Best DVD Player

[BTech]

<font color='#000000'>The best DVD Player... Where do you draw the line on the cost Vs. Picture Quality. Can you compare a $350 HK with a $3500 Denon... Has anyone seen the DVD9000, is the picture worth the price. With DVD players being pretty much run of the mill now a days, How do you rank one ? Whats your Favorite ?</font>

 

[Yamahaluver]

<font color='#0000FF'>My experience is as follows:

For color I find the Yamaha to be best and Phillips a close second. For mechanism and reliability, I rate Onkyo and then Denon followed by Pioneer although their Elite series is pretty good. For onboard D/A the Denon is first rate so if you are more into music than video, this should be your first preference.

The two Yamahas DVD players I won have been trouble free so far but I still rate the Onkyo better in terms of mechanism.

I have had very bad and traumatic experience with Samsung( optics cooked themseves to death ), SONY( very sad as I like this brand ), Apex and Lasonic and LG/Goldstar.

For PC DVD player, I find the under rated Lite-On way better and much more reliable than Pioneer and a much better reader to boot.

For low budget DVD player the Pioneer 5xx series represents the best value.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>There are a couple of important features to pay attention to based on your display device.

For those with Front Projectors, a scaler may be particularly  useful to optimize screen shape, size, and resolution.  An HTPC can really do a good job here, and now DVD players are starting to appear with higher than 480P output capabilities.

For those who can use progressive scan, the ability of the DVD player and display to support 720P may improve picture quality.  This is being done with DVI-DVD players from Samsung I believe (model 931D due in June 03), but I haven't demoed any of the Samsung products.</font>

 

[gene]

<font color='#000000'>Bruce;

As far as I know, the DVI protocols have not yet been standardized, so I don't expect much out of these sub $300 DVI players. &nbsp;At that price point, something has to give (IE Power Supply, DAC's, etc). &nbsp;We all learned this last year with Apex's feeble attempt &nbsp;at a Universal player this did everything, but not very well.

So far the best quality in terms of audio and video out of all the DVD players we have had the fortune to review is from the new Denon DVD-2900. &nbsp;The performance from this player is just jaw dropping, as is its build quality and feature set.

This was the first player I have had in my system that has topped both my reference player and the Sony 999ES in many areas, especially sonics. &nbsp;Stay tuned for my review...</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>Thanks Gene, that's good to know.

I'm also watching the nearterm horizon for the rush of DVI equiped products (display and DVD) that are likely to hit the market.

I don't have a front projection with wide screen progressive scan yet, but I want one.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>It is intresting to note that these DVI players are providing some pretty interesting output via DVI at 720P and getting some pretty interesting reviews from users and Sound and Vision. &nbsp;Hopefully they will mature quickly. &nbsp;Samsung is expected to have theirs out in Q2 of 2003.

Bravo D1</font>

 

[3db]

<font color='#000000'>I'm in the market for a new DVD player. I have considered &nbsp;the Panasonic32k, its replacement the 35S, Philips 724AT . Then I stumbled across Electrohome's EH8168. I was surprised at the weight and solidity of the chassis of this unit. IT made all the others feel flimsy and cheap. I'm wondering if the same qaulity went into the electronics of this player. Anyone have any experience with this unit. I've got a 15 year old VCR from them and it still works great.</font>

 

[3db]

<font color='#000000'>One more thing I forgot to mention is this unit is firmware upgradable..</font>

 

[Khellandros66]

<font color='#000000'>RKR Videos Callisto-HD/RD Is the probably the best, because it is like a PC and can be upgraded, not just software but hardware too. &nbsp;Plus it will play the DVD on a projector or DVI based TV in full uncopressed Digital. &nbsp;Plus the sound card which is usually an M-Audio 410 or Revolution is far more advanced that most sound boards and DACs, not to forget that it can be replaced w/ the newest card available.
The Callisto can also Scale DVDs to 1080p!

</font>

 

[hlesser]

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gene : <font color='#000000'>Bruce;

As far as I know, the DVI protocols have not yet been standardized, so I don't expect much out of these sub $300 DVI players.  At that price point, something has to give (IE Power Supply, DAC's, etc).  We all learned this last year with Apex's feeble attempt  at a Universal player this did everything, but not very well.

So far the best quality in terms of audio and video out of all the DVD players we have had the fortune to review is from the new Denon DVD-2900.  The performance from this player is just jaw dropping, as is its build quality and feature set.

This was the first player I have had in my system that has topped both my reference player and the Sony 999ES in many areas, especially sonics.  Stay tuned for my review...</font>

<font color='#000000'>Do you have any guess when the Denon DVD-2900 review will be out? &nbsp;In the meantime are there any good reviews of this product available on the web or in print?</font>

 

[VE4CAN]

<font color='#000000'>Because I don't have a DVI input on my display....if I want 1080i I only have the component input available.

This player has caught my attention. It scales the resolution on it's component output as well as it's DVI.
Also, it looks like it's doing an end run around the DVI protocol issues...
It has the Sigma EM8500 decoder like the Bravo D1.
DVD-V880

I seen them listed for sale here [a pre-order and you pay the shipping]..HIVIZONE

AVSFORM has interesting thread going on this player...
AVSFORUM: RE-MOMITSU DVD PLAYER</font>