huzefa

I already bought the Malata 520 but ended up giving it to my brother last week. Now I want to get it again, but I see that HKFLIX is having a deal on both of these dvd players. So which one is the better one? The price is around the same too. Any ideas? DVDtalk's email says that the JVC has all the features of the Malata except x-y scaling; what is x-y scaling and do i need it?

Dvdtalk's email makes it sound like the Malata is good mostly for anamorphic dvd's but not for non-anamorphic and the JVC is good for non-anamorphic but not for anamorphic. I obviously need a player that does both and hopefully does them both well.

Also are there features in the JVC that are not present in the Malata? Finally, is the JVC going to be covered under warranty (since it's region free and all)?

So which one should I buy?

Thanks

H
p.s.: I do have an HDTV, so I will probably be affected by this XY scaling at some point, but is it big enough of a problem to go with Malata instead of brand-name JVC?

Yug

Interested in the above question too. JVC is a reliable company PERIOD, Malata well......

So I'm ready to go with JVC.

The question is what is X Y scaling and will I miss it if using HDTV.

And of course if anybody owns the JVC please tell us about it.

huzefa

^

huzefa

Come on, somebody must have an opinion on these two players.

HKFLIXdotcom

Hi folks. You may be interested in an email conversation I was having with Matt who runs loveandbullets.com (a HKFLIX partner site). In regards to X-Y scaling, he says:

"Basically, the X-Y scaling is great to have when you need it. The thing is that you may not ever really use it. The easiest way to describe would be to say that the feature comes in handy on the rare occasion when the pal to ntsc conversion isn't perfect. It also fixes flaws that are mastering problems. The POLICE STORY problem has never been confirmed as a conversion problem. It may have been part of the mastering process which would mean that even people who have PAL setups experience the problem. In either case, the Malata fixes it."

Also note that the Malata does have a few other features that I believe the JVC lacks, such as filters which can be applied to the image to correct conversion flaws.

The warranty on both these units are the same: 90 days labor/ 1 year parts. For both these units, if you require warranty service, you would return the player to us and we would repair or replace it. Since we've started selling these players about 6 weeks ago, we haven't had a single return or warranty claim.

If you have any other questions, just let me know.

Cheers,
Jeff ([email protected])
HKFLIX.com

huzefa

So if I am watching dvd's only in progressive mode, the Malata is better? I can't imagine a situation where I wouldn't want to watch a dvd in progressive mode, since I do have an HDTV and all.

HKFLIXdotcom

Huzefa: From what I understand, progressive scan isn't an issue when deciding between the Malata and JVC. The issue is whether or not you need X-Y scaling. If you have a widescreen HDTV, this might be more of an issue than if you have a 4:3. Remember that the JVC does have a zoom feature, so you can scale non-anamorphic DVDs uniformly to fill a widescreen.

Cheers,
Jeff ([email protected])
HKFLIX.com

huzefa

I do have an HDTV, but I think the JVC is a better option since I doubt I'll be using this x-y scaling much and the JVC is cheaper, and has a better remote (i presume).

nekobus

Picture quality between the two is basically the same. Get the JVC if you don't need the scaling.

huzefa

I still don't really understand what this scaling is used for. I do have an HDTV, but as I understand it, the only time I would use this scaling feature is when I'm watching PAL anamorphic dvd's; is that correct? Furthermore, will it be that big of a problem to not have this scaling feature?

Also, does somebody have a picture of the remote for the S500? Is it the same one as the one pictured on the JVC website?

HKFLIXdotcom

huzefa: Let's say the conversion of an Anamorphic PAL disc is flawed. It comes out squished. You could use the X-Y scaling to correct the flaw. This isn't going to happen often, but it is possible. You can also use the X-Y scaling feature to eliminate overscan so you can see the entire picture. X-Y scaling only works on Anamorphic DVDs. The JVC has a more primitive "zoom" feature which can scale the picture uniformly to a number of presets. The JVC can "zoom" any DVD, anamorphic or not anamorphic, which is nice if you want to blow up the image of a non-anamorphic letterboxed DVD to cover a widescreen.

I'll try to get a picture of the JVC remote on our site.

Cheers!
Jeff ([email protected])
HKFLIX.com

Josh Z

The x-y scaling can be used on any disc, not just anamorphic ones.

huzefa

I get it now. And since the scaling will be in minute measure, there will be no noticeable effects (such as thinning of the persons on the screen, etc.), right? Well, if that's the case, I might as well go right back to the Malata. One last thing, is there a standby button on the malata remote?

Kakkarat

huzefa, i don't have my Malata yet, but from what I understand there is NOT a standby mode. I have read on some forum (don't remember which) that the x-y scaling settings are NOT saved once you power off. Therefore, you will have to make adjustments each time you watch something.
Someon please correct me if this is not right.

huzefa

Yeah, I see now that there is not a standby mode. But hopefully I will not have to use the x-y scaling on too many dvd's (and even if I do, it just takes a minute). Maybe in the future, Malata will come up with a firmware upgrade to fix that.

DaveNinja

Will these players work ok on non-progressive mode? Can i hook the JVC to my non-hdtv RPTV with the conponent cables and get a good picture?

-daveninja

nekobus

JVC's interlaced output looks fine using component outputs on a non-HDTV.

HKFLIXdotcom

Note: that with the Malata, when you power down via the remote, the settings will be saved.

Jeff ([email protected])
HKFLIX.COM

huzefa

The remote does not have a power down button. Which button are u referring to?

RocShemp

What is the black level of either player? 0IRE or 7.5IRE? Or is black level selectable (is that even the right word)?

And how do you put the Malata DVP-520 in standby, as everywhere I've read it seems there's no standby button on this new model?

HKFLIXdotcom

Whoops! You guys are right. My apologies. I was looking at a 996 remote, I think. There is no standby button on the 520. Hopefully this is an issue that will be corrected in the next-generation Malata.

Jeff ([email protected])
HKFLIX.com

Cygnet74

how does the image quality of the interlaced output compare between the malata and the jvc? i would just be going out via s-video to a 27" sony. the post that says the malata is not good for non-anamorphic dvds makes me nervous -- is this a valid concern?

kngelv

The main benefit of x,y scaling for myself is for discs that are non-anamorphic. I have Toshiba 16:9 HDTV. I have a problem with many Hong Kong discs no matter which widescreen mode I use. If I get the dimensions of the picture close to correct, I can't read the subtitles. If I can see the subtitles The people are somewhat short, and squat. The scaling feature allows you to avoid this problem. The statement below is one I received in regards to a question I had on the difference between the JVC and the Malata from a guy who sells both.

"the reason x,y scaling was used on the Malata is because Pal anamorphic discs get stretched on NTSC TV's. With the x,y scaling in the Malata, you can fix this. Furthermore with the JVC, the converter built in does not stretch the picture. So you don't have any problems with the Pal anamorphic discs with the JVC."

Hope this helps.

James

HKFLIXdotcom

In regards to James' post above, both the Malata and JVC will correctly display anamorphic PAL DVDs in their correct aspect ratio. So X-Y scaling doesn't come into play here. Most other "universal" DVD players do stretch the image of anamorphic PAL discs, but the Malata and JVC do not.

Regards
Jeff ([email protected])
HKFLIX.com

digitalfreaknyc

I know the Malata has Dolby Digital/DTS decoding in the machine. Does the JVC?