Gypo66

Any Malata owners have a copy of the UK Region 2 DVD ZIPANG they can check out? It's a very unusual and (I think) great Japanese movie. Unfortunately, I've discovered that the disc's removeable English subtitles, which displayed with no problem on my old (and since discarded) Apex, simply can't be accessed on my new Malata. Other than that I'm perfectly happy with the Malata, but I'm very perplexed over what's happening with its playing of this one DVD. Any help or suggestions appreciated.

carnifern

I have Zipang and a Malata so I'll check tonight. It worked fine on my (Cr)Apex as well.

carnifern

I checked my Zipang and I have the same problem. Odd, this is the first DVD I've had a problem with on the Malata. Oh, well.

Gypo66

dude, you're fast! Noticed you listed your Zipang on eBay immediately after your post here -- which is understandable, but rather than just unloading our discs and "ignoring the problem," aren't you or any of the zillions of other Malata owners out there at least a little concerned about WHY those subtitles won't display? After all, if it can happen once on this disc, in all probability, it will happen again.

carnifern

I wasn't totally into the movie (I know everyone else loves it) so it's not a huge loss to me. As far as the subs though, I am a bit concerned but it's most likely in the encoding since this is the only DVD I have from Pagan Films. I have DVDs from many other countries (NTSC and PAL) and many other manufacturers and none of them have had problems displaying subtitles. I'll be e-mailing AVDeals about it though to see what their input is.

Gypo66

Just found another DVD that contains English subtitles that my Malata player doesn't seem to be able to display. It's the Japanese movie Street of Joy, another PAL title put out by the UK company Pagan -- whose DVD of Zipang is the one other DVD I've discovered so far that the Malata isn't able to display. I've had the problem with Zipang confirmed by another Malata owner, but has anyone else found this problem hold true with Street of Joy? Anybody else worried about why this is happening or what it means in terms of other possible glitches with Malata in the future?

Shiv Shankly

Well, it doesn't appear to be all Pagan discs; I just picked up Pagan's Gate of Flesh, and the subs work fine.

Gypo66

Right, the problem is not with all Pagan discs. I also have the Pagan DVDs of Hellish Love and Girl Slaves of Morgana Le Fay and both display subtitles fine on the Malata. But the player for some bizarre reason simply doesn't seem to be able to recognize or access the subtitles on Zipang or Street of Joy. Never seen anything like it, and I'm worried it may just be the tip of the iceberg with other Malata quirks (w/subtitles or whatever). Besides which, I'm just a little annoyed because I really LIKE both of those movies and they were definitely part of the reason I broke down and got a multi-region player in the first place!

Patrick G

When a non-anamorphic WIDESCREEN dvd is being played on the Malata DVD-N996, and the player is configured for a 16x9 display, does the player automatically zoom/stretch the non-anamorphic image so that it appears just as an anamorphic image would on the display? I think the RP91 does this automatically, but does the Malata? I know it won't if the dvd is 4:3, but what if it's non-ana. widescreen?

Patrick G

Just got the Malata DVD-N996 Region 0 default, and need some serious help. I have the Toshiba TW40X81 and the Denon AVR-5800, using digital optical and component video cables. Can ANYONE tell me what my menu settings should be for my setup??? I'm confused on how to choose the different settings, specifically video and dac scanning, etc., in the menu system. If anyone could give me a list as to what each of the settings should be, I'd GREATLY appreciate it.

Now, for another problem:
I popped in my Eyes Wide Shut - Region 2 dvd, and the picture looks grossly out of convergence, specifically on the left side. I am seeing red, green and blue lines around everything. Also, it's displaying the picture in 4:3 mode with black bars on the side. I know this dvd is 1.33:1, but I could swear my Region 1 version of this disc did NOT have black bars on the sides when watching in Full mode on my TV. And the sides of the picture are waaay distorted too. What the hell is the problem here. I popped in a Region 1 dvd, and everything seems fine. PLEEEAAASE, can someone enlighten me.

dleedlee

I think the answer is no, you have to manually zoom. But perhaps a better place to start is
at www.avsforum.com under the DVD and LD hardware forum.
There are lots of discussions about the various Malata settings there.
They can probably also help you with your Toshiba.
I also linked a lengthy thread from that forum elsewhere on this
forum. (Under the subject of "which one should I buy?")

Good luck.

Matt Stevens

OK Patrick, I am assuming your Toshiba is a 16x9 model? Can it do Progressive Scan? (480p)

What video cables are you using? I am using component. When using Component with the Malata, you can NOT have an Svideo ro composite cable plugged into the player. It causes picture problems.

I have a 47" 16x9 Panasonic HDTV and my MALATA settings are as follows.

USER MENU:

TV Signal System: NTSC
TV Type: 16:9
Audio Mode: 5.1
Video Mode: CVBS Y Cb Cr
Scan Type: Progressive

EXPERT MENU

Video: DAC Progressive - Y, Y Pr Pr
...........Signal Type: - 525 lines
...........Video Filter - Smart (use Movie for animation; Still for PAL)

Subpicture: Always

Audio: CDDA S/PDIF BYPASS - Off
...........DECODER SETUP - DTS (this psses through all signals to your receiver)

As to EYES WIDE SHUT. I need to know if your TV is 480p or not and if it automatically squeezes when receiving a 480p signal.

Patrick G

Matt, you are my savior!! Yes my TV is a 16x9 HDTV, and it does 1080i as well as 480p. Here's a link to the set if you're interested:
http://www.toshiba.ca/ceg/html/TW40x81.htm .
It does NOT lock into Full mode upon sensing a 480p signal, as is the case with all Toshiba HDTV's. I have complete aspect ratio control over everything. I am using ONLY a digital optical cable and a set of component video cables. As for the settings you gave me, would you mind explaining why you chose the settings I have highlighted in red? And also, when you say to set Video Filter to "Smart" for animation, do you mean for NTSC? And do you notice a big difference between "Smart" and "Still" on PAL discs?



USER MENU:

TV Signal System: NTSC
TV Type: 16:9
Audio Mode: 5.1
Video Mode: CVBS Y Cb Cr
Scan Type: Progressive

EXPERT MENU

Video: DAC Progressive - Y, Y Pr Pr
...........Signal Type: - 525 lines
...........Video Filter - Smart (use Movie for animation; Still for PAL)

Subpicture: Always

Audio: CDDA S/PDIF BYPASS - Off
...........DECODER SETUP - DTS (this psses through all signals to your receiver)

Sorry so many questions! I REALLY appreciate this!

Patrick G

Oh, and for Signal Type, why do you choose 525 lines instead of 625?

Matt Stevens

Since your TV won't lock into FULL, you need to put it there whenever using the MALATA. It needs to be in FULL mode for Malata's 16x9 mode when playing 4:3 or non-anamorphic DVDs. The MALATA takes non-16x9 sources and displays them in such a way that auto FULL mode TV's will show them properly.

For Signal type, 625 lines is for PAL systems.

The other settings are chosen because they work! Seriously, those are the settings that avdeals said would work for my system and they do. I tried using other settings, just to see, and there were problems. The menu design and listings are confusing, but the ones I use are the ones that work for an HDTV.

SMART is used for all NTSC viewing, except for animation, where I use MOVIE, since SMART can get confused and start to comb. STILL lessens shimmering with PAL DVDs. There is a slight, but clear difference.

Subpicture at always means it allows the player to generate subtitles when chosen. I believe you can set it to shut subs off, even when the player wants them on. That is a guess though.

Patrick G

Ok, this is weird! When I go into the Common Users Menu, then to TV Signal System, and change it from Auto to NTSC, it'll play the Region 2 Eyes Wide Shut correctly, without the problems I described. WHY?? Also, if I change the signal type from 525 lines to 625 after doing this, it'll mess it up again. What's the deal? Why do I want 525 lines, instead of 625, and why do I want NTSC instead of Auto (if indeed I do)?

A couple other questions:

1. What should I set the Bass Cutoff to if I want my Denon 5800 to handle it?

2. Currently, under Sub Picture Language, it's set to "??". Shall I leave that?

3. Under Audio DTS - Digital Setup, do I want:
1) Original
2) PCM
3) Original S/PDIF Only

4. Under Video Mode Setup, in the Common Users Menu, which do I want:
1) CVBS Y C CVBS
2) CVBS Y Cb Cr
3) CVBS G B R
4) G+SYNC B R

Patrick G

After pressing the "Feature" key on the Malata remote, one of the options is "Color", for which you can adjust brightness, gamma, saturation, etc. My question is, if I do NOT want the dvd player to affect the picture in any way, should all of these be set to 0 (zero), or should a couple have higher settings (like saturation and gamma)?

Matt Stevens

No, the defaults are the correct settings. It's hard to explain. Don't touch them.

Also, when turning the machine off, never use the button on the player. Leave it pushed in. This keeps all your settings as you made them.

Matt Stevens

OK. 525 and NTSC is for NTSC systems. 625 and AUTO is for multi-standard TV's (PAL &NTSC).

Patrick G

Matt, can you tell me what your defaults are for the "color" settings? All mine are zero, except for gamma and saturation. But, I bought my machine slightly used from an individual, so those settings may not be the defaults. So, if you could give me yours, I'd appreciate it. Also, are you saying that every time I turn the power off from the front of the machine, EVERY setting reverts to the default?

Matt Stevens

All you have to do is hit the OK button to reset defaults. Just go to that feature and hit OK. That gets you to the default for that feature. Do it for all the "Features" and you will know you can start from scratch.

I don't remember what the defaults for thecolor and gamma are off hand.

Patrick G

Ok, I just wanted to be sure that the dvd player didn't affect my TV's settings, since I've had it ISF'd. I'm not sure if using the defaults for saturation and gamma (if above zero) accomplishes this, or if setting everything to zero accomplishes this.

Patrick G

Thanks for all your help!

Matt Stevens

Changing the defaults will alter the picture from where it should be. Especially the Gamma setting.

The only defalt that is wrong is the ZOOM. Zoom out two clicks and you have the correct setting. The default is slightly zoomed in. The firmware upgrade should fix that.

Personally, I zoom in and out all the time, depending on the width of what I am watching. I like to see every bit of the widescreen frame. Death to overscan!

jtkv

Patrick,

When Signal is set to AUTO, the output will be whatever format the DVD is ; ie: NTSC or PAL
When you set it to 525, all output is forced to NTSC, regardless of source. When set to 625, all output is forced to PAL format.
Your Eyes Wide Shut image was all messed up because it is a PAL disc, and since you had it on AUTO, the output is in PAL format on your NTSC screen. This is one way to test for PAL or NTSC DVDs on the Malata.



J.T.