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You may have noticed that we have changed the look and feel of this latest
shootout. If you have not yet read the
Guide to the Progressive Scan Shootouts, then please do so
before continuing. If you do not read the guide before hand, you may not understand the new system. We have also
worked hard to move over the previous shootouts to the new look. You can now
view all shootouts at once.
We also recommend you read the latest updates to
Part 5 of the DVD Benchmark and the
Chroma Upsampling Error.
The Test Results
| |
Pass |
|
Borderline |
| |
Fail |
|
Not Tested |
Player data table:
Notes on individual players:
Denon - DVD-5910
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
ESS |
| MPEG Model: |
Vibratto |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Silicon Optix |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Realta HQV |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$3500.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.usa.denon.com |
|
|
DVD-5910 (DVI/HDMI) - Video 2-DVI |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
| | |
|
DVD-5910 (DVI/HDMI) - Auto-DVI |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
| | |
|
DVD-5910 (Component) - Auto-Component |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Image Cropping
| | |
|
DVD-5910 (DVI/HDMI) - Video 1-DVI |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
| 3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Motion Adaptive
| |
Denon has clearly established themselves as a leading force in DVD technology. No other company has pushed the envelope as far as they have in features, design, or execution. Like any company, they have had their share of hiccups, but that is almost to be expected when you are at the bleeding edge.
The DVD-5910 is their latest flagship offering and the followup to the DVD-5900, but actually has little in common with its predecessor. I would almost say it has more in common with the DVD-9000.
This is just about a completely new video player from the ground up. The only thing I could find that was the same as in the 5900 is the ESS MPEG decoder. And that is one of my sore spots. The ESS chip seems to be getting worse in regards to chroma performance. Even with the advanced chroma filters this player has, it barely passes our tests. I really hope Denon moves past this ESS chip and finds one with better performance in this area. Chips from Sigma Designs, Mediatek, and Mediamatics do just this. Because the filters do mask the problem (although just barely), this player gets a borderline score for our chroma test for 3-2 alternating flags. This means the player passes these tests but only with the filters. The nice thing is, this player doesn’t suffer from the flicker problem like the DVD-2900 and previous Mitsubishi MPEG decoder players did.
The first breakthrough feature on this player is definitely the inclusion of Silicon Optix’s new chip; the Realta HQV. This is, in a nutshell, a new chip based on the Teranex video processor. For those not familiar with the Teranex, it is a $60,000 commercial video processor that has long been considered the de facto video processing standard. This chip offers true 10-bit processing end to end and is one of the only chips on the market that will do true 1080i to 1080p inverse telecine de-interlacing. While this chip does offer a full scaling capability, Denon has chosen to only use the chip for its I/P conversion and video post processing. As a de-interlacer, the Realta is the best I’ve seen. It combines the features I love about both the Faroudja and Silicon Image chips and doesn’t have any of their drawbacks.
This chip recovers from a cadence break faster then the Faroudja and stays in film mode longer. It also has incredible video de-interlacing capabilities. I called up the famous Faroudja flag waving in the wind test to see how it would do. Previously only Faroudja based de-interlacers with DCDi technology would render this flag perfectly with no obvious jaggies. The Realta performed every bit as good though. I also tried some of my harder tests, including a clip from the recent Blue Man Group DVD-A The Complex. This disc features a music video with Dave Matthews and always causes problems for de-interlacers. Comparing the Realta with the Faroudja solution revealed far less combs and more stability in the image. This chip also doesn’t exhibit any of the macroblocking issues associated with the latest Genesis FLI-23xx based video chips. The only area that the Faroudja solution eclipsed the Realta processing was with diagonal lines. The Faroudja showed less jaggies with extreme diagonals then the Realta. I know Silicon Optix is still tweaking their performance in this area and I look forward to seeing what advancements they’ll make in this regard.
On the video post processing side, this chip is really quite impressive. Denon has incorporated some of the noise reduction features this chip offers. Normally, I am not a big fan of these filters, as they usually tend to hurt the image more then help it, but in this case, the benefits are quite obvious. Turning the filters on, and using material that was pretty bad in terms of artifacts, definitely cleaned the image up without adding any unnecessary ringing or softness. This was readily apparent using the Silicon Optix demonstration DVD. I would still only recommend this for badly authored DVDs and only at the end users discretion. Since Denon offers five individual picture memories, one could easily tailor one for badly authored DVDs and one for better discs.
This player has three progressive modes to choose from; Auto, Video 1 and Video 2. We recommend Auto as it does everything correctly. In fact, we are still kind of puzzled as to why Denon included two other modes. Video 1 is a forced video mode that doesn’t do anything that Auto can’t do and Video 2 is pretty much identical to Auto.
For scaling, Denon turned to one of the companies that is a personal favorite of mine; DVDO. I use DVDO’s iScan HD as my reference video processor. I had my Denon DVD-5900 SDI modded and fed the iScan HD for all of my I/P and scaling duties. The scaling solution in the 5910 is not the same as the iScan HD, as this processor is true 10-bit processing while the iScan HD is 8-bit but I could not really tell a difference with the material I played during my tests.
As much as I love the inclusion of the DVDO scaling to this player; it is also the source of my biggest gripe. The 5910 only supports three NTSC resolutions via HDMI or DVI; 480p, 720p, and 1080i. This is a glaring oversight in my opinion and really the Achilles heel of the player. It supports two of the best scaling solutions the market has to offer today, yet it does not take advantage of them to the extent I feel they should. In my opinion this player should have come pre-programmed with most, if not all, of the common resolutions available. I was expecting at least the pre-programmed resolutions one finds with the iScan HD processors. There are way too many odd resolutions out there right now because there are so many display technologies. The drawback of not supporting these resolutions means that the end display has to rescale the image to its native resolution and therefore negates the advantages of having these spectacular resolutions in the player. I also think the 5910 should have supported custom resolutions similar to the Bravo and Momitsu offerings. This would allow anyone to dial in the resolution of the display and achieve 1:1 pixel mapping, which should be the goal of any videophile. This tends to produce the best picture from almost any given display as most if not all of the internal video processing is bypassed and the full benefits of the player’s processing is shown.
At the price point this player comes in at, I think it is a glaring omission by Denon’s engineers. The reality is, I can buy a DVD-5900 or DVD-3910 and feed its digital signal through either via DVI or SDI, to an outboard scaler and basically outperform the 5910, and it would still be cheaper. The de-interlacing and scaling performance would take a bit of a hit but I would still save quite a bit of change. Granted you also wouldn’t reap the other benefits this player may bring to the table such as a huge step up in build quality and what might be an improvement in audio (we have not started our tests on the audio side of this player yet) but this will probably depend more on what you are currently using in your own setup. I tested this idea in my own setup. My reference setup is comprised of a DVD-5900 that has been modified with a SDI output and feeds an iScan HD for video processing. The iScan is sending a 1:1 resolution to my plasma via DVI. The difference between this feed and a standard 480P feed via DVI is startling. This has been the case regardless of the digital display I’ve tested it on at any resolution. The fact is most of the inboard processing in consumer displays does not match the quality you’ll find in outboard processors or high end DVD players. If your display does indeed have a resolution that is different from the standard 5910 modes, going with an outboard scaler would still probably be the preferred route.
On the flipside of this coin, the 5910 is pretty much doing what every other player out there is doing right now though. Other than the previously mentioned Bravo and Momitsu, there aren’t really any custom resolution players available. And the scaling and de-interlacing of this player are unmatched from anything I’ve seen to date. So if your display does use a native resolution of 480p/720p/1080i, the 5910 is by far the de facto standard in this regard. (Just a note, those of you with ED plasmas or 480p projectors be aware that the native resolution may not be true 480p, which is 720x480. Most of these displays use 853x480 to achieve square pixels so the display will have to scale a 480p signal.)
As to the analog side of this player, the core tests went well, but there is some room for improvement. The player does have some pixel cropping that is exaggerated by the player’s output setup. If you leave the player in a default mode, it is clipping a combined 7 pixels from the sides of the image and 1 from the top. The 5910 has an almost perfect white level of 101 IRE and passes a below black pluge signal. The analog video frequency response was ruler flat and there is absolutely zero Y/C delay.
The digital output is slightly different. This player has a choice of either PC (enhanced) or Studio (normal) RBG levels for its DVI or HDMI outputs. It also has the ability to output a pure YCbCr video stream via HDMI. While this player does output a below black signal using Studio RGB levels, it is clipping above white information in the default contrast setting within the user picture settings. This is quite obvious using the reverse gray ramps on Digital Video Essentials. If you set the contrast level to -2, the player passes the above white information properly. We saw something similar to this with the recent Panasonic S-97. I don’t know why Denon overlooked this, as it was not a problem on the 5900, 3910, or 2910 players.
The digital output also has very slight pixel cropping. If you look at the pixel cropping test pattern on AVIA in the default setting, there are about 3 pixels cropped from the sides combined, but these are not affected by the position of the image.
This player also has an “Auto” selection for its output resolution via HDMI or DVI. This is for displays that will communicate what their optimal resolution is, but this is rarely correct, so be cautious when using it. When selected, it will indicate the end resolution, so there is no concern of whether it “might have” selected the proper output resolution. We tested this with the new Samsung DLP front projector, and the player automatically selected 480p, despite the projector having a native resolution of 720p. This confirms the fact that the feature may not always work as designed.
On a usability scale, the 5910 gets big points. This player has a faster user interface than my DVD-5900, but is still not quite to the level of the DVD-2900. Menu navigation is fast for the most part, but there were some times that the player staggered a bit once an entry was made. All of the menus are easy to navigate, and the player still features five different user setup memories for advanced picture settings.
From a build standpoint, the 5910 is an absolute tank. Denon went away from the standard connectors on the back panel and added some beefy ones that are well spaced, reminding me of the DVD-9000. The new remote is completely backlit and even offers full operation of the DVI/HDMI outputs and SACD modes.
Without a doubt this is the best DVD player I’ve used from Denon so far, but it has the potential to be so much more. Hopefully, Denon will provide a software update that offers the flexibility in video processing that the 5910 deserves. At $3,500 consumers will expect, and want, that kind of performance.
Oppo Digital - DV-981HD
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Mediatek |
| MPEG Model: |
MT1389FE |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Genesis |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI-2310 LF |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$229.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.oppodigital.com |
|
|
DV-981HD - Video 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Recovery Time
| Sync Subtitle to Frames
| |
|
DV-981HD - Video 1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Recovery Time
| Sync Subtitle to Frames
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
It’s no secret that we’ve been big fans of Oppo Digital since they came into the DVD scene a few years ago. Here was a company that came out of nowhere and delivered solid playback performance and great features at an unheard of price point. They have also established themselves as one of the best companies in the business for customer service and have exceptional product support.
Oppo’s newest player is the DV-981HD. It is similar to the previously tested DV-971H, but they’ve omitted the component video output, essentially making this a digital transport solution. The player looks exactly like the 971, except the outer shell is black instead of silver. The only other difference is support for a 1080p output resolution via HDMI.
The 981HD is a true universal DVD player. It supports DVD-V, DVD-A, and SACD along with most audio and video codecs including MP3, WMA and Divx. What sets this player apart from just about everything else on the market right now is its support of both DVD-A and SACD over HDMI. In fact, Oppo is the only company on the market that I’m aware of that offers SACD playback via HDMI. The SACD signal is converted to 88.1/24 PCM and passed via a v1.1 HDMI output. Why no other DVD manufacturer has done this yet is beyond me, since most DVD players on the market convert SACD to PCM because of post processing. HDMI v1.1 provides the ability for multi-channel PCM transport, and plenty of A/V receivers and SSP's on the market support this feature. I would recommend the 981HD on this feature alone, as it bypasses the entire analog section of the player and allows you to take advantage of your processor or receiver's D to A stages for playback, which are typically far better than most DVD players at this price point. The only caveat is the player’s video output needs to be set to 720p or higher to get the full resolution and multi-channel signal via HDMI because of the HDMI specification. Anyone looking to take advantage of this feature needs to set the player’s output to 720p or higher if they plan on using the HDMI output.
Like the 971H, the 981HD uses a Mediatek MPEG decoder and Genesis/Faroudja video processing chip. The Mediatek MPEG decoder has quickly become one of our favorite MPEG decoders due to its speed and exceptional chroma performance. When implemented correctly, it offers exceptional core video performance, and Oppo has consistently delivered in this department. The 981HD passed all of our core video tests with no issues at all. This player is not cropping any pixels of the image, has no CUE, and retains the full dynamic range of the video signal by not clipping head and toe room. Y/C delay is the only area where the 981HD has any issues. No resolution setting has more than a full pixel of delay, but there are some very faint signs of it in the highest resolution if you look close enough. The player is still within our pass criteria though and Oppo is working on the issue and hopes to nail it down even more with future updates.
Like all the Oppo players we’ve tested before, the 981HD is a very fast transport. This player has a completely seamless layer change, and its responsiveness is superb. I would have recommended it as a digital transport to feed an outboard video processor if it had a 480i output option via HDMI, but like the 971H, it does not. This is a limitation of the Genesis video processing chip design which does not allow for a pass-through of interlaced video.
The 981HD has two video processing modes: Video 1 and Video 2. This is typical of a Faroudja design and allows for 2-2 processing separate from typical film processing. Video 1 passes all of our tests with the exception of the 2-2 test, and Video 2 passes all of the tests. I did not see any degradation in performance if the player is set to Video 2 and kept there, but Faroudja claims that the chip should be left in Video 1 unless you know the playback requires 2-2 cadence detection. In short, leave the player in Video 1 unless you see visible de-interlacing artifacts (jaggies, combing, jitter), and then try Video 2.
The downside to the 981HD is the inherent macroblocking issue that comes along with the FLI-2310 processing chip. This was covered in our Benchmark of the 971H, which suffers from it as well. The macroblocking problem manifests as large blocks of noise in darker scenes or large expanses of a solid color. Not all displays show the problem for some reason, but if yours does, it can make the image nearly unwatchable with some material. I used my standard tests clip from A Bug’s Life to test the severity and clearly saw the issue in the clip. I am using a Marantz VP11S1 1080p DLP projector in my setup, and it shows the problem clearly. At one point I had a Sony VPL-HS60 in my room that didn’t show macroblocking at all, so not all displays will have issues with this player. Oppo has an excellent return policy, so consumers have the opportunity to see if this is a problem with their setup and can return the player if necessary.
Conclusions
Oppo has yet again delivered one of the best DVD player values you can find on the market today. I am excited to see what they will come up with next. It would be nice to see Oppo implement one of the newer video processing chips like the ABT, VXP, or Realta. I would also love to see something from them in a next generation HD format. Until then, the 981HD is highly recommended product as a high resolution audio digital transport and 1080p DVD player.
You can order the player from ProjectorPeople at the following URL: http://www.projectorpeople.com/hometheater-audio/proddtls.asp?itemid=21530&sid=HIFI
Samsung - BD-P1200
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
|
| MPEG Model: |
|
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Silicon Optix |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Reon HQV |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$799.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.samsungusa.com |
|
|
BD-P1200 (HDMI) - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Recovery Time
| Sync Subtitle to Frames
| |
|
BD-P1200 (Component) - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Recovery Time
| Sync Subtitle to Frames
| |
Video Frequency Response
Samsung
Oppo Digital - OPDV971H
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Mediatek |
| MPEG Model: |
MT1389FE |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Genesis |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI-2310 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$199.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.oppodigital.com |
|
|
OPDV971H (DVI) - Video 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Recovery Time
| Sync Subtitle to Frames
| |
|
OPDV971H (DVI) - Video 1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Recovery Time
| Sync Subtitle to Frames
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
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!
Toshiba - HD-XA2
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
NEC |
| MPEG Model: |
unknown |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Silicon Optix |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Reon HQV |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$999.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.toshiba.com |
|
|
HD-XA2 (HDMI) - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
| Sync Subtitle to Frames
| |
|
HD-XA2 (Component) - Auto |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
| Sync Subtitle to Frames
| |
Video Frequency Response
Toshiba
Sylvania - DVL1000F
|
DVL1000F (HDMI) - Auto 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Recovery Time
| | |
|
DVL1000F (HDMI) - Auto 1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Recovery Time
| 2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
|
DVL1000F (Component) - Auto 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Recovery Time
| YC Delay
| |
|
DVL1000F (Component) - Auto 1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Recovery Time
| YC Delay
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
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
Panasonic - DVD-S77
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Matsushita |
| MPEG Model: |
MN2DS0004AP |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Genesis |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI-2310 LF |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$249.95 |
| Website: |
http://www.panasonic.com |
|
|
DVD-S77 (HDMI) - Auto 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| | |
|
DVD-S77 (HDMI) - Auto 1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| 2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
|
DVD-S77 (Component) - Auto 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| Video Levels
| |
|
DVD-S77 (Component) - Auto 1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| Video Levels
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
The Panasonic DVD-S77 was a bit of a surprise for me. I just recently reviewed the updated S97 flagship player that seems to be almost exactly the same as the S77 . . . well at least from a build and chip standpoint. Both players use just about the exact same components to deliver the goods, but the S97 is a bit more refined in the end.
The S77 is a two-chip-based player. For its core processing, it relies on a Matsushita MPEG decoder that is pretty much shared throughout the Panasonic DVD player line. What separates the S77 from the lower priced options is the inclusion of the Genesis/Faroudja FLI-2310 video processing chip. This chip not only offers spectacular de-interlacing performance, but also top-of-the-line video scaling for up-conversion to high definition resolutions.
De-Interlacing
The S77 uses a new chip from Genesis called the FLI-2310-LF. I had heard rumors that Genesis and Faroudja had figured out the dreaded “macroblocking” issue that has been so rampant with the latest Genesis chip. Since this chip seemed to be a new iteration of the 2300, I thought for sure this player would not have macroblocking. Unfortunately, that is not the case. In fact, it is worse in this regard than its big brother the S97. Using my tried and true reference scene, Chapter 22 of A Bug’s Life, macroblocking was clearly evident through almost the entire scene. I don’t know why we haven’t seen this problem fixed yet, but it has become more and more frustrating for everyone. As with all FLI-2310 based players, I don’t recommend the S77 if you have a display that shows the issue. Unfortunately we don’t have a list of what displays those are, but we do know that Panasonic plasmas are one of the worst offenders. On a positive note, none of the Sony Cineza (HS-20, HS-50, HS-51) based projectors show the macroblocking bug at all. I cannot comment on the rest of the Sony line.
Aside from the macroblocking issue, the Faroudja continues to be one of our favorite de-interlacing/scaling solutions. It is one of only a few true 10 bit video processing chips available, and its diagonal line processing is still the best in the industry. Since the S77 has an HDMI output, it can deliver a true 10 bit video signal if the output is never converted to DVI. There is a common misconception in the electronics world that DVI and HDMI are identical except for HDMI’s ability to carry multi-channel audio signals on top of video. This is not true. DVI outputs 8 bit RGB signals only and cannot carry 10 bit video like HDMI can. In fact, HDMI is actually capable of 12 bit transmission as well. What does this buy you? Well if you are lucky enough to have a display with an HDMI input, you can significantly reduce the contouring artifacts that are commonly associated with digital displays. A lot of this may depend on the internal processing of your display though too. This is one of the gripes I’ve had with DLP based projectors and displays. Most are DVI- based and only incorporate 8 bit processing internally. So contouring in gray ramps is quite evident. You’ll also usually see it in skies and underwater scenes. If you are lucky enough to have a display with an HDMI input, and with high bit processing, this is pretty much eliminated.
Like most other Panasonic players, the S77 has three distinct video modes; Auto 1, Auto 2, and Video. Auto 1 and 2 are identical except for 2-2 processing. Auto 2 is the only mode that features this processing since it requires a different tap setting in the Genesis chip. This mode is great for video-based DVDs and some PAL material that is flagged incorrectly for video. The video mode is pretty much useless as always.
The Genesis settings seem to be right with this player. The cross color suppressor is defaulted to OFF, but there doesn’t seem to be any way to turn it back on. The chroma filters are all turned on appropriately as well, and this player does pass all of our chroma up sampling tests. The drawback to this is that Faroudja’s filters truncate the vertical chroma resolution. This was clearly evident using the vertical chroma sweep on AVIA Pro. This is one of the only drawbacks to the Faroudja design.
Core Performance
I always find it amusing when a higher end player in a manufacturer’s line doesn’t perform to the level of a lower end unit. At the same time I had this player for evaluation, I was testing their low priced S29. The S29 is a fourth of the S77’s retail price so one would expect the S77 to be at least equal in every respect to the S29. Well, that is not the case. The S77 exhibits the same slight trace of Y/C delay that was present with the S29. It also has some minor pixel cropping, but in this case it affects all sides of the image and not just the sides.
Another issue I found was the S77's black level. For some reason, the S77’s component output is at 7.5 IRE, and I couldn’t get it to output 0 IRE. It does pass a below-black pluge though. Like the S29, the analog white level of the S77 is much too high at 110 IRE. However, the HDMI levels seemed to be right, so this is only an issue via component video output.
Usability is the same as most of Panasonic’s line of players. Menu navigation and chapter skips are quick and painless and the layer change is the standard 1 second for the entire Panasonic line. Build quality is slightly higher then Panasonic’s lower line but not near the level of most other manufacturer’s top end products. Panasonic has seemed to abandon flagship designs like its previous beasts the H-1000 and 2000. That is too bad.
I was impressed to see that this player supports the newest version of HDMI; the 1.1 spec. This version allows for high resolution multi-channel PCM support from DVD-Audio discs. Some other high profile players on the market don’t yet support this. Panasonic also has a digital receiver that accepts this signal and will decode DVD-Audio. Very impressive given the price point of these products.
Conclusions
While the S77 seems to be almost identical to the flagship S97 on paper, don’t be fooled. The S97 is far more groomed and offers better core performance and attention to detail. The S77 is value rich in both the video and audio category, but comes up short in the attention to detail department.
Video Frequency Response
Panasonic
Denon - DVD-3910 DVI/HDMI
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
ESS |
| MPEG Model: |
Vibrato II |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Faroudja |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI-2310 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$1499.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.usa.denon.com |
|
|
DVD-3910 DVI/HDMI - Auto 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Recovery Time
| | |
|
DVD-3910 DVI/HDMI - Auto 1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Recovery Time
| 2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
The Denon DVD-3910 has garnished a lot of excitement from Denon fans. The successor to the very popular DVD-3800, the 3910 is in many ways the same as the flagship DVD-5900. But this player offers new features, including an HDMI output, and yet comes in at almost half the price.
The 3910 is based on the same video circuit as the DVD-5900. It uses the same ESS Vibrato II MPEG decoder and the Faroudja FLI-2310 de-interlacer/scaler chips. Denon has dropped the BNC component outputs, but added an HDMI output to compliment the DVI output that is also present. This was a great move. Most HDMI players out there re-map the RGB output to PC levels when they are converted to DVI. By offering both outputs on the same unit, this eliminates the problem. The video output can be selected in the setup menu for either PC RGB levels or Studio RGB levels. Unless your display is set up for PC RGB levels, we always recommend using the studio RGB output which allows for below-black and above-white information. Like the DVD-5900, this selection is called black level enhancement. With the enhancement setting “ON”, you are using PC levels. With it “OFF”, you are using Studio levels. There is also an IRE setting for 7.5 or 0 in the picture setting menu for the analog outputs.
The DVI and HDMI outputs offer three different resolutions; 480p, 720p and 1080i. I was a bit disappointed to see a lack of 480i support for HDMI. By supporting this resolution it would allow the end user to send an unprocessed digital signal to an outboard scaler if they wish. So far we have only seen this option from Pioneer and Arcam, but hope to see more support for it in the future. Both the DVI and HDMI outputs are HDCP compliant so they will not work with an incompatible display. This includes uncopyrighted material as well. The component output only supports 480i and 480p, as well as their PAL counterparts.
The test results for the DVD-3910 were almost identical to the DVD-5900. This player uses the same modes for progressive scan playback. Auto 2 should be used with PAL or video-based material, and Auto 1 should be used for normal NTSC film-based DVDs. The big surprise was the utter lack of the “macroblocking” artifact associated with the Faroudja chipset. This problem was quite obvious on the DVD-5900. It manifests itself on the 3910 with component 480p output, or 1080i digital output. But the level is so miniscule, you would be hard pressed to see it. Like I have said before, the results may vary on any given display, but we tested it on an NEC plasma and an Hitachi CRT-based RPTV. There were no artifacts at all via DVI and HDMI at 480p and 720p. The image looked identical to the same display being fed from the Denon DVD-2900, which uses a Silicon Image video processor. The other resolutions should very subtle signs of the problem using the test material I have used with all the other Faroudja-based players.
Another change we noticed was the analog frequency response. While it was quite good, it wasn’t quite as flat as the DVD-5900, which has a slightly better analog stage and filtering. The component 480p output didn’t have any Y/C delay and its white output was at the upper limit of our passing score, 102 IRE. Pixel cropping was a bit excessive on the sides of the image. The right side was clipping 7 pixels and the left was clipping 2. With the DVI output we noticed some Y/C delay but Denon sent us a firmware update during the tests that completely eliminated the issue.
In our usability tests, the 3910 fared well, but not quite as good as its predecessors. The layer change clocked in at a quick half second, but that is a step down from the previous seamless layer change Denon was popular for. Overall, navigation was also a bit slower then the previous DVD-3800 and 2900 and more on par with the DVD-5900. One of the complaints Denon did address with this line is the power switch. The front panel now has two different options, a standby and a hard switch. The standby switch will also close the drawer when depressed, a popular gripe with the older Denon models.
The 3910 is a top notch offering from Denon. We will be following the benchmark test with a full write-up in the near future that will include a detailed take on the audio section of the player. Given that this player performed nearly as well as our top performer, the DVD-5900, it’s a steal at this price and highly recommended.
Video Frequency Response
Denon
Onkyo - DV-SP1000
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
unknown |
| MPEG Model: |
unknown |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Silicon Image |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
SIL-504 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$2000.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.onkyousa.com |
|
|
DV-SP1000 (HDMI) - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Sync Subtitle to Frames
| |
|
DV-SP1000 (Component) - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Image Cropping
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Sync Subtitle to Frames
| |
The Onkyo DV-SP1000 is a player I have been trying to get hold of for quite some time now. As most readers of the Benchmark know, I have not been a big fan of Onkyo’s previous DVD players and their reliance on all-in-one MPEG decoder/de-interlacers. The SP-1000 changed that stance and incorporates the popular and very capable Silicon Image SIL504 video processing chip.
This switch-out made a huge difference in performance for Onkyo and puts the SP-1000 in the category of being one of the best DVD players on the market today. The SIL504’s abilities with film based de-interlacing have been heralded time and again at Secrets, and its performance in the DV-SP1000 is no exception. The SP1000 delivered a very clean image devoid of the issues we were seeing with their older players.
The chip passed all of our de-interlacing tests including those for 2-2 material. This chip has a faster recovery time than the Genesis FLI-2310 and doesn’t suffer from any of the macroblocking issues that have been so common on most upscaling DVD players. But that doesn’t mean that this chip doesn’t have its limitations and clear weaknesses.
Currently there are two chipsets on the market that are incorporating advanced diagonal line processing. Those are the FLI series chips from Genesis/Faroudja and the HQV chip from Silicon Optix. Unfortunately, the Silicon Image chip just cannot compete with these solutions in terms of video-based material, and more specifically, diagonal line processing. This is extremely evident with video-based material such as DVDs of TV programs and a lot of Anime or animated features.
A great test for diagonal line processing is found on Silicon Optix’s new Benchmark DVD. Using the three angles test resulted in some pretty horrible jaggies along the edges of all three angles. I also looked at some older Sage-produced test clips that showed obvious jaggies.
Another downside of the SIL504 chip is the 8 bit video processing. Despite the HDMI output of the SP-1000, banding was still evident in gray scale ramps. This is not as much of an issue right now since most digital displays still have 8 bit internal processing, but it will become an issue as these displays start incorporating higher bit processing. The Genesis and Silicon Optix solutions do all of their processing at the 10 bit level. Having the higher resolution processing eliminates artifacts such as banding and gradiations that are pretty common with DVD and digital displays.
Of course there is more to a DVD player than de-interlacing. Great de-interlacing will not make up for a sub-par DVD player in the core performance department. Onkyo has been hit or miss in this department in the past, but this time around they got all their ducks in line.
The SP1000 has absolutely no Y/C delay via component or HDMI. This lends to a cleaner image devoid of the ghosting effect that Y/C delay will bring to an image from misalignment.
The analog frequency response is quite respectable but a tad down in the upper frequencies. This may lead to a slightly softer image than some players, but this is a non-issue if you use the preferred HDMI output. Pixel cropping was a tad excessive, with 4 pixels cropped from the bottom of the image and a combined 6 pixels from the left and right sides.
For our chroma tests, the SP1000 did modestly. This player has no chroma issues with traditional film based 3-2 material and 2-2 material. But flickering and some banding was noticed with 3-2 material with alternating progressive flags. This will cause some artifacts with some of the popular Disney animated DVDs on the market including Monsters INC and Finding Nemo. One of the plus sides of the Silicon Image chip is its full retention of the chroma resolution. This player's vertical chroma resolution was excellent.
The SP-1000 passes a below black pluge via both component and HDMI. It has a selection range for HDMI that will also allow for PC RGB levels if necessary. The default white level for the component output was a very respectable 99 IRE.
Overall, the user interface is excellent, with clean, easy to navigate menus that are very responsive. Access times for the player were quick, and menu navigation and chapter skips were almost instantaneous. Using our full bit rate layer change test, the SP-1000 measured in at a quick one second.
Some of the other highlights of this player include full support of both DVD-Audio and SACD. The player not only features the typical analog multi-channel RCA outputs but also a Firewire output compatible with both high resolution formats. This makes the SP1000 one of the few players offering a complete digital transport solution for both video and audio. Unfortunately it does not support the newest version of HDMI though, i.e., the 1.1 spec. This would allow for transmission of high resolution PCM audio like that found on DVD-Audio discs. The SP1000 is limited to Dolby Digital, DTS, and standard resolution PCM via the HDMI output.
Summary: Not since the Pioneer Elite 59AVi have I seen such a huge turnaround from one of the bigger electronics companies. The DV-SP1000 is a great step in the right direction for Onkyo and I hope a sign of things to come on this front. The SP1000 joins the ranks of my highest recommended players on the market today and is an excellent value.
Video Frequency Response
Onkyo
Denon - DVD-3910
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
ESS |
| MPEG Model: |
ESS Vibrato II |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Faroudja |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI-2310 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$1499.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.usa.denon.com |
|
|
DVD-3910 - Auto 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| | |
|
DVD-3910 - Auto 1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| 2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
Video Frequency Response
Denon
Marantz - DV9600 Universal DVD Player
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Pioneer |
| MPEG Model: |
unknown |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Pioneer |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
unknown |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$2099.00 |
| Website: |
|
|
|
DV9600 Universal DVD Player (Component) - Auto 3 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Recovery Time
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
| |
|
DV9600 Universal DVD Player (HDMI) - Auto 3 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Recovery Time
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
| |
|
DV9600 Universal DVD Player (Component) - Auto 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Recovery Time
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
| |
|
DV9600 Universal DVD Player (HDMI) - Auto 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Recovery Time
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
| |
|
DV9600 Universal DVD Player (HDMI) - Auto 1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Recovery Time
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Bad Edit
| |
|
DV9600 Universal DVD Player (Component) - Auto 1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Recovery Time
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Bad Edit
| |
Very few DVD players surprise me anymore. Well, some of them surprise me as to how bad they are this late in the game, but pleasant surprises are rare. I had been corresponding with Marantz about getting their DV9600 since late summer of 2005, but there were none to spare. Luckily, an AVS Forum member, Kevin Brown, was nice enough to let me borrow one he just bought. In fact, he had it sent directly from the dealer. Now I am sure Kevin was looking to get a bit out of it, like positive confirmation that his player is worth the price of admission in my book, but it was still extremely generous of him, and we at Secrets are very appreciative. Now, the only problem is whether or not Kevin will ever actually get the player back!!!
Yup, that last line was no joke. The Marantz DV9600 represents probably the best digital DVD transport (for sending audio and video digital bitstreams) I’ve seen yet. Sure it has a few issues, but none that will bother me enough to not put this on my miniscule list of players that would fit my bill. Sure, the Marantz does a phenomenal job on its own as a DVD player, and I would be more than happy to use it that way, but since I am in the business of testing a lot of different processors, a solid digital transport to feed those processors is pretty much a must have, and the number of said transports is EXTREMELLY small. I remember talking with Dan Miller at CEDIA last year about the DV9600, he said that Marantz was unveiling their new S4 DLP projector which features the new Gennum VXP processor for video processing. Marantz wanted a solid DVD player that featured 480i support via HDMI, and thr DV9600 does exactly that.
However, that isn’t the only thing I like here. Marantz has really stepped it up this time. Some new features not seen on the previously reviewed DV9500, besides the 480i via HDMI, are scaling provided by Anchor Bay Technologies (the parent company of DVDO) which happens to be the same scaling chip as the highly regarded Denon DVD-5910, support for 1080p, and full compliance with the HDMI 1.1 spec including transmission of DVD-Audio. The DV9600 also has full support for SACD and iLink, for digital transmission of all high resolution formats with a matching processor or receiver. So, the DV9600 could be an all in one digital transport with the right receiver or processor in the mix.
Like the Marantz players before it, the 9600 is based on a Pioneer Elite transport. This includes their MPEG decoder and de-interlacing. Lucky for Marantz that Pioneer has really tweaked this processing over the last few years as evidenced by the recent 59 and 79AVi tests. The nice thing, though, is that the 9600 doesn’t have the same issues with high detail material that the Pioneer Elite DV79AVi does, making it far more ideal as a standalone DVD player. Couple that with ABT’s phenomenal scaling capabilities and you have an outstanding DVD player in just about every regard.
The core section of the DV9600 measured out very well, with only a few exceptions. The player has only a minute amount of pixel cropping. With 480p, 720p, and 1080i, the player only clips two pixels from the bottom of the image. With 480i, it clips one from the top and one from the bottom. Hardly anything to worry about (though we always prefer no cropping). The end user can tailor the output color space to his liking with selections for 4:2:2 YCbCr (our preferred), 4:4:4 YCbCr, RGB, and Extended RGB. All of the output color spaces support below-black and above-white, except extended RGB which uses PC levels (black at digital 1 and white at digital 254). Output resolutions via HDMI include 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p (and their PAL variants). Yes, you read that right, 1080p is supported thanks to the ABT scaling.
The player does have some CUE issues. With our alternating 3-2 Fish pattern, I did see some slight flickering, though no CUE “striping” was present. I don’t care for the flicker, so I gave the player a borderline score here. The player also has the standard ICP CUE issues, so Marantz did not incorporate any chroma filtering for this player. ICP is rarely an issue with DVD playback though.
The component output was essentially the same as the HDMI output. Pixel cropping was identical at 480i and 480p. The player has an extremely flat video frequency response, and white and black levels were perfect. Using our digital oscilloscope, I found no Y/C delay. The analog outputs of this player do not offer the same scaled resolutions as the HDMI out, but they do provide an extremely solid 480p image.
Operability of the player is superb. The navigation speed is very fast with not a single hesitation to note. Using our high bit rate layer change test, the player measured in with a completely seamless layer change, a rarity nowadays. The set-up menus are easy to use, but the video set-up menus are a bit daunting and are very similar to the Pioneer Elite units in their adjustability. I recommend leaving most of the adjustments alone. It is rarely necessary to use filters with high end DVD players, and more often than not, they tend to hurt the image more than help it.
The DV9600 has no less than nine different de-interlacing modes. Ouch. The nice thing is you only need one of them. The 9600 features Auto 1-3, Video 1-3, and Film 1-3. Thankfully, both Auto 2 and Auto 3 handle all of the cadences you’ll need just fine. I suppose if you started seeing some weird artifacts with some really obscure video based DVD, you could try some of the other modes, but you should be covered with Auto 2 or 3. Auto 1 did very poorly with our bad edits test, so I don’t really recommend it.
The DV9600 does considerably well with diagonal line processing in the video domain. This is an area of that was ruled by Faroudja and their DCDi processing for quite some time, but now there are more solutions out there with comparable performance. While the 9600 doesn’t do quite as well as the DCDi solutions, it is one of the best all-in-one chip performers I’ve seen. Some of the Mediatek chips do well with this too, but they take some time to lock on.
Using the HQV Benchmark DVD, I tried some of the mixed cadences. These are the clips of the man in the diner with different speeds. The Marantz doesn’t do as well as some of the higher end processors like the new ABT based VP30 or the Silicon Optix Realta HQV chip. It does do quite well with another killer scene that former Secrets editor Stacey Spears found, the trailing credits in the Austin Powers DVD. This clip involves credits scrolling down the right side of the screen and a window box of video on the left. Most players comb quite excessively with this test, but the Marantz didn’t at all. The new ABT de-interlacer is the only other one that I’ve seen pass this without issues.
Recovery time from video to film mode was a tad sluggish and reminded me a bit of the previous Faroudja based players. I doubt this will impact the overall viewing experience though.
Unfortunately, at this time, I was unable to test out the 1080p capabilities of this player. My display only supports 720p (its native resolution), though I hope to remedy that at some point in the next year or so. I did test out the HDMI 1.1 output to my reference Anthem Statement D2 surround processor, and it worked perfectly for both movie soundtracks and DVD Audio playback. The audio section of the DV9600 is excellent, with full support of both high resolution formats and full bass management as well as time alignment for both. SACD does require conversion to PCM though for time alignment, but in our opinion it is well worth it. I also didn’t have the chance to try out the iLink outputs since my processor does not support this feature yet (fingers crossed!).
Conclusions
I must say that I REALLY liked this player. Marantz has delivered one of the best flagship designs I’ve seen in some time. From core video performance to de-interlacing to usability, the 9600 never let me down. It would make an outstanding digital transport for those looking for their next DVD player or a spectacular stand alone DVD player for those keeping it simple. Highly recommended!!!
Video Frequency Response
Marantz
Denon - DVD-5900
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
ESS Vibrato |
| MPEG Model: |
|
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Faroudja |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI-2310 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$2000.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.usa.denon.com |
|
|
DVD-5900 - Auto 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| | |
|
DVD-5900 - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| 2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
The DVD-5900 is Denon’s newest universal player option and
a bit of a step up in terms of features from its DVD-2900 offering. The 5900
combines the MPEG decoder of the previous DVD-3800 and DVD-9000 with the new
Faroudja 2310 deinterlacer. Denon went this route to support the DVI output
which offers three output resolutions of 480p, 720p and 1080i. The 5900 is a
very solid offering overall with the principle complaint being a somewhat
sluggish navigation system compared to their previous players. It has a large
number of setup parameters allowing the end user to really dial in their picture
to their taste.
It also offers five picture memories, allowing quick
changes for different material. The 5900 passed just about all of our tests with
the exception of pixel cropping. For some reason, five pixels were cropped on
the right side of the image. Some notes though must be brought up on this
player. While it passed our layer change test flawlessly, similar to the
DVD-2900, I noticed some layer changes watching different DVDs. It occurred only
been on occasion and lasted about a half second in length, but I thought I’d
mention it.
While the layer change is zippy, menu navigation is
unusually slow. This is a step backwards from previous Denon players we have
looked at including: DVD-9000, DVD-3800 and DVD-2800. Some menu changes take as
long as 3 seconds.
There have also been complaints of “macroblocking”
reported by some consumers out there. We were not able to reproduce this effect
except in the low IRE (30 IRE) window patterns contained on the AVIA and Video Essentials DVDs. I
was able to almost completely eliminate this patching in the Denon’s video setup
menu, but it is still a concern. I have yet to see the same artifacts during a
movie though. We suspect it might be an iDCT precision error possibly caused by
rounding errors. We have seen this before with some older Apex DVD players that
used ESS MPEG decoders. We don't recall seeing in the DVD-3800 or DVD-9000 but
will try and locate to see if the problem exists.
Some highlights of this player are the unlimited number of
user settings, including cross color suppressor control, Y/C delay adjustments,
and gamma control. You also have five memories to program that work with both
analog and DVI video outputs. At the time of this writing, we have spent a
limited amount of time looking at the DVI output. There are several features
that seem to be disabled over DVI that should not, including aspect ratio
control and YC delay adjustment. Both of these features are important and we
hope Denon can enable wtih a future software update.
Video Frequency Response
Denon
Panasonic - DVD-S97
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
MEI |
| MPEG Model: |
2050004AP |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Genesis |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI-2310 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$299.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.panasonic.com |
|
|
DVD-S97 (HDMI) - Auto 1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| 2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
|
DVD-S97 (Component) - Auto 1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| 2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
|
DVD-S97 (HDMI) - Auto 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
|
DVD-S97 (Component) - Auto 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
|
DVD-S97 (Component) - Video |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| 3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| |
|
DVD-S97 (HDMI) - Video |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| 3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| |
We had the opportunity to review the S97 last year for our Benchmark, and although this was a hotly anticipated player, it had a few issues working against it. Panasonic has since released two different software updates, and the player I tested this time around had the latest and greatest firmware installed. Panasonic has definitely made some improvements to this player since the last go around, and this now stacks as one of the best players to be found for the price.
These new updates were strictly on the software side, so the core hardware elements are the same as before. The S97 uses a new Panasonic/Matsushita MPEG decoder and the Genesis FLI-2310 video processing chip. The 2310 chip is infamous for its macroblocking problem that seems to create digital blocking in the image both on its own and by enhancing issues that are already there. The only company that has made an effort to fix this issue so far is Denon who released some firmware updates to the DVD-5900 that toned the artifact down some, but not enough. Panasonic has now attempted the same thing but with much better results.
I did my standard tests for this artifact via both component and HDMI outputs to my display. Via component video, there were no signs of the macroblocking at all. And I mean no signs. Via HDMI, there was still evidence of the issue, but it was toned down significantly since the last time I looked at this player. While it still has the macroblocking bug (MBB), this is one of the best players I’ve seen with respect to that particular problem.
But Panasonic made some more changes too. It seems that the de-interlacing performance has been tightened up a bit. The S97 offers three distinctive progressive modes: Auto1, Auto 2, and Video. Auto 1 has the typical Faroudja performance that you see in just about every player that uses this chip. It does a great job with both film and video material and is a solid performer all around. Like all implementations, this mode does not support a 2-2 cadence, which is expected. Auto 2 solves this issue. I only recommend using Auto 2 if you know the material you’re watching is using a 2-2 cadence, because performance with other non-2-2 material can vary. Basically, if you are seeing strange artifacts, such as combing, shimmering, or unsteadiness in the image, switch over to Auto 2 and see if it helps. If it does, great! When you’re done watching that material, go back to Auto 1. There is also a Video mode, but there is no real reason to use it as the Auto 1 and 2 modes cover those bases fine.
The core performance of the S97 has also improved with the new firmware. Response times are up, and the layer change time is down. While it is still not down enough to compete with Mediatek players, Panasonic managed to shave about a half second off the layer break time. The MPEG decoder itself still has some issues though. Panasonic did a bit of a back step after the earlier players like the RP-82 and RP-91 in terms of MPEG decoder performance. Our CUE tests revealed some obvious flickering when the material used a 3-2 alternating cadence. While there wasn’t any banding or jaggies, the flickering can be a bit annoying.
The component outputs had some minor pixel cropping, including 7 combined pixels from the sides of the image and 2 from the top and bottom. There is a slight amount of Y/C delay with both the component and HDMI outputs, but it still was within our 5 nanosecond standard. The component outputs are properly set up for a 0 IRE output level, and they pass a below-black pluge with no problems. The measured white level of the player is a tad high at 102 IRE but still within our passing spec.
The HDMI output has some issues with its video levels though. With the brightness and contrast levels in the player set to their default state, this player does not pass below-black or above-white information. I had to set the brightness to +2 and the contrast to -1 to pass the full video signal. This is something that Panasonic should have tweaked in with their new firmware, and I’ve seen the same issue with some Denon players, including their flagship DVD-5910. On the plus side, this player does not incorrectly change the RBG levels when converting HDMI to DVI, which is common with a lot of HDMI players out there. So owners of DVI-based monitors have no worries here.
Summary: I am glad that Panasonic took it upon themselves to further refine the S97 DVD player. It stands as one of the best existing players at this price point.
Video Frequency Response
Panasonic
Denon - DVD-1600
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
MEI |
| MPEG Model: |
MN67753IKA |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Genesis |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI2200 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$499.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.usa.denon.com |
|
|
DVD-1600 - Auto |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Recovery Time
| 2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
This player is based on a Panasonic design and includes the same MPEG decoder and deinterlacer found in the highly-regarded Panasonic RP82. We found it to be very similar to the RP82 in video quality overall.
Deinterlacing
This player uses the Genesis FLI2200 chip, and as expected did well on
deinterlacing. There is only one "Auto" mode, unlike the similar range of Panasonic players which have two (Auto1 and Auto2). The single Auto mode on the Denon is equivalent to Auto1 on the Panasonic players, and uses the FLI2200 exclusively in cadence-reading mode. This works well for most material with the exception of NTSC 2-2 pulldown (30fps progressive) material, which is relatively uncommon. In PAL mode, the FLI2200 will generally recognize 2-2 properly (though we did not test any PAL material with this player).
The Basics
The 1600 had excellent core video measurements. Black and white video levels are within spec
at 99.3 IRE. The player is capable of
reproducing below black picture information. The YC delay in the player is right
at 5ns, which is a pass. (The RP82 was around 2ns.) The frequency response is slightly less flat than the Panasonic RP82, and has a very minor rolloff at 10MHz.
No part of the image is cropped. It has all lines on the top and bottom as
well as all samples on the left and right sides of the image.
The layer change takes around 1.75 seconds. Not the best we have seen but not
terrible. The overall response is average and we rated that a 3, which is a sharp contrast to some of Denon's other players like the 2800, which have some of the fastest layer changes and UI responsiveness we've seen.
Overall, the 1600 delivers an excellent picture and has deinterlacing to match. The responsiveness is only average, but this our only significant gripe. We recommend this player highly.
This player
receives the Secrets Recommended 480p award.
Video Frequency Response
Denon
Panasonic - DVD-XP30
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
MEI |
| MPEG Model: |
MN677531KA |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Genesis |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI2200 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$299.95 |
| Website: |
http://www.panasonic.com |
|
|
DVD-XP30 - Auto1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Recovery Time
| 2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
|
DVD-XP30 - Auto2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Recovery Time
| Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
Deinterlacing
This player uses the Genesis FLI2200 chip, and as expected did well on
deinterlacing. There are three deinterlacing modes on this player, but only two
are worth using: Auto 1 and Auto 2. Auto 1 uses the FLI2200 to analyze the
picture cadence and make decisions about film or video mode on the fly. However,
the FLI2200 doesn't have a good NTSC 2-2 pulldown mode (used for 30 fps
progressive material), so to improve the performance of 2-2 material, Panasonic
added Auto 2, which forces the FLI2200 into film mode when it sees a 2-2
progressive flag pattern in the MPEG stream. There is also a video mode but
strangely enough if you force it into video mode, DCDi™ is disabled.
Given the relative dearth of 2-2 titles in the US, Auto 2 is unlikely to add
much value here. If you know that a particular title is 30 fps progressive, then
it might be worth trying Auto 2, but in general we'd leave it on Auto 1. In
Europe, however, 2-2 pulldown is very common, so Auto 2 might be a good default.
The FLI2200 chip will auto-detect 2-2 pulldown if the source is PAL,
so it might not be necessary to use Auto 2 even then.
With Auto 2 the user should be watchful for combing artifacts, and
switch to Auto 1 if they rear their head.
The Basics
The XP30 appears to be identical in terms of video performance to the RP82.
It is just as good in the core video department as it is in the deinterlacing
department. It looks like Panasonic has really done things well with their
latest crop of DVD players. Unlike the RP82, the XP30 does not offer DVD-A,
which may or may not matter to you.
Black and white video levels are within spec, with white at 99.7 IRE. The player is capable of
reproducing below black picture information. The YC delay in the player is less
than 5ns, which is within spec. The frequency response is virtually flat and
virtually identical to the RP82.
No part of the image is cropped. It has all lines on the top and bottom as
well as all samples on the left and right sides of the image.
The layer change takes around 1.75 seconds. Not the best we have seen but not
terrible. The overall response is on average and we rated that a 3. If we could
choose one area for Panasonic to improve on, it would be here. We have become
spoiled by the awesome response of Meridian and Denon.
While the XP30 delivers one of the most accurate images we have seen, combined with top-notch deinterlacing, it can
be improved on. To start with, we hope that Panasonic can speed up the layer change and
response on future players. That said, we certainly recommend this player
highly. It's not a perfect substitute for the RP-82, as it doesn't have DVD-A, but as a video player it seems essentially identical.
This player receives the Secrets
Recommended 480p award.
Video Frequency Response
Panasonic
Denon - DVD-3930CI
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Unknown |
| MPEG Model: |
Unknown |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Silicon Optix |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Realta HQV |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$1499.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.usa.denon.com |
|
|
DVD-3930CI (HDMI) - Auto |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| | Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
| |
|
DVD-3930CI (Component) - Auto |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| | Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
| |
Denon is one of my favorite companies when it comes to DVD players. For the past few years they have been delivering outstanding quality and performance across a good majority of their price points and set the bar for what I feel a DVD player should be. To this date their flagship player, the DVD-5910, remains my standing reference for a DVD player regardless of price. The DVD-3930CI takes a lot of the performance of the DVD-5910 and scales it down to an attractive MSRP without skimping on video quality or features.
The DVD-3930CI is very similar to the 3910 in terms of build and appearance. The chassis is quite large and heavy, and all of the buttons and connectors are of a quality few players can match. You just know that a lot of effort was put into the design and manufacturing of the product. Even more impressive is the internal design. The power supply section of just the audio board is better than most DVD players I’ve seen costing several times as much. In fact, it appears almost like a receiver than a DVD player when you look inside!
The back panel has some very nice touches. All of the analog connectors are top quality and remind me a lot of my DVD-5910. They’ve even included BNC connections for the second component video output, allowing for high quality connections to displays or video processors. The 3930CI supports Denon’s proprietary Denon-Link connection for all audio playback sources and HDMI for video and audio. The Denon-Link output supports all audio standards, including SACD and DVD Audio. The firewire output featured on the DVD-5910 is not included. The HDMI output supports a wide array of video output options including 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p. It also supports YCbCr and RGB colorspace outputs and pillarboxing of any display resolution.
The biggest difference between this player and my reference DVD-5910 is the omission of the ABT scaler. Instead, the 3930CI incorporates the full feature set of the Realta HQV chipset, including their keystone correction. This allows you to place a projector at extreme angles to a screen and do keystone correction from a higher quality scaler than what is typically found in most projectors. While this feature works quite well on its own, we always recommend setting up a projector straight on to the screen so you don't have to do keystone correction, but it's there if you don't have a choice in the projector placement.
I didn’t find much, if any, difference between the scaling of the ABT chip in the 5910 and the scaling in the 3930CI. Both are excellent, with a small edge going to the 3930 using a luma burst test pattern. The 3930 showed a bit less ringing in the upper frequency range. De-interlacing performance was the same, i.e., superb. The HQV chip passes all of our tests without the slightest problem and represents one of the best de-interlacing solutions on the market today. I even tested this player with the AVIA vertical test pattern that has been causing problems for this chipset in some projector designs. Like my DVD-5910, the 3930CI has no issues at all with motion in the vertical direction and kept the cadence locked at all times.
Another new feature for this player is its 480i support via HDMI. This is nice for anyone looking to hook this player up to a stand-alone video processor, but I don’t think it is of much use. Outputting 480p will do just as good of a job and will take advantage of the player’s superb de-interlacing capabilities.
The only place this player ran into some problems was with our core video performance tests. When I opened the player, I was unable to find out what MPEG decoder they were using, but I think it is still the ESS chip found in so many other Denon designs. The 3930CI failed two of our CUE tests, including material with an alternating 3-2 cadence and our 4:2:0 ICP test. This means that the player is not incorporating any type of CUE correction filter even though I believe the Realta chip has this capability.
The analog output was a bit hot for its white level. We measured 105 IRE, using a gray ramp and a digital oscilloscope. The HDMI and component outputs were both devoid of any Y/C delay, and neither suffered from any pixel cropping, regardless of output resolution.
The player itself is very responsive with navigation, chapter skips, and general setup. The player handles layer changes perfectly, with absolutely no delay, even using our high bit rate tests.
Denon has designed some new menu items for their setup, and some of it I like in respect to my reference DVD-5910, but nothing new stood out too much. All of the noise reduction and sharpening tools of the Realta are included in the picture setup memories, and their performance is identical to the DVD-5910. Contrast and brightness settings were also perfect in their default settings, a problem I had with the DVD-5910.
Conclusions
So, is the Denon DVD-3930CI better than or equal to the DVD-5910? No, the 5910 is still the king. While I think the 3930 is every bit as good in terms of de-interlacing and scaling, the 5910 has some refinements that the 3910 is lacking (CUE filtering most notably). I also like the flexibility of audio outputs with the 5910 (Firewire) and the build and sound via the analog outputs. But, for its price, the DVD-3930CI comes VERY close. Those looking for the same level of video prowess at a lower cost need not look any further. Denon has continued to set the bar at their price point and delivered one of the best DVD players I’ve seen to date.
Video Frequency Response
Denon
Yamaha - DVD-S2500 Universal DVD Player
|
DVD-S2500 Universal DVD Player (Component) - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Recovery Time
| Sync Subtitle to Frames
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
|
DVD-S2500 Universal DVD Player (HDMI) - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Recovery Time
| Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
Yamaha has been slow to adopt a new flagship DVD player. The S2300 went through two iterations, both of which were very well received. We preferred the standard S2300, which was based on the also well received Panasonic RP-82, compared to the latter S2300 Mk II. The Mk II had some minor pixel cropping that we found a bit annoying.
The S2500 is pretty much a whole new beast though. It features some state of the art features and connections allowing the end user more flexibility in delivery and performance. This includes HDMI for video and movie soundtracks and Firewire for DVD-A and SACD digital delivery.
This player appears to be based on a Philips transport as opposed to the previous Panasonic one. It uses the Genesis/Faroudja FLI-2310 LF chip for its main video processing and a Ziva5 chip from LSI for its MPEG decoding duties. This is actually very similar to what is found in the high end Meridian DVD players that cost several times more than the Yamaha.
As expected, the Faroudja chip exhibits the Macroblocking issue in Faroudja-based DVD players. Using my old standby test sequence from A Bug’s Life showed the obvious patches of MPEG noise and random blotchiness associated with the problem. I had heard some time ago that Genesis/Faroudja had found a work around for this problem, but I have yet to see a single Faroudja player that doesn’t have it. As always, anyone with a display that shows the bug should probably avoid this player, as the severity is different from display to display. I’ve seen some plasma’s that show the problem so bad that the image is nearly unwatchable. If you are not sure if your display will have any issues with the player and you’re interested in picking this player up, I would highly recommend buying it from a vendor that has a good return policy just in case.
When testing the S2500, I noticed a pretty significant difference between the HDMI output and the component outputs. Obviously one of the main draws to this player would be the HDMI output which offers scaled resolutions of 720p and 1080i, as well as a direct digital video path. This is definitely the preferred delivery system to a digital display as it alleviates the need for transitions from digital to analog and back, along with the filtering involved in the process.
The only downside here is that the component outputs are actually better, since they don’t have the same issues that this player’s HDMI output is exhibiting. The component outputs also have an array of video adjustments that are not available with the HDMI output.
On the core side, the component outputs are just about flawless. The frequency response is rock solid, and I didn’t notice any artificial ringing in my subjective analysis. The Ziva 5 chip did fine in our chroma tests, especially since the Faroudja chip masks any issues associated with it. Pixel cropping was not an issue via component or HDMI.
The HDMI output had some definite issues on the core side though. For one, there was obvious Y/C delay that was easily over a full pixel. The player does offer an adjustment for Y/C delay in one pixel increments but it only affects the component video outputs (which didn’t have any Y/C delay issues!) The HDMI output is also set up for PC RGB levels, which means it has remapped black (digital 16) to digital 0 and white (digital 235) to digital 255 and truncated the head and toe room intended for video signal levels. The component outputs don’t have this problem either. I am not sure if this is being caused by the player’s processor or the Silicon Image HDMI transmitter chip, which has been a source of this issue with other HDMI players.
The S2500 does include set-up options for the Faroudja processing but does not include a separate video mode for sources with a 2-2 cadence. This is unfortunate since we know the FLI-23xx series of chips is capable of handling material with this cadence. I was also disappointed to see that Yamaha didn’t include video output modes for the HDMI output. I would have liked to have seen user options that included YCbCr and RGB. I like to keep the video signal in the digital component video space and have my projector do the color space conversions.
As far as the rest of our progressive tests, the S2500 delivered like most other Faroudja based players. The chip does an excellent job with film based cadences but can be a bit sluggish recovering from transitions between video based content and film based content. This is one of the advantages of some of the newer video processors on the market now, including the Silicon Optix and National Semiconducter chips.
The operability side of the player is a bit of a mixed bag. The transport is extremely slow to initially load a disc. This becomes a bit of a frustration over long time use. Once a disc is loaded though, navigation isn’t too bad. Not the fastest player I’ve used, but definitely not sluggish. The layer change was about a full second using our high bit rate test. The remote isn’t much to brag about and is missing a lot of the buttons that I think should always be included on a remote, such as a title menu button and audio selector for high resolution audio.
The on-screen menus and player set-up were easy to navigate and straightforward. My only real complaint here was the lack of support for the HDMI output and no indication that it wasn’t supported. If you are using the HDMI output, you can still adjust the parameters in the player’s set-up menus, but you are only adjusting the component outputs. Personally, I think that these parameters should be blacked out if they can’t be used for the current video output mode.
The audio side of the S2500 features the full compliment of support for all of today’s audio standards. This includes full support of DVD-A and SACD. On top of that, the S2500 features a Firewire output for digital delivery of high resolution content. Yamaha has several A/V receivers that will accept this input. This is a big plus for customers looking to keep their music in the digital domain while applying things like room correction, bass management, and time alignment. Just like video, transitions from digital to analog and back will cause issues with the signal at some point and should be avoided if at all possible.
Conclusions
The S2500 could use a bit more grooming. The HDMI output needs more attention on the core side, and the issues we found could be easily addressed with a firmware update from Yamaha. Fixing these issues would make the S2500 one of the better players out there. I know that Yamaha recently released a firmware fix for some audio issues associated with this player, so hopefully that means that they can address the video side as well.
Video Frequency Response
Yamaha
Panasonic - DVD-RP82
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
MEI |
| MPEG Model: |
MN67753IKA |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Genesis |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI2200 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$229.95 |
| Website: |
http://www.panasonic.com |
|
|
DVD-RP82 - Auto1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Recovery Time
| 2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
|
DVD-RP82 - Auto2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Recovery Time
| Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
Deinterlacing
This player uses the Genesis FLI2200 chip, and as expected did well on
deinterlacing. There are three deinterlacing modes on this player, but only two
are worth using: Auto 1 and Auto 2. Auto 1 uses the FLI2200 to analyze the
picture cadence and make decisions about film or video mode on the fly. However,
the FLI2200 doesn't have a good NTSC 2-2 pulldown mode (used for 30 fps
progressive material), so to improve the performance of 2-2 material, Panasonic
added Auto 2, which forces the FLI2200 into film mode when it sees a 2-2
progressive flag pattern in the MPEG stream. There is also a video mode but
strangely enough if you force it into video mode, DCDi™ is disabled.
Given the relative dearth of 2-2 titles in the US, Auto 2 is unlikely to add
much value here. If you know that a particular title is 30 fps progressive, then
it might be worth trying Auto 2, but in general we'd leave it on Auto 1. In
Europe, however, 2-2 pulldown is very common, so Auto 2 might be a good default.
The FLI2200 chip will auto-detect 2-2 pulldown if the source is PAL,
so it might not be necessary to use Auto 2 even then.
With Auto 2 the user should be watchful for combing artifacts, and
switch to Auto 1 if they rear their head.
The Basics
The RP82 is just as good in the core video department as it is in the deinterlacing
department. How is it that they can get it right in a $229 player while some of
their competition can’t for 2 and 3 times the price? We recommend that all of
their competitors pick up an RP82 and see what a DVD image should look like!
Black and white video levels are within spec, with white at 99.7 IRE. The player is capable of
reproducing below black picture information. The YC delay in the player is less
than 5ns, which is within spec. The frequency response is virtually flat.
No part of the image is cropped. It has all lines on the top and bottom as
well as all samples on the left and right sides of the image.
The layer change takes around 1.75 seconds. Not the best we have seen but not
terrible. The overall response is on average and we rated that a 3. If we could
choose one area for Panasonic to improve on, it would be here. We have become
spoiled by the awesome response of Meridian and Denon.
While the RP82 delivers one of the most accurate images we have seen, combined with top-notch deinterlacing, it can
be improved on. To start with, we hope that Panasonic can speed up the layer change and
response on future players. That said, we certainly recommend this player
highly. It is clearly the best value in DVD players as of this writing.
This player receives the Secrets
Recommended 480p award.
Video Frequency Response
Panasonic
Arcam - FMJ DV-27A
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Zoran |
| MPEG Model: |
Vaddis 5 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Zoran |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Vaddis 5 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$2999.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.arcam.co.uk |
|
|
FMJ DV-27A - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
| |
This is the second time we’ve tested Arcam’s flagship FMJ DV-27 player. The first benchmark tests were done by Stacey Spears, but Arcam has made some changes to that platform. Since then, they have swapped out the MPEG decoder for the new Zoran flagship, the Vaddis V. This solved a lot of the issues we found in our first go around and
produced a dramatic improvement in the overall ability of the player.
The DV-27A is a remarkable
unit. It's that rare fusion of excellent audio and video performance, which is a fleeting combination these days. Arcam is not in the OEM business
(many smaller manufacturers are), so they design and build their own units. All of the boards inside the
player are made by Arcam and the pride in craftsmanship shows in the end result. I think you would be very hard pressed to find a DVD player on the market that combines the performance of audio and video that Arcam has achieved here.
The FMJ line is renowned for its build and design. This player has a smaller profile, but substantial weight. The inside of the chassis is packed to the gills. The power supply is quite impressive with a
heavy transformer for a player of this size. The player uses separate clocks for its video and audio timing and even has separate clocks for analog and digital audio as well!! Arcam has also employed the excellent Silicon Image SIL504 chip for its de-interlacing duties. This is what I like to see from higher line companies, especially considering the price point.
The Vaddis V
chip performs quite a bit better then the previously tested Vaddis IV. The V model employs better chroma filtering so the CUE issues associated with the previous model are all but eliminated. This model will also pass a below-black pluge signal
,and its white level was spot on at 100 IRE.
The analog
video frequency response was excellent, being nearly flat across the spectrum. Pixel cropping was not a big issue, with only a few cropped on the sides of the image.
For our de-interlacing tests, the Silicon Image chip did its job wonderfully as always. This is our preferred chip for film based material as its recovery times are faster then the Faroudja and its retention of the full chroma bandwidth makes for a snazzier picture in my opinion. Arcam has also gone a step further by including an audio delay to compensate for the separate Silicon Image processing, so lip synch issues should not be a problem. The player is set up with the pre-determined amount
of delay, but the end user can increase the delay time to compensate for other pieces of hardware in their video chain, including the display itself. It’s this kind of attention to detail that makes the
Arcam a real standout.
On a usability scale, this player does quite well. Menu navigation and chapter skips are good but not as fast as some of the popular Denon models. The layer change clocked in a half second, which is very commendable. My biggest pet peeve with this player is its remote control. I have never cared for Arcam’s remotes. They are difficult to navigate and lack a user friendly design.
I did spend quite a bit of time with this player in my system, and its audio performance was as good, if not better then its video performance.
It features full DVD Audio support and was on par with my reference Denon DVD-5900 in this regard. It
has the full complement of setup options including separate channel levels and time alignment for all speakers. You can also employ its crossovers for CD playback with separate level control for the subwoofer in this configuration. Its
CD Redbook performance was also excellent and easily worth the price of admission alone. The only DVD player I’ve heard that bests it is the $7000 Krell DVD Standard, and
only by a narrow margin.
All in all, this is still one of the best DVD players I’ve used to date. Arcam is currently releasing a successor that features an HDMI output
which supports 480p and 480i like the previously reviewed DV-79. Unfortunately, Arcam has dropped the Silicon Image de-interlacer and has decided to rely on the Zoran chips' de-interlacing abilities, which are not near as good. I hope they reconsider this with future offerings.
Video Frequency Response
Arcam
Denon - DVD-2900
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Mitsubishi |
| MPEG Model: |
|
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Silicon Image |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
SiI504 / MC504 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$999.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.usa.denon.com |
|
|
DVD-2900 - Mode1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| | Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Sync Subtitle to Frames
| |
The 2900 is Denon's first foray into the "Universal" SACD/DVD-A combination
player arena.
Deinterlacing
The 2900 uses the Silicon Image SiI504 chip, which as usual passed
essentially every deinterlacing test with flying colors. The only real situation
where it doesn't compare quite as well to the best players we've tested is that
it doesn't have a chroma filter to alleviate the effects of the ICP (Interlaced
Chroma Problem, which we documented in our Chroma Upsampling article, and which
is different than the CUE itself).
Because the SiI504 preserves all the chroma detail, you see the effects of
ICP very clearly on certain discs that are video sourced. This is not a bug, but
it does make us wish Silicon Image would take the excellent chroma filter that
was developed for the iScan Ultra and incorporate it into the next version of
the SiI50x chip.
The Basics
The video frequency response has a small dip around 4 MHz, but is otherwise
basically flat out to 7 MHz, and then begins a gentle rolloff. The rolloff isn't
enough to soften the image severely.
Our initial unit had several lines cropped from the bottom of the image, but
Denon sent a firmware fix that addressed it. Any Denon dealer should be able to
provide the fix
The layer change is the fastest we've ever seen. On our test disc, which is
intentionally designed to be the worst layer change a player will ever need to
deal with, the break was invisible. We watched it several times to be sure, and
we could not see any kind of stutter or hiccup at all.
Black and white levels are well within spec, as is chroma delay.
Responsiveness navigating through menus and skipping chapters is lightning fast.
This player uses a Mitsubishi MPEG chip from the same series that Pioneer has
used for several years in their players. Denon told us they've been working with
Mitsubishi to fix the chroma bug and they've largely succeeded. We see no
evidence of chroma bug at all on 3-2 or 2-2 normally flagged film material.
Unfortunately, the chip doesn't handle the 3-2 alternating progressive flag
issue properly, and alternates every other frame between interlaced and
progressive upsampling. This actually looks worse than just staying in
interlaced mode (though only by a little) because of the constant flicker as the
upsampling mode changes. Several scenes in Monster's Inc show this problem
clearly, and since all recent Disney releases have the problem, we imagine there
are many more movies that will not look their best in this area. Denon has
looked into this issue and apparently they don't believe a firmware fix is
possible for it. Still, we are glad that Denon took the time to fix the problem
for a wide range of movies. Toy Story looks great on this player, as does Moulin
Rouge and many other films that show the chroma bug clearly on other players.
Overall we think this player has excellent progressive video quality marred
by one significant flaw - the 3-2 alternating flag chroma upsampling issue.
Whether that flaw is a deal-breaker is really a personal choice. For people
looking for a combo SACD/DVD-A player with top-notch progressive video, this is
competitive with the Yamaha DVD-S2300 player we looked at a few months ago. It
exceeds it in some areas, like chroma delay, and doesn't do as well in a couple
of areas mentioned above. With the 2900, Denon hasn't quite made a unit that
passes every one of our tests, but they've come pretty close.
Video Frequency Response
Denon
Denon - DVD-3800
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
ESS |
| MPEG Model: |
Unknown |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Silicon Image |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
SiI504 / MC504 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$1199.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.usa.denon.com |
|
|
DVD-3800 - Mode1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Image Cropping
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
YC Delay
| |
|
DVD-3800 - Mode2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Recovery Time
Motion Adaptive
| Image Cropping
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
Deinterlacing
This player uses the SiI504, but adds an extra twist - it has a flag-reading
mode as well. This could potentially be useful in the rare situations where the
SiI504 isn't going into film mode, but you know the disc has good flags. The
Denon's flag-reading mode is a very simple one, which doesn't handle the common
"alternating progressive flag" problem.
The names of the modes could be better - "Mode 1" is the cadence-reading
mode, and "Mode 2" is the flag-reading mode. In the US, most of the time Mode 1
is going to do the best job. If you have the player in Mode 1 and a film looks
soft, it might be worth trying Mode 2. If you have the player in Mode 2 and
start seeing lots of combing, switch it back to Mode 1.
The Basics
In addition to the deinterlacing mode switch, there is another video mode
option that lets you select between "auto," "film," and "video." This makes it
sound like a deinterlacing mode switch, but it's not. From what we can tell it
changes two things. chroma upsampling and pause type.
Pause type is pretty simple: “Auto” uses the progressive_frame flag to
determine whether to do frame or field pauses. (A frame pause
shows the whole frame, while a field pause takes a single video field and scales
it up, which looks pixellated and soft.) In "film" mode, all pauses are
frame pauses, which can cause the image to look combed if the frame you're
pausing on has movement between fields. "Video" mode causes all pauses to be
single fields. We can't imagine why anyone would want video mode.
The other thing that changes with the video mode switch is chroma upsampling.
On the few other players that allow selectable upsampling, “Auto” was clearly
the way to go. However, on the Denon “Auto” mode causes it to (wrongly) use
interlaced upsampling on "alternating progressive flag" material like Monsters
Inc. Amazingly enough, "film" mode is not forced progressive upsampling. It's
the same as “Auto” mode, except that it fixes the "alternating progressive flag"
problem. On video material, it continues to use interlaced upsampling, even in
"Film" mode. Frankly, this doesn't make sense to us. Most people are going to
leave the setting on “Auto”, which means they're going to be seeing the Chroma
Upsampling Error on a wide variety of popular films. And if they switch to
"film," which we certainly recommend, they'll get combed frames when they pause
on certain discs.
We don't think they should have offered the Auto chroma upsampling mode. As far as we can
tell, "film" is the correct chroma mode for all situations, and passed all of
our chroma upsampling tests. If there is material that it's incorrect on, we
don't know what it is.
The initial unit we received had the chroma error. However, we applied a
firmware fix Denon sent us, and it did fix the problem. Current units at retail
supposedly already have this fix or a new, fixed MPEG decoder that has an
equivalent fix in hardware. Even though it is correct, it was not the best
upsampling we have seen. We would describe it as a little blocky, but it looks
far better than the best wrong upsampling (which we would say is the Toshiba).
White is virtually perfect at 99.26 IRE and black is the same at 0 IRE. Both
Y-Pb and Y-Pr have a pretty large delay. We estimate it is close to 1 pixel,
which is 37ns at 480p. (74ns at 480i) They can probably correct this by making a
register change inside of the Analog Devices Video Encoder. The frequency
response on this player is also hot. There is no roll-off but rather a steady
climb up. At 10 MHz the player is up 1 dB.
There are 0 lines cropped from the top, 2 from the bottom, 5 from the left,
and 1 from the right. The disparity between left and right pixel cropping is not
great, in our opinion, because it causes the image not to be centered. It's a
tiny thing, but one that we think should be easy to get right.
The layer change is very fast, clocking in at around 0.25 seconds. We rate the
overall performance a 5. This player just smokes when navigating a disc.
In general, this is a good performer. It has excellent video quality,
excellent deinterlacing, and performs well. It's heavy, for those who like that
kind of thing, and it's not just lead weights. The Y/C delay and the quirky
video mode switch are the only disappointments.
Video Frequency Response
Denon
Denon - DVD-9000
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
ESS |
| MPEG Model: |
|
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Silicon Image |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
SiI504 / MC504 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$3500.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.usa.denon.com |
|
|
DVD-9000 - Mode1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Image Cropping
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
YC Delay
| |
|
DVD-9000 - Mode2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Recovery Time
Motion Adaptive
| Image Cropping
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
Note: The unit we received was one of the first ones with the new MPEG
decoder chip.
Deinterlacing
The deinterlacing performance and issues were essentially equivalent to the
DVD-3800, also covered in this shootout. Please refer to the deinterlacing
section of that review, as the performance and modes were identical.
The Basics
The same issues we found with the "video mode" switch in the DVD-3800 menus
were also present on the DVD-9000. Please read the "Basics" section of that
review for more on those quirks.
White is virtually perfect at 100.52 IRE and black is the same at 0 IRE. Both
Y-Pb and Y-Pr have a pretty large delay. We estimate it is close to 1 pixel,
which is 37ns at 480p. (74ns at 480i) They can probably correct this by making a
register change inside of the Analog Devices Video Encoder. The frequency
response looks good.. The player is down .23 dB at 10 MHz.
There are 0 lines cropped from the top, 2 from the bottom, 5 from the left,
and 1 from the right.
The layer change is very fast clocking in at around .25 seconds. We rate the
overall performance a 5. This player just smokes when navigating a disc.
This player is using the high end 14-bit / 108 MHz video encoder from Analog
Devices. Even so, the output was not as clean as the Krell DVD Standard. This
goes to show that as good as the DAC is, the analog anti-imaging filters that
come later are just as important.
In general, this is a good performer. It has excellent video quality,
excellent deinterlacing, and performs well. It's heavy, for those who like that
kind of thing, and it's not just lead weights. The Y/C delay and the quirky
video mode switch are the only disappointments.
Video Frequency Response
Denon
Pioneer Elite - DV-59AVi
|
DV-59AVi (HDMI) - Auto 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
| |
|
DV-59AVi (Component) - Auto 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
YC Delay
| |
|
DV-59AVi (HDMI) - Auto 1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
|
DV-59AVi (Component) - Auto 1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
|
DV-59AVi (HDMI) - Pure Cinema On |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
|
DV-59AVi (Component) - Pure Cinema On |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
|
DV-59AVi (HDMI) - Pure Cinema Off |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| |
|
DV-59AVi (Component) - Pure Cinema Off |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Sync Subtitle to Frames
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| |
This is the second go around for the Pioneer Elite 59AVi in our benchmark. I tested the player last year, and I liked it so much, it received our Best of Award for 2004 in the DVD player category. A short while after that, rumors started spreading around the net that Pioneer released an updated firmware revision for the player which eliminated some of the issues we reported on. I spoke with Pioneer about it, and they sent me a brand new player to test. We also received a 59TXi receiver and you will be seeing full reviews of both products here at Secrets.
So the big question is, did anything change? Is this version any better than before? Well the answer is no. I ran into the same issues this time around that I did last time. But it still remains one of the top players on the market today.
The 59AVi is based on a Mitsubishi MPEG decoder and uses Pioneer’s proprietary Pure Cinema Progressive de-interlacing solution. We have not been real big fans of this solution in the past, but this new version is a huge step up from past players.
The Elite 59AVi has four different progressive modes to chose from; Auto 1, Auto 2, Pure Cinema On and Pure Cinema Off. Just like the last time we tested this player, we recommend Auto 2. This mode passed all of our tests, including 2-2 and 3-2 Chapter breaks. It also has a very fast recovery time when transitioning between film and video, and vice versa.
Auto 1 does quite a good job as well but had more difficulty with video based material compared to Auto 2. Neither mode does as well as a DCDi based Faroudja solution with video material, and jaggies were quite evident with a few different video clips I had on hand to compare. But Pioneer doesn’t have any issues with macroblocking like Faroudja-based players do.
The core side of the player has some obvious differences between component and HDMI. HDMI is definitely the preferred connection with this player. There is no pixel cropping at all via HDMI, and Y/C delay is perfect. This player also correctly outputs Studio RGB levels via HDMI even when converting to DVI. Another huge plus is support for 480i via HDMI, making this an excellent candidate for future HDMI-based video processors. This is especially so, since the 59AVi also supports iLink for high resolution audio and movie soundtracks.
The component side doesn’t fair near as well. There is over a full pixel of Y/C delay at 480p. The 59AVi has a chroma delay adjustment in its video setup menu, but it only allows integer pixel increments which is too large to fix the problem. The player also clips a combined 7 pixels from the right and left side of the image via component. The component video white level is at the edge of our acceptable standard and measures in at 102 IRE.
One of the other big drawbacks of Pioneer players in the past has been chroma issues. This player is really no exception, but the main 3-2 and video based CUE errors are gone. But with material that uses an alternating 3-2 cadence (most of the Disney animated DVDs), you will see a flickering problem in solid colors. The Pioneer solution also doesn’t have a chroma filter for 4:2:0 ICP, while the Faroudja, HQV, and DVDO solutions do have this.
In terms of responsiveness, the Pioneer Elite is a bit above average. Menu navigation and chapter skips are pretty fast and never an issue. The layer change is a tad sluggish and measures a bit over a full second. The user interface itself is quite good though and offers plenty of tweakability and lots of set-up modes for video performance.
Summary: I would still rate the Pioneer 59AVi as one of the best DVD players on the market today at any price point. It is also one to consider for use as a total digital transport (universal player) in the months to come. With more and more HDMI-based video processors coming out in the next year, this is a fine player to use with them. I look forward to seeing if Pioneer has a successor for this player at CEDIA-2005.
Video Frequency Response
Pioneer Elite
Arcam - DV-137
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Zoran |
| MPEG Model: |
Vaddis 888S |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Zoran |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Vaddis 888S |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$1999.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.arcam.co.uk |
|
|
DV-137 (Component) - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| 3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
| Sync Subtitle to Frames
Incorrect Progressive Flags
|
|
DV-137 (HDMI) - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
| Sync Subtitle to Frames
Incorrect Progressive Flags
|
Unbeknownst to most people, there really isn’t that much difference between mass market DVD players and specialty DVD players. If you open them up you’ll find that a lot of them use the exact same components that the big box movers use. The main difference is the care and consideration that goes into how those components are used. Rather than just slapping a player together, the higher end companies (for the most part) tweak the performance of their components, allowing the end user to truly see the potential of a product.
Arcam has made some extremely impressive DVD players in the past. The DV-27A remains one of my favorite analog DVD players to date and has remained on my short list of recommend DVD players ever since I first reviewed it. Unfortunately, I haven’t been as impressed with their players since they stopped using the Sil-504 chip for their de-interlacing and started relying on the various Zoran all-in-one chips they use for MPEG decoding. While I think the Zoran chip is adequate for value oriented DVD players found at your local big box electronics stores, I don’t think it has the level of quality for de-interlacing that you would expect from a company like Arcam.
The DV-137 utilizes one of the newer Zoran chips, the Vaddis 888s. This chip is used for MPEG decoding and de-interlacing. The thing that separates this player from the last player I tested from Arcam is the inclusion of Anchor Bay Technologies (ABT) scaler chip for upconversion to HD resolutions. This is the same scaler found in the popular DVDO iScan VP30/20 series video processors. ABT’s scaling solution is a very good one, and the result is some very nice HD imaging from standard DVD sources. The problem is, the de-interlacing isn’t quite up to the task. I would have loved to see Arcam implement ABT’s new de-interlacing solution as well. That could have made this player in almost a class of its own in terms of performance! Instead, the Zoran does an average job overall. This player fails most of our tests that involve any break in cadence or bad flagging. While it is slightly better than the other Zoran solutions we’ve tested, it isn’t in the same league as the higher end video processing chips or the former Sil-504 chip Arcam used to employ.
The Zoran chip does a mixed job in the core video performance department. The player does not show any signs of Y/C delay, it has very little pixel cropping, and its analog output is impeccable. Arcam has done a superb job with the analog video output of this player. The video frequency response is very flat and very sharp, and the video levels are perfect. Via HDMI there are some differences. Unfortunately the DV-137 clips head and toe room except when output the YUV colorspace option, which unfortunately didn’t synch well with either my projector or video processor.
In our CUE tests the player did fine. The Zoran chip uses a chroma filter to pass our 4:2:0 ICP test and seems to use a filter with our 2-2 test as well. Setting the output to 480i, I noticed that the MPEG decoder failed both the 2-2 and ICP tests, but once 480p or higher was selected, it passed all of the tests.
From a usability standpoint this player is quite remarkable. Arcam has gone the extra mile in terms of features and support. The DV-137 is HDMI 1.1 compliant and will pass DVD Audio material over its HDMI output. The player also supports SACD, but not via HDMI. The HDMI output is also selectable from 480i all the way to 1080p and even includes 768p for plasma displays. The real surprise though was the built-in test patterns this player incorporates. Why in the world has no one else thought of this before?!?! Arcam has included test patterns for setting color, brightness, and sharpness. While these may not be the most inclusive tests, it is still nice to see a company put this kind of effort forward and give the end user at least something to use for initial setup.
Menu navigation and chapter skips were quick. The included remote control isn’t the most user friendly in the dark, but all of the necessary controls are there. The player is quite responsive overall. The layer change is also quite fast and clocked in under a second.
Conclusions
The Arcam DV-137 is a good DVD player, but not a great one. Just a bit more effort would have gone a long way. I would really like to see Arcam return to using better de-interlacing solutions and not all-in-one chips. Tweaking in the HDMI performance would move it towards being a top contender. While I appreciate some of the extras included here (universal support, 1080p and 480i over HDMI, built-in test patterns), I would have preferred a more refined video output.
Video Frequency Response
Arcam
Panasonic - DVD-RP56
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
MEI |
| MPEG Model: |
MN677533MP |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Genesis |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI2200 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$299.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.panasonic.com |
|
|
DVD-RP56 - Auto |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Recovery Time
| Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
This player was a surprise. Coming so soon on the heels of the RP91 (reviewed
above), we expected it to be similar, and use the hybrid
flag-reading/cadence-reading Genesis chipset of that player. Instead, we found
that it uses the Sage/Faroudja chip, which is amazing in a major brand player at
this price (around $230 street). The box and front panel don't say anything
about Faroudja or DCDi, but it's in there. And except for a few minor hiccups,
it's all configured correctly.
Like the other players with Sage deinterlacing, the RP56 had a long recovery
time when it switched to video mode from film mode -- too slow to pass our test.
And it combed a few times on the subtitles on "The Abyss", which again was
pretty normal for this chip. Otherwise, it passed all the tests with flying
colors. Unlike the Skyworth, it passed the Super Speedway test, and it doesn't
have the chroma upsampling error.
The video quality was very good, especially considering the price point of
this player. There was very minor ringing, nothing unusual. There was no
significant Y/C delay on the Avia pattern. There was some apparent roll-off of
the highest frequencies, but not outrageous. We haven't yet seen the player on
the Tektronix analyzer, but what we saw on the test patterns looked quite nice.
It's not reference quality video, but much better than most players at this
price.
There were a couple of minor issues: first, when we switch the player to
forced Video deinterlacing, it turns off DCDi. Since DCDi is only useful on
video material, this is clearly a mistake. However, since the Sage chip does
such a good job of automatically selecting Video or Film mode, there's
essentially no reason to ever manually switch modes. Also, like the Skyworth,
this player has a small flicker in saturated colors because of the Sage's
cross-color suppression filter being set too high. Panasonic could fix both of
these issues with a firmware upda
