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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:
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!
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
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
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
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
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 (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 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
| |
Video Frequency Response
Panasonic
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 update; whether they will do so is anybody's guess.
The RP56 has no aspect ratio control at all for scaling non-anamorphic DVDs,
and doesn't have an interlaced/progressive switch on the remote (it's on the
front panel). If you have a TV that locks into Full mode with 480p signals, this
may not be the player for you.
Overall, this is an excellent player at an excellent price. We're very happy
to see deinterlacing of this quality being put into an entry-level player like
this. Let's hope we see more such players.
Video Frequency Response
Panasonic
LG - DVB418
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Mediatek |
| MPEG Model: |
MT1389FE |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Genesis |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI-23xx |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$249.95 |
| Website: |
http://us.lge.com/index.do |
|
|
DVB418 (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
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
| Recovery Time
| Video Levels
Image Cropping
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
|
DVB418 (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
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
| Recovery Time
| Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
This is essentially part two of the review for the LG DVB418. I wrote a separate review on the 480p component section of this player as it is almost completely different from the up-converted component or HDMI outputs. While all modes rely on the Mediatek MPEG decoder that I am so fond of, the HDMI and higher component resolutions utilize a Genesis/Faroudja FLI-2300 series video processor. This makes the performance vastly different then 480p component which just uses the MPEG decoder for all of its processing.
In my opinion, the only high point for this player is its responsiveness. The Mediatek chip is extremely fast, making menu and chapter navigation a breeze, and layer changes a thing of the past. This player takes full advantage of that, but, unfortunately, the kudos stop there.
First off, the 418 shows the “macroblocking” issue that has become the Achilles heel of all Faroudja-based players lately. And it is quite bad, especially via component video. The reason is the black level of this player is set to 7.5 IRE which lightens the darker areas, and this is where the problem is most noticeable. Using my regular test scene, Chapter 22 of A Bug’s Life, not only was the artifact clearly visible in all the backgrounds, it extended up into the letterboxing on the top and bottom of the image. This rendered the picture just about unwatchable.
This player outputs the correct RGB levels via HDMI, and passes below-black, unlike the component outputs. It also outputs the correct Studio RGB levels if the HDMI is converted to DVI. This made the macroblocking not as bad with my test scene, but still clearly visible. But the flipside to this coin is the white level which is WAY too high via HDMI. The white level is so hot via HDMI that I had to bring my monitor’s contrast level to almost zero to eliminate the majority of the clipping. Completely unsatisfactory.
There are also several chroma issues with this Faroudja implementation. LG turned the cross color suppressor to ON and left it there. This can result in artifacts with color, including flickering and noise. There is also some extremely strange ghosting that occurred with our chroma test patterns. We use the Microsoft WHQL Test Disc 3 for our chroma tests now. These tests have fish that swim around an aquarium at different speeds and they are completely red. There was no tearing or obvious jaggidness to the fish since the Mediatek doesn’t have CUE issues, but the color appeared to lag with movement, creating a strange ghosting affect. After seeing this, I tried a few different animated DVDs at 720p via component and via HDMI at various resolutions. I used Shark Tale and The Spongebob Squarepants Movie and some other films as well. Thankfully, none of the same chroma delay anomalies were noticed and the image looked stable.
The core side of the up-scaled component video is quite bad. The video frequency response is all over the place and goes up in the middle, causing some artificial ringing in the image. The upper end is also rolled off a bit, making the image seem soft in the fine detail department. 720p and 1080i via component also suffer from over a full pixel of Y/C delay and Pb/Pr delay. It is unusual to see Pb/Pr delay in a player, but the 418 has it quite bad. Pixel cropping via component was also horrible, with 18 pixels clipped from the right side of the image at 720p and 21 at 1080i.
The HDMI output doesn’t improve things much. Pixel cropping is still bad with the right side consistently cropping about 17 pixels regardless of resolution. Thankfully, there is no Y/C delay via HDMI.
Summary: The LG DVB418 is a player with numerous bugs to work out. There is a lot of potential for a great player here if LG would have been a bit more careful in their implementation. Attention to detail can go a long way in the video department, and I really hope LG ups the quality control the next time around. They have a new HDMI-based DVD player due later this summer, and I hope it is a big improvement over this one.
Video Frequency Response
LG
Toshiba - SD-V592
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Mediatek |
| MPEG Model: |
MT1389FE |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Genesis |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI-2310 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$249.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.toshiba.com |
|
|
SD-V592 (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
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
| Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| Video Levels
Sync Subtitle to Frames
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
|
SD-V592 (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
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
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| | Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Bad Edit
| |
The Toshiba SD-V592 is the very first DVD/VCR combo we’ve ever had in the Benchmark. Usually, combo players leave little to be desired, but this was a rare treat that really caught me by surprise.
The player is based on the Mediatek MPEG decoder, which is quickly becoming one of my favorites. The chip provides lightning fast access and seamless layer changes, as well as some of the best chroma performance on the market.
If you are using the component video outputs, the Mediatek chip does all of the video processing, including the de-interlacing duties. This chip varies in performance, and its ultimate levels depend greatly on the manufacturer’s implementation. This is one of the better ones. Thankfully, Toshiba has ensured that this player is motion adaptive, which is a rarity with this chip. The de-interlacing scores were quite good for not having a standalone solution. The player did fail our bad edit and 2-2 cadence tests, but this is pretty common, and even the big dogs like Faroudja and Silicon Image have trouble with these from time to time.
For our core tests, the analog side of the player did excellent. The only chroma issue I saw was the 4:2:0 ICP, but it was very slight. The Mediatek is one of the best chips out there in this regard. The video frequency response was extremely flat, with only a tiny bump down in the upper end. Y/C delay was perfect, and the player did pass a below black pluge. The biggest drawback I found via component was the white level of the player. It is quite low and measured in at 94 IRE.
Navigation was extremely fast and almost instantaneous. There are times that once the selection was made, the player would hang a tiny bit, but it was rare. Again, layer changes are absolutely seamless.
One of the bonus features of this player is the inclusion of an HDMI output. This output allows for resolutions of 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i, making it one of the few players that actually allows for 480i via a digital output. We have had reports though that some people’s players won’t output 480i. Realize that this is not a viable option if you are converting to DVI before you go into your display. Video processing via the HDMI output is handled by the Genesis FLI-2310 and is HDCP compliant. The HDMI output has some output problems that we are hoping Toshiba may be able to remedy with a firmware update. The Faroudja chip has several different video processing capabilities and one of these is a fine detail enhancer. Unfortunately this setting is maxed out on the chip and this results in blotching in colors. This can be easily fixed with software but until it does, the problem is quite obvious in solid colors. This only affects the HDMI output though.
Another issue is the white level of the player. This player is clipping some of the upper white information, but is retaining above white information. This is very odd and is the first time we’ve seen a player do this. It is quite apparent using the test patterns for contrast on AVIA. This player also exhibits the macroblocking problem that has become a staple of the Genesis FLI-23xx series chips. As we have stated many times now, this is always display dependant so be sure to test the player out on your own display before passing judgment.
This is the first player that has used the Faroudja chip and managed a seamless layer change, a feat that even Denon has not been able to pull off despite it being one of their trademark features. This is no doubt due to the Mediatek MPEG decoder which has been extremely fast in all of its implementations.
The player passes a below-black pluge via its HDMI output and conforms to the Studio RGB black levels (black = 16/ white = 235). I was not able to connect it to a DVI display input, so I don’t know if it correctly maps the RGB levels when converted to DVI. Since the HDMI output uses an entirely different de-interlacing solution, the results were a bit different. The Faroudja chip was employed well, and the only test that tripped up the player was the 2-2 mastering. Toshiba did not include a mode to support it, even though the Genesis chip can support that cadence.
This player really has the potential to be a great one. A simple firmware fix could put this player way up there in terms of performance via HDMI. As it stands now, this is a solid offering for supplying 480i digitally to an outboard scaler. I will be following up with Toshiba on this player’s drawbacks and update the site with any news on this player as we get it.
Oppo Digital - DV-970HD
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Mediatek |
| MPEG Model: |
MT1389EE |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Mediatek |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
MT1389EE |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$149.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.oppodigital.com |
|
|
DV-970HD (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
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
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| | Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
| |
|
DV-970HD (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
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
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Image Cropping
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
| |
Oppo Digital made a big name for themselves just awhile back with their first entry into the DVD player market: the 971H. That budget player was one of the first to combine a Mediatek MPEG decoder with the popular Faroudja FLI-2310 de-interlacing/scaling chip. What resulted was a player that had an outstanding core video section, excellent de-interlacing, and a great price. But the 971H had its issues. For one thing, it would only do de-interlacing and scaling via its DVI output, leaving component video users in the cold. The Faroudja-based video processing also has issues with some displays causing “macroblocking” artifacts that can make the playback of DVD near unwatchable depending on how bad the interaction between the display and player is. The DVI output is also an issue for some. DVI was originally intended for PC applications, so it is a bit limited in its overall capability. But for those who looked past these issues, the 971H was a steal. Now, Oppo Digital has released an even bigger steal, the DV-970HD. This new player incorporates even more features and flexibility, at an even lower price!
The 970HD is based on the popular Mediatek (MTK) MPEG decoder, just like its predecessor, but the implementation is different this time around. Oppo Digital has eliminated the Faroudja processing and is relying solely on the processing inside the MTK chip. While this does result in a hit in overall video de-interlacing performance, it eliminates the risk of macroblocking artifacts if your display is susceptible to those issues.
The changes don’t stop there. The 970HD doesn’t use a DVI output, but rather the new HDMI standard. This means you can output digital video AND audio. It also means you have choices for output color space and support for high-resolution audio via a single connector. And because HMDI supports 480i video signals (DVI is limited to 480p and up), the 970HD comes in as a very attractive digital transport for feeding an outboard video processor. The 970HD also adds support for progressive playback via the component outputs and SACD support, making it a true universal DVD player. This is without a doubt the most complete feature package I’ve seen from a player at $150. Universal players are normally twice that price at the low end.
Like the 971HD, there is a lot of support for extra features in the 970HD. On the video side, you’ll find support for DIVX, MPEG4, DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD Video. There is also smartcard and USB support on the front panel. On the audio side you’ll find support for MP3 and Windows Media Audio, along with both high-resolution audio formats: SACD and DVD Audio. The 970HD supports the new HDMI v1.1 specification, so DVD Audio’s high-resolution multi-channel PCM sound can be output digitally via HDMI. This is also the only player I’m aware of that allows SACD’s DSD sound format to be converted to high-resolution PCM (88.1kHz/24bit) and transmitted via HDMI as well! End users should be aware that your receivers or surround processors need to be HDMI v1.1 compliant as well to use this feature.
From a usability standpoint, the 970HD is about the same as the 971H. Oppo packaged the same remote control that was later offered to 971H owners. While it is still not the best remote out there, it is A LOT better than their old design and gets the job done. The player’s set-up menus are very easy to navigate and have options for setting up the picture and preferences for audio output, including adjustments for audio output levels, crossover, and delay. The 970HD lets you pick between bitstream and PCM for the HDMI output. Unfortunately if you pick PCM, all Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks will be converted to PCM for output. I’ve never tested a player that has done this before. You can work around this by using the standard digital output for DVD movie soundtracks and the HDMI for high-resolution audio if you intend to use this player for DVD Audio or SACD.
A bug that I ran into with the 970HD is playback of DVD Audio and SACD via HDMI. I am currently using the Anthem Statement D2 A/V processor in my system, and it is HDMI 1.1 compliant. But for some reason, the only way to get the full output support of DVD Audio and SACD is if I set the output of the 970HD to 1080i. Otherwise it is truncated in both resolution and number of channels present. Anything other than 1080i results in stereo only playback, even if 5.1 sound was selected. I informed Oppo and Anthem of the issue, and it is being looked into. Oppo has tested this feature on numerous receivers that support HDMI 1.1 and apparently some have this issue and some don’t, so if this is an important feature to you, make sure you check it out if you purchase this player. Oppo’s customer support is superb, so I am quite sure that they will do anything and everything they can to help.
The speed of the 970HD is outstanding. Disc loads are extremely fast, chapter skips are almost instantaneous, and the layer change is completely seamless. Absolutely no complaints in this department!
I was excited to see how the 970HD would test in our benchmark. I realized right up front that the MTK MPEG decoder would only do so well in our de-interlacing tests, but I was looking at this player more from the transport standpoint, so its core video performance was the most important aspect to me. And Oppo hit a home run here.
When I first received the 970HD, I immediately tested it with an output resolution of 480i. This is the resolution I was the most interested in as I have several outboard video processors at my disposal and a few of them accept 480i via HDMI. Immediately I found a problem. The Mediatek had severe CUE issues when outputting 480i. This was strange, because I’ve tested lots of MTK based DVD players before, and chroma performance is usually near perfect. When I switched the player to 480p, all of the CUE issues went away! Now that is REALLY bizarre. The player did the correct upsampling with a progressive output, but not interlaced. I talked to Oppo about it, and they relayed the information to Mediatek to see if it could be resolved. A few weeks later I got news from Oppo that a firmware fix had been developed! After installing the firmware (software download), I re-checked and sure enough the problem was completely solved! Just another reason Oppo Digital has continued to impress me over and over again with their product support!
The rest of the core video performance testing went quite well. The only limitation I found was the selection of output color space. DVD is mastered in YCbCr 4:2:0, and most (if not all) MPEG decoders upsample this to YCbCr 4:2:2 for output. Unfortunately, the engineers at Mediatek have noticed issues with the 4:2:2 output, so selections for this chip, and the 970HD, are limited to RGB and YCbCr 4:4:4. While not a huge deal by any means, I still like to see support for 4:2:2. Both color space outputs are mapped correctly and pass below black and above white information.
For pixel cropping, I measured all output resolutions for both the HDMI output and the component output. The HDMI output had different results with every resolution. 480i had 1 pixel cropped from the bottom, 480p had no cropping, 720p had 2 pixels cropped from the right side, and 1080i had only 1 pixel cropped from the right side. While we like to see no pixel cropping at all, less than 2 on any side and 2 or less overall for any output resolution isn’t too shabby. The component output was a different matter. The 480i output was the same as the HDMI 480i output, but the 480p output was cropping 4 pixels from the top, 1 from the right, and 3 from the left. Definitely a bit more excessive on this output, and our suggestion is to use the HDMI output if possible.
Another issue I found when I initially got the player was the default white level for the component outputs. It was on the high side, but lowering the player’s contrast setting to -3 fixed the issue. Oppo came through again with new firmware which adjusted the output level to the appropriate level by default. The component output measured in at exactly 100 IRE as it should.
Neither the HDMI output nor the component output suffers from Y/C delay. I measured the component output using a bowtie pattern and a digital oscilloscope, and Y/C timing was perfect. For HDMI, I used a Y/C delay test pattern from the new Anchor Bay Technologies VRS test disc.
The Mediatek MPEG decoder did as I expected with our de-interlacing tests. This chip is slightly better than average, but it can be a bit sluggish when it comes to locking on to a cadence. It does trip up with a few of our more difficult tests, but I expected as much from an all-in-one chip solution. What did surprise me though was the Mediatek’s diagonal line processing. Using the “3 angles” test from the HQV Benchmark DVD, I was pleased to see that Mediatek has developed some type of diagonal line processing for video-based material. While it wasn’t quite to the level of popular solutions like the Realta HQV or Faroudja DCDi, it did a very commendable job with the lines.
The Mediatek chip did a fine job with the majority of our 3-2 based cadence patterns, including incorrectly flagged ones, video flagged, and high detail. It also supports a 2-2 cadence pretty well with no obvious artifacts in our test using the Natural Splendors DVD.
Overall, I would say the Mediatek did an above-average job in our de-interlacing tests for an all-in-one solution, but it still does not live up to the bar set by the higher line video processing chips out there now. Keep in mind though, this player costs a fraction of the price of players normally incorporating those chips.
Conclusions
Once again, Oppo Digital has proved that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get an outstanding product. The 970HD would make an excellent digital transport for feeding a standalone video processor, but it also holds its own very well too. Support for both DVD Audio and SACD via HDMI is just icing on the cake. If you are looking for a solid transport, then add the DV-970HD to your short list of capable players. If you are looking for a great budget DVD player, this may just be your ticket.
Video Frequency Response
Oppo Digital
Sony - DVP-NS75H
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Sony |
| MPEG Model: |
CXD9804R |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Unknown |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Unknown |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$119.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.sony.com |
|
|
DVP-NS75H (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
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| | Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
| |
|
DVP-NS75H (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
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| | Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
| |
It has been awhile since I’ve tested a Sony DVD player, mostly because I just haven’t been receiving any to look at. I was pleased with their recent turnaround in performance when they started moving away from the previous MPEG decoders they were using. Although I like some of the decoders they used in the past for speed and core video performance, they weren’t paying off for de-interlacing and scaling duties.
The DVP-NS75H represents the best progressive scan player I’ve tested from Sony so far. Surprising because it is also one of the cheapest players they’ve released. I am not sure what MPEG decoder they are using here as it has the standard Sony stamp on it, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it is a Mediatek design. The player is quite fast and performs very similar to some other MTK based players I’ve tested.
The NS75H isn’t the prettiest player on the block, but it isn’t cheap looking for its price either. The chassis is straightforward plastic, but it doesn’t look gimmicky either. Build quality is what I would hope for. Of all the players I tested this go around, it had the most impressive internal design with a decent power supply board.
From an operability standpoint the NS75H does quite well. It is very responsive, and its user interface is straightforward and easy to operate. The player has an HDMI output and supports upscaling to 1080i. Sony obviously cut back on the price by not including SACD, but with the dearth of new titles on the SACD format, I am not surprised. Those looking for high-end Sony audio should probably check out some of their higher priced offerings.
The core video performance of the NS75H is just above average for a progressive scan player nowadays. The player does not suffer from any of the CUE issues that plagued so many of Sony’s early DVD offerings, and it retains the full dynamic range of the image via HDMI and component video by passing below-black and above-white information. It does not use a chroma filter for 4:2:0 material, which is the only reason I am not completely sure this is a MTK based player.
Y/C delay is a problem with the component video output. The player has well over a full pixel of delay with this output. The HDMI output didn’t show any signs of Y/C delay and is definitely the preferred output choice for this player.
Pixel cropping is an issue with both outputs and rather excessive on the left side of the image.
In our de-interlacing tests the Sony did better than expected. It passed the majority of our tests and should do quite well with standard DVDs on the market. The player had no issues with 3-2 and 2-2 based material and actually did quite well with video based material. The video processor did a very commendable job with diagonal line processing using the HQV test disc. This is another reason I think they may be using an MTK MPEG decoder, as the results have been similar with other players using this chip.
The NS75H did trip up with some of the mixed flag material. I saw some light combing with our Galaxy Quest trailer clip around the planet and ship engine, and the player combed immediately with our mixed flag test. This has become common with just about every player out there using an all-in-one chip solution for their decoding and de-interlacing.
Conclusions
It is great to see so many low priced players starting to really offer decent video performance. In the early days there were some rare apples that popped up on occasion and impressed us, but lately I’ve seen some great offerings for people to choose from for well under $200. If you are looking for a solid progressive scan player with HDMI support for any room in the house, the Sony DVP-NS75H is one to consider.
Video Frequency Response
Sony
Panasonic - DVD-CP72
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
MEI |
| MPEG Model: |
MN67753IKA |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Genesis |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI2200 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$279.95 |
| Website: |
http://www.panasonic.com |
|
|
DVD-CP72 - 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
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
| |
|
DVD-CP72 - 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
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
| YC Delay
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
This player has been widely assumed to be the equivalent of the well-regarded RP82, only in a 5-disc changer form factor. We found this to be largely true, though with a few minor disappointments.
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 performance of the CP72 on the basic video measurements was nearly identical to the RP82, with two exceptions: there was slightly more chroma delay and the frequency response was different.
The frequency response isn't as flat as the RP82 (or the RP62), though not so rolled off as to make the image look unpleasantly soft.
There is a bit of peaking in the middle frequencies, which could make this
player appear sharper or more detailed. At 6 MHz, the RP82 was up 0.17 dB while
the CP72 is up 0.44 dB.
The chroma delay was slightly out of spec at around 10ns with both channels delayed the same amount in the same direction.
We measured two RP82s and the XP30 at 2-3ns.
Black and white video levels are within spec at 99.3 IRE. The player is capable of
reproducing below black picture information.
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.
Overall, this is a very good player and very similar to the RP82. While the Y/C delay was just outside the EIA spec, we still think the player is an excellent value and worth considering.
Video Frequency Response
Panasonic
Microsoft - Xbox 360 HD DVD Add-On
|
Xbox 360 HD DVD Add-On - Default |
|
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
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
| | Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
Last year, Microsoft delivered their next generation gaming platform, the Xbox 360. This platform combined state of the art high definition gaming with media console features, making it a well rounded entertainment hub. When we tested the 360 in our DVD benchmark, it set the bar for performance from a game console with DVD playback. Since then, Microsoft has offered several software updates through Xbox Live and has recently shipped out the HD DVD add-on. This add-on allows the 360 to play back the new HD DVD format on top of standard DVD support. We decided to test the add-on as a standard DVD player to see if Microsoft has indeed raised the bar again.
The HD add-on is relatively small and reminds me of the older stand-alone Jazz drives that you could attach to PCs or laptops. Its shape and aesthetics are very similar to the main console, and connection to the 360 console is made through a simple USB cable. The add-on comes with a CD that walks you through setting the drive up.
The performance of the add-on is very similar to the 360 as a standard DVD player. Like the main console, the resolution is limited to 480p. The console supports resolutions of up to 1080p, but the DVD forum mandates that all DVD players limit their analog video outputs to 480p, so I guess we’re stuck with that for awhile.
All of the video processing and de-interlacing is done in software, and Microsoft developed all of their own codes for this. They did quite a good job, but fell short of what you might expect from a high-line progressive scan DVD player.
This player does not seem to be cadence based, but rather relies on the flags to decide how to de-interlace. This makes it quick to recover from a hiccup in the flags, but combing is evident at each hiccup. The add-on passed the same tests as the 360, but this time it passed our Bad Edits test.
The add-on failed most of our tests that have breaks in cadence or flags. This is what separates a good progressive scan player from a great one. There is a reason that names like Gennum, Faroudja, and ABT have become synonymous with great DVD playback. Rather than rely on the disc's flags (which are usually poor), they examine the cadence of the material and make smarter decisions on how to combine the progressive fields and deliver a progressive image.
For video based material, the add-on is average. It passed our motion adaptive tests but does not feature any diagonal line processing for video-based material. Jaggies were abundant using the 3-Clocks test on the Silicon Optix Benchmark DVD.
On the core side, the add-on does extremely well. Response times have not changed at all. This is a really fast transport, and navigation is basically instantaneous. It is almost unnerving how fast this player navigates menus and chapters. I wish some of the DVD player manufacturers would take note. The layer change is nearly seamless, and clocked in just under a half a second.
Core video performance is also quite good. The add-on passed all of our CUE tests with the exception of the 4:2:0 ICP test, which requires an extra chroma filter to pass. There are no signs of Y/C delay, and pixel cropping is limited to 2 pixels on the left and 1 on the bottom.
All of the video levels are correct, and this player passes below-black and above-white information. The output retains the full resolution of both the luma and chroma signal, and the analog video frequency response remains unchanged from the original 360 console.
Conclusions
We will be serving up a complete review of the HD DVD add-on very shortly that will cover the full capabilities of this accessory as a HD DVD player. For now, the add-on continues the performance of the 360 as a stand-alone DVD player and continues to set the bar as a game console-based DVD player. At only $199 (for current 360 owners of course), this thing is a steal.
Video Frequency Response
Microsoft
Denon - DVD-1910
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
unknown |
| MPEG Model: |
|
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Faroudja |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI-2301 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$269.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.usa.denon.com |
|
|
DVD-1910 - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
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
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
It was inevitable that Denon would eventually release an inexpensive DVI-based DVD player to the market.
The DVD-1910 has some obvious advantages compared to the rest of the low cost DVI player market, but it also has some disadvantages.
The 1910 is a very low budget design. The chassis is
very small, and extremely light. Those looking for the sturdy and robust build of Denon’s higher profile line will be very disappointed. But the insides of this player, from a video standpoint, are pretty impressive. The biggest drawback in the lower line of DVI-based DVD players has been the de-interlacer and scaler. While designs from companies like Momitsu and Bravo do a good job, they don’t quite equal the performance of the higher line Faroudja and Silicon Image solutions.
The 1910 features the Faroudja FLI-2301 de-interlacer/scaler
chip. It was made specifically for DVD applications as opposed to the FLI-2310 chip found in their higher line offerings, the 3910 and 5900. That chip was actually made for implementation into display technologies. The performance aspects appear to be exactly the same, both on paper and in our tests. The
2301 chip did quite well here. The only fault we found was with material mastered with a 2-2 cadence, which is always a hit or miss with the implementation of the Faroudja chip.
The unfortunate side of implementing the FLI2301 chip is the presence of the “macroblocking” problem. This manifests
itself as blotches of digital noise mainly in backgrounds. This noise is essentially an enhancement of MPEG artifacts that are already inherent in the DVD transfer, but at times grossly exaggerated. In our study of the problem, we have found that the end user’s display plays a key role in the issue. It seems that displays that have their own necessary internal scalers tend to exaggerate the problem to almost unwatchable levels. This has been most noticeable with plasma displays, with an emphasis on the popular Panasonic line. Bottom line is, be wary of coupling this player with a display that has to do its own scaling inside. I would recommend hooking up the player to a similar display, or under ideal circumstances,
to your own display before purchasing. If you don’t have that option, I would make sure the store you buy from has a good return policy.
We were unable to determine what MPEG decoder the
1910 is using. The chip is mounted on the underside of a video board and inaccessible. It did do rather well with our tests though. The chip passed the main chroma tests and the Faroudja did an adequate job of masking artifacts associated with the more difficult material. The 1910 passed a below-black pluge pattern regardless of the output
used, and its white level was at the high end of our acceptable standard, 102 IRE.
There have been reports that this player has a tendency to reproduce blacks with a lean toward green. I didn’t see this with my review unit regardless of the output used. There is a black level tool that can be accessed via the “mode” button on the remote. I used an O-Scope and a gray ramp to try and figure out what this option was doing, as there was an obvious change to the level of blacks when turning it on and off. By turning the black selection “on”, the ramp clips black levels at the NTSC standard of 7.5 IRE. When
it is turned “off”, the black level maps down all the way to 0 IRE properly. We recommend that you leave this selection off to take advantage of the lower black levels associated with YCbCr video.
The analog
video frequency response was surprisingly good for a budget player. The response has a slight dip in the upper frequencies, but fine detail was still preserved with the material I looked at. Pixel cropping was a bit excessive on the sides of the image. The right side was clipping 7 pixels and the left 2.
The user interface was on the sluggish side, especially compared to Denon’s higher line of players. The layer change was a full 2 seconds long, which is unsatisfactory. Menu navigation was also very sluggish.
I was happy to see Denon finally put out a budget minded DVI player. The fact that they coupled it with a
de-interlacing chip like the Faroudja almost makes the player a steal. I really hope Faroudja can come up with a fix for the
macroblocking artifact issue, and until then I suggest that you demo any player using
the FLI-2301 chip before committing. Otherwise this is a very nice entry offering for Denon.
Video Frequency Response
Denon
Denon - DVD-1910 DVI
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
unknown |
| MPEG Model: |
|
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Faroudja |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI-2301 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$269.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.usa.denon.com |
|
|
DVD-1910 DVI - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
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
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
Video Frequency Response
Denon
Zenith - DVB-318 DVI
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
STMicroelectronics |
| MPEG Model: |
Omega DVD STi5505 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Faroudja |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI-2310 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$249.99 |
| Website: |
www.zenith.com |
|
|
DVB-318 DVI - 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
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
Recovery Time
| Responsiveness
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| Image Cropping
|
The DVB-318 is Zenith’s first scaling DVD player. This player also marks a first since it is the only DVD player on the market with the Faroudja FLI-2300 chip that scales via its component outputs. The player features a DVI output as well with the same scalable resolutions of 480p/720p/1080i.
As always the Faroudja chip performed extremely well in all of our tests. It did fail the 2-2 Cadence test showing that the filter is not activated in the Faroudja chip.
Unfortunately the rest of the testing did not go as well. This player has a lot of issues in its core performance. It has some very severe pixel cropping in all resolutions, with up to 15 pixels being cropped from the right side of the image. There are also various amounts of Y/C delay when using the component outputs. The 1080i resolution did the best in this respect with only about 5ns of Y/C delay, but the other resolutions showed at least a full pixel of delay. White levels for all output resolutions were on the hot side, varying from 102 to 104 IRE. The player did pass blacker then black though as well as breezing through our chroma tests.
On the DVI side things are also a bit amiss. There seems to be some Y/C delay on all output resolutions but 1080i. Thankfully though, the DVI output still passes blacker than black, which is a shortcoming with a lot of DVI based players out there.
Like most of the inexpensive DVI DVD players out there, this one definitely has its issues. I love the fact that it uses the Faroudja chip and allows for scaleable resolutions via component, but the analog section needs some work. Hopefully Zenith can improve on the design with future models.
A big thanks goes out to Chris Allen from AVS for providing us with this player to test. We can’t always get a hold of the players out there so we really appreciate the loan!!
Samsung - DVD-HD941
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Zoran |
| MPEG Model: |
Vaddis 778 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Genesis |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI-2310 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$299.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.samsungusa.com |
|
|
DVD-HD941 (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
Video Levels
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
| | Responsiveness
Blacker-than-Black
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Recovery Time
| |
|
DVD-HD941 (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
Blacker-than-Black
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
Video Levels
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Recovery Time
| |
I have really not been impressed with the last few Samsung players I’ve tested. The HD-1000 was a step in the right direction, but it was on the market for only a very short time. The HD-931 and HD-841 had some things going for them, but overall, implementation was severely lacking. I know a lot of people were hoping that the HD941 would be the saving grace, but unfortunately it suffers the same fate and ultimately comes up short.
For a long time it seemed that this player would never make it to the market. It had been announced a long time ago but never seemed to materialize on the market. I was hoping that this delay was based on feedback on the previous upscaling models and Samsung was doing some fine tweaking before putting it out on the market, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
The Samsung HD941 is based on the Zoran Vaddis 778 chip, which is one of the less capable Zoran chips. I would have preferred the Vaddis 5 or 6 which don’t exhibit the same issues the 778 does. Thankfully, the Faroudja processing makes up for a lot of the shortcomings, especially with the chroma tests. In progressive mode, this player passes all of our chroma tests. But this MPEG decoder does not properly synch subtitles to the progressive frames, and this causes obvious combing artifacts in the displayed subtitles.
The player passes a below black pluge via both its component and HDMI output, and the HDMI output is properly configured for Studio RGB levels. But there is a catch, it only works at 480p or 1080i. If you set the output to 720p, it remaps to PC levels and clips the below black and above white levels. I have no idea why they did this. This is an improvement over the previous 841 and 931 players, but still a glaring oversight. Also, if you convert the HDMI signal to DVI, the RGB levels remap to PC levels and truncate the below black and above white information, so I don't recommend this player in that application. The white level is a bit hot via the component output and measured in at 103 IRE. This will artificially enhance contrast levels and tend to cause whites to look overdriven at times.
The core performance was below average compared to most players at this price point. The 941 has obvious Y/C delay that measured out greater than a full pixel between the luminance and chroma channels. There was no Pb/Pr delay though. The HDMI output did not show the same Y/C delay as the component output and is the preferred output for this player. The component outputs overall frequency response was exaggerated in the mid band and then rolled off a bit in the upper end. This could lead to artificial ringing in the image and a loss of fine detail.
Pixel cropping was a bit on the severe via both HDMI and component outputs. The left and right side crop over 20 pixels together, and the top and bottom combine for 7 missing pixels.
Overall, navigation was quite sluggish with some menus taking a LONG time to load or respond to inputs. Chapter skips were a bit better though. The player’s setup menus were easy to navigate, and the HDMI setup was quite easy. The user can select from three different output resolutions via HDMI; 480p, 720p, and 1080i. I was disappointed that 480i wasn’t supported, as this could bypass the Faroudja chip and remedy the macroblocking issue, yet still provide a digital interface for the monitor or an outboard scaler. Our layer change test clocked in at a very slow 2.5 seconds, which is too long for a new generation DVD player.
The player did as expected with our de-interlacing tests. But, for some reason, the Faroudja processing was extremely slow at picking up the proper cadence. This was quite evident with even the most basic 3-2 cadence tests. Once the cadence was locked down though, the image was quite stable. This player does not have any pre-selectable progressive modes, so what you see is what you get. The player passed all of our tests with the exception of the 2-2 cadence test. This was expected since the player didn’t provide any alternate progressive modes.
The HD941 is a universal transport and supports both the DVD-A and SACD formats. It does not use the newer HDMI spec though, so it will not pass DVD-A material over its HDMI connection.
Overall, this is an improvement over the HD-931 and HD-841 but still falls short of the other players with the same features and general price point. I really hope that Samsung will put a bit more effort into their future offerings, especially since this is their third generation of upscaling player.
Sony - DVP-NS90V
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Mediatek |
| MPEG Model: |
unknown |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Mediatek |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
unknown |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$199.95 |
| Website: |
http://www.sony.com |
|
|
DVP-NS90V (HDMI) - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. 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
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
| |
|
DVP-NS90V (Component) - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
| |
Recently I had the opportunity to test Sony’s flagship DVD player, the DVP-9100ES. While I was impressed with the build, features, and video processing, the player needed work in its core performance. This has become more and more of an issue it seems in the last year or so. As video processing has been getting better and better, attention to detail in some of the most critical areas has been getting worse. The unfortunate side of this is the core performance has more to do with the manufacturer then anything else. Does this mean they are getting lazy, or that they just don’t care? It is a hard question to ask but an even harder one to answer. Most video processing chips do just fine in their default state nowadays, so implementing them is not hard. Most user interfaces are rehashes of older designs and are generic amongst whole product lines most of the time. But tweaking the full performance of the core video properties takes time and attention to detail. It means you have to look for the issues before hand and work with the chipmakers to get it right. I’ve seen some companies invest serious amounts of time in this, and others just push out the same problems over and over again, year after year.
For this review I took a crack at one of Sony’s entry offerings, the DVP-NS90V. This player is much different than the DVP-9100ES in every way. The build quality is in an entirely different league and its video processing isn’t at the same level. But here is a player that actually performed better on the core side. The DVP-NS90V uses a different MPEG decoder; that much was apparent right from the start. So this could mean that the chip’s default performance was better from the start and didn’t require much tweaking. But it really makes me wonder why a player that costs less than half of another would actually have these important details worked out.
I was unable to figure out what MPEG decoder is being used for the DVP-NS90V. Most Sony DVD players have the information on the top of the chip scraped off, blacked out, or stamped with a generic Sony stamp. I have some suspicions that it may be a Mediatek offering, but I can’t prove it. Its responsiveness and chroma performance suggest it though. Sony is not using a two-chip solution here, so all MPEG decoding and de-interlacing/scaling are being done with this single chip. The video processing performance is also inline with what I would expect from a solution like this.
The NS90V is more of an entry DVD player by price point, but it does have some attractive features that have been making their way down the price ladder. This includes support for SACD (Sony’s high-resolution audio format), HDMI, and scaling to high definition resolutions. The player is average in build for its price point, and has a clean design as well as a reasonably friendly user interface. The HDMI output supports standard PCM and Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks, but not SACD or DVD-A digital out. The HDMI video output supports 480p, 720p, and 1080i. Support for 480i is not offered, making this player a bad choice as a straight digital transport. That is unfortunate as its core performance on the HDMI side is pretty good.
The player is very good from a usability standpoint. Menu navigation and chapter skips were very fast, making operability smooth. The initial load times were a bit on the sluggish side though, which seems to be a reoccurring theme with the Sony players. The player’s layer change was very fast and clocked in at less than a second.
I started my tests with the digital side of the house first. I evaluated all of the HDMI output resolutions but conducted the majority of the benchmark tests with 720p to match the native resolution of the projector I had at the time. The core performance of the HDMI output was quite good and better than the analog component output. You can choose from two output color spaces: YCbCr and RGB. The YCbCr output is upsampled to 4:4:4, which is another indicator that this is indeed a Mediatek-based player (the new Mediatek chips are having chroma issues with 4:2:2 YCbCr so they don’t include this output option). The luma scale is correct and uses video RGB levels with black correctly set at digital 16 and white at digital 235. Above white and below black information are retained.
The HDMI output did extremely well with our chroma upsampling error (CUE) tests, failing only the expected 4:2:0 ICP test. It actually did quite poor in this test though with very pronounced streaking in moving objects, in fact, far more than any other Mediatek player I’ve looked at in the past. The DVP-NS90V had no signs of Y/C delay via HDMI, and pixel cropping was limited to just 3 pixels on the left side.
The component outputs had somewhat different results. While they performed the same with our CUE tests, the analog outputs suffered from over a full pixel of Y/C delay. All NTSC video is basically two complete frames of video overlaid onto each other. One contains the luma (black and white) data, and the other has the chroma (color) data. This information is combined to give you the full color image. This is why grayscale is adjusted when a display is calibrated. If the grayscale (the luma information from black to white)is incorrect, it can skew the color information. If there is Y/C delay, the images do not line up properly on the display causing what looks like ghosting or ringing on one side of the picture. With the NS90V, the chroma information is delayed to the left side so the right side of an object will appear to have some ringing. Images also tend to be softer from this problem similar to what you see when convergence is off in an analog or 3-chip digital display solution.
The white level of the player is just a tad low but still passed our criteria. Using a gray ramp and a digital oscilloscope, we measured the expected 100 IRE output at 99 IRE. This should have a negligible effect on contrast. The overall video frequency response of the analog video was quite good and near flat. There was just some mild increase in the upper frequency range, but I did not see any ringing as a result. The component output does not crop any pixels and retains the full active image.
Moving on to our de-interlacing tests, the Sony did about average for its price point. This is the drawback of a one-chip solution. At this time there are quite a few other players on the market at this price point using the Genesis FLI-2310 solution which offers far better de-interlacing performance, but even that solution has its caveats. The now infamous “macroblocking” bug manifests with a lot of displays out there, making the image near un-watchable for some consumers. At this time, there are just no other low-cost video processing solutions being used, so the lower end market tends to be below average in overall video prowess.
The NS90V does do true inverse telecine de-interlacing with both 3-2 and 2-2 based cadences, which covers the majority of the software on the market today. This player also features motion adaptive de-interlacing for video based material and does a fairly decent job with diagonal line processing. While not nearly as good as Faroudja’s DCDi solution or some of the other newer chips out there, it is not nearly as bad as most current single chip DVD players.
The Sony did fail the majority of our “hiccup” tests. These include chapter breaks and bad flagging. Recovery times are good, but you will notice either combing or softening of the image if the DVDs have mastering issues. This is where higher end de-interlacing solutions outperform these budget players and offer the best playback experience.
Conclusions
Overall, the Sony NS90V is quite a decent player. While it is by no means the best budget player I’ve reviewed, it only has a few drawbacks and will perform fine for the majority of DVDs out there. It offers some nice features for the money, and its video performance is about average for this part of the market. If you are looking for a decent low budget player, then the Sony DVP-NS90V might be one player to consider.
Video Frequency Response
Sony
Toshiba - SD-5980
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Zoran |
| MPEG Model: |
Vaddis 778 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Zoran |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Vaddis 778 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$149.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.toshiba.com |
|
|
SD-5980 (HDMI) - 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
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
| Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
|
SD-5980 (HDMI) - Film |
|
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
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
| Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
|
SD-5980 (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
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
YC Delay
| Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
|
SD-5980 (Component) - Film |
|
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
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
YC Delay
| Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
|
SD-5980 (HDMI) - Video |
|
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
Sync Subtitle to Frames
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
| Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
|
SD-5980 (Component) - Video |
|
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
Sync Subtitle to Frames
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
YC Delay
| Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
Like the Samsung HD-850, the Toshiba SD-5980 is an OEM-based DVD player (meaning that a different company builds it for Samsung) that revolves around the new Zoran video processing. This includes the Zoran Vaddis 778 and the HD Extreme chip for scaling. These players are priced identically, and both provide an HDMI output, and even include an HDMI cable. The Toshiba adds a few more features, including some slots for different media cards (digital camera memory cards) for slide shows.
The Vaddis 778 handles the MPEG decoding and the de-interlacing, and does an average job with both. I was happy to see that Zoran has made strides with their chroma performance since the Vaddis 5 chip. This new chip doesn’t have any signs of the chroma bug and even does surprisingly well with 4:2:0 test material. This test normally requires special chroma filters that are usually found on high end video processors, but Zoran has done a remarkable job with their all-in-one solution.
Toshiba has included three different progressive modes for the end user to choose from. These include Auto, Film, and Video. The Auto and Film modes performed exactly the same, while the Video mode dropped the film cadence processing and didn’t improve on the video processing a bit. Because of this, we only suggest using the Auto mode, as it handles all material equally well. This player is not on par with the better de-interlacers out there, but it will handle the majority of DVDs just fine.
The core side is a bit of a hit or miss for this player. The HDMI output will not output proper RGB levels when converted to DVI which results in a loss of below-black and above-white information. If your display has an HDMI input, you should be fine though. Via component video output, this player’s video frequency response is a bit rolled off in the upper end, but not as much as the Samsung HD-850. It does have a smidgen of Y/C delay, and the player is a bit slower then the Samsung HD-850. The layer change clocked in at 1.25 seconds which isn’t bad, but it is a full second slower then the 850.
Overall, I don’t know which of these two I would pick personally. Neither has the video processing that would fit my needs, but I think either would be fine for most consumers. I wish there were a fusion of the two players out there since both have their highs and lows. If you are considering either of these two players, you should probably make sure you test both of them in the store before making a decision.
Video Frequency Response
Toshiba
LG - DN191H
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Zoran |
| MPEG Model: |
Vaddis 888 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Zoran |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Vaddis 888 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$109.95 |
| Website: |
http://us.lge.com/index.do |
|
|
DN191H (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
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
| YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
|
DN191H (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
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
| Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
The DN191H is only the third player I’ve tested from LG, and so far I haven’t been very impressed with their track record. While this isn’t the highest scoring player from them in the Benchmark it is still probably the most recommended out of the group. LG has moved away from the Genesis/Faroudja solution and now relies on the very popular Vaddis decoder/video processing chips from Zoran. While there are certainly better chips out there to use, the Vaddis usually does a pretty decent job with the majority of DVDs.
The 191H is a very inexpensive DVD player and can be found for under $100 at most electronics stores or on-line. This makes it an attractive option for a second room or a bedroom player. The inclusion of HDMI at this price point and decent video performance are rarities even in today’s market.
The build quality of the 191H isn’t the best I’ve seen at this price point but it certainly isn’t an unattractive player by any means. The front face has a nice curve to it and is laid out in a subtle but regal way. The buttons on the top curve of the face are also a nice touch. The 191H sports an HDMI output and upconverts to HD resolutions of 720p and 1080i. It also features a 14-in-1 card reader for pictures and music. The 191H supports DIVX and MPEG-4 for personally made DVDs and video.
The LG is a decent player from a user standpoint. It isn’t the most responsive I’ve tested lately, but it did a decent job with menus and chapter skips. Load times could have been better though. The user interface is simple enough too. The layer change was quite fast and barely noticeable in our tests.
As I mentioned before, the 191H uses a Zoran Vaddis MPEG decoder for its principle video decoding and processing duties. We’ve tested this chip in lots of players, and its performance is nearly always the same. The Zoran does quite well with CUE but lacks some of the more advanced video processing required for state-of-the-art de-interlacing.
The 191H didn’t do as well as I would have hoped in our core video performance tests. The HDMI output suffers from Y/C delay, and it clips head and toe room. I don’t know why so many manufacturers have issues with these core video components. In the early days you could easily blame the HDMI transmitter for doing an improper colorspace conversion with the outgoing video signal, but since HDMI has been out awhile now, you would think that they would have gotten their stuff together in these departments. The component video output did not clip head and toe room, but it did have some rather severe Y/C delay. Basically you can pick your poison for the two outputs, but I think I would go with the HDMI output despite the clipping, as the Y/C delay wasn’t quite as bad, and the digital signal was a tad sharper.
The newer Zoran chips, such as the 888, have been doing a lot better in regards to CUE than their earlier (and higher line) offerings. This one is no different. The 888 passes all of our CUE tests and utilizes a subtle chroma filter with 4:2:0 material. This chip is one of the better ones out there with CUE and reminds me a lot of the Mediatek offerings in this regard.
For de-interlacing, the LG does about the same as any player that uses the Zoran Vaddis chip for this purpose. The Vaddis handles the most common cadences just fine but goes a bit awry when things get sticky. The 191H passed the common 3-2 cadence based tests and did a decent job with video based material as well. The diagonal line processing isn’t very good, so don’t look for performance like the Faroudja DCDi or ABT solutions.
The Vaddis didn’t do very well with some of the more difficult tests we threw at it. Some of our video and mixed flagged tests showed obvious combing or a complete lack of lock on. This can result in combing, a loss of resolution, or stuttering artifacts, depending on the material you are viewing. This may or may not be an issue, depending on the quality of the encode on the DVD, but we’ve definitely seen issues with this in real world DVD offerings. This is in line with most single chip video processing solutions on the market though and usually requires a higher quality de-interlacer solution to remedy. At this price point I didn’t really expect much better.
Conclusions
Not much more to say about this one. The LG is a very low priced player, and its performance is pretty much commensurate with the price tag. While I don’t think I would recommend it for serious home theaters, it would be fine for a spare room or a younger member of the family on a budget. Now if only I could get my hands on their new universal HD player!
Video Frequency Response
LG
Philips - DVP5960
|
DVP5960 (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
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Image Cropping
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
| |
|
DVP5960 (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
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Image Cropping
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
| |
The DVP5960 is currently Philips' flagship DVD player and it sells for less than $100! It is really amazing how much price points have changed over the last few years. Here we have upscaling DVD players with HDMI outputs coming in for pennies compared to where they were just a little while ago.
Despite the fact that this is the highest priced standard DVD player from Philips (they have a Blu-ray player as well that is a re-badged Samsung), it isn’t near the quality level you would expect from a flagship design. Philips is obviously sticking to the budget minded mass market prices. This player is built like a $100 player and is extremely light in weight and features. That doesn’t make it a bad buy; I just don’t want people to think that this player is up there with the high end flagship players.
The DVP5960 has some nice features on top of its video playback. There is support for MP3 and WMA, and with the USB input, you can have a bit of a music or photo server anywhere you put it. Not bad for the price. This player does not support any of the high-resolution audio formats though, which is a bit of a bummer.
I really didn’t know what to expect when I started my video tests. It has been a LONG time since I’ve tested a player from Philips, and I don’t remember being particularly impressed with their previous offerings. I was curious as to what MPEG decoder and video processing solution they may be using, but once I got the player open, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to find out, due to the construction of their video board.
The 5960 did rather poorly with our core video tests. Both outputs (component and HDMI) have their issues, but the component output fared better in the long run. The HDMI output suffers from obvious Y/C delay, and it also clips head and toe room. This is becoming a problem that isn’t going away despite reporting it repeatedly to companies in reviews. The component output isn’t clipping head and toe room, but it does suffer from Y/C delay, and it is a little worse than the HDMI output in that respect.
The 5960 did very well with our CUE tests, which is finally becoming the norm. It does not have a filter for 4:2:0 material, so that ruled out some of the MPEG decoders I thought they may be using (Zoran or Mediatek designs). I’m really glad to see more MPEG decoders out there getting this right; now if only we could see the same with below-black and above-white!
After testing out the core video section, I ran some tests to see how the 5960 holds up from a usability standpoint. The menu system is all right, but could use some more flexibility, as they are almost too simple. I was impressed with the speed of the player though; menus were quick to navigate, and chapter skips weren’t an issue. The layer change also clocked in at a decent half second.
On the de-interlacing side, the 5960 did far better than I was expecting for a sub-$100 player. The all-in-one solution did quite well in our tests and passed the majority of the main tests, including most of our 3-2 cadences and all of our video based testing. This player handles a standard 3-2 and 2-2 cadence with no real issues at all. It did fail our bad edits test and our mixed flags test, but that is pretty common for a player with this type of design. This can result in some occasion combing, but only with a small amount of content on the market nowadays.
Conclusions
It is nice to see that even at less than $100, a consumer can still find a pretty decent DVD player. Here you get HDMI support, upscaling to 720p and 1080i, and rather decent video processing. While I wouldn’t recommend it as a reference design or the mainstay in a high performance home theater, it would probably please the majority of the mass market in almost all applications. If you’re looking for a budget player that delivers a solid video experience, this one is worth looking into.
Video Frequency Response
Philips
Toshiba - SD-K860
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Zoran |
| MPEG Model: |
Vaddis 888 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Zoran |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Vaddis 888 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$79.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.toshiba.com |
|
|
SD-K860 (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
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
| YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
|
SD-K860 (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
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
| Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
The SD-K860 is Toshiba’s newest budget entry into the digital DVD player category. It is the least expensive HDMI based DVD player I’ve seen from Toshiba to date, and it offers commensurate performance to its price point. It is exciting to see HDMI based DVD players coming in under $100, but so far my experience with them hasn’t been very good. For our Benchmark, two big manufacturers have really let me down with their offerings and it all comes down to the core performance of the player, which is crucial. The SD-K860 definitely has some issues in this department.
The K860 is based on Zoran’s newest all-in-one MPEG decoder/video processing chip, the Vaddis 888. I have evaluated a lot of players that use Zoran chips and their performance is never consistent between models for some reason, so I was interested in seeing how this new chip would fare compared to their older models.
Immediately I was impressed with the chip’s chroma performance in our CUE tests. The last few Zoran chips have done well here, and this one seems to improve even more on their performance. The K860 passed all of our CUE tests, including the 4:2:0 ICP test, which is VERY rare. This MPEG decoder also handles layer changes very well with a near seamless layer change delivered with our difficult full bitrate test.
The MPEG decoder only outputs 4:4:4 YCbCr with no other selections available. The HDMI output supports 480p, 720p, and 1080i, and the component output supports 480i and 480p. There are quite a few differences in terms of performance between the two outputs, with the component output fairing a bit better in our core video tests.
The HDMI output suffers from over a full pixel of Y/C delay. This lends to a softer picture, as the two fields of the image are not converged properly, so there are some slight outlines on objects. The HDMI output is also clipping head and toe room. Video is encoded with black and white at digital 16 and 235 respectfully in an 8 bit system (255 levels). This player is truncating the information that falls after those points. Some don’t see this as a big deal, but it does not preserve the intended dynamic range of DVD, and it also creates issues for calibration.
There is absolutely no pixel cropping via HDMI at any resolution. This was nice, and a rarity in player testing lately.
The component output retains the full dynamic range of video and does not clip below black or above white information. The white level measured in at a respectable 99 IRE, which is close to the reference 100 IRE it should be. The analog video frequency response was also quite flat, with no artificial ringing or smearing in the upper frequencies. There is some slight pixel cropping via component, with a combined 5 pixels being clipped from the sides of the image, and 2 pixels cropped from the bottom. I don’t know why the component output has pixel cropping, but the HDMI output does not. They should match each other.
From a usability standpoint, the K860 could use some work. Load times - when you insert a disc - are a bit sluggish, and operability - once a disc is loaded - is slower than I would expect from a later generation DVD player. Menu navigation was tedious at times, with a lot of lagging in between selections. Chapter skips were pretty fast though, once a feature was started. The overall user interface and set-up was easy, if not a bit limited.
Moving on to our de-interlacing tests, the Zoran chip did pretty well for this price point. The player passed the majority of our tests, with the exception of our Bad Flagging tests. The player failed our 3-2 Mixed Flags and 3-2 Video Flags tests along with our Incorrect Progressive Flags test. So the player isn’t really cadence based, though it did perform cadence detections in some of our other tests. The K860 does handle a 2-2 cadence for video based material but its diagonal line processing is terrible, with severe jaggies using the HQV test disc material.
Conclusions
Overall, I found the SD-K860 to be a sub-par DVD player. There were some highlights, but the player needs work in its core video performance. This has become an unsettling trend lately in our tests. While I don’t expect top of the line performance at this price point, the issues found here should just not be a problem regardless of the price. Limitations in video processing are expected, not limitations in core performance. While this is an attractive price point for a HDMI based DVD player, I would have to recommend looking elsewhere.
Video Frequency Response
Toshiba
Toshiba - SD-K760
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Zoran |
| MPEG Model: |
Vaddis 888 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Zoran |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Vaddis 888 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$59.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.toshiba.com |
|
|
SD-K760 - 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
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
| YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
The Toshiba SD-K760 is literally Toshiba’s entry-level progressive scan player (July, 2006). It is as light on features as it is on price. This player is sold at major wholesale outlets like Sam’s Club and Costco and provides a reasonable amount of performance for the money.
The SD-K760 is very similar to the SD-K860 but is missing the HDMI output of the more expensive counterpart. The analog video performance is almost identical though. The K760 has an extremely small profile and is not very deep. Opening the player revealed a very small video board, a DVD transport, and a small power supply board. If Toshiba really wanted to, they could have made this player a lot smaller than it is, but I am glad they stuck to the standard width.
Set-up is very simple, with selection for interlaced or progressive video being the only real selections needed. The K760 uses the new Zoran Vaddis 888 MPEG decoder, like the K860 also reviewed in a recent Benchmark. This is Zoran’s newest chip offering, and its performance is quite good for an obvious budget solution.
The player performed pretty well in our core video testing, with only a few shortcomings. The Zoran chip does a superb job with our CUE tests, showing no signs at all of the chroma bug, even with our 4:2:0 ICP test. This is extremely rare for a one-chip-based DVD player. The SD-K760 passed our below black tests and its white level was set at 100 IRE, which is perfect. There is some slight pixel cropping, with 5 pixels clipped from the right and left side combined and 2 from the bottom of the image.
The component output suffers from over a full pixel of Y/C delay. This results is a softer picture, with artificial haloing around some images, similar to what you see with convergence problems in certain displays. The video frequency response of the player is quite good, and near flat. I didn’t see any loss of resolution using a multi-burst test pattern on my display or with our digital oscilloscope.
Overall, operation of the player was a bit on the disappointing side, much like the K860. Load times were slow, and menu navigation was on the tedious side. Navigating the menus on our AVIA and WHQL test discs was slow enough to become on the bothersome side, which is a rarity nowadays. The layer change was really fast though and near seamless, which is always great to see (or rather not see!!).
Moving on to our de-interlacing tests, this player did about average for a one chip solution nowadays. The chip seems to be a flag-based de-interlacer, as it failed the majority of our bad flagging tests. This includes the 3-2 Mixed Flag, 3-2 Video Flag, and Incorrect Progressive Flag tests. The good thing about the flag-based design though is its recovery time when switching between film based and video based cadences. It is near instantaneous.
The Vaddis 888 MPEG decoder handled 3-2 cadences and 2-2 cadences very well, as long as there were no hiccups in the flags, so the SD-K760 should do well for the majority of normal DVD viewing.
Conclusions
The Toshiba SD-K760 has the same shortcomings as the K860, but since you can find this player for around $50, I think a lot of the issues could be overlooked. This would be a good fit for a bedroom or kid’s room where you’re not looking for great performance or operability, but rather just an extra player.
Video Frequency Response
Toshiba
Samsung - HD-960
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Zoran |
| MPEG Model: |
Vaddis 886 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Genesis |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI-2301 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$219.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.samsungusa.com |
|
|
HD-960 (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
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
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
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
| YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Recovery Time
| |
|
HD-960 (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
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
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
| YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Recovery Time
| |
The Samsung HD-960 is their newest DVD player to offer HDMI support and upscaling resolutions of up to 1080p. 1080p output is only a year or so old, and there are a limited number of players out there with this resolution as an option. Samsung delivers it at a very attractive price point with the 960.
The HD-960 is a pretty cut and dry DVD player from a build point. The construction is very typical for this price point, with it being small and light. This is not a universal design so support for SACD or DVD-A will not be found here. You do get support for just about everything else though, including WMA, MP3, and DivX. The back panel has all of the normal hook-ups including component, HDMI, and Toslink digital audio as well as coaxial analog audio connections.
Looking at the inside of the player reveals a Zoran Vaddis 886 MPEG decoder and the Genesis/Faroudja FLI-2301 video processing chip. I haven’t seen this combination many times before, so I was curious to see how the two would play together.
The Vaddis 886 appears to be very similar in performance to the 888. It did fairly well in our core video tests, with the exception of pixel cropping. The player clips quite a few pixels from the active image, with 9 from the right side and 3 from the bottom. The player also failed our Y/C delay tests with over a full pixel of delay visible between the luma and chroma signal on both HDMI and component outputs.
The Vaddis 886 passed all of our CUE tests, and the Genesis chip provides the necessary chroma filtering for our 4:2:0 ICP test. Thankfully, the cross color suppressor is defaulted to Off, so there are no issues with chroma that I could see at all during playback. The HD-960 does pass the full video range and does not clip head and toe room, so below black and above white information are retained regardless of the output used. This is nice to see, and a rarity these days. The MPEG decoder does not pass our subtitles test, so you will see combing with player-generated subtitles during normal viewing.
The Genesis FLI-2301 performed as expected in our de-interlacing tests, with the exception of our mixed flags testing. Faroudja-based players normally pass this test with no issues at all, but in this case the player failed. A chip setting must be configured to Off in this design (not something the consumer can change), and I imagine Samsung could remedy this issue (along with the Y/C delay if they were so inclined) with a firmware update. It also does not support 2-2 cadences properly, which requires a separate video mode with the FLI chip.
Another oddity with the HD-960 is its sluggishness to transition from a video mode to a film mode of de-interlacing. The Faroudja solution has always been slower than most de-interlacing solutions out there, but it normally takes about 15 frames at the most. The 960 took almost twice as long. This led to a fail mark for our recovery time test despite the fact that it does pass the test for transition. This is the first time I’ve seen a player using this chip have so many problems with these tests and wonder if the chipset was shipped to them in the wrong configuration or if Samsung implemented it wrong.
Like all FLI-23xx-based DVD players, the Samsung has clear signs of the “macroblocking” artifacts that are associated with this video processing solution. Using my test clip from A Bug’s Life showed obvious video noise in the darker segments and large solid colors. Like every other player I’ve reviewed with this chip set, I recommend interested buyers purchase from a dealer with a good return policy. Since this issue only manifests on some displays (largely digital ones), buyers should try the player at home on their own displays to see if it will be a problem for them.
Conclusions
Overall, the Samsung HD-960 represents a decent value, given its 1080p support and price tag, but I would have a hard time recommending it. The Faroudja processing used seems to be implemented poorly, and the player has a few bugs it needs to work out to be competitive over some of the other players near its price point using the same solution.
Video Frequency Response
Samsung
Samsung - HD-850
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Zoran |
| MPEG Model: |
Vaddis 778 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Zoran |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Vaddis 778 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$149.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.samsungusa.com |
|
|
HD-850 (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
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Responsiveness
| YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
|
HD-850 (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
Blacker-than-Black
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Responsiveness
| Video Levels
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
The Samsung HD-850 is almost identical to the Toshiba SD-5980 that we are also featuring in this edition of the Benchmark. They both rely on the exact same chips but use a vastly different user interface.
The 850 is obviously Samsung’s version of a stripped down 841. It supports HDMI and scaled resolutions of 480p, 720p, and 1080i, but they got rid of DVD Audio and SACD support. For video processing they chose to go with new solutions from Zoran. The Zoran Vaddis 778 is employed for MPEG decoding and de-interlacing duties, and the Vaddis HD Extreme is used for scaling.
Like most Vaddis chips, the 778 is OK with film based material that has good flagging, but it’s not the best with cadence breaks or video material. In fact, it isn’t even motion-adaptive. The image breaks up with any change in cadence, and I noticed some pretty severe jaggies with video-based material.
The HD-850 is different than the Toshiba SD-5980 in that it offers only one progressive mode with no user selectable settings. Some may call this a big deal, but there was really no need for one since even the modes that Toshiba adds don’t bring any performance advantages. This chip has equal performance for both film and video and supports a 3-2 and 2-2 cadence.
The core performance is where you see the most separation between the Toshiba and the Samsung. The Samsung has user adjustments for RBG levels via HDMI including settings for PC and Studio RGB levels. Of course, we always recommend using Studio RGB levels, as this is the format DVD is mastered in. If you have a DVI-based display though, this player incorrectly converts the RGB levels to PC so you will not get above-white or below-black. But the levels are correct if going HDMI to HDMI.
The player has a full pixel of Y/C delay via its component outputs. The Toshiba is a bit better in this regard. The layer change was faster than the Toshiba, coming in under a second,and the menu navigation was also quite speedy. This player is also better in terms of pixel cropping,but its video frequency response via component video is a bit more rolled off than the Toshiba, so if component video is important to you, the image may be a bit softer. Another downside of the 850 is its white level via component video. This player measured at 97 IRE, which is on the low side. The Toshiba was closer to the reference 100 IRE mark and will produce a punchier picture.
The Vaddis 778 did very well in our chroma tests. Even the ICP 4:2:0 test looked terrific without chroma filters. It is nice to see that Zoran has addressed this issue with it newer chips.
Overall, the Samsung is about the same as the majority of the players out there. It has its issues which are mainly trivial, and it is surprising that Samsung doesn’t address these things before they get out. It would be pretty simple. The de-interlacing is average overall and should do fine with most DVDs on the market today. For the discerning videophile, I would have to suggest you look elsewhere. Since the Toshiba and the Samsung have identical de-interlacing performance, you should pay attention to the core performance and figure out what is important to you. Both players have caveats, but some may or may not matter to you.
Video Frequency Response
Samsung
Panasonic - DVD-RP62
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
MEI |
| MPEG Model: |
MN677533MP |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Genesis |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI2200 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$179.95 |
| Website: |
http://www.panasonic.com |
|
|
DVD-RP62 - 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
Blacker-than-Black
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
| Video Levels
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
|
DVD-RP62 - 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
Blacker-than-Black
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
| Video Levels
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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 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
White is actually a little low and below spec. The player is capable of
reproducing below black picture information. The YC delay is longer than 5ns,
which is outside of spec. The frequency response looks good.
While no lines are cropped on the top or bottom, there are 5 samples cropped
from the left and 6 cropped from the right.
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.
All in all, not a bad player, but it is not quite up to the level set by the
RP82 (or even its predecessor the RP56). However, it's a cheaper player, and readily available in more stores than
the RP82. At its price point, it's a perfectly fine player.
Video Frequency Response
Panasonic
Pioneer - DV-588A
|
DV-588A - Default |
|
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
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Image Cropping
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
| |
This was a big surprise entry in the April/May DVD Benchmark. The Pioneer DV-588A is the successor to the DV-578 which I reviewed last year. I was quite impressed with the DV-578 and was pretty anxious to see how Pioneer would follow it up. This new offering is almost identical to the 578 but adds a few new features including DivX and Windows Media Audio support.
Like the DV-578, the 588 utilizes a Mediatek MPEG decoder for all of its video processing duties. So again, despite the “Pioneer Pure Progressive” logo on the front, this is not a Pioneer video processing design. The player only has its default de-interlacing mode, but it did have quite a few adjustments for things like contrast, brightness, hue, and gamma.
Overall de-interlacing performance was just a touch above average, and this is definitely one of the better implementations of the Mediatek chipset. Thankfully, the player is motion adaptive, which few Mediatek players are. With all of our 3-2 cadence tests, the Pioneer performed well, but did trip up a bit with some breaks in cadence. This player supports PAL playback and does a pretty great job at PAL to NTSC conversion much like the 578. The 588A also supports a 2-2 cadence and did quite well with our Natural Splendors test scene.
The core side of this player is where I had the most issues. The biggest offenders were Y/C delay and below-black performance. Th 588A would not pass a below-black pluge signal, and Y/C delay was greater than 1 pixel on both the Pb and Pr channels. This is what we saw from the 578 in core performance and is a rather surprising overlook by Pioneer. I am hoping that they will address both of these issues with a firmware update soon.
The player’s video output level was spot on at 100 IRE, and the frequency response was almost ruler flat with only a slight nudge up in the mid and upper frequency range. The sharpness test pattern from AVIA Pro didn’t show any signs of ringing, and the player resolved the full resolution potential of DVD perfectly.
This player does have some pixel cropping issues. The right and left sides of the image combined for 7 pixels cropped, while the bottom clipped off 1.
The best part of the Mediatek implementation here has to be the user interface and responsiveness. The 588 has a completely seamless layer change, and its menu and chapter navigation are extremely fast. I did knock a bit of a point off for its load times though, which I felt were a tad sluggish. The player also did extremely well with our chroma tests, passing all of them easily with the exception of the 4:2:0 ICP test. Surprisingly, this chip didn’t do near as well as it normally does with that test, and streaking was blatantly obvious.
The 588 is a budget universal transport, supporting DVD-Audio and SACD. This support includes full time alignment and bass management, though the time alignment is a bit more limited for the SACD side. Unfortunately, there was no way of telling what crossover point Pioneer uses for the bass management, but based on the available specifications for Burr Brown PCM DACs, I can pretty much conclude that this player does convert DSD to PCM regardless of the setup. While I don’t find this to be a big deal at all, I know there are some people who will frown on this (it is pretty common though).
Summary: Overall, the Pioneer DV-588A is an excellent player for the money and on my short list of recommended players under $150. In reality, I would almost call it a steal. I am quite surprised that some of the same issues that were readily apparent with the DV-578 showed up again with the 588. What is the point of a new model that doesn’t address problems in older models? I really hope that Pioneer takes the time to fix these issues with a future firmware update.
Video Frequency Response
Pioneer
LG - DVB418 - Component 480p
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Mediatek |
| MPEG Model: |
MT1389FE |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Mediatek |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
MT1389FE |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$249.95 |
| Website: |
http://us.lge.com/index.do |
|
|
DVB418 - Component 480p - 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
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Image Cropping
| Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
| |
You can just about chalk this one up as one of the most difficult DVD players I’ve had to test. If this player would have had any larger selection of de-interlacing modes, I would have gone stark raving mad.
The LG DVB418 is the first HDMI or progressive scan player that I’ve seen on the market from LG. This company seems to be going gangbusters, as I’ve seen more and more of their products hitting the shelves this past year. When I saw that they had an up-scaling DVD player for less then $200 street, I figured it would make a nice addition to the benchmark.
Because of the way LG designed this player, I had to break it up into two sections. It uses its MPEG decoder for de-interlacing duties via component video at 480p, but a different solution for 720p and 1080i via component, as well as all resolutions via HDMI. Yes, this player does scale to 720p or 1080i via component but only for un-copyrighted DVDs. The majority of studio DVD releases on the market today won’t play at those resolutions.
The 418 utilizes a Mediatek MPEG decoder for its core processing. Judging from the huge influx of DVD players this year using this chip, it is obviously becoming a very popular solution, which is understandable given its performance attributes. It is extremely fast, handles both PAL and NTSC including PAL to NTSC conversion, and it has excellent chroma performance. It is easily becoming one of my favorite MPEG decoders.
For 480p component video, the de-interlacing duties are handled by the Mediatek chip. Why they did this I have no idea because in the same player is a Genesis FLI-2300 series chip. Which series the Genesis chip is, I am not quite sure, as it was underneath the main video board, and since I planned on returning this player, I didn’t want to risk breaking it.
This makes the overall performance of the 418 very different, depending on the mode. For 480p, the Mediatek did quite well, and this is definitely one of the better implementations I’ve seen. The player is motion adaptive and passes the majority of our de-interlacing tests, including 2-2. It did have some issues with 3-2 Video flags though, as well as the chapter breaks. This is a pretty common problem with most MPEG decoder-based solutions.
The biggest downfall of this player regardless of which mode is used is the core performance. Via component, the video frequency response is excellent, but pixel cropping is hit or miss. At 480p, there are 7 pixels cropped from the sides of the image and 6 from the top and bottom. At 720p, there are 18 from just the right side alone, and that number increases to 21 at 1080i!! The player also doesn’t pass a below-black pluge via component, but at 480p, the black level is set appropriately to 0 IRE. When you engage the Faroudja processing at 720p or 1080i via component, the black level shifts to 7.5 IRE, and there is no way to change it. The white level is also extremely hot at 105 IRE when outputting 480p. At 720p it is toned down to a usable 102 IRE, but that is still on the edge of our acceptable range. The player also has over a full pixel of Y/C delay at 480p.
Summary: Despite what the numbers might suggest, the 480p component output of the LG DVB418 is the best output you’re going to get. You can read the specifics of the up-converted component performance as well as the HDMI performance in the review for the other section for this player. But I warn you, it isn’t pretty.
Video Frequency Response
LG
Zenith - DVB-318 Component
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
STMicroelectronics |
| MPEG Model: |
Omega DVD STi5505 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Faroudja |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
FLI-2310 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$249.99 |
| Website: |
www.zenith.com |
|
|
DVB-318 Component (480P/720P) - 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
Blacker-than-Black
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
Recovery Time
| Responsiveness
Video Levels
YC Delay
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
Video Frequency Response
Zenith
Toshiba - SD-3960
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Toshiba |
| MPEG Model: |
TC90602FG |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Toshiba |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
TC90602FG |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$69.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.toshiba.com |
|
|
SD-3960 - Film |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. 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
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
|
SD-3960 - Auto |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. 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
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
|
SD-3960 - Video |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
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
Motion Adaptive
| |
The Toshiba SD-3960 probably did the best of all of the players in the July, 2004 shootout. Overall I felt it was a decent player but not as solid as some other budget units out there.
The player is built on a Toshiba-based MPEG decoder that also seems to handle all of the de-interlacing functions. In the core tests, the player did pretty well, passing our blacker-than-black and video levels tests. White level came in at a respectable 101 IRE. Video frequency response was good for a budget player with only a slight dip in the upper frequency range.
The user interface is pretty good with some menus but a bit sluggish with others. This player does pass all of our chroma tests which is a first for a Toshiba player. Y/C delay is not a problem, and pixel cropping is only slight with 3 pixels clipped on each side.
As far as de-interlacing goes, Toshiba has three modes available with this player; Auto, Film, and Video. Auto and Film are identical in our tests and did a fair job. This player does okay with bad flagging but is not motion adaptive. It is also flag-based, so you will see quick recoveries during transitions from film to video.
The Video mode is completely forced and will not lock on to a Film flag at all. I wouldn’t suggest using Video mode, as the Auto mode handles video just as well.
Overall, this Toshiba is quite good as an entry player. I would have liked to have seen a motion adaptive de-interlacer but as a flag reader it did pretty well.
Video Frequency Response
Toshiba
Samsung - DVD-HD755
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Zoran |
| MPEG Model: |
Vaddis 778 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Zoran |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Vaddis 778 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$149.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.samsungusa.com |
|
|
DVD-HD755 (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
Image Cropping
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
| | YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
|
DVD-HD755 (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
YC Delay
Image Cropping
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
| | Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
The DVD-HD755 is Samsung’s least expensive HDMI-based DVD player to date. It offers scaling to 720p and 1080i via HDMI, but lacks the support for high resolution audio formats that its upper line of players offers. This is kind of a no-frills scaling player so to speak. Its build quality is average, and its performance is almost below average compared to some of the newer budget HDMI players on the market (including some of the players featured in recent Benchmarks!).
The DVD-HD755 is centered on Zoran’s Vaddis 778 MPEG decoder, which provides most of the video processing, including de-interlacing. This is one of the newer Vaddis chips, and its performance is about the same as most of the other Vaddis line, i.e., average. The HD755 also uses the Vaddis HD Extreme scaling chip, which again does a decent job, but nothing to write home about. The only things I’ve seen with this Vaddis solution that I like more than their older chips is their improvements with chroma performance and the lack of upsampling errors.
Since this is an HDMI-based DVD player, the set-up offers the end user a selection of color space options. Older DVI-ased DVD players would only offer RBG for color space output, but HDMI supports the native color space of DVD, namely YCbCr. In the output set-up, the HD755 offers not only RGB but 4:2:0 YCbCr and 4:4:4 YCbCr. Unfortunately, this is actually false. The player outputs 4:4:4 YCbCr no matter what is selected. This was verified using a DVDO VP30 to look at the incoming color space and resolution information. I guess Samsung decided not to check for this when they started shipping. While this isn’t a huge deal, it still means the player is not performing as advertised, no matter what color space conversion is occurring (DVD is mastered at 4:2:0 YCbCr, but most, if not all MPEG decoder output 4:2:2 YCbCr).
There were some other inconsistencies with this player that I noted throughout my testing, for example, the menu button on the remote control. Normally, you press it and you are taken to the menu for the DVD playing. With this player you are taken to the set-up menu. You actually have to do a variation of keystrokes to get to the DVD menus. I haven’t the faintest clue why they did this, but manufacturers cease to amaze me lately. The remainder of the user interface was easy enough though, and overall functionality was quick and painless. Loading times for the player were short, and the player’s layer change was near seamless.
For our video testing, I started with the HDMI output. I tested at all resolutions for the normal core testing but did my de-interlacing tests at 720p. On the core side, the HDMI output had a few issues. The biggest one was clipping head and toe room. The HD755 does not pass a below-black PLUGE signal, and it is clipping above-white information. This makes it hard to properly calibrate a digital display, but it also means the player is not retaining the full dynamic range of the software playing in it. DVDs are encoded with Studio RGB levels and retain the head and toe room of the reference Sony CRT monitor they are mastered with.
Other than the video levels, the HDMI output had no real issues. This player passed all of our chroma upsampling error (CUE) tests including our 4:2:0 ICP test. The Vaddis chip is performing filtering of the chroma information, so some chroma resolution is lost. This is similar to what Faroudja-based players have done for years. Whether or not this is noticeable to the end user is debatable. The HDMI output has no signs of Y/C delay and is not clipping any active pixels in the image.
The component output is about the same, except it is not clipping the video levels. The component output supports below-black and above-white information, and the white level is properly output at 100 IRE. I didn’t see any pixel cropping at 480p, but the component outputs do suffer from over a full pixel of Y/C delay, which creates some “haloing” effects around objects. There are no adjustments for this in the player’s picture adjustments.
The analog video frequency response was decent, but not perfect. The upper frequency range just passed our criteria, but was down nearly 2 dB in the upper range. This results in a slightly softer image since fine detail is not fully resolved. Adjusting the sharpness in the player’s set-up only made things worse.
Moving on to our de-interlacing tests, the HD755 did about as well as I expected. I’ve tested players that use the Vaddis chip before, and the results are usually always the same. This player is not motion adaptive, so it is not a good choice for video based DVDs. Line twitter will be quite noticeable, and the image will normally be a lot softer than motion adaptive DVD players. The HD755 also does a poor job with diagonal lines in video based material.
For film based DVDs, the HD755 is average at best. It is flag-based, so it trips up with just about any break in cadence or bad flagging. This results in frequent combing and drops to video mode, which makes the image softer. The Vaddis chip does support a 2-2 cadence though, which is nice for some video material. Other than standard well-mastered 3-2 material though, this player is not a good option for progressive scan playback.
Conclusions
The Samsung DVD-HD755 is a rather lackluster player that doesn’t really perform up to snuff with most of the other HDMI-based players at this price point. Its video processing is average to below average, and its core section could use some fine-tuning. There are other options at this price point that have more features, and better overall video performance. If you searching for a budget HDMI based player, I would recommend looking elsewhere.
Video Frequency Response
Samsung
Microsoft - Xbox 360
|
Xbox 360 (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
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Motion Adaptive
| | Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
This is actually the first time I’ve tested a console gaming system for the DVD Benchmark. I realize that Sony launched a progressive version of the Playstation 2 at one point, but I wasn’t about to buy it again just for the sake of reviewing it. I bought an Xbox 360 as a present to myself for Christmas this year, and I thought it would be a nice inclusion into this month’s Benchmark. Plus, I was a bit curious as to how it would do in our round of tests.
The Xbox 360 is the followup to Microsoft’s first attempt in the console hardware market. In fact, the original Xbox was the first product I ever reviewed for Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity back in 2002. I was quite impressed with the first Xbox from a gaming system point of view, but it left a lot to be desired as a DVD playback machine. Despite the fact that all of the Xbox games were rendered in 480p and the Xbox supported a high definition component output, DVD playback was mitigated to 480i. The Xbox 360 is another beast entirely and has little in common with the original version. I will follow this Benchmark up with a full review of the console in March.
The Xbox 360 supports full rendering at various resolutions including 480p, 720p, and 1080i for its games, but DVD playback is limited to 480p. This also requires that you purchase the high definition support pack that includes component video cables and a digital audio output (Toslink). This support pack is included in the premium kit, but it costs about $40 if you buy it separately. The video processing is handled by a 500MHz ATI graphics processor, but its de-interlacing capabilities seem a bit limited compared to some of the DVD players on the market today.
In our de-interlacing tests the Xbox did about average overall and performed about the same as most players that use an all-in-one MPEG decoder/video processing solution. Basic cadences with no flag issues are handled fine, but once there is a break in cadence or bad flag, the results will vary. The player is a flag reader and is extremely quick to recover from a bad flag or break in cadence. As you can see from our results, it will hiccup quite often.
The Xbox 360’s core performance was a bit of a mixed bag. The player doesn’t really have any issues at all with chroma upsampling. It does suffer from the common 4:2:0 ICP CUE issue, but as we’ve reported before, this takes special filters to hide. Its severity is not bad at all here and was actually one of the better players I’ve tested in this regard. The 360 passes a below black pluge, but its default black level is 7.5 IRE with no way of adjusting it to 0 IRE. You’ll have to adjust your display accordingly, as black levels will appear elevated. The white level of this player is a tad low at 98 IRE but still within our passing criteria. I wish manufacturers would pay closer attention to their output levels, as a properly calibrated display will have to be re-adjusted for these issues.
Pixel cropping is pretty much a non-issue. The bottom of the image crops 2 pixels, while the right crops 1. The 360 does suffer from over a full pixel of Y/C delay with DVDs though. The video frequency response of the component video output is very good, with only a small decline in the upper frequency range. The image is not what I would categorize as soft, but it is not nearly as sharp as the digital players I normally use in my system. Hopefully Microsoft will eventually add support for a digital connection like HDMI; they have already commented that they will support it when they feel the time is right. Word to Microsoft: the time is right now!
The user interface for this player is a mixed bag. There are three solutions you can use: the controller, a small media remote, or the large media remote. The latter two are sold separately, although the small media remote is packaged with the premium Xbox 360 package ($399.99). For my testing, I only used the small media remote as I don’t have a need for the really big one. The big one does add more interface options though, such as number keys and more media center quick keys. The small remote only handles the most basic functions, such as menu and title keys, and general operation buttons (Play, Stop, Skip, Display). You can also adjust the subtitle, audio track, and zoom. Overall, this is a pretty weak remote, so I highly recommend that anyone who plans on using the 360 for DVD playback buy the larger media remote.
The console is extremely fast at navigation and is very intuitive. It almost makes me feel slow as it glides through menus. Load times are great, and the layer change clocked in under a half second. The console is a bit on the loud side like most HTPCs. During DVD playback, some of the core processors shut down and reduce radiated noise, but I can still hear the thing over just about any other piece of gear I have, including the rather noisy DLP projector I have on loan from a friend right now, so a word of caution there.
Conclusions
The Xbox 360 is a pretty good DVD player, given its primary purpose. Its performance is pretty close to the average DVD player at this price point, but given that it is supposed to be using one of the best graphics cards out there, I was hoping for a bit more on the de-interlacing side. With all of its other features though, I still think this console is incredible in scope for entertainment, but I’ll reserve that for the feature article.
Video Frequency Response
Microsoft
Oritron - DVD 4119
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Zoran |
| MPEG Model: |
Vaddis 6 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Zoran |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Vaddis 6 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$39.99 |
| Website: |
www.oritron.com |
|
|
DVD 4119 - 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
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
| Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
The Oritron DVD 4119 can be bought for less then $50. It is essentially a drive and a small PC board wrapped in a diminutive shell similar to the Cyberhome players you see at Wal-Mart and Best Buy. Overall performance is a bit below average for a DVD player, but I wasn’t expecting a lot at this price point.
The 4119 is based entirely on the Zoran Vaddis 6 MPEG decoder. This chip does all of the video and audio processing for the player, including de-interlacing duties. This is one of the cheaper Zoran chips and doesn’t perform at the level of the Vaddis 5 or 778 which seem to be a bit more popular amongst manufacturers.
This player is not motion adaptive, which I consider a deal breaker with any progressive scan player. At this point in the game, all DVD players should pass the test, even at $50. It did reasonably well with film-based cadences, but any break in cadence or bad flag resulted in obvious combing. The player does recovery pretty quickly though, so this shouldn’t be a huge distraction.
Like most flag-based players, the 4119 handles a 2-2 cadence pretty well. This is great for video material. But when I watched some video-based material, jaggies were clearly evident with horizontal lines. This was also extremely evident using the 3 line test on the Silicon Image test disc. Those of you who like to watch DVDs of TV shows may want to look around some more if you don’t like a jagged image.
The core performance of the player was decent but not great. Pixel cropping was a bit extreme on the right side of the image with 8 pixels cropped, but no other sides had any cropping. The player has no signs of Y/C delay, and its video frequency response was only a bit down in the higher frequencies. This contributed to a slightly softer image than with higher line players. It does pass a below-black pluge pattern, and its white level is at a respectable 101 IRE.
On the interface side, this player did about average in terms of speed. Menu navigation and chapter skips were quick, but not blazing, and the layer change clocked in at around 1.5 seconds.
The player did quite well in our chroma tests, and this was probably the most impressive aspect of its performance. Even with our 4:2:0 ICP test, it did not show any signs of the infamous CUE problem. There was no banding or jagged edges at all on our fish tests using the Microsoft WHQL 3.0 test disc. Zoran has made great strides in this department with both the Vaddis 6 and Vaddis 778 chips.
Summary: In the realm of under $50 players, the Oritron DVD 4119 fits in with the rest of the pack. Its video performance is average at best, and generally not too bad. If you are on a tight budget, you might prefer a Mediatek-based budget player, but this one would still be OK.
Video Frequency Response
Oritron
V. Inc - Bravo D1 - DVI
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Sigma |
| MPEG Model: |
EM-8500 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Sigma |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
EM-8500 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$199.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.vinc.us/ |
|
|
Bravo D1 - DVI - 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
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| | Responsiveness
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
Important note: The pass/fail scores for this player only apply to the
DVI output. As you'll see from the testing notes, the analog output has serious
issues, and thus we can only recommend this player if it's connected to the
display via DVI.
Deinterlacing
This player uses the new Sigma Designs all-in-one chip, which has basic
flag-only film detection, combined with a simple vertical filter for video mode
deinterlacing. As with all chips of this type, it works well on film-based
content when the flags are standard, but when the flags are non-standard or the
content is not from a film or other progressive source, the image is much softer
than it needs to be. In the worst cases, when the progressive flag is set to
"true" improperly, the player will comb constantly. Its resistance to bad edits
was poor, with 5 total combs in the Big Lebowski montage.
On the plus side, it handles the common "alternating progressive flag"
encoding problem well, correctly treating it as progressive content.
The Basics
Black level on the analog output is incorrect at 7.6 IRE instead of the
standard 0 IRE. There is no switch we could find to adjust it to 0 IRE black.
White level is low, at 97.3 IRE, which was too low to pass. Both Y-Pb and Y-Pr
have delay greater than the EIA standard of 5ns, again only on the analog
output. The player does pass blacker-than-black in progressive mode, though we
should note that because the player only does 7.5 IRE black, we were unable to
check blacker-than-black at 0 IRE.
The video frequency response on the analog output of this player is
astonishingly rolled off, actually down a whopping 13 dB at 10 MHz. Considering
that DVD goes all the way to 13.5 MHz, that's pretty bad. The rolloff was
consistent even in the higher resolutions. Through the DVI connection, of
course, there is no rolloff.
There are 0 video lines cropped from the top and bottom, and 0 video samples
on the left and right, which is excellent.
The layer change is fast, at around 0.5 seconds, and responsiveness was 2.5,
which is about average.
The scaling and DVI features of this player are what people are buying it
for, and those features work well, as long as you use them together. The analog
outputs have too many problems for us to recommend the player for use via an
analog connection, but through a DVI connection the clarity is just stellar,
with no chroma delay and no rolloff. The scaling engine in the player is
excellent, producing clean output with no obvious jaggies or moire even on
difficult material like the Avia resolution patterns.
The player is not without its quirks, however. In our limited time working
with it, we found that while it has a zoom that is useful for zooming in on
non-anamorphic letterboxed discs, the zoom snaps back to normal when you hit the
chapter next button, and the subtitles turn off while it's zoomed in. These are
clearly firmware quirks, and perhaps can be corrected, but they are nevertheless
annoying.
Another minor issue is that the player always window-boxes 4:3 discs for you,
even if your display has aspect ratio controls of its own. This is non-optimal
for people with digital displays, as they often only sample 720 times across a
scan line when taking in 480p content. With the window-box bars on, there are
more than 720 sample intervals across the screen, and thus picture information
gets lost. You can clearly see this on our Sony VW10HT test projector. We put
the player in 16x9 mode, then viewed a 4x3-encoded resolution chart. Three
fourths of the horizontal resolution was lost because the projector wasn't
sampling more than what it thought it "needed" to do to capture the full 480p
signal. If we put the player in 4x3 mode so it wouldn't add the window-box bars,
then window-boxed using the display's aspect controls, the full resolution was
visible. The player could really use a mode where it doesn't try to do any
aspect control of its own, for people who have a display that can do a better
job of aspect control than the player can. This is not an issue when using the
DVI output.
Finally, we noted that when the player is in 16x9 mode, whenever subpictures
(like menus and subtitles) are displayed on screen for 4x3 content they look
very odd, like they've been scaled using a simplistic algorithm. The effect is
jarring. The menus on Avia are a good example of this phenomenon because Avia
contains both 4x3 and 16x9 menus. Put the player in 4x3 mode, and the effect
disappears. We have seen similar behavior on other DVD players.
In the end, while we are impressed with the clarity that DVI brings, we're
not ready to lose the excellent deinterlacing of the best chipsets in order to
get it, and we weren't happy with the interface quirks mentioned above. For
those who just want an inexpensive way to feed a digital display with a DVI
connection and aren't as picky about deinterlacing and quirky UI, the Bravo D1
may well fit the bill.
Sony - DVP-NS775V
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Sony |
| MPEG Model: |
CXD9804R |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Sony |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
CXD9804R |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$129.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.sony.com |
|
|
DVP-NS775V - Auto |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Blacker-than-Black
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
|
DVP-NS775V - Video |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Blacker-than-Black
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
| |
First off we’d like to give a huge thanks to Derek Smith for giving us the opportunity to test this player. Derek graciously volunteered his player and even came over when I did the tests.
The Sony DVP-NS775V is a mid to lower line entry from Sony that doesn’t have many bells and whistles other than support for SACD playback. The 775 is built on a Sony platform all in one video chip that handles both MPEG decoding and de-interlacing for progressive playback. Like the last few Sony players I’ve tested, this one shows that Sony has come quite a way over the last few years in terms of video performance. I look forward to trying out their new flagship ES players that are due out later this year.
The Sony video processing is in line with most standard players on the market right now. It handles film cadences quite well but will occasionally trip up when that cadence changes. So with the majority of film DVDs out there, this player should do fine in the de-interlacing department. It does lack a mode for DVDs using a 2-2 cadence though, so video performance may vary.
Equally important to video processing is the player’s core performance. This is the building block to a great picture. Keep in mind that most displays nowadays contain some pretty advanced video processing, including scaling and de-interlacing. Sometimes it is more beneficial to rely on that processing instead of the player’s own processing. But a player’s core component performance is critical so that the display’s processing has the best signal possible to work with.
The 775 fared okay in these tests but could be improved upon. The most glaring issue was Y/C delay. Using a bowtie pattern on Video Essentials and our digital oscilloscope, we measured greater than a full pixel of Y/C delay on both the Pb and Pr channels. Y/C delay will cause a “ghosting” effect on the image that almost looks like a halo on the side of the delay. It is essential that the luminance and chroma channels are perfectly in sync with each other to provide the best video image.
The video frequency response of the player was excellent and just about ruler flat. I did spot some pixel cropping on the left and right side of the image with a total of 7 pixels being cropped. The player did extremely well with our chroma tests. The only one it didn’t pass was the 4:2:0 ICP test which requires a chroma filter that is normally only found in high end video processors.
The player did pass the below-black pluge pattern test, but its white level was a bit high at 103 IRE. This will exaggerate white levels and produce an artificially high contrast level.
The user interface was simple to navigate, and response times were quite good. I thought the initial loading times were on the sluggish side, but menu navigation and chapter skips were quite speedy. Using a full bit rate layer change, we measured the delay at about 0.75 second, which is excellent.
Overall, the Sony is a decent entry level player, but a bit more attention to detail would have gone a long way. It surprises me that so many companies seem to drop the ball on the easy stuff this late in the game. I hope that the next offerings from Sony that are due out later this year are tweaked in a bit better.
Video Frequency Response
Sony
Momitsu - V-880 DVI
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Sigma Designs |
| MPEG Model: |
EM8500 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Sigma Designs |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
EM8500 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$229.00 |
| Website: |
www.momitsu.jp |
|
|
V-880 DVI - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. 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
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| Responsiveness
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
Ever since we started testing the Sigma Designs 8500-based players, I have been getting swarms of PMs and e-mails asking why we haven’t reviewed the Momitsu. The word from the forums is this is the player to beat and doesn’t have the caveats reported with the other Sigma-based players.
One of the members at AVS, Yowei Liu, graciously offered his modified Momitsu for our tests. This player has been modified with new cables inside as well as shielding. Be advised that these are not mods performed by Momitsu so the results here do not probably reflect what you will get from a stock model. He also made sure that all the recent firmware updates had been installed.
As I mentioned before, this player uses the Sigma Designs 8500 chip that can also be found on offerings from V Inc. and Liteon. This chip offers average de-interlacing performance that falls short of the better chips out there such as the Silicon Image or Faroudja solutions. But it does offer quite good scaling and custom resolutions for different display devices.
On the analog side, this player fared about as well as its counterparts, which was a bit of a surprise, based on the responses I’ve heard on the internet boards. The video frequency response is heavily rolled off in the upper frequencies, contributing to a softening of finer detail on screen. This is apparent regardless of output resolution. The analog stage also suffers from some slight Y/C delay that measures just above 5ns on all the output resolutions except 1080i, which suffers from some slight Pb/Pr delay. Pixel cropping is excellent though with only one pixel being cropped in 480p and no pixels cropped in the other resolutions. The player also passes below black correctly, and white levels are close to the mark at 98 IRE.
The DVI output is the preferred output with this player. I did feel it was a bit soft as well, but unfortunately I don’t have the means to measure frequency response via DVI or HDMI at this time. Pixel cropping and Y/C delay were perfect via DVI and the de-interlacing performed the same as its analog counterpart.
As a whole, the Sigma players still represent an outstanding price performance option in the market. While they do fall short of some of the better digital players out there, they are a lot closer than you might assume.
Toshiba - SD-4960
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Zoran |
| MPEG Model: |
Vaddis 778 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Zoran |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Vaddis 778 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$129.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.toshiba.com |
|
|
SD-4960 - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
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
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Image Cropping
| Video Levels
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
Toshiba ventures into the Universal player market with their first single disc universal offering, the SD-4960. At only $129.99, this is one of the lowest priced universal offerings I’ve seen to date.
The 4960 is based on the Zoran Vaddis 778 MPEG decoder and uses this chip for all its video processing duties. There are plenty of players out there that use the Zoran chips, but we have found that their quality varies substantially with each different model. The 778 chip didn’t do near as well as the Vaddis 5 does, which is the preferred Zoran chip.
This player is not motion adaptive, which at this point in the game is a must for a progressive scan DVD player. This player will drops into video mode with any flag issue and combing is quite evident. If the DVD is flagged correctly (which most aren’t), artifacts will be few and far between and the image should look quite good.
This chip does have an advantage over the Vaddis 5 though, better chroma filtering. This player did a superb job with almost all of our chroma tests and even passed the 4:2:0 ICP test. With normal 3-2 based material, there was a slight amount of jaggedness around the edges, so I gave it a borderline score for that test. The MPEG decoder did an excellent job synching the subtitles to the video frames and didn’t show any signs of combing.
The analog stage of this player was pretty good. There was no Y/C delay at all using Video Essentials Bowtie pattern and the overall frequency response of the player was decent, with only a very slight roll off in the upper frequencies.
Navigating menus was quick and painless and chapter skips were decent. I clocked the layer change in at about 1 second, which is respectable.
This player does pass a below-black pluge pattern but its white level is set a tad high at 103 IRE. This gives the image a rather exaggerated look in contrast levels.
This player does support DVD Audio and SA-CD and offers a single crossover point and level adjustments for each channel. It does not offer time alignment though, which is crucial for proper multi-channel audio playback.
Overall this is a decent entry for Toshiba, especially given the price point. I wish they would have gone with a slightly better MPEG decoder and video processor though.
Video Frequency Response
Toshiba
V. Inc - Bravo D2 DVI
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Sigma Designs |
| MPEG Model: |
EM8500 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Sigma Designs |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
EM8500 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$249.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.vinc.us/ |
|
|
Bravo D2 DVI - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. 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
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| Responsiveness
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
The Bravo D2 is the follow up to the relatively popular Bravo D1. These players are extremely similar to each other in performance on the DVI side but Bravo has upped the ante on the component side, for the most part. The new machine sports a better build and nicer looking chassis and retains most of the features of the previous player.
The D2 uses the same Sigma Designs EM8500 MPEG decoder that the previous model used. This all-in-one solution performs all of the de-interlacing and scaling. We at Secrets think this is a stellar MPEG decoder that offers great scaling but only average de-interlacing. I am still waiting with baited breath for a player that combines this MPEG decoder with a more formidable de-interlacer like the Faroudja or Silicon Image offerings.
The D2 performed essentially identical to the previous D1 in terms of de-interlacing, but its analog performance is a welcomed step up. All of the Sigma Designs players I have tested have very steep roll-off in their video frequency response, contributing to a very soft picture and an utter lack of fine detail. The D2 has the best performance I have seen in this area to date for a Sigma-based player with a far more gentle roll-off in the upper frequencies. The only problem is, this new player will not output 720p or 1080i via component with copyrighted material. The bulk of the DVD library today is protected, making this player almost useless in this respect.
The DVI output is not HDCP compliant (neither was the D1), but it is still the preferred connection with this player, sporting an amazingly sharp image and proper video levels. Both the analog and digital outputs support blacker than black information, and there are no issues with Y/C delay or pixel cropping except via component 480p (10 pixels cropped on the right side). The player’s white levels are a bit on the low side, measuring around 90 IRE (component output) for all resolutions. This will cause a lack of dynamic range in the image and will reduce the contrast.
The user interface is good on this player. Menus and chapter skips were pretty fast, though not blinding. The player offers brightness and contrast settings for DVI, though I felt the steps were a bit too large, making picture calibration a bit tough. This new player also features an all new remote design that is a big step up from the previously supplied remote for the D1.
Overall, the D2 seems to be in about the same league as its predecessor. I like that V Inc put a bit more effort into the analog stage this time. This player still remains a solid value given its performance and price point with only a few shortcomings in overall performance. Also, a big thanks goes out to V Inc. They have graciously provided this player as a prize for our new Secrets forum. Be sure to check it out for a chance to win this player and more!!
Pioneer - DV-563a
|
DV-563a - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
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
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
| Layer Change
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Video Levels
YC Delay
|
The DV-563a is Pioneer’s first budget player to offer
progressive scan, DVD-A and SACD support in one unit. Since the 563a can be
found on the Internet well under $200, it has become a bit of a hot product
lately. While it is a decent offering in some respects, it has a way to go
before outdoing the better offerings out there and is not the stellar budget
player solution that the older Panasonics had become. Pioneer has switched MPEG
decoders recently, ridding their players of the Chroma Upsampling Error (CUE)
problem. The new decoder has no signs of the bug on it.
The 563 also features Pioneer’s “Pure Progressive Cinema”
denterlacing solution, but it is not implemented as well as their Elite line and
lacks the user options to dial it in. The player was unable to pass our pixel
cropping and layer change tests. It cropped two full pixels on the top, bottom,
and left side, plus another five pixels off the right. Using our full bitrate
layer change test, the player was a bit sluggish at two seconds.
The audio section is what I expected out of a player in
this range. While most will probably be satisfied, it doesn’t come near the
performance and detail of higher end offerings. The bass management is quite
limited with a fixed 100 Hz crossover which leaves a bit to be desired. While it
is hard to compare this player to some of the others in this shootout, given its
price point, it is a decent option for those not looking to break the bank.
Panasonic - DVD-S52
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
MEI |
| MPEG Model: |
Unknown |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Unknown |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Unknown |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$99.95 |
| Website: |
http://www.panasonic.com |
|
|
DVD-S52 (HDMI) - Auto 1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
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
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
|
DVD-S52 (HDMI) - Auto 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
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
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
|
DVD-S52 (Component) - Auto 1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
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
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Video Levels
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
|
DVD-S52 (Component) - Auto 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Blacker-than-Black
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Video Levels
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
|
DVD-S52 (HDMI) - Video |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
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
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
| 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
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Motion Adaptive
| |
|
DVD-S52 (Component) - Video |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Blacker-than-Black
Sync Subtitle to Frames
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Video Levels
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
Motion Adaptive
| |
The DVD-S52 is one of the least expensive HDMI-based DVD players I’ve tested to date. At this price you wouldn’t expect much in terms of features, but Panasonic delivers a decent package of options here for the budget minded consumer. Not only does it offer an HDMI output, but this output is HDMI v1.1 compliant, and the player supports full playback of DVD-Audio. This means you can use one cable to deliver both standard DVD video and audio plus high-resolution PCM audio from DVD-Audio software. The player also supports upscaling of DVD via HDMI to 720p and 1080i. While this isn’t the first time Panasonic has offered these features to the consumer market, it has never been quite this inexpensive.
The S52 is based on a Matsushita (Panasonic) MPEG decoder. I did not see any other video processing chips when I opened the player up, and the video performance doesn’t suggest that Panasonic is using any. In the past we’ve been big fans of Panasonic’s MPEG decoders. In fact, the Panasonic MPEG decoders found in the RP-91 and RP-82 continue to be our standard to this day. Those players are over 5 years old now! This new chip does not live up to that same standard, unfortunately. The implementation on the digital side is good, but the analog output of the chip needs quite a bit of work.
I started my tests with the HDMI output. I fed a Panasonic AE-900 LCD projector directly and also put a DVDO VP30 in between for some of the tests. The VP30 allows me to verify the output color space of the player plus do some more extensive CUE testing.
The core performance on the HDMI side was quite good. The S52 is not cropping any pixels via HDMI and retains the full dynamic range of the luma signal. It does not clip below black or above white information in the image. The player also doesn’t have any signs of Y/C delay via HDMI, which helps with the overall sharpness of the image.
The S52 does suffer from some slight flickering in our CUE testing with alternating 3-2 cadence based material. This cadence is common in some of the early Pixar and Disney DVDs and can be noticeable at times. All of the other CUE tests were passed, including the 4:2:0 ICP test which means this player does some chroma filtering.
The core performance of the component (analog) outputs was completely different and not nearly as good. There is some mild pixel cropping with 2 pixels missing from the left side and 3 from the right, and there is over a full pixel of Y/C delay. All NTSC video is transmitted with both black and white (luma) and color information (chroma) placed on top of each other. They are separate and distinct signals, and if they are not overlaid exactly on top of each other, you will see outlining or “ghosting” around the image on one side. This player delays the chroma, so you will probably see a faint outline on the right side of objects.
The overall white level of the analog output was also extremely low. Using a horizontal gray ramp and a digital oscilloscope I measured the full IRE sweep of the player from 0 to 100 IRE. If the player’s output were correct, the respective 0 and 100 IRE points would measure as such on the scope. In this case the 100 IRE point measured REALLY low and came in at 91 IRE.
The analog frequency response of the player was good, with a fairly flat curve throughout the full video bandwidth.
From a usability standpoint, the Panasonic was about average. Menu navigation and chapter skipping were quick enough and never distracting. Disc load times were also good. The layer change was a tad sluggish at 1.5 seconds, but livable given the price point. I wasn’t that impressed with the advanced setup menus. Settings for HDMI output and de-interlacing mode were a bit hidden, so some users may have difficulty finding them. The normal setup menus were easy to use though.
I would have liked to see more attention to detail on the analog side of this player, especially since the HDMI (digital) output was so good.
Moving on to our de-interlacing tests, the S52 starts to show the limitations of one-chip mass-market MPEG decoders. The S52 offers three separate de-interlacing modes; Auto 1, Auto 2, and Video. Video is a forced video mode that will not lock onto any cadences or switch into a film mode. This results in a much softer image than the Auto modes but will result in very little, if any, combing. The only real difference between Auto 1 and Auto 2 was the latter’s ability to lock on to a 2-2 cadence correctly. This is only important though if you know you are going to watch material mastered with this cadence. Some TV based DVDs use this. Otherwise, we would suggest just sticking with Auto 1 (default), as it handles most of the film-based cadences.
The S52 does not handle breaks in cadence or mixed cadences very well at all. It is also not motion-adaptive, so it will not handle video-based material very well. This pretty much defines the bottom end of video de-interlacing in mass-market progressive scan players. Even our medium difficulty tests tripped this player up, resulting in drops to video mode and loss of overall resolution. It did perform nicely at recovery from video to film mode as cadences changed. At this price point I wasn’t expecting much better, but I hoped that Panasonic delivered performance closer to their players that cost just a little bit more.
Conclusions
It would be hard for me to recommend this player to anyone. The video processing is on the weak side and will result in a softer image with poorly mastered material. I was impressed with the feature set considering the price point, but that doesn’t make up for the other issues. For those using component inputs, you should steer clear of this player, as its core performance using that output needs a lot of work and there is a lot better to be found in this price range.
Video Frequency Response
Panasonic
Pioneer - DV-490V-S
|
DV-490V-S (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
Blacker-than-Black
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| | Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
| |
|
DV-490V-S (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
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| | Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
| |
The Pioneer DV-490V represents Pioneer’s cheapest HDMI DVD player to date. For less than $100 you get a fully digital transport for your DVDs. Pretty cool. Of course for this low cost, Pioneer has stripped off a few of the features that we’ve become accustomed to with their lower priced players lately like SACD and DVD-Audio, but this is still a very affordable expenditure for a bedroom or den player.
The 490V is based on the Mediatek MPEG decoder and all-in-one video-processing chip. This is not the first time Pioneer has included this chip in its DVD players; the 588 and 578 universal players both used this same chip. What has bugged me about this is the “Pure Cinema Progressive” logo on the front panel of these players. This logo is Pioneer’s label for their proprietary de-interlacing solution so common in their Elite line. So as an average consumer, you may think you are getting the performance of the upper line, but this is just not the case. I don’t mind a “progressive” moniker, but I think in this case it's a bit misleading.
The Mediatek chip is a great MPEG decoder but not really the best video-processing chip. The scaling is decent, but not outstanding. I see a bit of softness and haloing with a multi-burst pattern, but thankfully my motion patterns are free of moiré. Seeing moiré is a sure sign that something is wrong with the scaling. The de-interlacing performance is in line with the majority of Mediatek based players, though not quite as dialed in as some other models, like the DV-588a. The DV-490V also has some issues in the core video department that really don’t need to be there. I’ve tested enough Mediatek players to know that this chip is capable of passing some of these tests if it is implemented properly. This all goes back to the attention to detail thing that seems to be an issue with many DVD players lately.
I started my tests with the component video output for our core video evaluation. Using a multiburst pattern, I evaluated the analog video frequency response. The results were quite good, with the player coming in almost ruler flat across the whole frequency spectrum. After that, things got pretty rough. This player suffers from over a full pixel of Y/C delay, which created some artificial ringing. The default white level is also a bit low at 97 IRE. There is excessive pixel cropping with at least 10 pixels cropped from any one side. Other than frequency response the only good thing I could find on the core side for component video was its ability to pass a below-black pluge.
The HDMI side was actually worse! This player clips below-black but retains above-white information. That is definitely a first. I have no idea why a player would do this, or even how they are doing it, but they did it. The HDMI output also has over a full pixel of Y/C delay and is cropping more than 10 pixels from any one side, regardless of the output resolution selected. I also noticed that the overlays would not line up appropriately in some menus during my evaluation.
The core performance of a player is crucial to the overall quality. These things should really be non-issues at this point in the game because they are not things that are dependent on the price. The specifications for DVD video playback have been clearly established for a long time, but it just seems like players are getting worse before they are getting better, and it doesn’t even matter what price category they are in.
The HDMI output supports 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i. Normally, I would be really excited to see a sub-$100 player with a 480i output via HDMI, but since the core performance of this player takes it out of contention for a digital transport, 480i is not a big deal. As with all Mediatek players, the chroma performance of the 490V is outstanding, with only our 4:2:0 ICP test throwing it off. The Mediatek shows some pretty bad stripping with motion during that test.
Moving on to our de-interlacing tests, this player did average for its price point and MPEG decoder. Every Mediatek player I’ve tested so far has failed the same tests, and this is no exception. The chip does not handle cadence breaks very well and failed our Mixed Flag and Video Flag tests. The player also failed our Bad Edits test, which is not always the case for this chip. I don’t know what would need to be adjusted to pass this test, but Pioneer did pass it with the DV-588a. The 490V did pass our normal 3-2 and 2-2 test though, so the majority of video content will play back with no real issues.
One of the benefits of this chip is its diagonal line processing. The Mediatek chip is the only all-in-one solution I know of that does diagonal line filtering like Faroudja’s DCDi technology. I used the “3 Angles” test on the HQV Benchmark DVD to evaluate the performance, and the Mediatek did a commendable job. It only had issues with the extreme corners for the most part. For viewers that watch a lot of video-based content and aren’t looking to spend the money for a high line video processor with diagonal line processing, search out a good Mediatek player and you should be fine.
Conclusions
The Pioneer DV-490V is just not a DVD player I can recommend. While the video processing is above average for its price point, the core video performance needs a lot of work. Thankfully most of these issues could be resolved with some minor tweaking and a firmware update, but whether this will happen is the issue. If you are searching for a budget DVD player with HDMI output, this one does not need to be on your list.
Video Frequency Response
Pioneer
Pioneer - DV-393-S
|
DV-393-S - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Blacker-than-Black
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| | Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
| |
The DV-393 (the -S at the end of the model number just means it is the silver version vs. the black version) is the less expensive sibling to Pioneer’s new budget HDMI player, the DV-490V. Everything is exactly the same between these two players with the exception of the HDMI output on the 490V. Since the price difference is about $20, I would have to recommend the 490V. While your display may not have an HDMI input right now, later down the line, you will buy a display with HDMI, because they all will have them, and you will probably want to go the digital route at that time.
The DV-393 is one of the least expensive Pioneer DVD players I’ve reviewed to date. It is nice to see some of the more established manufacturers release products at this price point, but it seems like this model has a lot of issues compared to Pioneer’s normal offerings. This was also the case with the DV-490V.
The biggest issue with this player is its core video performance. There is just way too much amiss here, and this is the most important aspect of a DVD player’s performance. Consider it the framework. You can have the best video processing and de-interlacing on the market, but if the framework around it doesn't perform well, then it doesn’t matter.
The DV-393 has a lot of issues in this regard. First off, the player is clipping an excessive amount of pixels from every side of the image. This means part of the image is literally not getting to the end display. We measured over 10 pixels on any one side, which is way outside of the normal range we see with most DVD players. The next problem is Y/C delay. NTSC video is comprised of Luma (black and white) and Chroma (color) information overlaid on each other to create the picture you watch on the screen. These two separate signals need to be superimposed on top of each other perfectly. If it doesn't, then you essentially get convergence issues, similar to what you find with older CRT displays. This creates a softer image, plus outlining on one side of objects.
Next up was the white level of the player. A pure white signal should measure out at 100 IRE. For this test we use a grayscale ramp and a digital oscilloscope. The white output for this player measured in at 97 IRE, which is just below our passing criteria.
The DV-393 did do well with some of our other tests though. The player does pass a below black pluge, and its chroma performance is very commendable. The Mediatek MPEG decoder used always does very well in this department, and the 393 sailed through our CUE tests, failing only our 4:2:0 ICP test. The Mediatek chip cannot keep the CUE issue at bay with motion during this test, and you will see stripping with some material. The video frequency response of this player is also quite good and nearly ruler flat.
The component output only supports 480i and 480p like most analog-based progressive DVD players. All of my tests were done at 480p. The Mediatek chip’s performance was exactly the same as its higher priced sibling, the 490V. The chip passed all of our tests with the exception of the 3-2 Mixed Flags and 3-2 Video tests. It also failed our Bad Edit test with some slight combing using both our Big Lebowski clip and a test clip from Faroudja.
From a usability standpoint, this player is quite good. The Mediatek chip is known for its speed in navigation as well as its quick load times, and the 393 didn’t disappoint. Menu navigation and chapter skips were zippy, with no hitches to speak of. The layer change was not quite seamless, but with only the briefest hiccup using our high bit rate scroll test. Just blink and you’ll miss it!!
Conclusions
The DV-393 is an average to below-average progressive scan DVD player. At this price point, I wasn’t expecting much, but with just a bit more attention to detail, this could have been a really great value overall. Too many DVD player manufacturers are losing sight of what makes a quality picture and keep messing up the core performance that is so important. The DV-393 is no exception. While I don’t think people can expect much at this price point, I think they should expect better than this. In fact, they should insist on it.
Video Frequency Response
Pioneer
Daewoo - DVN-8100N
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Media Tech |
| MPEG Model: |
MT1379EE |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Media Tech |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
MT1379EE |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$69.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.e-daewoo.com/ |
|
|
DVN-8100N - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
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
| Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
Yes Daewoo!! Guess everyone is trying to make DVD players these days. Wonder if Honda or Ford will be next!
This is another Media Tech player, but like the others, it has its share of shortcomings. The player fails the blacker-than-black test as well as the Y/C delay test but did fairly well with the other core testing. White level was a respectable 101 IRE, and the video frequency response didn’t have the trademark roll-off like the other players in this benchmark. Pixel cropping was a tad excessive, with 7 combined pixels missing from the right and left side and 3 from the top.
On the plus side, like the other Media Tech players, this transport is extremely fast, but not as fast as some of the others. Menus were speedy but not blinding like the Vivo Vision. The layer change also hiccupped slightly at about 0.25 seconds. This was the only player of the bunch that offered HDCD decoding which I thought was a nice touch for a bargain player.
Another high point of the Media Tech chip is its PAL-to-NTSC conversion which is excellent. I tested this using the PAL edition of Digital Video Essentials. I didn’t notice any distracting artifacts at all when the player converted the picture to NTSC for my display.
On the de-interlacing side, this player faired quite well. This chip is designed to be motion adaptive, but unfortunately, unlike the Vivo Vision, it is not cadence-based. But that didn’t seem to hurt it since it did well even with poorly flagged material like The Big Lebowski and our Galaxy Quest test.
The Daewoo was easily one of the most solid players in the July Benchmark. It could have used a bit more tweaking, but if you need HDCD and PAL-to-NTSC conversion at a budget price, this one is a pretty good choice.
Video Frequency Response
Daewoo
Coby - DVD-515
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Zoran |
| MPEG Model: |
Vaddis 6 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Zoran |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Vaddis 6 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$59.99 |
| Website: |
www.cobyusa.com |
|
|
DVD-515 - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Layer Change
| Responsiveness
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
I had never even heard of the company Coby before this review. Turns out they have quite a few DVD players on the market at really low prices. I picked up the DVD-515 for the Benchmark. This is a very cut and dried player, but it did feature an onboard Dolby and DTS decoder with 5.1 analog outputs, which was a bit surprising at this price point.
The 515 is based on the Zoran Vaddis 6, similar to the Cyberhome 300. Like the Cyberhome, the core performance was a bit of a mixed bag. The player passes blacker-than-black, but the white level is a tad low at 96 IRE. The video requency response is rolled off in the upper end, contributing to a softer image where fine detail is concerned.
The Coby suffers from excessive pixel cropping, with 9 pixels chopped from the left side of the image. The user interface is very sluggish in both menus and chapter skips, and the remote is terrible. The disc loader is also very picky, and at times I had to load test discs 3-4 times to get them to play.
One of the bright sides of the Vaddis 6 is its PAL-to-NTSC conversion. If one knew how to make this player region free, it could have been a decent choice. However, its de-interlacing capabilities are average at best. It's also not motion adaptive and tends to trip up a lot with bad flagging.
I would have to pass on this one. The core performance is poor, and it doesn’t make up for these problems with its progressive performance.
Video Frequency Response
Coby
Pioneer - DV-578a
|
DV-578a - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Bad Edit
| |
The Pioneer 578a is the successor to the previously tested 563a. This is Pioneer’s entry level universal player and represents a solid value in the market today. This new player has quite a few differences from its predecessor, including a completely different MPEG decoder and de-interlacing solution.
The 578 uses the Mediatek all-in-one MPEG decoder solution. This chip has some great strong points to it, including being extremely fast in its functionality. This can be seen in both the user interface and layer change of the player. This is the first Pioneer player to have a completely seamless layer change and extremely fast menu and chapter navigation.
This chip also excels at its PAL to NTSC conversion, which is excellent. I went through a lot of the demo material on the PAL edition of the Digital Video Essentials disc and there wasn’t a trace of artifacts or improper timing. If this player could be made region free, it would be an excellent offering for those with monitors that only accept NTSC.
On the de-interlacing side, this chip did fairly well. I have tested quite a few players this past week that utilize this same chip, and every one of them tested slightly different, meaning that player manufacturers should take great care with their implementation. I think that if Pioneer would have paid a bit more attention, this player could have walked away with a killer score in our Benchmark. This brings up another point: The player’s front face plate has a “Pure Cinema Progressive” logo on it, but this is not the Pioneer de-interlacing solution.
For out core tests, the player did okay with a few shortcomings. The player will not pass a below black signal and has over 1 pixel of Y/C delay. There is some minor pixel cropping with 5 pixels dropped from the right side and 2 from the left along with 1 from the bottom of the image. This MPEG decoder does show the CUE problems in all our tests except for 2-2 material, but like the Faroudja solution it masks the CUE in progressive mode. White level is at a respectable 99 IRE and again this player is lightning fast.
On the audio side, this seems to be exactly the same as the 563 in terms of setup limitations. The manual doesn’t state what the crossover setting is for bass management, but rather only that speakers with drivers less then 12” should be set to small. It also groups its audio delay for each section (mains, surrounds), and the center and surrounds are limited to a 0 to 3’ difference from the mains.
Overall, this is still a great bargain as an entry level universal player. If it could be modded to Region-Free it would be an excellent solution for those with NTSC-only displays. I hope in the future though that Pioneer incorporates its own de-interlacing solution with this new MPEG decoder or tweaks it in a bit more.
Video Frequency Response
Pioneer
Panasonic - DVD-S29
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Matsushita |
| MPEG Model: |
MN2DS0003UP1 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Matsushita |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
MN2DS0003UP1 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$69.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.panasonic.com |
|
|
DVD-S29 - Auto 1 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
|
DVD-S29 - Auto 2 |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
|
DVD-S29 - Video |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
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
Motion Adaptive
| |
The Panasonic DVD-S29 is one of Panasonic’s newest entry level players. The design is simple but maintains a few of the cosmetic touches of their somewhat pricier upper tier. A few years ago Panasonic was at the top of our DVD Benchmark ratings and they released a string of affordable DVD players that offered superb video playback; unfortunately those days have come to an end. While the upper tier of Panasonic players such as the DVD-S97 and S77 offer excellent video performance for the price, the S29 groups itself into the mainstream norm of average-at-best players.
The S29 uses a proprietary Matsushita MPEG decoder. This single chip is the heart of the player and performs all of the video processing duties as well as audio decoding. Like most one-chip solutions, the Matsushita offering is decent enough with film based DVDs, but lacks the more advanced video processing that is demanded by today’s DVDs.
De-Interlacing
The S29 features three separate de-interlacing modes; Auto 1, Auto 2, and Video. This is pretty common with Panasonic designs, and the results are nearly always the same with this chipset. Auto 1 is essentially a film based mode and lacks the capability to deal with a 2-2 based video cadence. So, if you don’t find yourself watching a lot of TV shows now available on DVD, you may just want to stick with this mode. Auto 2 is exactly the same, except that it features 2-2 processing. I didn’t see any signs of compromise with film based material (at least compared to Auto 1), so this is a safe mode to leave the player in if you want. Last and definitely least is Video which I found essentially useless for the most part. No flag or cadence detection at all. Since Auto 2 deals with video based material just fine, I would recommend sticking with that.
This player had quite a bit of difficulty with cadence errors and was quick to drop into video mode. This resulted in lots of combing during our tests. This is pretty much the norm on the market today despite the decade of DVD technologies that have been developed. It seems that the consumers just don't demand enough from the manufacturers, so why should they bother spending money to fix problems?
Core Performance
Unfortunately, this is where most players come up short. Since typical video processing chips will handle a basic film cadence for I/P conversion, most of the deficiencies you see in DVD players today are from problems in the core areas of video playback. This includes Y/C delay, video levels, chroma up-sampling errors, and more. The DVD-S29 again did about average in this department, but had some major oversights in my opinion.
The biggest oversight is the default level of white in the video signal. Our pass criteria is a level of 102 IRE or lower, with 100 IRE being the ideal. The S29’s white level is 110 IRE as measured with our oscilloscope. That is outrageously high. The Panasonic does have picture settings that will help out, but this shouldn’t be an issue that the consumer has to deal with. On the plus side, the S29 does pass a below black pluge signal and the black level of the player can be adjusted for both 7.5 and 0 IRE.
There was some slight Y/C delay measured, but the player was still in the consumer spec of less then 5 ns. When I evaluated the player on my display, I didn’t see any trace of the Y/C delay in normal viewing. The Panasonic had a very good overall video frequency response that remained flat for the most part with only a slight nudge down in the mid-frequency band. Using a resolution chart on AVIA Pro showed that the S29 did indeed resolve the highest resolution DVD was capable of.
Like most DVD players, the S29 did have issues with a few of our chroma up-sampling tests, i.e., the 4:2:0 ICP test, which requires special chroma filters to resolve, and the 3-2 alternating cadence CUE problem. Both of these are very common but won’t show up on a lot of material you will see in real world viewing. The 3-2 alternating problem will show up occasionally on some of Disney’s animated DVD fare.
Pixel cropping was a tad excessive on the left and right sides of the image, mainly the right which was clipping 5 pixels from the video signal. Since the S29 doesn’t use any chroma filtering, the player retains the full vertical chroma response.
Usability of the player is high. Response times were high and menu navigation and chapter skips were breezy enough. The player’s layer change clocked in right about 1 second which is decent. I wasn’t impressed with the overall build of the player; especially the tray, which seemed a bit flimsy.
Conclusions
Overall the S29 is what I would expect from a player in this price range and really doesn’t set itself apart in any significant way. Panasonic would be wise to try and bring back the good old days. They certainly have the capability. Just do it!
Video Frequency Response
Panasonic
V. Inc - Bravo D2 Component
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Sigma Designs |
| MPEG Model: |
EM8500 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Sigma Designs |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
EM8500 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$249.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.vinc.us/ |
|
|
Bravo D2 Component (480P/720P) - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. 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
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| Responsiveness
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
Video Frequency Response
V. Inc
CyberHome - CH-DVD300S
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Zoran |
| MPEG Model: |
Vaddis 6 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Zoran |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Vaddis 6 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$39.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.cyberhome.com |
|
|
CH-DVD300S - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Layer Change
Image Cropping
| Responsiveness
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Motion Adaptive
| |
At 40 bucks, the Cyberhome DVD-300 is about as entry level as it gets for DVD. The player is literally a transport and tiny power supply wrapped in a shell that is just big enough for it. This thing is very small, and so is the price tag. My parents bought this player for less then $40 from Best Buy for their camper. I spotted it at their house and asked if I could borrow it for a few days to do my tests on it.
I was a bit surprised when I opened up the chassis. The MPEG decoder used is the Zoran Vaddis 6. For those familiar with Zoran decoding solutions, you may recall that Zoran is used in the high line of Arcam players. But don’t get confused, the Vaddis 6 is different than the Vaddis 5 used in the Arcam players and represents the budget line of the Zoran chips, along with the Vaddis 7.
The core section of the player did okay given its price point, but isn’t really anything to call home about. The player passes blacker-than-black, but falls short in the video level department with a peak white of 95 IRE. The video frequency response is a tad rolled off in the upper end, but not nearly as much as some other players I have tested that cost quite a bit more than this. Pixel cropping was decent except for the left side which clips 8 pixels. Y/C delay was perfect with no signs of delay at all.
The Vaddis 6 appears to pass all of the CUE tests with the exception of the ICP test, which is as expected. I don’t know why Zoran got it right on this chip since both the 5 and 7 series have CUE issues, although VERY minor.
As a de-interlacing engine, the Vaddis 6 is not up to par with its brother the Vaddis 5. For one thing, it isn’t motion adaptive. It is also flag-based and tends to trip up quite easily with bad flagging. But considering its price point, this player’s performance still beat out a lot of players at several times its cost. I guess this is truly one of those reviews where I can put the infamous phrase, “Better than players costing over twice as much!!!!”
Video Frequency Response
CyberHome
Harman Kardon - DVD-31
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Panasonic |
| MPEG Model: |
MN103547JRB |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
unknown |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
unknown |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$299.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.harmankardon.com |
|
|
DVD-31 - Movie |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Blacker-than-Black
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
|
DVD-31 - Auto |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Blacker-than-Black
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
|
DVD-31 - Video |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Blacker-than-Black
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
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| |
A big thanks goes out to Jon Oliva who volunteered to send this player to us. I had been on the lookout in my home town but kept coming up short.
The Harman Kardon DVD 31 is their newest progressive scan player and looks to be the follow-up to the DVD 22. Not only does it feature progressive scan playback, but it also adds full DVD-Audio support. The player uses a Panasonic MPEG decoder, but we’re not sure what de-interlacing solution is employed. There was another chipset on the player’s video board, but it was covered by a massive heat sink that I didn’t feel comfortable removing. Based on its processing performance though, I would guess that they relied on the Panasonic chip for de-interlacing duties, as most stand alone de-interlacers perform better than this.
The DVD 31 has three progressive modes that can be accessed in the set-up menus. The modes are Auto, Movie, and Video. Each one is a bit different from the other, but overall, I would have to recommend using the Movie mode. It performed about the same as the Auto mode with film-based content but recovered faster from a cadence change. It also supports 2-2 based cadences which the Auto mode surprisingly didn’t. The video mode does not recognize film flags at all and is for the most part worthless.
The 31 did about average to below average with video processing. It has a tendency to trip up with bad flags or breaks in cadence. It also showed a few video glitches, including some weird shimmering with vertical scrolling titles. The player is motion adaptive thankfully, but it drops out of this mode when it is in a looping state. Since most test patterns just continually loop until you press skip, this artifact was a bit annoying.
The core performance of the player was a mixed bag. We used to be huge fans of Panasonic’s MPEG decoders back in the days of the popular RP-82 and XP-30. Based on the tests we’ve done of the 31 and the new S97 players, it seems that Panasonic is letting their quality control slip a bit with their chips. This was most evident with our chroma tests. The player passed all of them except the 4:2:0 ICP test, which is expected. But, what wasn’t expected was how bad ICP material looked. This is exactly the opposite of the results we saw with the older Panasonic chips.
The layer change was also pretty bad, measuring in at around 2 seconds. The image also broke up consistently every time we did the test because of the pegged out bitrate. This would make layer changes painfully obvious for higher bitrate transfers.
Another downside is the player’s inability to pass a below-black pluge signal. This is another one of those deal breakers for me, since the player is now clipping information in the video signal that was intended to be seen. The white output of the DVD 31 is also right on the edge of our acceptable standard and measured in at 98 IRE.
The frequency response tends to drop down a bit in the upper frequency range, contributing to a somewhat softer look than higher end players. But, when I watched some footage from some of my DVD collection, this was not overly apparent. The image looked pleasing with most of the titles I managed to put on.
Summary: Overall, I wasn’t very impressed with the DVD 31. It definitely could use some tweaking in, especially in its core performance which is critical to achieving a great image. If you are looking for a player in this price range, I would have to recommend looking elsewhere.
Video Frequency Response
Harman Kardon
Momitsu - V-880 Component
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Sigma Designs |
| MPEG Model: |
EM8500 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Sigma Designs |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
EM8500 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$229.00 |
| Website: |
www.momitsu.jp |
|
|
V-880 Component (480P\720P) - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| Responsiveness
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
Video Frequency Response
Momitsu
Samsung - DVD-HD841
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Zoran |
| MPEG Model: |
Vaddis 7 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Zoran |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Vaddis 7 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$249.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.samsungusa.com |
|
|
DVD-HD841 - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
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
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| 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
Motion Adaptive
| |
The HD841 is Samsung’s second DVI-based player in the DVD world. It is also their first universal transport offering both DVD-A and SACD playback. This player provides a pretty incredible feature set given its price point, but still misses the mark as a reference DVD player.
The 841 is built on Zoran’s newest Vaddis 7 MPEG decoder and HD Extreme Scaling solution. While this is one of Zoran’s newer MPEG decoders, it doesn’t have the de-interlacing capability shown by its previous Vaddis 5 offering. Namely it isn’t motion adaptive. It is also a flag based de-interlacer, so it tripped up quite a bit on poorly flagged material.
For our core tests, the 841 did pretty well. The player passes blacker than black just fine, though not via DVI. The DVI output is very similar to the 931 in that video levels are being stretched, so head and toe room (above white and below black) are not available. Not only does this get rid of information in the image, it makes it quite difficult to set up properly with a display. On the component video output side, the player’s white output is perfect at 100 IRE, and there is no Y/C delay to worry about. It does have pretty significant Y/C delay via DVI though, so we recommend the component output for this player.
On the user side, the 841 is quite fast as far as interfacing. Menu navigation and chapter skips are brisk, with barely any delay at all. The layer change is noticeable but clocks in at a respectable 1.25 seconds. Something worth noting is that this player seems to trip itself up a bit with certain discs. When we fed it certain test patterns, the player’s output was completely turned off, forcing us to power down and start over again. While this could be an isolated incident, I have seen reports from several owners online that state the same problems.
Samsung has another DVI player due out soon, the HD941. This player uses the Faroudja solution for its de-interlacing and scaling and hopefully won’t have the same issues the 841 has shown via DVI. If you are in the market for a universal transport sporting DVI, you may want to wait for their newer 941 offering or look elsewhere on the market.
Video Frequency Response
Samsung
Mitsubishi - DD-8050 Universal DVD Player
|
DD-8050 Universal DVD Player - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| Image Cropping
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
Mitsubishi has always been a huge influence in the DVD market, even though you don't see many players with their name on them. The reason is their MPEG decoders, which have been used extensively in players sold by other manufacturers. One of the best examples of this is Pioneer, who continues to rely on these chips even today.
Unfortunately, the Mitsubishi brand DVD players don’t fare quite as well compared to the other companies using their chips. In most cases, the other companies employ proprietary video processing techniques using the Mitsubishi chip for other functions. That is not the case here. The DD-8050 is like most bargain DVD players, as it relies heavily on a one chip solution that delivers average to below average performance.
De-interlacing
The DD-8050 sports a “True Progressive” badge on its front panel, but I would have to disagree with their contention. The player is a bottom line flag reading device that does poorly with mixed content. It is almost an assured thing that this player will be in video mode most of the time you watch movies with it. The chip is not motion adaptive, which at this point in the game is inexcusable. Motion adaptive functioning is one of the most basic features of a progressive scan player, yet there are still chips ignoring this. The 8050 combed with just about every break in cadence we could find.
The benefit of a flag reading player is evident when the flags are correct though, and you stand a 50/50 chance of having this situation with most Hollywood films. The player did manage to pass our 2-2 cadence test, but again, since the 8050 goes into video mode so much, this was expected.
Diagonal line processing was very poor with this player. Using the new HQV Benchmark disc’s “Three Angles” test, the DD-8050 showed a tremendous amount of aliasing or “jaggies” on all three angles. If you are a fan of video based material such as TV programs on DVD, this is a player I would stay away from. It is a pity since flag based players usually do so well with 2-2 cadences.
Core Performance
The core performance of the 8050 wasn’t much better. The transport is extremely sluggish and navigation was on the slow side too. Using our WHQL test disc for layer changes, we clocked the 8050 at a staggering 2 seconds! It has been awhile since I’ve measured a player that takes this long with a layer change.
Chroma performance wasn’t bad. Mitsubishi employs a chroma filter to mask its chroma upsampling issues. This was designed a few years ago after complaints surfaced on the Pioneer designs. Using a vertical chroma resolution pattern on AVIA Pro, you can clearly see that vertical resolution is compromised by the filters. This is pretty common with all chroma filters, but the Mitsubishi doesn’t give you an option to turn it off. This is a feature that the current line of DVDO scalers offers that I wish more DVD manufacturers would use.
The 8050 did pretty well in our test measurements for analog performance. The video frequency response of the player is close to flat with only a minor dip in the mid band frequencies. I did not see any evidence of artificial ringing using test patterns. Y/C delay measured within spec, but there is a slight amount of Pb/Pr delay. Whether this will translate to issues on your display is hard to say. Every display treats these things differently, and since this is such a small amount, I would be hard pressed to say you’d even see it.
The DD-8050 does pass a below black pluge signal, and the black level is set up for 0 IRE. The white level of the player measured in perfectly at 100 IRE.
The 8050 is also a universal player with support for both Super Audio CD and DVD Audio. I perused the setup options for these formats and found the player a bit limited. There is no indication of what the crossover is configured for when setting the speakers to SMALL. The time alignment functions are also very limited and only apply to the center and surround speakers. While this isn’t a big deal overall, it limits your set-up options for those consumers who can’t space their mains perfectly in the room. All of the distance settings are in milliseconds only, which is another pain. A simple math co-processor can convert this to feet and inches in the chip, so there is no reason not to offer settings in feet. On the plus side, speaker levels are available for each individual speaker which offers a bit more flexibility in setup.
Conclusions
Despite this being quite a reasonably priced universal player, I cannot recommend the DD-8050. There are too many oversights here and not enough performance. There are far better universal offerings from Pioneer and Onkyo that are close in price but much better with implementation.
Video Frequency Response
Mitsubishi
JVC - XV-N420B
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
ESS |
| MPEG Model: |
Vibratto II CL |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
ESS |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Vibratto II CL |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$89.95 |
| Website: |
http://www.jvc.com/main.jsp |
|
|
XV-N420B - Auto |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Video Levels
Sync Subtitle to Frames
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
| | Responsiveness
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
JVC hasn’t been much of a factor in the DVD market in the last few years. They seem to lag behind in technology and never really catch up in terms of features or performance. The XV-N420B continues that trend for JVC and is about as basic as a progressive DVD player can be. No advanced features like DVD-Audio or SACD support, and run-of-the-mill progressive video performance. But, looking at the rest of JVC’s line of DVD products, I couldn’t find any real differences between their upper tier and this player, with the exception of DVD-A support. Having tested most of JVC’s line at one point or another, the difference in video performance is usually minimal.
The N420 is built on the ESS Vibratto II CL MPEG decoder. ESS is fairly common in the mainstream market and is used by other companies like Denon and Cary Audio. Unfortunately, most other manufacturers don’t rely on this chip for I/P conversion and usually couple it with an outboard de-interlacing solution. The ESS chip itself is pretty average overall on its own.
De-Interlacing
The N420 performed about average for its price range with our de-interlacing tests. Like most all-in-one solutions, the ESS chip does okay with film-based material but is a flag-based de-interlacer. As soon as a bad flag is encountered, it drops to video mode. This results in combing and usually an obvious loss of resolution in the video signal. Both of these can be pretty annoying if encountered frequently. We at Secrets always recommend using players that rely on cadence-based de-interlacing, since most of these issues can be avoided.
The N420 is not motion adaptive, which is almost unacceptable this late in the game. Again, here is a manufacturer that is touting their progressive scan processing as state-of-the-art, when we think it is really one of the worst you can get. I also noticed some painfully obvious artifacts with our resolution strip charts that reminded me a lot of scaling artifacts. The resolution lines were not crisp and clearly defined from each other, but instead showed what looks almost like moiré patterns.
The diagonal line processing in this player was very bad. Using the 3 angle pattern on the Silicon Optix Benchmark DVD, the JVC showed significant aliasing in all three angles. Anyone who watches a lot of video-based material (e.g., DVDs that contain TV programs) may want to steer clear of this player.
Core Performance
The core performance of the N420 is also pretty mediocre. I was hoping that this side of the player might make up for the shortcomings of the I/P converter. The N420 will not pass a below black pluge signal, but its black level is appropriately set up for 0 IRE and can be switched to 7.5 IRE. The white level measured in at 101 IRE, which is within our acceptable range.
The video frequency response is a bit high in the upper end. This produces a rather harsh look in fine detail with artificial ringing evident. It is important that a player maintains a flat response, so that artifical information is not added. This will lend to a “digital” appearance with an exaggerated harshness to the picture.
Pixel cropping was excessive on the sides of the image. Both the left and right side were clipping 5 pixels each, but the top and bottom were perfect.
The ESS chip did pretty well with our chroma testing. In fact, it did better with this player than it does with most of the Denons that use a similar chip. This ESS chip is probably a different iteration of the Vibratto II. The Denons have been showing some nasty performance with an alternating 3-2 cadence test, but that was not the case here. The JVC looked clean, with no obvious issues. The ESS is not engaging any chroma filters that I noticed either. Using a vertical chroma resolution pattern from AVIA Pro showed that the full resolution was present. Unfortunately, this player does suffer from over a full pixel of Y/C delay, which contributes even more to the ringing artifacts the artificial sharpness is adding.
The player’s responsiveness overall was quite sluggish. Menu navigation and initial loading times were extremely slow. I also thought the remote was poor. It it extremely small and hard to navigate. The layer change was quick though and clocked in at about a quarter of a second.
Conclusions
Overall, I would have to give a thumbs down on the JVC XV-N420B player. The under-$100 market of DVD players is full of options right now and most are better than this one. There are some gross oversights in the core performance, but its progressive performance is about average for this price range. With such a large below-$100 market right now, I was really hoping to see more manufacturers try and separate their players from the crowd. With this player, that was not the case.
Video Frequency Response
JVC
Terapin - TT-2600DVD
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Media Tech |
| MPEG Model: |
MT1379G |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Media Tech |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
MT1379G |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$69.99 |
| Website: |
www.terapintech.com |
|
|
TT-2600DVD - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
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
| Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
I picked up the Terapin player due to the requests on one of the forums to have me to include it in the budget benchmark. Evidently some forum members had obtained this player and spoken very highly of it.
The Terapin is based on the Media Tech chip, which is the reason for the praise. This chip makes the Terapin player extremely fast in both navigation and chapter skips. It also has a near seamless layer change with only a fraction of a second hiccup in our test.
Unfortunately for our other core testing, the player didn’t fare so well. Media Tech players do not pass blacker-than-black and this player’s white level was a bit low at 97 IRE. The player also suffered from Y/C delay at just over a full pixel. The video frequency response is a bit rolled off in the upper band and I also noticed some noise in the image that looked to be power induced. I used the same outlet on my Exact Power EP-15A that I used for all the other players so I can only surmise that this is something inside the players power supply.
The Media Tech chip employs chroma filters similar to the Faroudja de-interlacers. This MPEG decoder has all forms of the chroma bug but masks them in progressive mode, giving it a borderline score on our tests. The only exception is this player doesn’t pass the ICP test like the Faroudja-based players do.
The Terapin is not cadence-based like the Vivo Vision but is motion adaptive. Overall it did fairly well with our de-interlacing tests but still showed some weaknesses on our flagging tests.
Overall the Terapin is a decent player given the price. It could use a little work, but its quick navigation can be a bit spoiling.
Video Frequency Response
Terapin
JVC - XV-S60
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Mediamatics |
| MPEG Model: |
Pantera II |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Mediamatics |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Pantera II |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$199.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.jvc.com/main.jsp |
|
|
XV-S60 - Smart |
|
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
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| Image Cropping
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Video Levels
|
We are getting to the point where reviewing another Mediamatics-based player
gives us a certain feeling of deja-vu (all over again). This JVC is essentially
identical in every key way to the JVC XV-D723GD we reviewed last time, minus the
DVD-A support. The menus and displays are the same, the deinterlacing is the
same, and the firmware appears to be exactly the same. All the quirks we
outlined in that report are still there, including the annoying way that the
interlaced output is derived from the progressive output, and is thus affected
by the progressive deinterlacing mode. We informed Mediamatics and JVC about
this problem on the 723GD, but apparently the news never made it to the right
people.
Rather than go over all the quirky features of the JVC, it's easier to just
read the previous review.
Video quality was very good. As we said in the previous review, if you can
live with the quirks, the basic video quality is excellent, and it has some
nifty features. Given that this new player is even cheaper, it might be worth
considering.
Liteon - LVD-2001
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Sigma Design |
| MPEG Model: |
EM8500 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Sigma Design |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
EM8500 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$129.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.liteonit.com |
|
|
LVD-2001 - 480P |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Blacker-than-Black
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Video Levels
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
|
LVD-2001 - 720P |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Blacker-than-Black
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Video Levels
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
Deinterlacing
The Liteon LVD-2001 is another Sigma-based player similar to the Bravo D1 and Momitsu offerings. Since it uses the Sigma chip, it offers a slew of features including progressive playback as well as scaled video.
Unfortunately, the Sigma chip isn’t very good at deinterlacing and really needs to be coupled with a better standalone solution. We think it is the best MPEG decoder out there, but it needs to be used strictly for that, rather than also for deinterlacing. As you can see from our results, this solution is essentially a flag-based design, which causes the unit to trip up frequently with bad material.
The Basics
Unlike the Bravo and Momitsu players, the Liteon does not feature a DVI output. This is really a shame since the video analog section of this player is horrible. This is what we found with the Bravo as well, but its issues were remedied via DVI. If you scroll down to the measured frequency response chart shown below, you’ll notice this player is badly rolled off from about mid-frequency and higher. In fact, looking at the multiburst pattern from Avia, we found smearing of almost all high frequency information. In other words, don’t expect any fine detail when watching DVDs with this player. The roll off was the worst with the player in 720p or 1080i modes, but it was still far from acceptable with a 480p output.
The LVD-2001 also suffers from 25 nanoseconds of Y/C delay in both chroma channels, and its default white level is set extremely hot at 107 IRE. Some other drawbacks noted in the test were the rather loud transport, a non user friendly remote and some scaling artifacts.
On the plus side, this player offers automatic aspect ratio control regardless of output resolution, decent handling response and a good price.
While this player does offer a great feature in terms of a scalable output, its poor video analog stage pretty much cancels out anything gained. Using a progressive player that offers only 480p out, but with a better analog stage, will result in a much nicer picture overall.
Video Frequency Response
Liteon
Kenwood - DVF-8100
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
ALi |
| MPEG Model: |
M3355A |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
ALi |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
M3355A |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$150.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.kenwoodusa.com |
|
|
DVF-8100 - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Responsiveness
| Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
The DVF-8100 looks to be a return to form for Kenwood and is very reminiscent of the DVF-3080 I reviewed a short while ago. It is based on the same chipset, but some improvements have been made. Unfortunately, there are not enough improvements to put it back into the same league as Kenwood’s Sovereign players.
De-interlacing
The DVF-8100 is based on a newer all in one video chipset made by ALi. I’ve tested only one other player that incorporates an ALI chip. That is probably a good thing though, as this chip’s performance isn’t very good.
In our progressive performance tests, this player didn’t perform very well at all. It passed the most basic 3-2 tests, but its flag-based performance was well below average. It would not lock onto a 2-2 cadence, or any cadence that contained a break or change. As a progressive player, the DVF-8100 stacks up near the bottom.
Core Performance
The core performance wasn’t much better. The DVF-8100 does not pass a below black pluge signal, and its default (and only) black level is 7.5 IRE. The default white level of the player is also unsatisfactory and measured in at a high 104 IRE. This results in an exaggerated look in the brighter areas of the image. It also creates problems in the calibration process as white is not at its intended point.
Y/C delay measured in perfect with no signs of Y/C or Pb/Pr delay at all. The chroma performance is decent, but it does not pass our 3-2 alternating or 4:2:0 ICP tests. The 8100 does not seem to be filtering the chroma channels, as full vertical resolution was retained on our test patterns.
User Interface
The DVF-8100 is a mixed bag in terms of user interface. The player can be a bit sluggish with load and navigation times, but its layer change is near seamless. Pixel cropping was excessive on the right side of the image (9 pixels) but at or near zero everywhere else. I still don’t understand how the most basic things like this can get overlooked. Testing for issues like this is very simple, and a little more attention to detail would go a long way in the performance area.
During my subjective viewing I noticed a lot of onscreen clutter. The menus and visual indicators were very intrusive and didn’t provide a very good viewing experience. I am not big on a lot of onscreen display features, especially during a movie.
Conclusions
I wish I had more to say about the Kenwood DVF-8100 player. It is at the bottom of my list in terms of performance, and is a shining example of how not to build a budget DVD player. I believe Kenwood is in the process of designing a new high line of DVD players, so I hope they will take the time to do it right and deliver a product more like their Sovereign line of players. But, this one is definitely not recommended.
Video Frequency Response
Kenwood
Vivo Vision - DVDP-1500
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Media Tech |
| MPEG Model: |
unknown |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Media Tech |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
unknown |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$46.99 |
| Website: |
unknown |
|
|
DVDP-1500 - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
The Vivo Vision DVD-P1500 was a last minute entry. I was walking out of the local Circuit City and almost missed it as it was in a small pile on the floor near the cell phones for some reason. This was one of the cheapest players of this test coming in a bit under $50.
The Vivo Vision uses the Media Tech chip for its MPEG decoder and de-interlacing solution. This is similar to the recently tested Pioneer 578a and a few of the players in this Benchmark. This chip has some real strong points but also a few weaknesses. I still think, based on the tests being all over the place with this chip, that this solution could be quite good if implemented correctly.
On the core side, this player didn’t fare all that well. The Media Tech chip does not pass blacker-than-black in any configuration, and the player's white level was a bit high at 103 IRE. The video frequency response was also a bit too, rolled off in the upper end, giving the image a bit of a soft look. The player also suffers from over a full pixel of Y/C delay and at least a full pixel of Pb/Pr delay.
On the up-side, the 1500 is very fast, as most Media Tech players tend to be. Chapter Skips and menu navigation are just about instantaneous and there is no layer change delay to be seen.
On the de-interlacing side, this is one of the better implementations of the Media Tech solution. The player is motion adaptive, one of the few in this Benchmark. It is also cadence-based which was a real plus, especially at this price point. Unfortunately, the players cadence drops to video too easily as evidenced by its poor performance with our video flagging, bad edits, and incorrect progressive flag tests.
Given its rock bottom price tag, this player is darn good. With a bit more tweaking, it could have been at the top of this Benchmark’s list. Unfortunately it fell on its face a bit with our core tests.
Video Frequency Response
Vivo Vision
Toshiba - SD-6915
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Zoran |
| MPEG Model: |
Vaddis 7 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Zoran |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Vaddis 7 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$179.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.toshiba.com |
|
|
SD-6915 - Default |
|
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
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Layer Change
Image Cropping
Recovery Time
| Responsiveness
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
Motion Adaptive
| |
Here is another first in the DVD market. Toshiba has launched a universal changer, something I know a lot of you have been waiting for. Unfortunately you may have to wait a bit longer to get one that really works well.
The SD-6915 is based on the Zoran Vaddis 7 MPEG decoder instead of Toshiba’s own solution. This chip seems to be a bit of a step down from the recently released Vaddis 6. The Vaddis 6 had eliminated the chroma problems associated with the Zoran line, but here they return. The MPEG decoder passes our 3-2 Film and 2-2 Film CUE tests but not the ICP or 3-2 alternating tests.
As a de-interlacer, the chip did okay. Unfortunately, this solution is not motion adaptive and seems to be flagged based. On the core side, the player did pass a below black signal but has about 8ns of Y/C delay which is just short of our passing mark. Pixel cropping is not too bad, with 3 pixels being dropped from both the left and right side of the image.
From a user standpoint, this isn’t a very good player. The menus and chapter skips are quite sluggish and the remote is quite lame. There are a lot of shared buttons which makes navigation even more cumbersome then normal.
On the audio side, there doesn’t seem to be any adjustability for DVD-Audio or SACD. The time alignment and bass management settings seem to apply only to the built-in Dolby Digital decoder according to the manual. You also have to access the setup menus of the player to select which layer of the SACD you want to listen to.
While I am glad that someone has finally released a universal changer, this is a bit far from the level of performance I would have liked associated with it. It has quite a bit going against it both in the de-interlacing performance and core tests. Those looking for a universal changer might be better off holding out for something else down the line.
Video Frequency Response
Toshiba
Sanyo - DWM-400
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
ESS |
| MPEG Model: |
VIbrato II |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
ESS |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
Vibrato II |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$59.00 |
| Website: |
www.sanyo.com |
|
|
DWM-400 - Default |
|
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
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| | Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
The Sanyo DWM-400 is an ESS-based DVD player. The ESS chip is quite popular in some circles and is used extensively by Denon in its top end players. Unfortunately, Sanyo isn’t coupling it with an outboard de-interlacing solution like Denon, so you won’t be seeing that kind of performance here.
The core section did fair overall. On the plus side, the player has a perfect white level of 100 IRE and an excellent user interface that is quick and responsive. On the down side, the player exhibits over a full pixel of Y/C delay, is a bit too rolled off, and fails below black. It also has some rather excessive pixel cropping with 5 pixels cut on both the right and left sides of the image.
Like the results for the Denon players, the DWM-400's MPEG decoder passed all of our CUE tests with the exception of ICP since it doesn’t use the Faroudja chip. The ESS chip is one of the worst in regards to this, with noticeable banding when using 4:2:0 material (this is readily apparent in the title menus of Digital Video Essentials for the menu highlighting).
As a de-interlacer, the ESS is a bit below average. The chip is not motion adaptive and, like so many others, is flag-based. I really wish these all-in-one chips would get away from this and start using cadence-based solutions.
As a whole, the Samsung is a below average player. It didn’t really impress me with its core performance or as a progressive player. I would recommend looking elsewhere.
Video Frequency Response
Sanyo
V. Inc - Bravo D1 - Analog
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Sigma |
| MPEG Model: |
EM-8500 |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Sigma |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
EM-8500 |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$199.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.vinc.us/ |
|
|
Bravo D1 - Analog - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Blacker-than-Black
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| | Responsiveness
Video Levels
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
|
Deinterlacing
This player uses the new Sigma Designs all-in-one chip, which has basic
flag-only film detection, combined with a simple vertical filter for video mode
deinterlacing. As with all chips of this type, it works well on film-based
content when the flags are standard, but when the flags are non-standard or the
content is not from a film or other progressive source, the image is much softer
than it needs to be. In the worst cases, when the progressive flag is set to
"true" improperly, the player will comb constantly. Its resistance to bad edits
was poor, with 5 total combs in the Big Lebowski montage.
On the plus side, it handles the common "alternating progressive flag"
encoding problem well, correctly treating it as progressive content.
The Basics
Black level on the analog output is incorrect at 7.6 IRE instead of the
standard 0 IRE. There is no switch we could find to adjust it to 0 IRE black.
White level is low, at 97.3 IRE, which was too low to pass. Both Y-Pb and Y-Pr
have delay greater than the EIA standard of 5ns, again only on the analog
output. The player does pass blacker-than-black in progressive mode, though we
should note that because the player only does 7.5 IRE black, we were unable to
check blacker-than-black at 0 IRE. However, like Toshiba players, we have passed
this player on the blacker-than-black test.
The video frequency response on the analog output of this player is
astonishingly rolled off, actually down a whopping 13 dB at 10 MHz. Considering
that DVD goes all the way to 13.5 MHz, that's pretty bad. The rolloff was
consistent even in the higher resolutions. Through the DVI connection, of
course, there is no rolloff.
There are 0 video lines cropped from the top and bottom, and 0 video samples
on the left and right, which is excellent.
The layer change is fast, at around 0.5 seconds, and responsiveness was 2.5,
which is about average.
The scaling and DVI features of this player are what people are buying it
for, and those features work well, as long as you use them together. The analog
outputs have too many problems for us to recommend the player for use via an
analog connection, but through a DVI connection the clarity is just stellar,
with no chroma delay and no rolloff. The scaling engine in the player is
excellent, producing clean output with no obvious jaggies or moire even on
difficult material like the Avia resolution patterns.
The player is not without its quirks, however. In our limited time working
with it, we found that while it has a zoom that is useful for zooming in on
non-anamorphic letterboxed discs, the zoom snaps back to normal when you hit the
chapter next button, and the subtitles turn off while it's zoomed in. These are
clearly firmware quirks, and perhaps can be corrected, but they are nevertheless
annoying.
Another minor issue is that the player always window-boxes 4:3 discs for you,
even if your display has aspect ratio controls of its own. This is non-optimal
for people with digital displays, as they often only sample 720 times across a
scan line when taking in 480p content. With the window-box bars on, there are
more than 720 sample intervals across the screen, and thus picture information
gets lost. You can clearly see this on our Sony VW10HT test projector. We put
the player in 16x9 mode, then viewed a 4x3-encoded resolution chart. Three
fourths of the horizontal resolution was lost because the projector wasn't
sampling more than what it thought it "needed" to do to capture the full 480p
signal. If we put the player in 4x3 mode so it wouldn't add the window-box bars,
then window-boxed using the display's aspect controls, the full resolution was
visible. The player could really use a mode where it doesn't try to do any
aspect control of its own, for people who have a display that can do a better
job of aspect control than the player can. This is not an issue when using the
DVI output.
Finally, we noted that when the player is in 16x9 mode, whenever subpictures
(like menus and subtitles) are displayed on screen for 4x3 content they look
very odd, like they've been scaled using a simplistic algorithm. The effect is
jarring. The menus on Avia are a good example of this phenomenon because Avia
contains both 4x3 and 16x9 menus. Put the player in 4x3 mode, and the effect
disappears. We have seen similar behavior on other DVD players.
In the end, while we are impressed with the clarity that DVI brings, we're
not ready to lose the excellent deinterlacing of the best chipsets in order to
get it, and we weren't happy with the interface quirks mentioned above. For
those who just want an inexpensive way to feed a digital display with a DVI
connection and aren't as picky about deinterlacing and quirky UI, the Bravo D1
may well fit the bill.
Video Frequency Response
V. Inc
Philips - DVP-642
|
DVP-642 - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| Responsiveness
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
The Philips DVP-642 is another ESS-based player. This player is almost identical in every way to the Sanyo DWM also reviewed in the July Benchmark.
For core tests, the Philips didn’t fare well at all. Y/C delay and navigation speed are the only real highlights and the player does extremely well with both. But unfortunately, the player has a low white level of 97 IRE, fails below black, has some excessive pixel cropping (5 on each side), and is a bit too rolled off in the upper frequency range.
The ESS Vibrato II is used for the MPEG decoder and also doubles as the de-interlacer. This chip is a decent MPEG decoder but a rather average de-interlacer. It is flag-based, so it tends to trip up on most of our flag tests. The player is not motion adaptive and failed almost every test that deals with poorly flagged film and video. The chip did pass all of our chroma tests with the exception of the ICP test.
I was hoping that since Philips is a huge electronics company, they would have put a bit more into this player.
Video Frequency Response
Philips
Magnavox - MDV458
|
MDV458 - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Image Cropping
| Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Bad Edit
| |
For those readers who don’t know it already, Magnavox is a splinter corporation of Philips. We tested a Philips player for this Benchmark, but surprisingly, it didn’t do as well as the Magnevox. The Magnavox uses an entirely different core section, which I found very surprising. Most the time splinter companies just rebadge the efforts of their parent company as a way to save money, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here.
The Magnavox uses the Media Tech MPEG decoder/de-interlacing solution. You may notice that this is a pretty popular solution with many of the budget players in this Benchmark. Magnavox did a decent job with the incorporation of the chip, but still not as good as I would have hoped for.
Like all the other Media Tech players, this one doesn’t pass blacker-than-black. The white level was also a bit on the low side at 96 IRE. When you go into the setup menus for this player, there are two video levels available, so make sure you use the Standard one. The other selection changes the IRE levels output from the player, creating peaks and valleys in what should be a smooth ramp.
This player is extremely fast with layer changes, and measured in at a hair under seamless. The menu speed on this player is superb, and chapter skips are instantaneous. Another big upside to this player is its PAL-to-NTSC conversion, which is excellent.
The Media Tech chip uses chroma filters for progressive playback that mask the chroma problems inherent in this MPEG decoder. This resulted in a borderline score for the chip.
On the downside, this player suffers from almost a full pixel of Y/C delay and has a bit of excessive pixel cropping. The video frequency response is also a bit more rolled off than I would have preferred.
On the de-interlacing side, the Media Tech chip is fairly dialed in. This player is motion adaptive but is still flag-based. The player didn’t trip up too much with improper flagging but did show a few hiccups now and again. It is a shame that this chip isn’t used to its full potential. It seems each player does a different job with it but none gets it completely right.
Overall, the Magnavox is a pretty solid budget performer. The core section could use some work but the blinding speed is an awesome feature.
Video Frequency Response
Magnavox
Sony - DVP-NS575P
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Sony |
| MPEG Model: |
CXD9781R |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Sony |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
CXD9781R |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$89.99 |
| Website: |
http://www.sony.com |
|
|
DVP-NS575P - Auto |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
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
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Bad Edit
| |
|
DVP-NS575P - Video |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
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
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
YC Delay
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Bad Edit
| |
Throughout our Benchmark testing, we have covered a good majority of the Sony ES line of DVD players. This is the first time I have tested a non-ES player. The Sony DVP-NS575P is as entry level as you can get. The player is built by Sony from the ground up and even incorporates a Sony MPEG decoder.
In our core tests, the Sony did OK. The player has a few shortcomings, including a full pixel of Y/C delay and some rather excessive pixel cropping (7 on the right and a combination of 5 from top and bottom). The player does pass blacker-than-black, and actually had a pretty decent video frequency response for a budget player.
In our chroma tests, the player incorporated a chroma filter in progressive mode that eliminates the chroma bug; however, the player still exhibits the problem with alternating flag material such as Monster’s Inc.
In our usability tests, the player did very well. This player’s interface is extremely fast with both menus and chapter skips, and also has a completely seamless layer change (seamless, meaning that you can't tell the layer is changing, there is no pause in the movie). I found that surprising since none of the ES players I have tested do this.
The Sony MPEG decoder also serves as the de-interlacer for the player. It has two modes of operation: Auto and Video. Funny thing is, they are both identical. I would recommend just leaving it in Auto and forgetting about it. The de-interlacer is flag-based and has a tendency to trip up with bad flags. Recovery time is pretty quick though, so artifacts shouldn’t be too obvious.
Overall, the Sony is a nice offering, with only a few issues. Compared to the other players in the July Benchmark, it is a decent contender.
Video Frequency Response
Sony
I-O Data - Avel Linkplayer 2 High Definition
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
Sigma Designs |
| MPEG Model: |
EM8620L |
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
Sigma Designs |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
EM8620L |
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$249.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.iodata.com/ |
|
|
Avel Linkplayer 2 High Definition (WMV-HD) DVD Player - D4-480P/720P |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Blacker-than-Black
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Bad Edit
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| Responsiveness
| Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Image Cropping
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
The Avel Linkplayer 2 is one of the more exciting products on the market today and takes DVD players in a new direction that I’m hoping to see more of. Using one of the newer Sigma Designs MPEG decoders, the unit can hook into a home network and become a “hub” of sorts for various type of media, including video, audio, and photos.
You could almost call the Linkplayer 2 a bridge to the rest of your home’s media. Using USB 2.0 or a Ethernet (LAN) connection, the player will access music files, photos, or various video files (including high definition content) from either networked PCs or standalone hard drives that you can purchase through I/O Data. This makes the Linkplayer 2 not only a DVD player, but a media server of sorts as well.
The Linkplayer 2 supports various types of video formats in addition to standard DVD playback. This includes WMV-HD, MPEG 4, Divx, and Divx HD. The Sigma Designs chip will decode these files natively and can be enjoyed at resolutions up to 1080i. The player will not play back WMV-HD discs right from its own transport though. Rather, it has to be streamed from a PC. I tested this out using a variety of WMV-HD discs from Artisan.
Moving away from its feature set and more to its DVD playback performance, the Linkplayer 2 is an average to below average progressive scan DVD player. The player does not have a typical component video output or a digital DVI or HDMI output. Instead it uses a D4 connector that is typically found in the Japanese marketplace. My player came bundled with a D4-to-component-video breakout cable, making this a non issue, but for those who prefer the more standard cables, this may be a problem. The output supports 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i.
The Sigma Designs EM8620L chip does the bulk of the video processing duties for the player. I haven’t seen a Sigma chip used in a DVD player in a while now, and I still anxiously await a player that incorporates this chip with a standalone video processing solution like the Silicon Optix Realta chip or the Gennum VXP. In our testing, we’ve found the Sigma chips to be great MPEG decoders and very feature-rich, but their video processing capabilities have been lacking, especially in regards to de-interlacing.
The Linkplayer 2 is not motion adaptive, a feature that all DVD players at this point should have. It also cannot handle a break in cadence or bad flags well at all, causing numerous drops into video mode and obvious combing. Aside from a perfect 3-2 cadence, the only other cadence the player handled well was 2-2, which is typical of flag-based de-interlacing.
On the core side, this player was a bit of a mixed bag. Pixel cropping was excessive, with 10 pixels alone being cropped from the left side of the image. The top of the image was also cropping 1 pixel. The player does retain the full dynamic range of the video signal by preserving head and toe room (below black/above white), but the black level is set to 7.5 IRE with no way of adjusting it to 0 IRE for the DVD standard. The standard white level of the player is also quite low, measuring in at 93 IRE. This will hurt display calibration and overall contrast.
The Sigma chip did pretty well with our chroma tests. There was some slight flickering with material that was encoded with an alternating 3-2 cadence. This will result in a bit of instability with titles such as Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo. However, all of the other tests were fine with the exception of the standard 4:2:0 ICP which requires a chroma filter to pass.
The player had no Y/C delay issues but its analog video frequency response was rolled off tremendously in the upper end. This is a reoccurring problem with Sigma Designs-based players and in line with what I measured on the Bravo and Momitsu offerings. I hope this is an issue that can be resolved with future Sigma Designs-based players since their chips will be used extensively in upcoming Blu-ray and HD-DVD players.
The player’s navigation and access speeds were extremely fast but its initial loading speed was quite slow. The layer change wasn't much of an issue, measuring in at less than one second.
Conclusions
In general, I was extremely impressed with the features that the Linkplayer 2 offers. I am really hoping that more DVD players incorporate media center properties like this. I’ve already heard about upcoming players offering similar features, but through wireless connections. We’re also seeing these features in products like the Xbox 360 and the upcoming Playstation 3. This will put more pressure on DVD player manufacturers to offer this type of interactivity with the rest of your home’s entertainment platforms. As a DVD player, the Linkplayer 2 needs some re-tooling, but it is a step in the right direction for the market.
Video Frequency Response
I-O Data
Denon - DVD-1710
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
unknown |
| MPEG Model: |
|
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
unknown |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
|
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$179.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.usa.denon.com |
|
|
DVD-1710 - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
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
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
| Image Cropping
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| |
The DVD-1710 is Denon’s new entry level player. This no frills offering is similar in build and features to the DVD-1910, but lacks the
DVI output and Faroudja chipset.
The 1710 looks to be based on a Panasonic chipset, but it was very difficult to tell. The MPEG decoder had been blacked out except for a serial number. There is also a possibility that it is based on a Mitsubishi chip.
The MPEG decoder is handling all of the duties, including de-interlacing, and overall is a pretty basic entry with mediocre abilities. The chip is flagged based and had a hard time with our tests overall. The chip is not motion adaptive and drops into video mode at the slightest sign of a cadence break. I think it is fair to say that this is the lowest performer we have seen yet from Denon.
On our core tests, the 1710 did better then I expected. The player will pass a below-black pluge signal, and its white level was at the extreme of our passing criteria at 98 IRE. Since the white level is a bit low, perceived and measured contrast will be a bit on the lower side, but not by too much.
The player passed all of our chroma tests with the exception of the interlaced chroma test. That was expected since it takes a special chroma filter to pass. Only Faroudja and DVDO have managed to make a chroma filter for this problem so far. The
video frequency response was quite a bit better then I was expecting and even bested the DVD-1910. The response has a slight up shift as frequency goes up, but I didn’t see any annoying artificial ringing in the image from it.
Pixel cropping just barely made the borderline score. The player
crops 5 pixels from both the left and right side of the image. I don’t understand why a manufacturer would allow for cropping on the sides of the image where it can hurt the image more than the top and bottom. The 1710 passed the Y/C delay tests and measured out at about 4 nanoseconds of delay, which is within the consumer spec.
For our usability tests, the 1710 didn’t fare too well. The transport is on the slow side, especially with menus. Response from the player was slow, both with inputs and chapter skips. The layer change clocked in at just over 2 seconds, which is unacceptable. There are a lot of
inexpensive DVD players out there that are very responsive and feature almost no layer change at all. Denon is a company that usually stays on the cutting edge and these are things I would expect from them, even at this price point.
Overall, the DVD-1710 is a below average progressive scan player. I wasn’t expecting much at this price point, but I expect more from Denon. There are quite a few players near this price point that will outperform this player, notably the entry offerings from Pioneer. If you are looking for a solid low price offering,
this is probably not the one.
Video Frequency Response
Denon
Amoisonic - NetPlay NDP9100
|
NetPlay NDP9100 - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
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
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
Motion Adaptive
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Recovery Time
| 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, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Bad Edit
| Video Levels
YC Delay
|
|
NetPlay NDP9100 - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Blacker-than-Black
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
Video to Film Transition
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| Layer Change
Responsiveness
Recovery Time
| 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, Mixed Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Bad Edit
Motion Adaptive
| Video Levels
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
Film Mode High Detail
|
Introduction
The AmoiSonic Net DVDPlayer arrived on my doorstep a couple of months ago. It came pretty much unannounced and lacked any sort of user documentation or professional packaging. It did have a press brief explaining the many features it provided and a business card with some contact information. I had remembered a manufacturer several months before talking about a DVD player that would double as a client for streaming media like MP3s and DivX movies off a PC. It was an interesting concept which intrigued me. Needless to say this brown box contained just such a player.
The NetDVD player’s front has a mirror like finish with several bright blue lights that emerge with a hit of the power button. The unit is attractive and will have great Geek appeal, but will not hide itself in a dimly light room or a home theater. The chassis is substantially heavier than my Panasonic RP-82 and appears to be solidly built. The AMOI logo is embossed on the top cover, and the unit sits on some large round feet.
Smatterings of logos appear across the front right side, and directly under them are two mic inputs and controls for some form of Karaoke functionality. The rest of the buttons on the front panel are what you would expect from any DVD player with the exception of the ‘My Net’ button which enables the connection to a PC to stream media to the unit over a network connection. This DVD player, like most, neglects putting directional and menu keys on the front panel.
The remote unfortunately does not have the same build mentality as the player. It is a plain beige unit with too many poorly laid out buttons. The player also lacks the ‘Title Menu’ button which can make navigating some DVDs cumbersome.
Setup
During the setup phase I ran into a few snags, nothing serious, but a couple of little annoyances. In order to set up the progressive output of the player, you need to enter the setup mode, choose video, and press the ‘scan’ button on the remote. Seems simple enough, but upon closer inspection of the remote there was no scan button. Due to my determined nature and a process of trial, error, and elimination, I discovered that the scan button is labeled ‘PS/IS’. My assumption is it stands for progressive scan/interlaced scan. The PR firm believes this remote was a pre-production unit and the buttons may now be properly labeled. As a warning, when the progressive mode is enabled, the composite and S-Video outputs are not active, so if you are going to move the unit to a system without progressive inputs, make sure you change the output back before you disconnect the player.
The player was supplied with an 802.11b PCMCIA wireless card which is installed in the back of the unit. The network setup was very simple and worked fine on my WEP enabled 802.11b wireless network. It found my PC running the AmoiSonic server software (also included with the player) and showed me a list of all the music I was sharing.
The player includes 5.1 analog, 2-channel analog, Toslink and Coax digital audio outputs. The 5.1 channel output supports DVD-Audio playback as well as Dolby Digital soundtracks. The setup menu allows for changing the delay and level of the 5.1 analog outputs, but the settings are not fine enough to be used as a replacement for a good SSP. On the video side there are outputs for composite video, S-Video, and component video. As mentioned above, the component output can be interlaced or progressive.
Media Support
One of the most impressive parts about this player is the amount of media it supports. On the music side, it can play CDs, MP3, or WMA from CDs or streamed from a PC, and DVD-Audio discs. On the video side, is supports DVDs, DivX, VCD, and SVCD. In the case of DivX they can also be streamed off a PC. The player does not support SACD which is about the only media format they left out.
Net DVD
Before we take a look at the results of our DVD benchmark tests, I want to spend some time on the streaming media aspect of this player. Setup of the server software was fairly simple and easily allowed me to point to my existing music archive. This archive is in lossless windows media format, as I have been converting CDs over to this for some time. Unfortunately, the player would not play these files, although it does support lossy WMA. I did want to test the Net DVD functionality, so I ripped a couple of CDs to MP3s and pointed the server at those instead. Overall, the interaction between the player and the server was reasonably fast, provided the computer was not in the middle of any intensive CPU cycles. As for playing the MP3s, there were no gaps or blips in the audio stream unless the computer was doing other CPU intensive tasks, or I transferred large files over the wireless network. My guess is that, if the Net DVD player had a little more buffering capacity, it would work almost flawlessly even with the computer under slight load and on wireless networks much more heavily used than mine. The Net DVD player also supported very high bit rate MP3s (I tested up to 320kbit/s) which is good for trying to retain as much quality as you can when ripping from CDs.
The interface for accessing media is clean and allows you to choose media types of Music, Movies, or Pictures. It also allows browsing by Titles, Artists, and Genres. There is no search functionality, but as long as your Music and DivX titles have decent meta data encoded in them, you should be fine.
Progressive DVD tests
On our Benchmark Tests, the player did not perform very well. For the most part, the player failed anything beyond standard 3:2 flags. It did however almost pass the per-pixel motion adaptive de-interlacing test on the Faroudja test DVD. In the end it flickered every 1.5 pendulum swings but came much closer than most of the recent players I have tested. It also managed to get through some of the bad edit tests, but not enough to pass. The chroma bug (CUE) with this player is one of the worst I have seen, and is noticeable right from the FBI Warning onward.
Conclusions
This is an innovative DVD player, and from a features and function standpoint, is a very good step in providing a seamless environment for a large selection of media and file formats. If your primary use of this player is for DVD playback I would recommend that you look elsewhere due to the poor choice of MPEG decoder and deinterlacer for this unit. If the Network features are your main concern, and you are using a small interlaced TV, this player might be a viable option.
Neodigits - NeuNeo HVD 2085 High Definition
|
|
| MPEG Maker: |
AMLogic |
| MPEG Model: |
|
| Deinterlacer Maker: |
AMLogic |
| Deinterlacer Model: |
|
| |
|
| MSRP: |
$245.00 |
| Website: |
http://www.neodigits.com/ |
|
|
NeuNeo HVD 2085 High Definition (HVD) DVD Player (HDMI) - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
YC Delay
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Motion Adaptive
| Responsiveness
Image Cropping
| Layer Change
Chroma, 3-2 Alt. Flags
Chroma, 4:2:0 ICP
Video Levels
Blacker-than-Black
3-2 Cadence, Alt. Flags
3-2 Cadence, Mixed Flags
Film Mode High Detail
Bad Edit
Incorrect Progressive Flags
| |
|
NeuNeo HVD 2085 High Definition (HVD) DVD Player (Component) - Default |
|
Passed |
Borderline |
Failed |
Not Tested |
Chroma, 3-2 Film Flags
Chroma, 2-2 Film Flags
Image Cropping
Sync Subtitle to Frames
3-2 Cadence, Film Flags
3-2 Cadence, Video Flags
2-2 Cadence, Film Flags
Video to Film Transition
Recovery Time
Motion Adaptive
| |
