DJ_Longfellow

I own a Mits Widescreen HDTV and i still own my old Toshiba DVD player. I was looking to upgrade to a progressive scan DVD player, but not sure what to pick up. I was looking for something that Best Buy would carry, since i have a friend that works there now.....i like discounts. I know they carry Panasonic, Phillips, Sony, Toshiba, and i'm sure a few others.

I'm looking for progressive, MP3, and SVCD would be nice, since i have some "other" movies. How do SVCD movies look through a DVD player?

palebluedot

Any of the Panny and Tosh players are great. I recommend the Tosh SD5700, only thing is it doesn't play SVCDs...but it does everything else.

Josh Z

Toshiba players have the chroma upsampling bug and should be avoided for progressive scan playback unless you like streaky distortion in your reds.

The Panasonic RP82 seems to be the best bang-for-your-buck player on the market. I'm not sure whether it is compatible with SVCDs, though.

Icculus

I just bought the rp-62 and it can handle svcd, I would imagine the 82 can as well.

palebluedot

I have the Tosh SD5700 and the chroma bug is non-existant. Or, I should say it hasn't showed up on anything that it should show up on.

chipmac

You don't say what model Mits you have but some (not all) of the new models lock into full mode when fed a progressive signal. If your model does this make sure you get a player that is able to scale the image or you'll need to switch back to interlaced mode for non anamorphic discs. I've heard the best are the Panasonic or JVC models since they don't have the chroma bug but only the high end Pannys do scaling I think.

Odysseus

any comment on the Sony DVP-NC655P?

i'm thinking about buying this one.

ngp

I'm also considering the DVP-NC655P as I have a Mitsu Diamond 65" from 2001.

What makes some of the Prog. Scan players so cheap compared to others that are three to four times in price?

The SONY appears to be a good deal at around $230 for a 5 disc player that also plays MP3, CD-Rs, etc.

DJ_Longfellow

I believe i have the WS-55809....however, it may be the WS-55859. (I'm thinking the 809 though) Not too sure right now since i am at work. I guess i am leaning towards the Panasonic right now, but i guess it's not too urgent. I think i can get the RP62 pretty cheap....not sure if Best Buy carries the RP82?!

Josh Z

The RP82 just came out, so your local Best Buy may not have it yet. That doesn't mean that they won't in the near future, though.

gotapex

The RP82's better decoder is alone probably worth the additional price over the RP62, even if you don't use the DVD-A, DVD-RAM capabilities, or Coax output.

young

if only it was region free! i'd pick it up in a heartbeat.

still, the price is compelling and if i can't find a progressive dvd changer that is region free, i'll probably get the sony. silver b/c i'm sick of black components.

skar

You might want to post that to vcdhelp.com

It seems like many people have been unable to get SVCD's to work with the RP-62.

Icculus

Hmmm.... I'll have to try it again. I tested (what I thought was) an SVCD and it worked fine. I just checked the manual though and it says it doesn't play svcds - I'll have to burn another one and try it out.

ngp

Dumb question: what's the difference between SVCD and VCD?

skar

Short answer: SVCD has better image quality

Complex answer: For NTSC: (PAL has higher resolutions)

VCD:
1150 kbit/sec MPEG-1
352 x 240 pixels

SVCD:
up to 2524 kbit/sec MPEG-2
480 x 480 pixels