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Progressive scan DVD players - help!

S

stultus

Golden Member
I just moved into an apartment with enough room for a real TV (no more Dscaler on my computer monitor! whee!) and I purchased a nice Samsung that'll do 480i, 480p, and 1080i. It also has 16:9 squeeze. Can anyone tell me what I should be looking for in a relatively cheap progressive scan DVD player? I blew my budget on the TV, but have a lot of DVDs. I'm trying to figure out if these sub-$100 progressive scan players in Hot Deals are crap, or are what I'm looking for. I can't really post on audio/videophile forums, because they spend $500+ for these things 🙂

(Also, I'll only watch at 480p, being progressive, right? Do any DVD players play 1080i?)

Any comments or experience appreciated.
 
I have the Toshiba SD-3900 that I believe retails for $99.99 and have been pleased with it.

Edit: CNET recommends the Panasonic DVD-S35S over the Toshiba SD-3900 so that is another model you might want to look into.
 
There are DVD players that will upsale to 1080i, but it won't look that good because DVD's resolution is only 480p so its not worthwhile.

I bought a JVC Progressive Scan DVD player last year for about $120, and it works really well ... Might want to look into the JVC XVN50BK, I'd recommend going with a name brand over one of the off brands like APEX. Just my opinion..
 
Ah, okay, if the DVD signal is at 480p, then I don't care about 1080i upscaling.

Preliminary research indicates the Panasonic DVD-S35S is the way to go. Amazon carries it for $95, and it supposedly does the same as the $400+ DVD players released a few years ago, when I bought my Tosh SD-2800 (IIRC that's the model).

I'm reading more reviews.

What separates a $400 DVD player from a $100 player these days?
 
I'm kinda in the same boat that your in, just looking now. The panny 85S seems to be what I'm looking at. Its a 5 disk and it only goes for like $150 from CC and the like. From what I have read the price makes very little difference in playback quality it seems.
 
For an extra $50 you get DVD-audio capability (I won't use), , " Double Re-master Processing ", "Channel Balance Control", "Depth Enhancer", "MPEG Digital Noise Reduction (Mosquito/Block/3D)" DTS/DD decoding in the unit, it's 5 disks, and various other random non-important features.

Hmm, I wonder how the decoding is in the unit? If it saves me getting a receiver ... hmm.

Have you seen any reviews recommending the F85S over the S35?
 
The best pro-scan DVD player for the money is the Panasonic XP-30.

It has the highly sought after Faroudja DCDi chip and a Genesis deinterlacer. Panasonic made these mid-priced DVD players thinking people would spend a little more to get excellent picture quality but found out people didn't really care and gravitated towards cheap sub-$100 DVDs.

I recently got one and like it except for the remote control. There are some issues that may bother you that didn't matter with me though. First is it does not have a coax digital out for DD/DTS. It only has an optical out. Second is it doesn't have a built in DD/DTS decoder or output.

The model is discontinued and hard to find but the Sharper Image still carries it. I got mine off of ebay. There is a higher end model, the XP-50, that is identical except it has DVD audio.
 
Also, Samsung just recently came out with the 931 which has an upscaler for 720p but it is only really useful for fixed pixel TVs like LCDs, LCoS, DLPs and plasmas. Another nice feature is the DVI output but again your TV has to support it. It seemed attractive to me but my TV doesn't support 720p or have a DVI connector.
 
It's looking like the S35. Now, do I want silver or black? My TV is silver but my cart is black. OH, THE CHOICES!
 
Originally posted by: stultus
It's looking like the S35. Now, do I want silver or black? My TV is silver but my cart is black. OH, THE CHOICES!
Click to expand...

The S35 has the Chroma upsampling problem. Panasonic made this line of DVD players to replace the XP-30 but it uses inferior chips.

You might be able to find XP-30s from $150-$200. I got mine for $180.
 
Oh and BTW, don't buy any Sony DVD player. They have a huge QC issue with their DVD players overheating. My $600 S550D broke down recently and my bro-in-law's S560D broke too. If you go to Audioreview you will see they all seem to have this problem.
 
Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Originally posted by: stultus
It's looking like the S35. Now, do I want silver or black? My TV is silver but my cart is black. OH, THE CHOICES!
Click to expand...

The S35 has the Chroma upsampling problem. Panasonic made this line of DVD players to replace the XP-30 but it uses inferior chips.

You might be able to find XP-30s from $150-$200. I got mine for $180.
Click to expand...

It does use cheaper chips, but I didn't think it had the chroma upsampling problem. Also, spending roughly twice what the S35 costs isn't worth it to me.
 
Originally posted by: stultus
Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Originally posted by: stultus
It's looking like the S35. Now, do I want silver or black? My TV is silver but my cart is black. OH, THE CHOICES!
Click to expand...

The S35 has the Chroma upsampling problem. Panasonic made this line of DVD players to replace the XP-30 but it uses inferior chips.

You might be able to find XP-30s from $150-$200. I got mine for $180.
Click to expand...

It does use cheaper chips, but I didn't think it had the chroma upsampling problem. Also, spending roughly twice what the S35 costs isn't worth it to me.
Click to expand...

LOL. That is why Panasonic dropped the XP-30 and came out with the S35. Because $200 DVD players don't sell and people always buy sub $100 DVD players.

They are quickly becoming disposable products though. I will never spend as much as I did on my Sony on a DVD player again. I'll just get a cheap one and replace it every couple years.
 
What is your Samsung tv? Is it an HDTV ? Didn't we conclude in another thread that if your TV set is HDTV-capable, it will already do the "progressive scan" conversion for you, thus ridding the need for your DVD player to be progressive scan ?
 
Originally posted by: LiQiCE
There are DVD players that will upsale to 1080i, but it won't look that good because DVD's resolution is only 480p so its not worthwhile.

I bought a JVC Progressive Scan DVD player last year for about $120, and it works really well ... Might want to look into the JVC XVN50BK, I'd recommend going with a name brand over one of the off brands like APEX. Just my opinion..
Click to expand...

Um, DVDs are 480i. That's why you need a progressve scan player/deinterlacer to convert it to 480p.
 
Originally posted by: Amused
Originally posted by: LiQiCE
There are DVD players that will upsale to 1080i, but it won't look that good because DVD's resolution is only 480p so its not worthwhile.

I bought a JVC Progressive Scan DVD player last year for about $120, and it works really well ... Might want to look into the JVC XVN50BK, I'd recommend going with a name brand over one of the off brands like APEX. Just my opinion..
Click to expand...

Um, DVDs are 480i. That's why you need a progressve scan player/deinterlacer to convert it to 480p.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure most DVDs are recorded at 480p, but are interlaced on the way out. Supposedly, it's the MPAA that's trying to keep them from being played as straight progressive, thus requiring the DVD players to go progressive -> interlace -> progressive.
 
I've got an APEX dvd-player.... recent model, in the past, their stuff sucked, but they have vastly improved. It plays everything I can think of... works great, and dirt cheap.. around $50-60 on the net. Don't remember the model # offhand, and I'm too lazy to walk downstairs. (It'll wake my wife who'll make me get off the internet at 1am)
 
Originally posted by: DrPizza
I've got an APEX dvd-player.... recent model, in the past, their stuff sucked, but they have vastly improved. It plays everything I can think of... works great, and dirt cheap.. around $50-60 on the net. Don't remember the model # offhand, and I'm too lazy to walk downstairs. (It'll wake my wife who'll make me get off the internet at 1am)
Click to expand...

Me to! Go APEX. Heh. What can I say, it is a decent cheap DVD player. Does MP3, VCDs just fine, etc. Its by no means meant for a high quality home theater (no component).
 
Originally posted by: DrPizza
I've got an APEX dvd-player.... recent model, in the past, their stuff sucked, but they have vastly improved. It plays everything I can think of... works great, and dirt cheap.. around $50-60 on the net. Don't remember the model # offhand, and I'm too lazy to walk downstairs. (It'll wake my wife who'll make me get off the internet at 1am)
Click to expand...

Sears is running an Apex for $34.99 after rebate. $10 rebate Saw it in the weekly flyer for the past 2 weeks.
 
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