Q&A # 295 - July 6, 2002

Staff

Q I am interested in a new Denon progressive scan DVD player, either the 1600 or the 2800. I understand the Denon 1600 is bug free. Which player has overall better picture quality? It would seem strange to me if the 1600 had a better picture overall. The 2800 has much better build quality, despite the chroma bug. I have a 55" Mits RPTV.

A The new 2800 mk II looks to have very good features, including a 108 MHz video DAC, while the 1600 is 54 MHz. This allows better oversampling. It has 4 MB of drive buffer memory, which will lessen the delay during layer changes, vs. the 3 MB of the 1600. The 2800 is not DVD-A, and it does have the chroma bug, but it depends on whether or not you need DVD-A. The new 2800 mk II may or may not have the bug. We have not tested it.

Q We are currently building a new home and have dedicated a 23' x 13' room to building a home theatre. We have received a bid from a technology consultant for the following:

SIM2 HT 200 projector
Faroudja Processor
Motorized screen to be determined
UNIV MX1000 remote control
HKAVR520 receiver Dolby Digital Pro Logic DTS
HK DVD50 player disc carousel
PANA PVVS4821 VCR
XANT 489B00 receiver
XANT 70144, 282H/HP
Celestion center channel speaker system
Celestion right/left front speaker system
Celestion rear surround speaker system
Pinnacle dual 12" subwoofer

The cost, including installation, will be between $20,000 and $21,000.

Could we have your opinion of this package and any suggestions?

A The pricing looks to be about right. I would suggest that you get a demonstration of all of these products wherever possible. Make sure the projection image is bright enough for you. Listen to the Celestion speakers installed in an environment similar to yours, and that the sound is clear at the kind of volume you like to listen to when watching movies or playing music. Check the remote control to see that it is easy for you to use for such things as adjusting the volume of individual channels and is easy to read in the dark.

Q Over the Canadian long weekend, I watch a few children's shows with my 21 month old son. While watching "Blue's Clues" I saw the characteristic chroma bug fringing around Steve's thinking chair (a bright red overstuffed chair). This was on analog cable (Panasonic GAOO interlaced TV) and a Canadian cable station (TVO), though "Blue's Clues" is produced by Nick Jr. The same problem did not appear on the next show "Clifford", though it did pop up on some of the commercials. I think I have seen the chroma bug at other times, along with really bad compression blocking.

My guess is somewhere in either the production stream or the broadcast chain they are using an MPEG decoder which has the chroma bug, probably in a satellite receiver somewhere. Have you guys seen this before? Any ideas on what/where/who could be causing it (and getting someone to fix the problem)? Maybe a complaint to Nick Jr. would help, since "Blue's Clues" is their property.

A The chroma bug is an MPEG decoding error, and wherever there are MPEG decoders, the bug can show up. It would be very difficult to pinpoint where it is occurring in the broadcast. The only thing we can hope for is that it will eventually disappear due to the knowledge by engineers that MPEG decoders need to have the correction made in the next available design.

If "Blue Clues" was encoded as interlaced 4:2:0 instead of progressive 4:2:0, then what you are seeing is not the chroma bug but a 4:2:0 design flaw that cannot be fixed without applying a vertical chroma filter. (It
looks just like the chroma bug, but it is a fundamental flaw with 4:2:0.) And in this case, the filter can only be applied after it is converted to 480p, which means your display must do the filtering.

Q I have an Hitachi 53SBX10B RPTV. I need the factory specs to correct the R-B-G DRV and cuts. Also, How can I get the SMV for the set? I wrote down the information a paper but misplaced it.

A This kind of info is only available in service manuals from the manufacturer. We only get them for the TVs that we are testing or TVs that we own. You would need to contact Hitachi and request one.

Q I am wondering if it would be alright to join a SACD player and a DVD-Audio player using a "Y" connector to my receiver? My receiver has only one 8-channel input, and I would like to use both SACD and DVD-Audio. Would this cause damage if both were accidentally used at the same time?

A Don't connect them with the Y connectors. This would send the output of one player into the output circuits of the other. I am not sure it would damage the players, because they are low voltages, but there is no reason to invite trouble. Instead, get a switcher. Multi-channel switchers are expensive, so I would suggest just getting three two-channel switchers and running the 5.1 from each player into the three switchers. To play one system, switch all to channel 1 or channel A or whatever it is on the panel, and channel B for the other player.

Q  It is my understanding that most current HDTVs use analogue outputs for their 1080i signal. However, does this mean that if the studios and manufacturers decide to switch over to a digital output, such as Firewire or DVI, that current HDTVs will be obsolete? Do you have any information on pending HDTVs that will offer both connections?

A Some manufacturers have become fed up with all the plans but no real action, so they are declining to restrict the output of decoders. Some manufacturers will have both DVI and Firewire connections, but that does not mean they will work properly. The whole thing is a mess because studios are paranoid about their content, which in my opinion, is definitely no national treasure and not worth copying in the first place. Hollywood should have maintained their old habit of burying the films under the Los Angeles freeway once they were shown at the theaters.

Q  I am looking to buy a receiver to complete my home theater system. I have satellite TV, DVD player with no decoder, a CD player, five speakers, and TV which I am looking to use with the receiver. What are the things I should look for in the receiver? I am looking for a mid priced one and what kind of inputs do I need on the receiver?

A All modern receivers have "everything", because that is what consumers want. But, for your specific circumstances, you would need one that has enough digital inputs for all your sources. If your satellite box has a Dolby Digital output jack, then you would need to digital input jacks on the receiver, one for the satellite box and the other for your DVD player. The CD player could be used with its analog outputs. If you want to use its digital out, then you would need three digital input jacks on the receiver. I would also suggest getting a receiver with pre-outs for all channels, and that can be had with a mid-priced receiver. Later on, you can add a multi-channel power amplifier to deliver higher impact sound.

Q Since you probably have sampled both Panasonic's RP-56 and Toshiba's SD3750, which one would you guys recommend? I've heard people say that the Panasonic is cheaply built, while the Toshiba one may have the chroma bug problem (does it?). I use it mainly for watching movies on my Toshiba 34 16x9 but I wouldn't mind a good MP3/CD playback. I hope you guys can help me out here or maybe recommend some other similarly priced DVD progressive players that I should look into.

A DVD players have come to the point that even the cheap ones work well, because they all use similar chips. The differences between the cheap ones and expensive ones will be heavier chassis, more memory in the drive buffer (less delay in change between video layers), 5.1 analog out, DVD-A, and such. But for the actual video and audio quality, price does not necessarily reflect performance improvement. The presence or absence of the chroma bug is not reflected by the price of the player.

� Copyright 2002 Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity
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