Malataman

Any member with a malata 3600 please post a review and let us know what you think abut the system.

spooneb

i'm very interested in user reviews as well

Seeker

i have one - still in the box - i hope to open it soon, but work is in the way.

axolotls return

ahem... i thought you were a malata rep? you don't have one yet? curious.. i am thinking of picking up another one in case my 996 goes ka-blooey.

biggen

Hello,
yes, please someone submit a review. I was looking at this at hkflix with the surround speakers and everything. i would like to get an integrated system like this to keep everything as simple as possible. thanks!

Malataman

I am, and I have one myself, but if I do a review it is not worth much, and i am looking for feedback for improvements on future models

Seeker

Any solutions to the blocking problem other than just letting the system run and run and run?

Reggie Thruput

there's no real solution to the blocking problem. BUT there is a way to convert the image output from interlaced or progressive to another format called slideshow. This is a format that the Malata folks starting toying with when they were finalizing the electronics. My friend works at one of the plants overseas and he explained the whole thing to me. They use some kind of shutter simulation technology. I'll find out exactly how to activate it casue I know it's just some simple code on the remote. Just wanted to put it out there.

Regg.

chadmarigan

I also recently recieved a Malata 3600 system. I have been having the macroblocking issue on NTSC discs almost 3 times a minute. I tried watching NTSC movies all weekend to see if it would let up at all. It seems that it's the worst when you start the movie with macroblocking occuring over the FBI warnings and menu screen, then it also occurs quite frequently when I start the movie. As I watch the movie it occurs less, but less is still maybe 4 or 5 times in a half hour. When I put in a new movie however, it's like starting from scratch tons of macroblocking at the begining and less and less as it goes on. I'm not sure if I want keep it long enough to see if it goes away, I'd rather get a 520 or the JVC. I'm not really into the idea of breaking in electronics, I like when they work right out of the box

biggen

this doesn't sound very promising. i thought the setup looked nice but now i'm not sure if i want one. does anyone have one that works fine? is the problem something that can be fixed with a firmware upgrade?

Reggie Thruput

chadmarigan I don't appreciate you regurgitating your posts from other threads. Thats right, copied exactly from a previous thread, please. You don't have to tell me that you want it to work right out of the box, I just bought a Malata 3650 and it will only do 574 lines in PAL mode. I thought I was going crazy but I swear the thing is missing one line of resolution. Do you know if theres a fix for that?

thanks Regg.
(wait I can't thank myself.)

Superdeluxxxe

To the defense of chad marigan, another member requested that he repost in this thread so that the Malata rep and those interested would be sure to see it. I would also like to restate what I have already said for the same purpose, which is that I received a Malata 3600 and immediately was disappointed with the amount of Macroblocking I was seeing. Quite a lot. I also have access to a brand new 520 which does not display this problem. So the severity seems to be unique to these 3600 models. And apparently there is no firmware fix. Leaving my player running night and day doesn't sound like much of a solution to me.

I would really like to know more about the "slideshow" mode mentioned above. I heard that it comes with Fries and a Coke. Does the guy who works at the factory know anything about that Regg?

Reggie Thruput

Superdeluxxxe, I understand that you have a special place in your heart for chadmarrigan but if he's going to recite the same tune over and over again how can I take him seriously. I wouldn't be suprised if you had your response all ready to go on a Mac OS sticky note just ready to copy and paste. Now if you want to talk with serious words then we can talk about sldieshow mode, I called my friend already today and he's going to email me the code and then I'll let you know what it is, he mentioned something about the player reorganizing the GOPs and placing black frames in between. Sounds a little strange but this could help out with the Macroblocking problem that you and marrigan are crying about.

I'll let you know
Regg. dog

benedict

Reggie Thruput, it is at this point that we normally start with "welcome to the forum".

Instead I am going to say that I'd like to see a little more obvious courtesy paid by you to fellow-members here.

I don't know you; I am not familiar with your posting style and cannot tell whether there is a joke element to it.

If that is the case with me it is likely true of other members. So, calm it down, please, from hereon in.

Thank you in advance for your understanding and co-operation.


Benedict
Moderator, International DVD Talk

Malataman

We have been working on this for days and have found out what is going on with the pixilation. It has only showed up in a few units and it is the mediamatics chip that is doing it. If you contact
jeff at hk flicks he will set up your exchange for you. Again this is only a few units and we are replacing the units under warranty.

Seeker

Is it all the units from HKFlix (I know, for you that would be only a few units), or just a few from HKFlix as well?

Jeff - your thoughts?

Malataman

LIKE I SAID IT IS ONLY A FEW, HKFLIX INCLUDED

Seeker

Great, thanks. Jeff said the same thing.

Appreciate it.

Truffaut Fan

By the way, the FAQ is missing several brands of players with the Mediamatics chips including Conia, Classic and I believe there's an Akia model also. Also, whatever brand AZNfilms is so enthusiastic about.

Jeff

spooneb

i may be getting one of these for christmas. do the pro's outweigh the con's? is this a decent region-free player for the money? how do the speakers sound?

Sirwanksalot

Just installed MALATA DAV-3600 (including speakers) and it works and sounds great - not a hint of any trouble. IMO it's the best thing going for $240 by a country mile......

Used the X Y scailing to fix region 3 DVD St. John's Wort to correctly show in widescreen

Yet to try a PAL DVD to verify conversion to NTSC

Only quibble is my "silver" unit came with "egg shell white" remote

Review: http://www.nerd-out.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24054

Sirwanksalot

Seeker

Ok, I finally got to open my unit and set it up today. (It was so hard not to open the box, but this is my first free weekend.)

The quality of construction is nice, and the look is professional. I set the unit up, setup was fairly easy other than the standard running of the wires.

That said, I have one of the 5% units - I put in Return to Neverland (it was sitting in the old unit) and immediately ran into severe pixellation issues - or macroblocking is it called? Anyway, I'd get little blocks all over the menu screen every 10-20 seconds, and after starting the movie, I'd get blocks every 30-40 seconds.

Makes the movie almost unwatchable - not because you can't see the movie, but your mind is going "argh" every time those little blocks appear.

So, that said, I've sent an email to Jeff at HKFlix - my impression from everyone here (and which is why I bought from HKFlix) is that they'll make it right.

If the unit works well, I'm looking forward to it. But the one I have is currently unacceptable. (And I haven't even put a R2 or Pal disc in it!)

Seeker

As a side note - Jeff from HKFlix responded to my email in just 11 minutes today.

Now that's service!

Sirwanksalot

How much did you pay for your unit?

http://www.conns.com/webpage/show_product.php?isbn=2216

Jlbkwrm

So, I finally got my DAV-3600 set up, and it is unfortunately displaying intermittant macroblocking. Not as bad as for some, but the blocking shows up every fifteen minutes or so, with the occasional broad horizontal stripe blocking out. It's not unwatchable, but it's extremely distracting.

Problem is, I'm not entirely sure if the unit is still under warranty. It was purchased over 30 days ago, wasn't delivered until the 19th of November. Further complicating things, it was a gift, so I don't have the e-mailed order confirmation (and I noticed no packslip on the box). I was going to try HKFlix CS, but I can't seem to pull up the site.

I don't suppose there's any chance the macro-blocking displays only in interlaced mode, is there?

Very nice system, setting aside the faulty chip.

Arg.