Attention Malata 520 & 3600 owners. Also Jaton PSD-7611K owners.
 

As you folks may know, I own a Malata N996. Actually, mine was stolen and I replaced it with a used one. The used one has even worse subtitle playback than my original. So...... I wish to buy either the 520 or 3600.

For months I have read reports that both units can be prone to flash pixels across the screen from time to time. I have also read that this only happens in 480p (Progressive scan) mode. True? False? I need first hand accounts only, please. If you respond, please only do so if you know for certain of your answer.

Also, can the players properly display the "fade" subtitles from STAR WARS: The Phantom Menace? There are conflicting reports on this as well.

Finally, the N996 has problems playing subtitles from most HKL releases, as well as many Hong Kong releases, (Shaolin Soccer, Full Contact, etc.). The subtitles will flash by way to fast to read.

Do either the 520 or 3600 have this problem?

Thanks for your time and help.

P.S. I didn't see the old offical Malata thread, so I figured there was no harm in starting a new one. I need maximum coverage anyway, so I hope no offense was taken at my starting a new thread.

EDIT: I should add, what are your experiences with the Jaton PSD-7611K, for those of you that own one.

The 520 still can't handle the Phantom Menace subtitles. But I tried Shaolin Soccer and the subtitles are a lot easier to read.

One thing to keep in mind about the 520. The remote doesn't have a power button. So you'll have to turn the thing off manually every time. Which really sucks if you're using the scaling feature, since it resets whenever the machine is off.

Yeah, as of now I am leaning much more towards the Jaton.

Maybe worth checking out this thread:<li><ul><A HREF="http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=267754" target="_blank">Jaton PSD 7611K vs Malata DVP 520</a></li></ul>

Matt, I think I know the answer to this question, but...

You did upgrade the firmware in your 996, right? When I had upgraded mine only a while back, I was surprised to find improvements in the subtitles, particularly for anime dvds, where two sets of subtitles would overlap.

Before the upgrade, when the second subtitle would appear, the first would blink off and then come back with the second title.

This meant that subtitles were flashing on and off a lot. It was horribly distracting on certain titles. I was happy to find this problem disappear with the upgrade.

What's the date on your firmware upgrade?

Dammit! I had an entire reply written and the fricken site said I wasn't logged in. Bye bye all my work.

Here is the short version: My Malata N996 has the firmware upgrade. The subtitles issues is unrelated to that. The N996 is famous for way too fast subtitles. Some decks are worse than others for unknown reasons.

I saw that thread (listed above) but it is a bit out of date and other threads have conflicting information.

I am talking with HKFLIX about these players and will post back what I decide. It's a hard decision to make.