 as a stand-alone DVD player and continues to set the bar as a game console-based DVD player. At only $199 (for current 360 owners of course), this thing is a steal.

Video Frequency Response
Microsoft

Sony - DVP-NS90V

MPEG Maker: Mediatek MPEG Model: unknown Deinterlacer Maker: Mediatek Deinterlacer Model: unknown     MSRP: $199.95 Website: http://www.sony.com

Recently I had the opportunity to test Sony’s flagship DVD player, the DVP-9100ES. While I was impressed with the build, features, and video processing, the player needed work in its core performance. This has become more and more of an issue it seems in the last year or so. As video processing has been getting better and better, attention to detail in some of the most critical areas has been getting worse. The unfortunate side of this is the core performance has more to do with the manufacturer then anything else. Does this mean they are getting lazy, or that they just don’t care? It is a hard question to ask but an even harder one to answer. Most video processing chips do just fine in their default state nowadays, so implementing them is not hard. Most user interfaces are rehashes of older designs and are generic amongst whole product lines most of the time. But tweaking the full performance of the core video properties takes time and attention to detail. It means you have to look for the issues before hand and work with the chipmakers to get it right. I’ve seen some companies invest serious amounts of time in this, and others just push out the same problems over and over again, year after year.

For this review I took a crack at one of Sony’s entry offerings, the DVP-NS90V. This player is much different than the DVP-9100ES in every way. The build quality is in an entirely different league and its video processing isn’t at the same level. But here is a player that actually performed better on the core side. The DVP-NS90V uses a different MPEG decoder; that much was apparent right from the start. So this could mean that the chip’s default performance was better from the start and didn’t require much tweaking. But it really makes me wonder why a player that costs less than half of another would actually have these important details worked out.

I was unable to figure out what MPEG decoder is being used for the DVP-NS90V. Most Sony DVD players have the information on the top of the chip scraped off, blacked out, or stamped with a generic Sony stamp. I have some suspicions that it may be a Mediatek offering, but I can’t prove it. Its responsiveness and chroma performance suggest it though. Sony is not using a two-chip solution here, so all MPEG decoding and de-interlacing/scaling are being done with this single chip. The video processing performance is also inline with what I would expect from a solution like this.

The NS90V is more of an entry DVD player by price point, but it does have some attractive features that have been making their way down the price ladder. This includes support for SACD (Sony’s high-resolution audio format), HDMI, and scaling to high definition resolutions. The player is average in build for its price point, and has a clean design as well as a reasonably friendly user interface. The HDMI output supports standard PCM and Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks, but not SACD or DVD-A digital out. The HDMI video output supports 480p, 720p, and 1080i. Support for 480i is not offered, making this player a bad choice as a straight digital transport. That is unfortunate as its core performance on the HDMI side is pretty good.

The player is very good from a usability standpoint. Menu navigation and chapter skips were very fast, making operability smooth. The initial load times were a bit on the sluggish side though, which seems to be a reoccurring theme with the Sony players. The player’s layer change was very fast and clocked in at less than a second.

I started my tests with the digital side of the house first. I evaluated all of the HDMI output resolutions but conducted the majority of the benchmark tests with 720p to match the native resolution of the projector I had at the time. The core performance of the HDMI output was quite good and better than the analog component output. You can choose from two output color spaces: YCbCr and RGB. The YCbCr output is upsampled to 4:4:4, which is another indicator that this is indeed a Mediatek-based player (the new Mediatek chips are having chroma issues with 4:2:2 YCbCr so they don’t include this output option). The luma scale is correct and uses video RGB levels with black correctly set at digital 16 and white at digital 235. Above white and below black information are retained.

The HDMI output did extremely well with our chroma upsampling error (CUE) tests, failing only the expected 4:2:0 ICP test. It actually did quite poor in this test though with very pronounced streaking in moving objects, in fact, far more than any other Mediatek player I’ve looked at in the past. The DVP-NS90V had no signs of Y/C delay via HDMI, and pixel cropping was limited to just 3 pixels on the left side.

The component outputs had somewhat different results. While they performed the same with our CUE tests, the analog outputs suffered from over a full pixel of Y/C delay. All NTSC video is basically two complete frames of video overlaid onto each other. One contains the luma (black and white) data, and the other has the chroma (color) data. This information is combined to give you the full color image. This is why grayscale is adjusted when a display is calibrated. If the grayscale (the luma information from black to white)is incorrect, it can skew the color information. If there is Y/C delay, the images do not line up properly on the display causing what looks like ghosting or ringing on one side of the picture. With the NS90V, the chroma information is delayed to the left side so the right side of an object will appear to have some ringing. Images also tend to be softer from this problem similar to what you see when convergence is off in an analog or 3-chip digital display solution.

The white level of the player is just a tad low but still passed our criteria. Using a gray ramp and a digital oscilloscope, we measured the expected 100 IRE output at 99 IRE. This should have a negligible effect on contrast. The overall video frequency response of the analog video was quite good and near flat. There was just some mild increase in the upper frequency range, but I did not see any ringing as a result. The component output does not crop any pixels and retains the full active image.

Moving on to our de-interlacing tests, the Sony did about average for its price point. This is the drawback of a one-chip solution. At this time there are quite a few other players on the market at this price point using the Genesis FLI-2310 solution which offers far better de-interlacing performance, but even that solution has its caveats. The now infamous “macroblocking” bug manifests with a lot of displays out there, making the image near un-watchable for some consumers. At this time, there are just no other low-cost video processing solutions being used, so the lower end market tends to be below average in overall video prowess.

The NS90V does do true inverse telecine de-interlacing with both 3-2 and 2-2 based cadences, which covers the majority of the software on the market today. This player also features motion adaptive de-interlacing for video based material and does a fairly decent job with diagonal line processing. While not nearly as good as Faroudja’s DCDi solution or some of the other newer chips out there, it is not nearly as bad as most current single chip DVD players.

The Sony did fail the majority of our “hiccup” tests. These include chapter breaks and bad flagging. Recovery times are good, but you will notice either combing or softening of the image if the DVDs have mastering issues. This is where higher end de-interlacing solutions outperform these budget players and offer the best playback experience.

Conclusions

Overall, the Sony NS90V is quite a decent player. While it is by no means the best budget player I’ve reviewed, it only has a few drawbacks and will perform fine for the majority of DVDs out there. It offers some nice features for the money, and its video performance is about average for this part of the market. If you are looking for a decent low budget player, then the Sony DVP-NS90V might be one player to consider.

Video Frequency Response
Sony

Toshiba - SD-5980

MPEG Maker: Zoran MPEG Model: Vaddis 778 Deinterlacer Maker: Zoran Deinterlacer Model: Vaddis 778     MSRP: $149.99 Website: http://www.toshiba.com

Like the Samsung HD-850, the Toshiba SD-5980 is an OEM-based DVD player (meaning that a different company builds it for Samsung) that revolves around the new Zoran video processing. This includes the Zoran Vaddis 778 and the HD Extreme chip for scaling. These players are priced identically, and both provide an HDMI output, and even include an HDMI cable. The Toshiba adds a few more features, including some slots for different media cards (digital camera memory cards) for slide shows.

The Vaddis 778 handles the MPEG decoding and the de-interlacing, and does an average job with both. I was happy to see that Zoran has made strides with their chroma performance since the Vaddis 5 chip. This new chip doesn’t have any signs of the chroma bug and even does surprisingly well with 4:2:0 test material. This test normally requires special chroma filters that are usually found on high end video processors, but Zoran has done a remarkable job with their all-in-one solution.

Toshiba has included three different progressive modes for the end user to choose from. These include Auto, Film, and Video. The Auto and Film modes performed exactly the same, while the Video mode dropped the film cadence processing and didn’t improve on the video processing a bit. Because of this, we only suggest using the Auto mode, as it handles all material equally well. This player is not on par with the better de-interlacers out there, but it will handle the majority of DVDs just fine.

The core side is a bit of a hit or miss for this player. The HDMI output will not output proper RGB levels when converted to DVI which results in a loss of below-black and above-white information. If your display has an HDMI input, you should be fine though. Via component video output, this player’s video frequency response is a bit rolled off in the upper end, but not as much as the Samsung HD-850. It does have a smidgen of Y/C delay, and the player is a bit slower then the Samsung HD-850. The layer change clocked in at 1.25 seconds which isn’t bad, but it is a full second slower then the 850.

Overall, I don’t know which of these two I would pick personally. Neither has the video processing that would fit my needs, but I think either would be fine for most consumers. I wish there were a fusion of the two players out there since both have their highs and lows. If you are considering either of these two players, you should probably make sure you test both of them in the store before making a decision.

Video Frequency Response
Toshiba

LG - DN191H

MPEG Maker: Zoran MPEG Model: Vaddis 888 Deinterlacer Maker: Zoran Deinterlacer Model: Vaddis 888     MSRP: $109.95 Website: http://us.lge.com/index.do

The DN191H is only the third player I’ve tested from LG, and so far I haven’t been very impressed with their track record. While this isn’t the highest scoring player from them in the Benchmark it is still probably the most recommended out of the group. LG has moved away from the Genesis/Faroudja solution and now relies on the very popular Vaddis decoder/video processing chips from Zoran. While there are certainly better chips out there to use, the Vaddis usually does a pretty decent job with the majority of DVDs.

The 191H is a very inexpensive DVD player and can be found for under $100 at most electronics stores or on-line. This makes it an attractive option for a second room or a bedroom player. The inclusion of HDMI at this price point and decent video performance are rarities even in today’s market.

The build quality of the 191H isn’t the best I’ve seen at this price point but it certainly isn’t an unattractive player by any means. The front face has a nice curve to it and is laid out in a subtle but regal way. The buttons on the top curve of the face are also a nice touch. The 191H sports an HDMI output and upconverts to HD resolutions of 720p and 1080i. It also features a 14-in-1 card reader for pictures and music. The 191H supports DIVX and MPEG-4 for personally made DVDs and video.

The LG is a decent player from a user standpoint. It isn’t the most responsive I’ve tested lately, but it did a decent job with menus and chapter skips. Load times could have been better though. The user interface is simple enough too. The layer change was quite fast and barely noticeable in our tests.

As I mentioned before, the 191H uses a Zoran Vaddis MPEG decoder for its principle video decoding and processing duties. We’ve tested this chip in lots of players, and its performance is nearly always the same. The Zoran does quite well with CUE but lacks some of the more advanced video processing required for state-of-the-art de-interlacing.

The 191H didn’t do as well as I would have hoped in our core video performance tests. The HDMI output suffers from Y/C delay, and it clips head and toe room. I don’t know why so many manufacturers have issues with these core video components. In the early days you could easily blame the HDMI transmitter for doing an improper colorspace conversion with the outgoing video signal, but since HDMI has been out awhile now, you would think that they would have gotten their stuff together in these departments. The component video output did not clip head and toe room, but it did have some rather severe Y/C delay. Basically you can pick your poison for the two outputs, but I think I would go with the HDMI output despite the clipping, as the Y/C delay wasn’t quite as bad, and the digital signal was a tad sharper.

The newer Zoran chips, such as the 888, have been doing a lot better in regards to CUE than their earlier (and higher line) offerings. This one is no different. The 888 passes all of our CUE tests and utilizes a subtle chroma filter with 4:2:0 material. This chip is one of the better ones out there with CUE and reminds me a lot of the Mediatek offerings in this regard.

For de-interlacing, the LG does about the same as any player that uses the Zoran Vaddis chip for this purpose. The Vaddis handles the most common cadences just fine but goes a bit awry when things get sticky. The 191H passed the common 3-2 cadence based tests and did a decent job with video based material as well. The diagonal line processing isn’t very good, so don’t look for performance like the Faroudja DCDi or ABT solutions.

The Vaddis didn’t do very well with some of the more difficult tests we threw at it. Some of our video and mixed flagged tests showed obvious combing or a complete lack of lock on. This can result in combing, a loss of resolution, or stuttering artifacts, depending on the material you are viewing. This may or may not be an issue, depending on the quality of the encode on the DVD, but we’ve definitely seen issues with this in real world DVD offerings. This is in line with most single chip video processing solutions on the market though and usually requires a higher quality de-interlacer solution to remedy. At this price point I didn’t really expect much better.

Conclusions

Not much more to say about this one. The LG is a very low priced player, and its performance is pretty much commensurate with the price tag. While I don’t think I would recommend it for serious home theaters, it would be fine for a spare room or a younger member of the family on a budget. Now if only I could get my hands on their new universal HD player!

Video Frequency Response
LG

Philips - DVP5960

MPEG Maker: Mediatek MPEG Model: Unknown Deinterlacer Maker: Mediatek Deinterlacer Model: Unknown     MSRP: $89.99 Website: http://www.consumer.philips.com

The DVP5960 is currently Philips' flagship DVD player and it sells for less than $100! It is really amazing how much price points have changed over the last few years. Here we have upscaling DVD players with HDMI outputs coming in for pennies compared to where they were just a little while ago.

Despite the fact that this is the highest priced standard DVD player from Philips (they have a Blu-ray player as well that is a re-badged Samsung), it isn’t near the quality level you would expect from a flagship design. Philips is obviously sticking to the budget minded mass market prices. This player is built like a $100 player and is extremely light in weight and features. That doesn’t make it a bad buy; I just don’t want people to think that this player is up there with the high end flagship players.

The DVP5960 has some nice features on top of its video playback. There is support for MP3 and WMA, and with the USB input, you can have a bit of a music or photo server anywhere you put it. Not bad for the price. This player does not support any of the high-resolution audio formats though, which is a bit of a bummer.

I really didn’t know what to expect when I started my video tests. It has been a LONG time since I’ve tested a player from Philips, and I don’t remember being particularly impressed with their previous offerings. I was curious as to what MPEG decoder and video processing solution they may be using, but once I got the player open, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to find out, due to the construction of their video board.

The 5960 did rather poorly with our core video tests. Both outputs (component and HDMI) have their issues, but the component output fared better in the long run. The HDMI output suffers from obvious Y/C delay, and it also clips head and toe room. This is becoming a problem that isn’t going away despite reporting it repeatedly to companies in reviews. The component output isn’t clipping head and toe room, but it does suffer from Y/C delay, and it is a little worse than the HDMI output in that respect.

The 5960 did very well with our CUE tests, which is finally becoming the norm. It does not have a filter for 4:2:0 material, so that ruled out some of the MPEG decoders I thought they may be using (Zoran or Mediatek designs). I’m really glad to see more MPEG decoders out there getting this right; now if only we could see the same with below-black and above-white!

After testing out the core video section, I ran some tests to see how the 5960 holds up from a usability standpoint. The menu system is all right, but could use some more flexibility, as they are almost too simple. I was impressed with the speed of the player though; menus were quick to navigate, and chapter skips weren’t an issue. The layer change also clocked in at a decent half second.

On the de-interlacing side, the 5960 did far better than I was expecting for a sub-$100 player. The all-in-one solution did quite well in our tests and passed the majority of the main tests, including most of our 3-2 cadences and all of our video based testing. This player handles a standard 3-2 and 2-2 cadence with no real issues at all. It did fail our bad edits test and our mixed flags test, but that is pretty common for a player with this type of design. This can result in some occasion combing, but only with a small amount of content on the market nowadays.

Conclusions

It is nice to see that even at less than $100, a consumer can still find a pretty decent DVD player. Here you get HDMI support, upscaling to 720p and 1080i, and rather decent video processing. While I wouldn’t recommend it as a reference design or the mainstay in a high performance home theater, it would probably please the majority of the mass market in almost all applications. If you’re looking for a budget player that delivers a solid video experience, this one is worth looking into.

Video Frequency Response
Philips

Toshiba - SD-K860

MPEG Maker: Zoran MPEG Model: Vaddis 888 Deinterlacer Maker: Zoran Deinterlacer Model: Vaddis 888     MSRP: $79.99 Website: http://www.toshiba.com

The SD-K860 is Toshiba’s newest budget entry into the digital DVD player category. It is the least expensive HDMI based DVD player I’ve seen from Toshiba to date, and it offers commensurate performance to its price point. It is exciting to see HDMI based DVD players coming in under $100, but so far my experience with them hasn’t been very good. For our Benchmark, two big manufacturers have really let me down with their offerings and it all comes down to the core performance of the player, which is crucial. The SD-K860 definitely has some issues in this department.

The K860 is based on Zoran’s newest all-in-one MPEG decoder/video processing chip, the Vaddis 888. I have evaluated a lot of players that use Zoran chips and their performance is never consistent between models for some reason, so I was interested in seeing how this new chip would fare compared to their older models.

Immediately I was impressed with the chip’s chroma performance in our CUE tests. The last few Zoran chips have done well here, and this one seems to improve even more on their performance. The K860 passed all of our CUE tests, including the 4:2:0 ICP test, which is VERY rare. This MPEG decoder also handles layer changes very well with a near seamless layer change delivered with our difficult full bitrate test.

The MPEG decoder only outputs 4:4:4 YCbCr with no other selections available. The HDMI output supports 480p, 720p, and 1080i, and the component output supports 480i and 480p. There are quite a few differences in terms of performance between the two outputs, with the component output fairing a bit better in our core video tests.

The HDMI output suffers from over a full pixel of Y/C delay. This lends to a softer picture, as the two fields of the image are not converged properly, so there are some slight outlines on objects. The HDMI output is also clipping head and toe room. Video is encoded with black and white at digital 16 and 235 respectfully in an 8 bit system (255 levels). This player is truncating the information that falls after those points. Some don’t see this as a big deal, but it does not preserve the intended dynamic range of DVD, and it also creates issues for calibration.

There is absolutely no pixel cropping via HDMI at any resolution. This was nice, and a rarity in player testing lately.

The component output retains the full dynamic range of video and does not clip below black or above white information. The white level measured in at a respectable 99 IRE, which is close to the reference 100 IRE it should be. The analog video frequency response was also quite flat, with no artificial ringing or smearing in the upper frequencies. There is some slight pixel cropping via component, with a combined 5 pixels being clipped from the sides of the image, and 2 pixels cropped from the bottom. I don’t know why the component output has pixel cropping, but the HDMI output does not. They should match each other.

From a usability standpoint, the K860 could use some work. Load times - when you insert a disc - are a bit sluggish, and operability - once a disc is loaded - is slower than I would expect from a later generation DVD player. Menu navigation was tedious at times, with a lot of lagging in between selections. Chapter skips were pretty fast though, once a feature was started. The overall user interface and set-up was easy, if not a bit limited.

Moving on to our de-interlacing tests, the Zoran chip did pretty well for this price point. The player passed the majority of our tests, with the exception of our Bad Flagging tests. The player failed our 3-2 Mixed Flags and 3-2 Video Flags tests along with our Incorrect Progressive Flags test. So the player isn’t really cadence based, though it did perform cadence detections in some of our other tests. The K860 does handle a 2-2 cadence for video based material but its diagonal line processing is terrible, with severe jaggies using the HQV test disc material.

Conclusions

Overall, I found the SD-K860 to be a sub-par DVD player. There were some highlights, but the player needs work in its core video performance. This has become an unsettling trend lately in our tests. While I don’t expect top of the line performance at this price point, the issues found here should just not be a problem regardless of the price. Limitations in video processing are expected, not limitations in core performance. While this is an attractive price point for a HDMI based DVD player, I would have to recommend looking elsewhere.

Video Frequency Response
Toshiba

Toshiba - SD-K760

MPEG Maker: Zoran MPEG Model: Vaddis 888 Deinterlacer Maker: Zoran Deinterlacer Model: Vaddis 888     MSRP: $59.99 Website: http://www.toshiba.com

The Toshiba SD-K760 is literally Toshiba’s entry-level progressive scan player (July, 2006). It is as light on features as it is on price. This player is sold at major wholesale outlets like Sam’s Club and Costco and provides a reasonable amount of performance for the money.

The SD-K760 is very similar to the SD-K860 but is missing the HDMI output of the more expensive counterpart. The analog video performance is almost identical though. The K760 has an extremely small profile and is not very deep. Opening the player revealed a very small video board, a DVD transport, and a small power supply board. If Toshiba really wanted to, they could have made this player a lot smaller than it is, but I am glad they stuck to the standard width.

Set-up is very simple, with selection for interlaced or progressive video being the only real selections needed. The K760 uses the new Zoran Vaddis 888 MPEG decoder, like the K860 also reviewed in a recent Benchmark. This is Zoran’s newest chip offering, and its performance is quite good for an obvious budget solution.

The player performed pretty well in our core video testing, with only a few shortcomings. The Zoran chip does a superb job with our CUE tests, showing no signs at all of the chroma bug, even with our 4:2:0 ICP test. This is extremely rare for a one-chip-based DVD player. The SD-K760 passed our below black tests and its white level was set at 100 IRE, which is perfect. There is some slight pixel cropping, with 5 pixels clipped from the right and left side combined and 2 from the bottom of the image.

The component output suffers from over a full pixel of Y/C delay. This results is a softer picture, with artificial haloing around some images, similar to what you see with convergence problems in certain displays. The video frequency response of the player is quite good, and near flat. I didn’t see any loss of resolution using a multi-burst test pattern on my display or with our digital oscilloscope.

Overall, operation of the player was a bit on the disappointing side, much like the K860. Load times were slow, and menu navigation was on the tedious side. Navigating the menus on our AVIA and WHQL test discs was slow enough to become on the bothersome side, which is a rarity nowadays. The layer change was really fast though and near seamless, which is always great to see (or rather not see!!).

Moving on to our de-interlacing tests, this player did about average for a one chip solution nowadays. The chip seems to be a flag-based de-interlacer, as it failed the majority of our bad flagging tests. This includes the 3-2 Mixed Flag, 3-2 Video Flag, and Incorrect Progressive Flag tests. The good thing about the flag-based design though is its recovery time when switching between film based and video based cadences. It is near instantaneous.

The Vaddis 888 MPEG decoder handled 3-2 cadences and 2-2 cadences very well, as long as there were no hiccups in the flags, so the SD-K760 should do well for the majority of normal DVD viewing.

Conclusions

The Toshiba SD-K760 has the same shortcomings as the K860, but since you can find this player for around $50, I think a lot of the issues could be overlooked. This would be a good fit for a bedroom or kid’s room where you’re not looking for great performance or operability, but rather just an extra player.

Video Frequency Response
Toshiba

Samsung - HD-850