Anyone have a chance to give the new 5960 a test run? I grabbed one at the BB in Boston; hadn't seen or heard about it. Looks nice from the initial run, seems to play divx files in the proper AR on a 16:9 monitor (tested three files). Over HDMI at 720p, looks pretty nice. This is only eyeballing it for a few minutes though. Certainly interested in any other user comments.

FWIW, it is not region free out of the box; haven't tried any hacks, but it did play a PAL disc that was region free. Again, only popped in a disc for a minute, so no comments here on the playback quality though. . . maybe in a few days

just tried the hack for the 642 (789 ok 0) and that did not work since hitting ok closed the drawer.

as with other philips players, the stop button on the remote, when held down for 2 secs, is the open/close button (since there is no open/close button labeled as such on the remote)

Thanks,
dd

hobbes,
How are you liking the 5960? Anyone else try this player?

I have it. It's ok with DivX stuff. Doesn't play QPel, like the previous Phillips, but it actually does play it in a slideshow-y manner. And it handles Widescreen DivX files properly, like the OP said.

But the upconverting seems kind of ass. It looked worse to me than my TV upconverting a 480P signal. Maybe my TV has a really good upconverter, though...

You CAN view pictures in 1080i, which is pretty cool. But it takes time.

I also tried the Toshiba that had DivX 6 and upconverting. I'm not sure which is better. My memory is so frigging horrible that I've already forgotten. I'm going to look for comparisons...

After a couple of weeks with the 5960, I'm fairly happy. Divx playblack is good. Occasional lock-ups, but easily fixed by FF a few seconds. HDMI playback is nice, certainly better than the JSI that this unit replaced. No stretch mode over HDMI though which was an advantage of the JSI. No resume function for discs, so you have to search to where you left off. And no auto start to skip all the crap at the beginning of discs. However, the good news is that videohelp has updated it's hacks and the hack for the previous HDMI model works on this one to make it region free.

It's an $80 player and the quality is pretty good. Can't ask for a whole lot more, other than it being reliable. . .

IMHO, the Philips 5960 is fundamentally flawed due to the following scenario....

- You are using the HDMI output with resolution set to 720p or 1080i resolution.
- You are playing a 4:3 DVD.
- Your TV does not let you select Normal (pillar-boxed) aspect ratio for 4:3 pictures received via HDMI at 720p or 1080i resolution. AFAIK, most HDTVs fall into this catergory. At least the Sony and Samdung RPTVs do.

The result is that for a 4:3 picture via HDMI the picture is always stretched horizontally. Most other HDMI upconverting DVD players, such as Sony and Panasonic, have a setting (Normal or Full) that lets you choose how to deal with 4:3 DVDs in case your TV won't let you.

As for PQ from the Philips 5960...its not too bad but not spectacular. HDMI seems to be a little better than component. I think the Sony and Panasonic upconvert players are a bit better though. Other nitpicks about the Philips 5960: the remote sucks, no open/close button on remote (but pressing the stop button for 2 seconds opens/closes the tray), no digital optical output, pressing play or eject on the unit doesn't power it on, resume doesn't work, the thing is so light that if you press a button on the front panel the whole player moves. Another shining example of the cheapening of CE that is so prevalent nowaday.

P.S. It plays PAL discs on an NTSC TV just fine and there is a working region-free hack posted on www.videohelp.com

Hi,

I looked at the manual for the Philips DVP5960, and this player WILL resume the last 5 discs you played, but what you have to do is when you turn on the player (if it's a disc you left in there when you turned the player off) or after you put the disc in the tray and the disc starts loading you HAVE to press the "Play" button on the remote or the resume function won't take effect.

(See page 26 of the instruction manual under "Resuming Playback from the last stopped point")

Yes, it is incredibly annoying. I had the infamous Philips DVP-642 for a while and the resume operated exactly the same way. It also shares with the older Phillps a lack of an open/close button on the remote - I believe if you press and hold down the "Stop" button when a disc is already stopped it will open the tray.

Hope that helps,

Julie

Yes, the resume does work, for the last 5 discs, but its a bit hit-and-miss and you have to press the Play key at just the right point during a disc load after stopping and restarting, assuming it works at all if resume amnesia hasn't set in. Same with the Yamaha 550/5750/5751. Bottom line: This feature is very poorly designed. The newer Sony's approach is much better. Oh well, I suppose that what you get for $75. New Oppo 970 looks promising though.

IMHO, the Philips 5960 is fundamentally flawed due to the following scenario....

- You are using the HDMI output with resolution set to 720p or 1080i resolution.
- You are playing a 4:3 DVD.
- Your TV does not let you select Normal (pillar-boxed) aspect ratio for 4:3 pictures received via HDMI at 720p or 1080i resolution. AFAIK, most HDTVs fall into this catergory. At least the Sony and Samdung RPTVs do.

The result is that for a 4:3 picture via HDMI the picture is always stretched horizontally. Most other HDMI upconverting DVD players, such as Sony and Panasonic, have a setting (Normal or Full) that lets you choose how to deal with 4:3 DVDs in case your TV won't let you.



Can't speak to those TV's, but my cheapie Vizio L32 LCD displays 4:3 dvds in their original AR fine when outputting 720p. The image is not stretched horizontally or vertically (although i would like the player to be able to output a full widescreen image that is stretched proportionally like my old JSI did). My options with the HDMI connection are zoom, wide and normal. I set it to normal, and it is fine, not stretched.

Can't speak to those TV's, but my cheapie Vizio L32 LCD displays 4:3 dvds in their original AR fine when outputting 720p. The image is not stretched horizontally or vertically (although i would like the player to be able to output a full widescreen image that is stretched proportionally like my old JSI did). My options with the HDMI connection are zoom, wide and normal. I set it to normal, and it is fine, not stretched.My Sony RPTVs options with the HDMI connection are Full, Zoom and Wide Zoom for 720p and 1080i. Normal is not available for 720p and 1080i HDMI, only for 480p. So I would suggest that anyone considering this player make sure their TV supports Normal mode when using 720p or 1080i over HDMI and if intending to play 4:3 DVDs if they want the picture to be pillarboxed rather then stretched.

I dont't know if this was answered or not, but I am unable to get the dvd player to upconvert??? I am using a hdmi cable to the dvi port on my hdtv and am getting the 480i image. I try to adjust the settings under the video menu, but all the higher resolutions are in gray and the only option I can select is auto. Also, I thought sound was transfered through the hdmi. I don't get any sound either through the tv. Anyone got any ideas?

It would be helpful if you would state what is the make/model of your TV.

As for audio over HDMI. Yes, as long as its HDMI-to-HDMI. If its HDMI-to-DVI, as in your case...no audio. You need to run seperate, parallel analog audio from DVD player to TV. A DVI input has a corresponding audio input (red & white stereo audio RCA jacks). The DVD player and/or TV manual should have diagrams to show you how to hook up to a DVI input on a TV.

Yeah, unlike HDMI, DVI doesn't include audio.

Re selecting the different HDMI modes (720p, 1080i...), try stopping the player first, then see if you can select them. Not sure if there are any other features that would need to be adjusted for DVI.

I bought this over the weekend. I really enjoy using USB and the support for DivX and PAL discs (which is why I went with it over the Sony).

But, it apparently doesn't handle DTS? Am I doing something wrong here? I looked through the menu and didn't find a setting for it. I was trying to watch the new Kingdom of Heaven 4 disc set and the DD 5.1 played fine, but no sound played when I switched to DTS. (I've never had DTS problems before!).

I thought DTS was considered "bare minimum" on a DVD player that I didn't even think to look for it. Granted, I thought the same for optical audio, but this player doesn't have that either.

I'm guessing I might have to order a Oppo 970 after all......

I bought this over the weekend. I really enjoy using USB and the support for DivX and PAL discs (which is why I went with it over the Sony).

But, it apparently doesn't handle DTS? Am I doing something wrong here? I looked through the menu and didn't find a setting for it. I was trying to watch the new Kingdom of Heaven 4 disc set and the DD 5.1 played fine, but no sound played when I switched to DTS. (I've never had DTS problems before!).

I thought DTS was considered "bare minimum" on a DVD player that I didn't even think to look for it. Granted, I thought the same for optical audio, but this player doesn't have that either.

I'm guessing I might have to order a Oppo 970 after all......

Yep, I just bought the 5960 and it seems that it does not support DTS. I can't get it to work at all. This makes absolutely no sense. First no optical out, AND no DTS? Who designed this thing?
I'll be returning it tomorrow.

If the DVD player doesn't have DTS decoder but the receiver has one then when we select DTS signal will it come out to the receiver? 'cause I think everyone has DTS receiver but what we want is the DTS signal

My reciever didn't even get 5.1 sound at all though this DVD player. No dolby digital and no DTS through coaxial digital. Took it back and got a Sony NS75H, now my surround outputs DTS and DD just fine.

If the DVD player doesn't have DTS decoder but the receiver has one then when we select DTS signal will it come out to the receiver? 'cause I think everyone has DTS receiver but what we want is the DTS signal

Nope, it doesn't even recognize the DTS signal.

Well then whoever approved this design should be fired, I plan to get one but I have to look else where now, probably the new Oppo which is OOS at the moment

Philips has not included DTS in many of its players for a while now, e.g. the DVD727 and I believe the DVP642. Surprisingly, DTS works on the DVP5900, even though it does not say so anywhere on the box or the machine itself. I suspect it may have been accidentally enabled without being licensed.

I've been using the Philips 5960 for a week now and I'm thrilled to have an easy way to view DivX content on my Panasonic PT-50LC13 HDTV.

I've been watching 720x480 DivX and Xvid content. It looks pretty good, although I wish the 5960 supported DivX HD resolutions. Apparently there are only about 4 decks that play DivX HD and the cheapest is the $250 AVeL Linkplayer 2. I'm sure that will change soon enough but for now, I'm happy with the $80 Philips deck.

Ironically, it doesn't matter to me that the 5960 can play DVDs at all. I only want it for the USB port. You see, the Philips 5960 plays video files directly from USB drives including thumbdrives, USB card readers, and iPods. So I copy a bunch of DivX files to my 30 GB iPod, plug it directly into my 5960, and it works like a champ. Of course the iPod can't play those files, but it simply acts as a dumb USB drive and the 5960 does all the hard work.

I believe the 5960 is the cheapest way to create a video jukebox. A typical DivX movie is less than 1.5 GB and I can buy a 300 GB USB drive for less than $100. That means, for under $180, I could watch my entire DVD collection without leaving my couch. That is less than the AVeL Linkplayer and way cheaper than any HTPC I could build.

A word of warning, the 5960 only displays the first 8 characters of your filenames. That means you need to be creative about your naming and directory structures if you hope to find the movie you are looking for on a 300 GB drive.

I want to buy the philips 5960, anyone tried yet the usb port?
I think is a good feature if it can play divx from hard disk or photo or mp3...
Thank you very much.

i have the same problem. HDMI-upconversion stuck at 480p. I have it connected to a Syntax Olevia LT32HVM via DVI-HDMI cable. anyone know if there is a "fix" for it (although i doubt it) to display 720p on the Syntax?? i jsut want to make sure the dvd-player is not defective..

incidentally, the LG LDX514 does the upconversion just fine on same tv. also, to the above question, yes hard drive works just fine thru USB but it depends on which enclosure the drive is in. not all of them will work. and i cant tell you exactly which ones will. you have to try it with some.

It would be helpful if you would state what is the make/model of your TV.

As for audio over HDMI. Yes, as long as its HDMI-to-HDMI. If its HDMI-to-DVI, as in your case...no audio. You need to run seperate, parallel analog audio from DVD player to TV. A DVI input has a corresponding audio input (red & white stereo audio RCA jacks). The DVD player and/or TV manual should have diagrams to show you how to hook up to a DVI input on a TV.

pccip:

There a long and informative thread on this player and the USB port in the videohelp forums at the following link-

Philips 5960 and USB (http://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=301465)

Yes, Divx, mp3s and other files will play off of USB storage, but apparently you have to be careful about how you do it. As deshwasi mentions some USB hard drive enclosures will work and some will not. Also I believe the drive must be formatted with the FAT32 file system.

Julie

i have the same problem. HDMI-upconversion stuck at 480p. I have it connected to a Syntax Olevia LT32HVM via DVI-HDMI cable. anyone know if there is a "fix" for it (although i doubt it) to display 720p on the Syntax?? i jsut want to make sure the dvd-player is not defective...

The same problem happened to me... Replaced the player with the new one - helped.

The "defective unit" displayed "non-hdcp compliant" msg, when connected to hdtv unit. Also, I couldn't do do any changes to HDMI resolution in setup of it.

Kris

The same problem happened to me... Replaced the player with the new one - helped.

The "defective unit" displayed "non-hdcp compliant" msg, when connected to hdtv unit. Also, I couldn't do do any changes to HDMI resolution in setup of it.

Kris

I'm having the same "non-hdcp compliant" msg. Is exchanging the unit for another one the only way to fix this? How can I be sure the new one I get won't have the same problem? Is it a firmware version issue?

I've noticed that no one is talking about the use of HDMI in tandum with a DD5.1 receiver, so I'm hoping my question is an isolated one. Oh, no problems for me upconverting (480p, 720p, 1080i).

It appears that if HDMI is hooked up, and my digital out (coax) on the DVP5960 is also being used, the player doesn't support DD5.1. If I remove the HDMI cable, DD5.1 comes in ok.

My equipment:
Sony SXRD KDS-R50XBR1 display
Onkyo TX-SR501 receiver
Philips DVP5960 DVD player (obviously)

I've verified the following settings:

DVP5960 player
Digital Audio Setup - Digital Output - "All"

TX-SR501 receiver
DVD - Digital Input - "Coax"

KDS-R50XBR1 display
Audio - Speakers - "Off"

I've seen two comments on other review sites on the web concerning this issue, but they didn't go into details. Has anyone experienced this?

I just got this player last week, I've noticed the picture looks kinda washed-out compared to that of my old Toshiba SD-2200. Granted, I've got it connected via component cables, but the colors just don't "pop" like what I'm used to. I've tried adjusting the personal settings, but to no avail. I think I may return it in favor of the Sony 75H.

I just got this player last week, I've noticed the picture looks kinda washed-out compared to that of my old Toshiba SD-2200. Granted, I've got it connected via component cables, but the colors just don't "pop" like what I'm used to. I've tried adjusting the personal settings, but to no avail. I think I may return it in favor of the Sony 75H.For what it's worth, I returned the 5960 to BB and exchached it for the Sony DVP-NC85H changer and couldn't be happier. I immediately noticed a sharper, more vivid picture. There were features I liked in the 5960, but for me, image quality comes first. The Sony cost me an additional 80 bucks, but it was worth it.

I've noticed that no one is talking about the use of HDMI in tandum with a DD5.1 receiver, so I'm hoping my question is an isolated one. Oh, no problems for me upconverting (480p, 720p, 1080i).

It appears that if HDMI is hooked up, and my digital out (coax) on the DVP5960 is also being used, the player doesn't support DD5.1. If I remove the HDMI cable, DD5.1 comes in ok.


I have the exact same problem on my 5960. It is hooked up to a panasonic
42" plasma and a yamaha receiver (via coax). When I use the components I get
5.1 on the yamaha no problem, if I use HDMI I only get 2 channels.
This is very clear - if I just plug in the HDMI cable, the sound immediately
goes to 2ch. I spent a long time on the phone with philips, got escalated
to some tech-jerk, who basically told me that since my receiver is not philips
then he can't help me. Oh, and he told me I should hook up the receiver
using the red/white cables for surround sound.

I've noticed that no one is talking about the use of HDMI in tandum with a DD5.1 receiver, so I'm hoping my question is an isolated one. Oh, no problems for me upconverting (480p, 720p, 1080i).

It appears that if HDMI is hooked up, and my digital out (coax) on the DVP5960 is also being used, the player doesn't support DD5.1. If I remove the HDMI cable, DD5.1 comes in ok.


Well, chalk me up for another one with this problem. Just got my HDMI cable for this DVD player over the weekend and hooked it up. I also have a coax digital out connected to my receiver. When I use the HDMI cable, I get 2 channel stereo, when I unplug the HDMI from the back of the DVD player, the sound instantly changes to full surround sound. I have yet to get in touch with Philips about this issue. Any help would be great!

Well, chalk me up for another one with this problem. Just got my HDMI cable for this DVD player over the weekend and hooked it up. I also have a coax digital out connected to my receiver. When I use the HDMI cable, I get 2 channel stereo, when I unplug the HDMI from the back of the DVD player, the sound instantly changes to full surround sound. I have yet to get in touch with Philips about this issue. Any help would be great!I had this player for a few days before abandoning it due to its lack of 4:3 pillarbox support. Anyway, I don't remember exactly but there may be a setting for turning off HDMI audio. Or, IIRC, there is an audio setting that you set to "All". Its probably in the manual. Sorry I can't be more specific.

I had this player for a few days before abandoning it due to its lack of 4:3 pillarbox support. Anyway, I don't remember exactly but there may be a setting for turning off HDMI audio. Or, IIRC, there is an audio setting that you set to "All". Its probably in the manual. Sorry I can't be more specific.


Thanks for the response, I will look through the manual again tonite. Maybe I missed something with it yesterday. What does "IIRC" mean?

I posted the same question on videohelp.com. Just wondering if anyone here has noticed audio and video going out of sync. while playing avi's through the USB port.

I just bought this dvd player and absolutly love how you can play DivX/XviD through the USB port.

I have a 2G thumb drive that I can copy my AVI file into and watch. No need to burn cd/dvd.

Only problem that I have seen is that the sound seems to go out of sync. a little when watching avi through the USB thumb drive. Pausing and restarting seems to sync. it up again but it goes out sync. after a while. The sync. isn't too bad but its just enouhg to be a little annoying. Sync. is just fine when the same file is played through the cd. Anyone else notice this? Any way to fix it? BTW, my thumb drive is formated with the FAT32 FS.

Thanks.

I still have not been able to figure out how to get the surround sound from the digital coax audio out working when using the HDMI cable for video. Is there a setting on my TV or receiver I need to set to get this to work?

What happens now, is when the HDMI cable is plugged in the back, the receiver only gets 2 channel stereo. The moment I unplug the HDMI from the back of the DVD player, the receiver starts outputting in surround sound. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks.

I can't post a link to the thread because I'm new (I guess you have to submit 5 postings before you can include URLs) so here is a quote from avforums:

Originally Posted by Akcron
Thank you for your recent e-mail.

With regards to your query we can advise that a solution will me made
available shortly which will enable use to receive 5.1 when you
connect using HDMI.

The solution is a software upgrade which can be downloaded from


We trust that the information provided will be of assistance.

Should you require any further information please contact our Customer
Care Centre (details below) quoting customer reference number
50-81972982.

Kind regards,


Philips Customer Care

esojmc,

I don't have this player, but it's possible that this player doesn't handle divx/xvid files where the audio is encoded with variable bit rate (VBR) instead of constant bit rate (CBR) very well.

Do you know what type of audio (MP3? AC3?) and bit rate encoding type (VBR or CBR) is used in the files where the audio goes out of sync? If you aren't sure you can use a tool like GSpot or MediaInfo to find out.

If you are familiar with audio and video encoding tools, try this - demux the audio from the video file using a tool like VirtualDubMod. You choose Streams > Stream List from VDubMod's menu, highlight the audio track in the dialog box that appears and click the "Demux" button. Save the audio file where you will find it again. :)

Then use the audio encoder of your choice to transcode the audio to CBR MP3 (there are free ones out there if you don't have one).

Remux the new audio file with the original video file using VirtualDubMod again. When you remux the audio, you will choose Stream>Stream List from VDubMod's menu and disable the original audio stream in the file by highlighting it and clicking the Disable button. Then click the add button and choose the CBR mp3 file you created. Click OK when you are done.

Save the file under a new name using "direct stream copy" as the video mode so the video isn't re-encoded. The whole process should take just a few minutes.

Copy the new video file to your USB stick and see how audio playback is.

Julie

I'm very interested in purchasing this player. My samsung upconverting player has terrible macroblocking due to its DCDi. But I'm a bit hesitant, has anyone been able to use the HDMI video and get 5.1 surround sound to their home theater systems? I know that someone posted a reply from Philips customer service that there's a firewire update and I was just wondering if that fixed the problem. Thanks.

I'm very interested in purchasing this player. My samsung upconverting player has terrible macroblocking due to its DCDi. But I'm a bit hesitant, has anyone been able to use the HDMI video and get 5.1 surround sound to their home theater systems? I know that someone posted a reply from Philips customer service that there's a firewire update and I was just wondering if that fixed the problem. Thanks.

I have not been to find this firmware update nor get in contact with anyone at Philips. I'm starting to get a wee bit upset with this situation.

I've been checking the philips site daily to see if the update has been released. Probably the more people we can get to complain to them about it the faster it will appear.

Also, if your TV has a digital audio out (optical or other) I'm betting that you could connected the DVD player to the TV via HDMI and then output the TVs audio to your receiver and get DD 5.1. I haven't had a chance to test this out myself though.

Just a quick update...Philips tech support is IMPOSSIBLE to get a hold of on the phone. I have been calling for a week and have yet to speak to a real person. I also emailed their support with my problem (no surround sound when HDMI plugged in) and I got a response sending me to the DVP5900 support page. Wonderful. Anyone else have any news on this?

I am having the same audio problem. My current setup is a 62" mitsu dlptv. a Pioneer VSX816 reciever an the dvd player is the philipps DVP5960/37. Ok When the hdmi cable is in. I recieve no DD5.1 signal. just the 2 channel. Also I tried running the audio coax cable from the TV to reciever an still just the 2 channel gets through. It registers digital. But no 5.1 signal. OK so I was able to get ahold of philipps tech support. After being transferred through 5 people. This lady " kimberly " came on to pretty rudely tell me that this is how the dvd player is. And I'd have to pick. HDMI cable with no dolby digital. Or use component cables an have the dolby digital. So.. People. What the hell. This doesn't seem right to me. Does anyone have any additional information or shall I just return the unit.

In your Audio setup menu try setting it to "All" instead of PCM for Digital Output.

As waiting485 suggested, setting Digital Output in the audio setup menu to "All" instead of "PCM Only" does send a DD5.1 signal via audio coax, even when HDMI is connected. But that menu option keeps getting reset to "PCM Only" each time the player is turned off and sometimes even when a new file or disc is played. I'm guessing it will take a firmware update to fix this?

ok. Setting the output to all does nothing for me. And also it almost immediately resets itself to PCM. Also, hooking up audio through TV digital coax audio out does nothing but send the 2channel signal from dvd player to tv to reciever. As the PHillips support told me. This is the way it's supposed to act. I urge you all with this problem to get ahold of philipps an try asking for yourself. Maybe enough gripes will get this problem solved. I've looked through every nook an cranny of options an the user manual. And with philipps themselves telling me basically to deal with it. That's not cool !!!. I even mentioned to customer care about hearsay of a FW update. they had no answer to that. Because there isnt a problem according to the multiple people I talked to. I am by no means a newbie to electronics an home theater. an I know i'm not missing anything with the setup an option picking. 1080i looks great on my tv. Too bad I can't enjoy it with dd5.1 :( buncha crap..lol

I just bought one of these guys yesterday and I was happy until I connected the HDMI cable to my HDTV. I can't for the life of me get the resolution higher than 480p. I tried looking up the settings to change it and found nothing that can help me. All the other resolutions are greyed out.

I'm using a Monster HDMI to DVI cable to my Olevia Syntax tv. Is this a digital rights management goof-up that's limiting my resolution??

One person on this thread returned the unit and it worked thereafter but there are others that posted on this thread that still have that problem. Anyone able to shed some light as to how to rememdy this?

Just for an update. I have returned my philipps for a samsung unit " dvd-hd860 " an it works flawlessly. Though I feel the philipps might have had a bit of an edge with pic quality. The audio works an this player respondes quicker to remote commands an searches faster. So to everyone with that hdmi audio problem. good luck. don't turn to philipps " at least a woman who works customer care named kimberly " for help :)

I have been trying to hold out until the last possible day before returning this DVD player to CC. I recently sent an e-mail to Philips support. In that e-mail I pointed out that the dvp5900 had exactly the same issue (DD5.1 not working via COAX when connected to a TV using HDMI) and that a firmware update was released to correct that problem and simply asked if they were going to correct the same issue with the DVP5960.

As others have pointed out in this forum Philips support is not just bad… it is really bad. I have worked in the support industry for several years and I can tell you that nothing makes people angrier than when you answer a different question than was asked because you don’t know the answer to the original question. Below you will find their response:

We understand that you're asking information if there an update that will be released soon for your DVP5960. It was mentioned that will not output DD 5.1 via COAX when connected with an HDMI cable. Lastly, you mentioned that there was a firmware update was provided to resolve the issue with the DVP5900.

We apologize for the inconvenience. Our records show there is no available firmware upgrade for your DVD player as of this time.

Philips has posted a firmware upgrade (V 37.06.42.29) for the DVP5960: http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?slg=ENG&cat=DVD_PLAYERS_RECORDERS_CA&sct=DVD_PLAYERS_SU&grp=HOME_AUDIO_VIDEO_GR&ctn=DVP5960/37&mid=Link_Software&hlt=Link_Software

I could not find any release notes for the upgrade. The upgrade went smoothly. The one change I noticed is that "Lip Sync" has been added to the menu, which allows you to delay the audio upto 200 ms. Also presumably, they fixed the digital audio out with HDMI bug. Not sure because it used to work for me earlier too, perhaps because my I was running the HDMI to a DVI input on my TV (and DVI does not transmit audio). The 8.3 filename restriction still seems the same (at least through the USB port).

I get a lip sync issue after the dvd has been paused. If I go back to the menu and reselect the audio output it fixes it, but what a pain that is. I will try this firmware and hopefully that solves that issue.

Also, spoke to the techs at philips the other day and they had no knowledge of a firmware upgrade available at that time.

I think this is a blackhole product for them. Overall I am very dissapointed with its slow reaction time from inputting a command and audio issues.

I just did the upgrade and it is doing DD now. It went into some oddball video mode on startup, and the screen was split in half and flashing, so I had to go into the HDMI settings to set it to 1080I to get it to disply correctly. Looks and sounds good now.

My only complaints now are the insanely slow response to remote commands and the slow disc loading.

I can live with it..for a while.

yes, the firmware released seems to solve the problem. Someone in this forum earlier wrote that there is no release notes, however there is, see the phillips documentation on the product support page, it shows it all. (Can't post the link as a new member)

After updating the firmware, I need to set TV type and hdmi resolution to the correct ones in order to get display. The amazing thing is that this firmware seems to enable DTS output as well! However, after updating it seems that when I play the video the entire screen has been shifted up 1cm so there's a noticable black strip at the buttom when I play full screen DVDs. Did anyone else notice that?

ghlu,

I had that issue even before the firmware update. The Cnet_com review notes that they have seen that issue w/ this and other up-converting DVD players.

The new firmware upgrade (.34) solves both the DTS stream output as well as the multichannel digital out problem when using HDMI. Plus there is lip sync and one other issue solved. Release notes state these 4 changes.

I upgraded yesterday (Sep 3 2006) and it worked fine. I have DTS ouput stream now!

QubyB

I just bought this player.

I upgraded the firmware to the latest. When connected via HDMI only to a new Samsung 3241D LCD the signal plays for about 20 seconds then cuts out. Pulling the HDMI from the back of the set and reconnecting will restore the signal for another 20 seconds. I have tried two new and different HDMI cables that are 6 feet in length. I doubt that both cables are bad, but I guess it's possible.

If I connect via component cable the player plays fine with no problems.

From various threads I have read there seem to have been HDMI problems in the past, could there still be problems?

-CB

I too had a tough time just after updating with the firmware. I had no picture through the HDMI connection. Had to break out the good old yellow wire to get a picture. Too my dismay the HDMI section of the menu was grayed out - you could not select it.

The solution is to simply push the "HD Upscale" button on the face of the player. Why? Good question, but it works! Now go into the setup menu and adjust the HDMI settings to your screen type.

Now 5.1 from player and lip sync options are available in the setup screens.

Pushing HD Upscale did not correct the HDMI problem. There's a real problem with the DVD's HDMI and my TV. I can restore the signal for 20 seconds by yanking the HDMI cable. It reliably cuts out after 20 seconds. That makes me really think there is a HDMI handshake issue that needs to be addressed. I've contacted Philips in hopes they will address in a future firmware update. For now I am stuck with component outputs.

-CB

The new firmware upgrade (.34) solves both the DTS stream output as well as the multichannel digital out problem when using HDMI. Plus there is lip sync and one other issue solved. Release notes state these 4 changes.

I upgraded yesterday (Sep 3 2006) and it worked fine. I have DTS ouput stream now!

QubyB

I cannot get DTS sound from composite audio-out even after upgrade. Is DTS out possible only with coaxial-out to home theater receiver? (I mean the player only recognizes the DTS and passes on without decoding?). Also, I thought the firmware was .29 (release date 8/23/06), is there another upgrade after that that I should use? Please help.

I have a Vizio 42'' LCD HDTV and just got this DVD player to go with it. This is my first time with a widescreen HDTV and I have been reading up on the whole idea behind anamorphic picture scaling for DVDs. I would of course like to make use of my widescreen TV and watch DVDs in 16:9 but I am seeing a big difference in picture quality between the following two settings:
1) DVD Player: TV Display = 4:3 Letter Box
TV: video mode = normal
2) DVD Player: TV Display = 16:9
TV: video mode = wide

Option two would give me a full widescreen but it seems like the resolution is much better in the boxed up version. Is this an issue with the DVD player or should I expect this from all upconverting players? I thought anamorphic DVDs had better resolution so they looked just as good in widescreen.

Also, I noticed that in option two, the top and bottom are slightly cut off. Its very very minimal but I went back and forth and confirmed there was a small difference. Would this again be a DVD player issue?

I am thinking about getting the Sony NS75H DVD player (for about $35 more) to compare but was hoping to get some pointers here first. Like others, I do like the features of the DVP5960 but PQ is the most important factor. I have already given up getting a DVD recorder to get an upconverting player instead in the same price range.

Thanks in advance for the help.

I just bought this dvp5960/37 and I am having trouble with the 1080i. I have it connected to my RCA 52" HD Projection using a HDMI to DVI cable(a cheapo), and I get a kinda blotchy/pixelated picture at both 480 and 1080. So now I am resigned to use the component out instead.

Any advice on where the problem lies? The dvdplayer the cable or the tv? I assume since I get a picture that its not the cable, because hdmi/dvi either works or doesnt I think.

Hi folks,

I hope you guys can HELP me ... I have searched and searched ...

Anyway, I just bought a Philips DVP 5960/37 to view my .AVI files ... my AVI files are made with Xvid (I don't know if this is my problem) ... I have my .AVI and .SRT (Subtitles) in the same folder

My PROBLEM: When I play my movie (Chinese with English Subs) at about 15 minutes into it my Subtitle freezes and keeps the same subtitle ... Movie plays thru just fine ... but subtitle will not change.

Now I am able to play the same AVI movie on my desktop with Window Media Player just fine and "Subtitles" show up correctly (FYI: I have DirectVobSub on my computer).

PLEASSSSSE ... can anyone help me with this problem ... if I can't get the darn Philips player working ... I am taking the Unit back for my money since I have no use for it then!

THANKS!
G! :confused:

hi,

u have a bug in ur sub(a timing error probably ), use subtitle workshop and do an error check...
or download another sub !!!

Hi JohnHamler, :)

Boy o boy ... YOU are the BEST. Can't thank you enough ... I downloaded the Subtitle Workshop and I tried the info/error tool and said fix all the errors and there was whole bunch and "saved" the new SRT ... and darn thing worked on my tabletop just fine.

But since I am new to SW program ... it chopped some of my Subtitle Strings short ... I need to figure out how the program works ... to correct timing errors and overlapping times "without" chopping my subtitles!?!?!?
OR, can I make the subtitles to 2 or 3 lines ...

I really don't understand how Creating and Managing Subtitles work ... do you know of a site that can teach a newbie?????

Thanks again,
G! :)

try doom9.organisation and go on their forum under subtitle.

these guys are really good....

if timing is wrong, do this with SW:

look at the first line timing.
look at the timing in the movie.

calculate the difference beetween time in sub and time in the movie(where the sub should be).
press ctrl D, this will open a window to set timing correction.

add or substract the timing difference to match your movie.
and you are done, save it!!!.

if it still doesnt work, press controll B, and say where your first sub and last sub should be.

if this still still doesnt work, and you dont understand why and u are fed up after 15 minutes, give up!!!!

it is because the initial sub is not for the correct movie.

the reason: you have a movie for TV(shorter), or a special edition with cut director(longer). in this case you have to find another sub.

try Subbiee, or DivX subtitles (even better), 2 sites with plenty of subtitles.

if you dont find the sub u want, wait 2-3 weeks, until a chap write a new sub for your movie.

Hi John,

THANKS!

G!

I have (still do) own a Philips DVP642 and wanted to finally upgrade it. I purchased a DVP5960 yesterday and thought I would post my results/opinions...

USB - worked with zero issues :) I used a SanDisk Cruzer 1GB first, preformatted as FAT32. No issues at all! Plugged an 80GB drive in a generic USB enclosure (StarTech, I think). Formatted the drive to 3 diff FAT32 partitions - again, no issues at all. This USB feature is HUGE for me. I burn a lot of DivX files onto CD-Rs and this is going to save me from having to do that at all! Woohooo! I may try to format a drive as NTFS and see if it will work with that as well.

Connection - I have it hooked up via HDMI cable, but also output the sound to my receiver via Coaxial Audio cable.
Video - plays perfectly on my LG HDTV :) Great picture (and yes, a noticeable difference in picture quality.
Sound - plays fine, but like others stated, it would not output in either 5.1 or DTS with an HDMI connection. However, that has been resolved...

Upgrade - As per other users, I upgraded to the newest firmware. Burned as per Philips' instructions, using Nero 6. No issues. Ran the upgrade on the DVP5960, went smoothly (only took about 3 mins total). However, after I upgraded the firmware, the unit would power on but no picture. Scared me at first, so I hit the "upconvert" button on the front of the unit and the picture came back :) I know another user had an issue with this, hopefully he tried the upconvert button like I did and that resolved it.
The sound now outputs in 5.1 and DTS! Yay!

Overall - I am thrilled :) This unit has worked exactly like I hoped it would. All the features of the DVP642 (which I have loved having for so long), but with a noticeable picture improvement, better remote control (still not wonderful, but MUCH better that the DVP642), USB capability (that is SUCH a big deal for me) and overall ease of use. I like the shiny metal look to it too ;)

I recommend this player to anyone looking for a cheap way to have USB, HDMI and upconverting DVD capabilities! I worried about using coaxial audio (never have used it, always used optical audio cables), but I can hear absolutely no difference in the sound at all (in fact, coax may sound a bit better, hard to say, they both sound great!)

Thanks to all the posters on this site for the help in all aspects of this player. The "no DTS and no DD 5.1 output with HDMI" was a deal-breaker for me. But since those issues are resolved, no complaints at all. Got it for about $65 at CCity yesterday.

Couldn't be happier with it :)

I just bought this player.

I upgraded the firmware to the latest. When connected via HDMI only to a new Samsung 3241D LCD the signal plays for about 20 seconds then cuts out. Pulling the HDMI from the back of the set and reconnecting will restore the signal for another 20 seconds. I have tried two new and different HDMI cables that are 6 feet in length. I doubt that both cables are bad, but I guess it's possible.

If I connect via component cable the player plays fine with no problems.

From various threads I have read there seem to have been HDMI problems in the past, could there still be problems?

-CB

I have exactly the same problem - did you manage to get any resolution for this?

Sent an email to Philips but don;t hold out much hope...

Any feedback would be helpful.

Cheers.

I have exactly the same problem - did you manage to get any resolution for this?

Sent an email to Philips but don;t hold out much hope...

Any feedback would be helpful.

Cheers.

I resolved the problem by exchanging the player at CircuitCity and not applying the firmware update. So far so good.

Philips support is abysmal. I talked to them several times. They cannot even provide a copy of the original firmware so I could downgrade the player.

I originally tried to do a cross shipment for a replacement unit through Philips support and they cannot even manage that. They wanted me to send the unit in first and wait for 3 or 4 weeks while they decide to send me a replacement. Meanwhile, I would have no DVD player. A simple cross ship for a replacement is industry practice at least in the computer world. I even offered to give them my credit card number as collateral.

Philips has had a lot of problems with their sales in the US. They have talked about pulling out more than once. Based on my current experience they should go ahead and give up. Their products and support are hopeless.

Contrast this with my purchase of the Oppo 970 which has been wonderful. Their customer response to questions is fantastic and they issue firmware that works and improves their product.

-CB

I resolved the problem by exchanging the player at CircuitCity and not applying the firmware update. So far so good.

Philips support is abysmal. I talked to them several times. They cannot even provide a copy of the original firmware so I could downgrade the player.

I originally tried to do a cross shipment for a replacement unit through Philips support and they cannot even manage that. They wanted me to send the unit in first and wait for 3 or 4 weeks while they decide to send me a replacement. Meanwhile, I would have no DVD player. A simple cross ship for a replacement is industry practice at least in the computer world. I even offered to give them my credit card number as collateral.

Philips has had a lot of problems with their sales in the US. They have talked about pulling out more than once. Based on my current experience they should go ahead and give up. Their products and support are hopeless.

Contrast this with my purchase of the Oppo 970 which has been wonderful. Their customer response to questions is fantastic and they issue firmware that works and improves their product.

-CB

I suspected that might have been your response...

Anyway, I received the following response from Philips (within 12 hours to be fair):

"Thank you for your recent e-mail.

With regards to your query we can advise that this is an issue with the hdmi
leads.

We would advise that you try the leads on another device to see if it works
or try new leads on the dvd player. This is because HDMI - HDMI has never
failed to work on this particular unit.

We trust that the information provided will be of assistance."

Impressive confidence in their product anyway!

I'll test out the leads on another setup when I get home but if this is unsuccessful it's a back to the shop job.

Unfortunately I haven't seen Oppo players in the UK so my alternatives are probably Sony or Toshiba.

Thanks for your feedback.

Just bought my 5960 today to play back TV shows I recorded with BeyondTV and transfered to my LG 2Gb flash drive. I've tried MPEG and DIVX and WMV. It loads and plays the MPEG and DIVX files but the audio starts to stutter after a few seconds. If I pause it and press play again, audio starts out good but starts to stutter again in a few seconds.

I only intend to use this for the USB connection so I can watch recorded TV shows. What should I be doing to make this work?

Thanks.

I bought this one yesterday. It worked perfectly fine except for the HDMI output.
1. I have got a Samsung HDTV with HDMI/DVI In.
2. Bought a Belkin HDMI cable from CC (expensive, will return this and buy one from monoprice later)

HDMI setup menu is disabled on the DVD menu. I couldn'd also find the HDMI source enabled on the TV.

Am I missing something here?

Has anyone gotten this thing to work with a ipod video yet. I have the latest firmware but have no luck with the ipod. My sandisk 2 gig works great but any type of spinning hard drive gets me a "device not supported" on the screen

Anyone tried connecting phillips dvp5960 upconverting dvd player with infocus 4805 projector and get 720p or higher.I have connected the hdmi to dvi cable to dvd and projector and the hdmi options (720p,1080i) are greyed out in dvd menu.Is it because of hdmi dvi cable ?

I just want to see myself what's deal with upconversion.

Anyone connected with hdmi to dvi cable with this dvd player and are able to select the HD resoultions in dvd menu.

Thanks in advance

I experienced the same situation when I upgraded the firmware several days ago. No picture...yipes...what the heck went wrong I thought. Nothing online anywhere...FAQ's, etc...Nothing in the firmware upgrade instructions...which I printed out...Hit the upconversion by accident or just a button to push and voila a picture and no problems since then.

When looking at the upconversion choices on the setup screen I too have certain resolutions "shaded out" with no access to them. The resolutions are 480i and 720p. I presume the dvd player is reading the available resolutions. I have access to 480p and 1080i but honestly see no difference between them. Both are great so I leave it at 1080i and enjoy. I am using an hdmi/dvi cable as my tv only accepts dvi.

I bought the DVP5960/37 today at Circuit City. I hooked it up to my Samsung 940mw 19" LCD TV with a 3" HDMI-DVI cable made by Link Depot (bought from Frys) and like almost everyone else the resolution options in the HDMI Setup menu are greyed out. When using the upscale button It only does 480p. I tried stoping the movie and accessing the HDMI menu, yanking the HDMI cable and putting it back in and doing the same thing, I also played with my monitor settings (it does have 720p/1080i support).

I'll probably exchange the player for another one, but I honestly am not to optimistic about it. Is there anything else I can do to get the upscaling past 480p?

I updated the firmware for the heck of it also..

@thephased yes I have a the same problem with dvp5960/12 and Thomson Intuiva lcd. Tried several different hdmi-hdmi cables. Philips' support offers no help. There's nothing wrong with our player is their answer and according to Thomson it is Philips' fault.

ssufin, yeah it seems like the problem is not solvable..what a shame, it is a great player otherwise. I'm not so sure what to do now. I like the built in USB and DiVX support, but without upscaling I feel cheated. Have you tried multiple DVP5960 units with your LCD?

i was able to get 720p and 1080i on the DVP5960...........for about 10 seconds, until the picture would cut out and produce what i can only identify as "colored snow".

upgrading the firmware didn't help either.

it seems the general consensus is that the player appears to discriminate against HDMI.

i've got a weird experience w/ this player...

- player worked fine w/ 6ft cheap hdmi cable
- got a 50 ft hdmi cable and tested it worked fine
- ran the wire through the wall and now i get the "non-hdcp compliant" message

the weird part is if i hit the hd upscale button then the signal seems to sync... then i can watch a whole movie... So my best theory is there is attenuation and some interferance that is causing signalling issues.

The lesson is try to simulate the actually cable run with tenuous cable choices like 50 foot hdmi runs... just to be sure. Althouh i would have thought the signal would have had problems whether it was coiled on the floor or stretched out along a floor joist.

if anyone has had experiences with this player and the hdcp problem i'd love to hear about it.

Ths player does work via HDMI.

I am connected HDMI to Olivea Sytax LT37HVS 37" LCD HDMI port. I get all HDMI resolution options avaiable on the menus and the upscaling actuall works. On a scene that is really close, the 720p shows some faint lines in the resolution, where the 1080i seems to make them go away. I am not convinced that the upscaling makes much difference unless the shots are really close and the detail apparent.

Happy to go over my setting with anyone having a problem, and no I did not upgrade firmware,

cheers

FWIW - I'm running the DVP5960 using HDMI to an Sharp 42D62U and it is doing exactly what it should be doing using an inexpensive HDMI cable from monoprice.com. All resolutions available, except 576p (PAL). It is also feeding my TV the max output (1080i) on Auto.

My problem is not with HDMI, but with DivX/Xvid support. I have created some test slideshows with software that allows me to output in DivX/Xvid format. The player can read the CDs, start playing the files, but the video hangs after a couple of seconds and the audio keeps playing. Has anyone else run into this?

Jay B.

I bought this player over the weekend. Applied the firmware upgrade, applied region free hack. Going into the HDMI menu I only get 480p and 1080i. 1080i looks great. PAL to NTSC conversion is very good. My only gripe is no pillarboxing for 4x3 material.
The shift up some reported in the picture was noticeable on only a handful of DVD's. I tested about 50 DVD's and this problem only occurred on about 5 of them. I think it's the way the DVD's are encoded and not the player.
I'm very happy with the picture and sound on this.

I bought this player over the weekend. Applied the firmware upgrade, applied region free hack. Going into the HDMI menu I only get 480p and 1080i. 1080i looks great. PAL to NTSC conversion is very good. My only gripe is no pillarboxing for 4x3 material. You should be able to get this on 480p, depending on your TV. It would be a lot easier to switch resolutions if the remote had an HDMI button like the player. BTW, on our set we can get 480p, 720p, and 1080i over HDMI.
The shift up some reported in the picture was noticeable on only a handful of DVD's. I tested about 50 DVD's and this problem only occurred on about 5 of them. I think it's the way the DVD's are encoded and not the player. It is a problem on all players with the mediatek chipset, though some (eg Sony) add some extra processing to stretch the picture at the expense of picture quality. Again, I think it it is only an issue on upscaled DVDs - our screen gets filled at 480p, also when we play/upscale DivX material from the USB. - DR

I have a question for this player. Is it so loud that during movie times the player makes more noise than my tv? My cheapo Cyberhome player doesnt make noise that is louder then this Philips. I have read other complaints but this noise just makes me hope something can be done.

Hello, I have also bought a Philips DVP 5960.
When I realised that it didn't have DTS, I was worried!
So I was very happy when I read in this forum that it's possible to fix this problem with a firmware. Can anyone please tell me where I can download this firmware?

Greetings
Daan from Holland

Can anyone please tell me where I can download this firmware?

Greetings
Daan from Holland

http://www.usasupport.philips.com/productDocuments.html?ProductCode=DVP5960/37&subCat=DVD_PLAYERS_SU_US_CONSUMER

A quick note to anyone using a 2.5 inch UNPOWERED external HDD via the USB port. It seems the port may not put out enough power to run the drive correctly. I thought the player was unable to support both drives that I tried. This had never been a problem using them with a laptop or desktop computer. I dug out the original cables that have a second, power only dongle on the USB port end and plugged it into my cable box (I have it on top of the 5960 and luckily can reach the port without any kind of extension). Both drives are now supported and work fine.

@sssharp

I haven't noticed a lot of transport noise with this player and I'm fairly sensitive to that sound. The DVP642 was way louder. That being said I haven't had time to use it with a large number of disks and on the 642 the sound varied greatly from DVD to DVD.

Hey guys, i have a quick question here.

So I've been having the same problem as many of you here. I am using a HDMI cable that goes from this DVD player to my T.V. For audio I want to run a digital coaxial cable to my surround sound setup.

So i installed the latest firmware like everyone else did, but I am still not getting sound from my speakers. What I am wondering is, were there any specific DVD menu changes once the update was made? I am wondering if there is just a setting that I am not enabling that would allow me to run HDMI video and digital coaxial audio at the same time. Right now I have it the digital audio option set to "Full".

Anyway, I would appreciate any help or suggestions. Thanks guys!

I am thinking of getting one of these players for a second system. Could someone check to see if it plays DTS CDs. Thanks,Eric

Has anyone figured out how to get upconverting to work via HDMI->DVI cable? I have no HDMI options to select except for AUTO. Hitting the Upscale button just goes to 480p.

Has anyone gotten this thing to work with a ipod video yet. I have the latest firmware but have no luck with the ipod. My sandisk 2 gig works great but any type of spinning hard drive gets me a "device not supported" on the screen

I couldn't get my Ipod to work with the USB port. I'm thinking it's because I don't have it setup to emulate a drive in Windows. Same issue with my son's nano. nto a big deal for me, but it would have been ok if it worked. I can still take rca cables and hook it to my receiver and it works fine, so really, no need to run it through the DVD player except to see song names on the big screen.

Just got this player from CC this weekend. I'm having big issues with lip sync between the DVD player and my Sony receiver. Something I didn'thave at all with either my old Sony DVD player or a Hatachi DVD Player I used for a short while because the Sony was not prog scan. Anyway, the sound seems to be a bit behind the picutre. I saw there was a lip syncing setting but could not figure out how to use it. It's undocumented, so my thought is this was part of the firmware update (which my player had already had done, since DTS was already working). Anyone else have this issue and have resolved it?

Edit: I should add, I am using HDMI for video but digital coax for sound through my receiver as it doesn't support HDMI.

Remote stopped working Sat. (less than 6 months old) called PHILIPS yesterday. They said they would have one as soon as Feb. 27. :(

Fortunately my JVC AVR remote in another room works with it.

mark

If your DVD player is like mine, the lip sync setting should be at a default of 120ms. Try reducing that to 0 (or anywhere inbetween) and see if that fixes the problem

Just got this player from CC this weekend. I'm having big issues with lip sync between the DVD player and my Sony receiver. Something I didn'thave at all with either my old Sony DVD player or a Hatachi DVD Player I used for a short while because the Sony was not prog scan. Anyway, the sound seems to be a bit behind the picutre. I saw there was a lip syncing setting but could not figure out how to use it. It's undocumented, so my thought is this was part of the firmware update (which my player had already had done, since DTS was already working). Anyone else have this issue and have resolved it?

Edit: I should add, I am using HDMI for video but digital coax for sound through my receiver as it doesn't support HDMI.

If your DVD player is like mine, the lip sync setting should be at a default of 120ms. Try reducing that to 0 (or anywhere inbetween) and see if that fixes the problem


Thanks, I wasn't sure which direction to go with that :)

Remote stopped working Sat. (less than 6 months old) called PHILIPS yesterday. They said they would have one as soon as Feb. 27. :(

Fortunately my JVC AVR remote in another room works with it.

mark

Philips called today said they would send a universal remote for use till the original one comes in Feb. Thats pretty nice of them . :)

mark

Guys. I just bought one of these and wasn't getting proper sound. I upgraded from the website but then the picture just cut out, I did NOT hit the upconvert button like others...is that the problem?

I exchanged it for another one, now I am hesitant to apply the firmware update. Also, I am thinking about the LG DN191H, its on sale at BB for 69.99. Any thoughts or comparisons on these two units??

Shake254,

When you upgrade the firmware, it changes the video output to a default of (I believe) 480i video (through compsite). I don't have the player in front of me but I believe you just have to press the resolution button repeatedly and cycle through the resolutions until the picture returns. Your player was probably not defective.

Julie

Hello pleas HELP. Workink new firewal upload. Dor open is write display "PHILIPS" minimal 6min. OFF power Return POWER only dvp5960 display "PHILIPS"
Pleas mi help new software dvp5960/12 europa, no read disk only display "PHILIPS"
Thanke wery much

Hi folks, Just hooked my Philips5960/37 to Samsung Plasma 42" HDTV Model # HP-S4253. Coax running to a Denon AVR 3802. Right now I am running component video cables to the tv. My question/problem is that I cannot get my player to turn on progressive display. When I press the info button on the tv the resolution is 720 x 480i. I have done exactly what the manual says and nothing. It did say in the trobleshooting section to " check that the output of the video signal is switch to 'YUV' ". I have never heard of that. Has anybody ran into this? Thanks :)

Just wanted to let everyone know I bought this unit on 12-26 from BB and it came with the newest update 37.06.42.29. I have it hook up to a sony RPTV via HDMI and I am very happy with the pictue and so is the wife.

MJ

I am still having no luck with getting the progressive display to turn on with this player. I am considering sending it back to BB since I have only had it for a few days and about convinced to purchase an OPPO but I am not willing to give up that easy. I am currently using component video cables as per first post. Maybe this setup is not compatable with the Samsung tv. Both Philips and Samsung support blamed the other company as would be expected. Do you guys think I should order an HDMI from MP and try that first and see what I think in its optimal setup.

Also, I play alot of concert DVDs and this is the first time I have used COAX audio. Do any of you music fans out there prefer Dolby or DTS over 5/7 channel stereo. Personal preference I just think the stereo sounds better. The Dolby is just not as brilliant as stereo and you have to turn the volumn considerably louder to get the same effect as stereo. I just wonder if optical would be any better. Thanks

I would try the HDMI connection. I use a Samsung HLN 4365 with and HDMI-DVI adapter to my TV and the coax digital audio to my audio amplifier and I am very pleased!

I have the 5390/37 connected via HDMI -> DVI to my Toshiba HD 55HDM71
Pushing the front button HD UPSCALE would stick to 480P.
In the menu, the HDMI setting will stick to Auto.
Original firmware: 37.06.42.18

I've upgraded to 37.06.42.29 & region patch -> same problem

Then I noticed that the European version (12.06.36.40) contains a fix to "enable up-scaling above 480P using HDMI-DVI connection".
I burn the FW after renaming to DVP5960_37.BIN from DVP5960_12.BIN (otherwise I had DISC UNKNOWN error)

Upgrade went smooth and I was able to choose the HDMI setting in the menu = noticeable picture improvement in 720P, especially the disappearance of macroblocks.
However, pressing the button on the front will bring me back to 480P (need to do the change again in the setup)
My FW is now 12.06.36.40

The LIP SYNC function from 37.06.42.29 is still available, didn't check yet the multichannel through coax.

Looks to me that I have the best out of the two FW and at least I'm able to choose the HDMI resolution which was my goal.

http://www.p4c.philips.com for the FW

my new 47" vizio has optical audio out... if i go from the 5960 hdmi <-> hdmi on the tv then optical audio out of the tv into the reciever, can i recieve dd5.1, dts, or both?

As far as I know the optical out on the Vizio is only for the DTV receiver. It is not a pass through as nice as that feature might be. I have the 46" Vizio and I'm thinking about returning it for the "47. Do you have speaker hum when the backlight is lower than the high 90's?

Yet another problem user here. The DVP5960 arrived today and I hooked it up via HDMI to my Vizio GV42L.

I have the optical audio output from the Vizio connected to my receiver.

Any channels I receive OTA puts out audio, but when switching to HDMI2 (where my DVP5960 is connected) I get no audio.

I checked Philips' website and confirmed that I am already running the latest firmware.

The DVP5960 outputs DTS and up-scales perfectly fine, but no audio at all with any of the options in the players audio setup menu via HDMI.

As far as I know the optical out on the Vizio is only for the DTV receiver. It is not a pass through as nice as that feature might be. I have the 46" Vizio and I'm thinking about returning it for the "47. Do you have speaker hum when the backlight is lower than the high 90's?
Looks like you're probably right.

The entire time I was waiting for the DVP5960 to arrive I thought the Vizio uses the HDMI as a pass through as you put it, or a hub.

I thought connecting devices to the HDMI inputs on the Vizio and then using the optical out from it to my receiver would transfer the audio from the HDMI devices, but I guess I am wrong.

HDMI issues aside (It's the Vizio, not the player) the player does a pretty darn good job of cleaning up the picture when upscaling.

It's nothing like true 720p or 1080, but it blows the 480 version away.

One of the nice things is that you have a dedicated upscale button on the front of the unit.

This makes it easier to cycle through all the resolutions and compare the 480 to the 720/1080 counterparts.

It cleans up, but not completely eliminates the jaggies, pixilation, etc. It helps out a lot on footage with smoke or rain.

Terminator 2 Extreme Edition has never looked this good!

I have yet to play with the DivX capabilities, but I primarily purchased this unit to replace my Philips DVP642 because of the HDMI output.

I rarely playback DivX videos on DVD as I have my PC connected to my Vizio via RGB, so the picture quality there is gorgeous. When I do download DivX video's I convert them into DVD's using Nero Vision.

The HDMI and USB ports were the selling points for me.

For $80 bucks, you can’t do any better.

When I do download DivX video's I convert them into DVD's using Nero Vision.This might reduce image quality, as there is information loss in the transcoding process. You should really try playing one of these through the Philips directly and see how it compares - you might be pleasantly surprised. - DR

This player is to video what mp3 is to music.
12 episodes of Dexter on one rewritable DVD.
5 movies on same (after reformat)
Just burn a Data dvd or cd and away you go.
No more transcoding or Chinese mouth during replay.

This might reduce image quality, as there is information loss in the transcoding process. You should really try playing one of these through the Philips directly and see how it compares - you might be pleasantly surprised. - DR
No argument here. There is a slight loss of quality, but Nero Vision does a great job in the transcoding process. Plus I like having a "regular" DVD with chapter stops and whatnot.

But yeah, I played back a copy of "The Core" which was DivX 6.x with a 5.1 track.

It looked stunning as a DivX file compared to the DVD counterpart.

Yet another problem user here. The DVP5960 arrived today and I hooked it up via HDMI to my Vizio GV42L.

I have the optical audio output from the Vizio connected to my receiver.

Any channels I receive OTA puts out audio, but when switching to HDMI2 (where my DVP5960 is connected) I get no audio.

I checked Philips' website and confirmed that I am already running the latest firmware.

The DVP5960 outputs DTS and up-scales perfectly fine, but no audio at all with any of the options in the players audio setup menu via HDMI.

I am having the same problem now on my 5960 connected to Samsung S4695D. I swear that the audio used to be there when I first connected HDMI, but somehow it is gone by now; turning on/off either TV or 5960 does not help. Mine is running the latest version firmware as posted on Philips web site. Anybody else having this problem? Shall we complain to Philips? I could still return my 5960 to Bestbuy.

I am having the same problem now on my 5960 connected to Samsung S4695D. I swear that the audio used to be there when I first connected HDMI, but somehow it is gone by now; turning on/off either TV or 5960 does not help. Mine is running the latest version firmware as posted on Philips web site. Anybody else having this problem? Shall we complain to Philips? I could still return my 5960 to Bestbuy.
It's not the player's problem.

Very few TVs have DD decoders. DD is what is being passed via the HDMI cable, so that's why you hear no audio. Furthermore, most TVs don't do passthru to the optical out either; that's almost always just for OTA DTV reception.

You need to either directly connect your DVD player to your surround receiver via coax or run analog audio cables to the TV.

can anyone tell the difference between switching mode for "up-converter" button ?
On my Vizio 42 LCD, i cant even tell the difference when i switch between 480p and 720p.
Looks very similar, should i swap it out for another unit, model ?

It must be your eyes. The 1080i mode is a godsend for my Toshiba CRT. Soooo much nicer than the 480p mode. The colors are deeper and the lines are much smoother.

And about the lip sync thing, if you pause a movie or FF/REW and the lip sync is off, simply press stop and then press play to resume. You can hear the drive reset itself and sync up perfectly.

I've had a DVP5960/37 for a couple of months now. It is working well over HDMI connected to my Sony KDS-60A2000. I problems with stuttering while playing packed bitstream XviD files and installed the hacked firmware from this thread on videohelp.com:
http://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1621220

Player works great now. Picture quality is terrific at 1080i.

Oh, and I solved the problem with it sliding around by buying some stick-on vinyl feet.

However, I have one complaint: The remote only works when I'm standing about 3 feet away from the player. This happens with both the original remote (fresh batteries) and my Harmony 880.

Anyone else having a problem with this? Think I need a swap/repair?

--Ted

TedEstes,

Are you able to connect via HDMI and still get DD5.1 and/or DTS thru the digital coax with the new hacked firmware? I've read that this is a problem with the modified firmware. I'm thinking of flashing my player, but I don't want to lose DTS.

Are you able to connect via HDMI and still get DD5.1 and/or DTS thru the digital coax with the new hacked firmware? I've read that this is a problem with the modified firmware. I'm thinking of flashing my player, but I don't want to lose DTS.

Well, thanks for ruining my blissful ignorance. ;) I just checked -- sure enough, it's stuck at PCM out with the HDMI connected to the TV and the digital coax connected to the receiver. Disconnect HDMI and run through component, and I get DD5.1.

Is this an issue with the firmware, or is it an issue with how my TV is negotiating with the DVD player? I have the TV speakers disabled, but I wonder if it's still negotiating the sound stuff. Perhaps, since the TV can't do DD5.1, the DVD player drops it down to PCM.

I guess I'll have to research some more. Or else this player gets demoted to the bedroom and I'll pick up something else for the home theater.

--Ted

Sorry for the bad news.... : D

I believe that this is an issue with the hacked firmware. If you read the posts at the thread you linked to, there were several people who tried the hacked firmware and had the DD5.1/DTS problem. Some went back to the original firmware and got the digital sound passed thru fine. You can try re-flashing your player back the OEM latest firmware and see if it still disables DD5.1 and/or DTS. This would be a good confirmation. Keep us posted if you try it.

i bought this dvd player begin of january, assuming it had dts. i don't have a hidef tv, so i can't upscale, so my only priority is getting dts to work. i updated the firmware to the one on the phillips usa website, but still no DTS, the divx files i also play seem to be off. what's the best firmware for me to use? thanks for the help.

Just picked this player up yesterday at Circuit City and I was pleasantly surprised at how good the PQ is. I had (sending it back) the new Oppo 981 and though it gets rave reviews on this site I had a ton of problems with compatabiliy. This one works out quite nice at a fraction of the price of the Oppo too. Incidentally this machine is region free and it does a fantastic job with the PAL pull down.

FYI here is the Region Free Hack for this machine..

Power Up the unit with NO Disc in the tray.
Open the tray
Press the SETUP Button on the remote control
Navigate to the PREFERENCES page using the Right Arrow Key
Press the DOWN ARROW one time to select
Press the 1 button on your remote control
Press the 3 button on your remote control
Press the 8 button on your remote control
Press the 9 button on your remote control
Press the 3 button on your remote control
Press the 1 button on your remote control
The current Region Code Setting will display
Use the UP/DOWN Arrow Keys to select the region required or '0' for All Regions
Press the PLAY Button on the remote control
NOTE - The 0 (zero) in the above sequence represents the Region Code 0 - Region Free. If you want to set to a specific region, just replace the 0 with the region number that you want.

I purchased mine last week from Amazon. It was already running the latest firmware, so an upgrade wasn't needed.

I can playback DD/DTS from my coax cable and have my HDMI cable connected.

For the folks having DTS problems please follow the instructions and update your firmware. For those that appear to be running the latest firmware, just re-flash it with the same firmware.

My buddy had this problem, so we re-flashed it with the same firmware and his DTS flowed out with no problems afterwards.

Also, Steve is on the money with the region hack. I purchased this DVD player specifically for the region-free playback and HDMI upscalling.

My test DVD I always use is Shaun of the Dead Region 2 which is one hell of a picture. My old DVP642 did a good job doing the PAL to NTSC on the fly conversion, but the 5960 blows it away.

It gives Shaun of the Dead a very smooth film-like appearance. Any jaggies, blurriness, or funky colors are completely eliminated with the 5960.

I believe that this is an issue with the hacked firmware. If you read the posts at the thread you linked to, there were several people who tried the hacked firmware and had the DD5.1/DTS problem. Some went back to the original firmware and got the digital sound passed thru fine. You can try re-flashing your player back the OEM latest firmware and see if it still disables DD5.1 and/or DTS. This would be a good confirmation. Keep us posted if you try it.

I got a chance to update the player with the latest firmware for philipsusa.com I got DD5.1 just fine through my receiver. (HDMI to Sony TV, digital coax to receiver.)

I guess I'll have to put up with jerky bitpacked XviD playback for now. Or reflash my player, depending upon what I want to play.

Now, if only the darn remote control worked better. It's extremely annoying to get up from the couch just to pause a movie.

--Ted

I know this is not a real solution for the ****** remote range, but you guys may want to consider picking up a cheapie universal remote.

I myself am using a 8-in-One with learning capabilities. It was $30 and controls every function on the DVD problem from pretty much any angle and distance in my living room.

I also use it to control my Vizio, receiver, satellite receiver, etc.

I have a Philips Widescreen LCD and I've noticed that letterboxed progaming seems to be slightly shifted Up leaving a different sized black bar at the top and bottom. I guess this doesn't matter so much seeing I'm not loosing detail but, can anybody tell me if 4:3 programing is cut off on top due to this issue. I've tried to determine this but, not quite sure.

I have a Philips Widescreen LCD and I've noticed that letterboxed progaming seems to be slightly shifted Up leaving a different sized black bar at the top and bottom. I guess this doesn't matter so much seeing I'm not loosing detail but, can anybody tell me if 4:3 programing is cut off on top due to this issue. I've tried to determine this but, not quite sure.

Incidentally its the 5960 machine I have matched with this LCD.

I know this is not a real solution for the ****** remote range, but you guys may want to consider picking up a cheapie universal remote.

I myself am using a 8-in-One with learning capabilities. It was $30 and controls every function on the DVD problem from pretty much any angle and distance in my living room.


I already tried that. I have a Harmony 880 that controls all the stuff in my HT. I had hoped it would do a better job than the original remote, but no such luck. (It solved my remote performance issues with my Lite-On DVD/VCR.)

Neither the original remote nor the 880 work very well much farther than 3' away. Maybe I've got a bad DVD player. Good to hear that yours works well.

--Ted

I have a Philips Widescreen LCD and I've noticed that letterboxed progaming seems to be slightly shifted Up leaving a different sized black bar at the top and bottom. I guess this doesn't matter so much seeing I'm not loosing detail but, can anybody tell me if 4:3 programing is cut off on top due to this issue. I've tried to determine this but, not quite sure.No, you are not losing any image. Mediatek chipsets squeeze upscaled images vertically (you shouldn't see this at 480p). On some Mediatek players (like the 5960) the extra underscan shows up at the bottom, on others at the top or spit between them, and on a few (like Sony) the picture is expanded again but at the expense of sharpness. - DR

No, you are not losing any image. Mediatek chipsets squeeze upscaled images vertically (you shouldn't see this at 480p). On some Mediatek players (like the 5960) the extra underscan shows up at the bottom, on others at the top or spit between them, and on a few (like Sony) the picture is expanded again but at the expense of sharpness. - DR


I kind of thought I wasn't loosing anything but, I thought is was odd for it not to be proportionate black at the top and bottom like my other DVD players I've owned. I have an Oppo 970 and this little unit rivals that machine believe it or not. Surprisingly the PAL Region 2 playback is better than on the Oppo. I understand the Oppo 971 and 981 do a better job on PAL but, unfortunately I have Farajuda Macro Block enhance so, no can do on those machines.........

back to this player though.... what a Hidden Gem for the price point.

It's not the player's problem.

Very few TVs have DD decoders. DD is what is being passed via the HDMI cable, so that's why you hear no audio. Furthermore, most TVs don't do passthru to the optical out either; that's almost always just for OTA DTV reception.

You need to either directly connect your DVD player to your surround receiver via coax or run analog audio cables to the TV.

You are totally correct! The sound is back once I change the digital audio output to 2-ch. I do have coaxial digital connected to my receiver, and can play both DD and DTS. Expected to play sound on the Samsung S4695D just for convenience when I do not want to turn on the receiver. Not a big deal! Thanks.

Hey Folks, Just hooked up my Philips up with a new HDMI cable. I had been using component cables connected to a Samsung Plasma. I just wanted to lay out a few observations. I can tell virtually no difference between component and HDMI picture quality wise. And more surprising there was hardly no difference between 480P 720P 1080i when upconverting. If I had to choose from a still frame I would choose 480p again surprising. I have a theory and probably read it here. My TV upconverts as well and may do a better job than the player. With the newer TVs upconverters are built in and if you own one you don't necessarly have to buy an upconvert dvd player. However from my observation the upconvert players have the latest technology so it is worth it to buy them. I am not an expert so please correct me if I am wrong. Later

Now, if only the darn remote control worked better. It's extremely annoying to get up from the couch just to pause a movie.

Update: I went to Best Buy with my remote and a disc and experimented with the display model of the DVP5960. I could control it from about 20 feet away with no issues. Obviously, my unit has a problem. It will be returned for a new unit.

--Ted

what is the best way to transcode mms stream for playback in dvp-5960

Original MMS Stream has
Video: Codec=WMV3, Resolution=384x224, BitRate=700kbs
Audio: Codec=wma2, Channels=2, BitRate=31kbs

I want to make this stream (saved as raw input by VLC) playable in my DVP 5960.
I assume I have to trans code it.
What (and why) should I pick for:
1. Video Codec
2. Video Bit Rate
3. Audio Codec
4. Audio Bit Rate
5. Encapsulation Format (Container)

DVP 5960 is hooked up to 37" LCD via HDMI. Playback would be through USB (or burned DVD/CD). I would assume that I would want highest quality (with lowest file size)

Thanks in advance

hudsonmike, the question of which format and container to use can provoke religious wars. It depends a bit on what you mean by "best". The best compression is none (of something lossless, like huffyuv), but in your file's case compression is unlikely to be the bottleneck for image quality. OTOH, something like h264 in a Matroska container works great and is very efficient, but the Philips doesn't read Matroska.

I tend to use DivX, not because it is at all cutting-edge, but because it is very standard, the Philips player handles it very well, and software like Dr. DivX makes it a no-brainer to use. You might find the tips at 100fps (http://www.100fps.com/) useful. - DR

I recently picked one of these up to go with my hitachi 51f59a set. When I connect it through HDMI, it seems to have alot of "noise" in the picture when I upscale in any signal. Most of the noise is in the background. I've tried 4 movies. Lord of the Rings: FOTR, Pirates of the Caribben COTBP, Shark Tale and Final Fantasy VII AC. It seems liek the only movie without noise is Shark Tale. Is the noise normal since it upscales it brings out the imperfections?

I mean I pause it, and I see the noise stopped, so it isnt a loose connection. I just want to know incase I have to return it.

What do you mean by 'noise'? If you mean sparkles or something similar, try a different hdmi cable, or connecting through component. - DR

hudsonmike, the question of which format and container to use can provoke religious wars. It depends a bit on what you mean by "best". The best compression is none (of something lossless, like huffyuv), but in your file's case compression is unlikely to be the bottleneck for image quality. OTOH, something like h264 in a Matroska container works great and is very efficient, but the Philips doesn't read Matroska.

I tend to use DivX, not because it is at all cutting-edge, but because it is very standard, the Philips player handles it very well, and software like Dr. DivX makes it a no-brainer to use. You might find the tips at 100fps (http://www.100fps.com/) useful. - DR

Thank dr0s,

Dr Divx can not open my stream (it was created by VLC using dump RAW input to file). The VLC codecs are described in my OP. When I open that file in Windows Media, it tells me that the video and audio codecs are Windows Media 9. Also I don't need then entire stream, I want a portion of it.

1. So first I need to transcode it in VLC?
2. Then I need to use VLC to extract a portion of output of step 1?
3. The I can work with Dr DivX and output of step 2?

If so, then I am not clear on steps 1 and 2. what codecs and container should I use in VLC, since it is an intermediate step? I guess the less trans-coding the better, right? Can/Should VLC (or any other tool) make something usable by Phillips 5960, in one step, as opposed to the convoluted sequence above?

Thanks in advance again...


not trying to start any wars (especially religious) :)

What do you mean by 'noise'? If you mean sparkles or something similar, try a different hdmi cable, or connecting through component. - DR

What I mean by noise is it seems a little fuzzy. When I pause the DVD it stops where it is on the screen which is why I dont think its the cable, but I'll borrow my buddies and see how it looks.


Thanks.

Sorry for the bad news.... : D

I believe that this is an issue with the hacked firmware. If you read the posts at the thread you linked to, there were several people who tried the hacked firmware and had the DD5.1/DTS problem. Some went back to the original firmware and got the digital sound passed thru fine. You can try re-flashing your player back the OEM latest firmware and see if it still disables DD5.1 and/or DTS. This would be a good confirmation. Keep us posted if you try it.

Yes, the hacked firmware takes the ARM code from the very first original release from Philips which supported packed bitstreams. For some reason they removed this support in later releases. I've started a DVP-5960 page it's located at: "can't enter link, need to post five times first!!!". Just a handy one stop shop for information on the player. There are even firmware sections for the 5960/05, 5960/12 and the 5960/37. Enjoy

I'll post the link when I've made five posts!!!

Even anyone has info on the player they think should be on the page let me know...

PM me if you'd like the link...

Ok, this question goes out to anyone using HDMI with there player while upscaling. I'd try this out myself but I don't have a HDMI capable TV!

I want to check to see of the red and white audio cables still work when using HDMI. I'm not talking about digital output for audio, just the standard stereo output. I'd imagine that anyone using a packed bitstream firmware mod won't be able to test this.

If anyone could try this for me it would be great. I've had a lot of question's about this and I have no answer.

I know the HDMI spec sends video and audio, but does that mean that analog is no longer sent? I guess that's the real question.

Thanks in advance...

Dr Divx can not open my stream (it was created by VLC using dump RAW input to file). The VLC codecs are described in my OP. When I open that file in Windows Media, it tells me that the video and audio codecs are Windows Media 9. Um, well this could be the problem...there are many programs that won't touch a MS video stream, because of patents and digital rights stuff. I also think that the when VLC dumps a raw ASF stream it might not be fully compliant (I've just run some experiments, I couldn't get a file created this way to load into any of several programs that usually handle WMV and ASF without problem.)

You can use VLC to transcode from your WMV to something that will play on the Philips (most likely to work from the VLC options is an mpeg2 file - ask if you need help), but VLC is not a very good transcoder. - DR

dr0s,

I guess I wanted to end up with a DivX file for playback in my DVP 5960. Plus I only want to extract part of the stream. What is the proper way to do this? (Freeware is preferable)

p.s. :
Extracting part of the stream is a "hard" requirement
DivX is a "soft" requirement (I guess as long as I can play it via USB, I don't really care which format it is). I just thought that DivX gives me great quality/space ratio

I guess I wanted to end up with a DivX file for playback in my DVP 5960. Plus I only want to extract part of the stream. What is the proper way to do this? (Freeware is preferable)VirtualDub will do extractions quite easily, though it won't touch a wmv file. You can even transcode to avi while you do it.

To be honest, I'm surprised the VLC output seems to be so troublesome (ie, stoik wouldn't touch the file I made; it usually works on everything). Perhaps someone who knows more than I do about this kind of thing can make it work - you might try one of the video specialist forums, or even the VLC help forum. - DR

I've already done this once, doing something like this

1. saved stream to file in VLC
2. transcoded output of #1 in VLC (WMV3 codec for video, mpga codec for Audio, ASF container, I think)
3 opened output of #2 in VLC and extracted the portion that I needed (used the same codecs and container as in #2)
4. Used Dr. DivX and output of #3 to create a DivX file
5. Succesfully played back output of #4 in DVP 5960

So I guess I know how to do it. However, the process seems too cumbersome, plus VLC is not considered a good trans coder. I was wondering if there is more straight-forward way of doing this.

BTW,original stream (or at least output of #1) is WMV3 video and wma2 audio (and I guess it is a ts container, since VLC has no clue about its length)

EDIT!
I think I figured it out
In steps 2 and 3, I didn't use VLC transcoder, I left codecs as they were and just changed container to ASF. After that, Dr DivX can open the file. Also steps 2 and 3 now run much faster (as there is no trans coding going on)

I'm kind of surprised that resulted in a playable file, but I'm happy to hear it worked for you. - DR

Alright by noise I mean it looks grainy. I tried it on 3 different TVs with 2 different HDMI cables. I wasn't sure if it was the player at first, but 2 different cables and 3 TVs sorta narrows it down. I returned the player, and it looked the same.

Any help before I return this again?

Thanks...

I found with my player that the picture quality depends a lot on the source. I've watched Cars on my 5960 and it looks as good as HD to me. However, I have the DVD sets of the old Bob Newhart Show and they look like crap. Have you tried a high quality source DVD?

Been flip-flopping about this player for months now, and am almost ready to pick one up for $100 canadian. Something I haven't seen addressed is how well it handles DL media. Anyone have experiences to share along this line? I'd also be interested to hear more about the DIVX support; I currently have a JVC NP-10 as my DIVX player, which has been so-so, and never had it's firware updated, making it more and more useless as time has gone by for DivX. Again, thoughts anyone?

I found with my player that the picture quality depends a lot on the source. I've watched Cars on my 5960 and it looks as good as HD to me. However, I have the DVD sets of the old Bob Newhart Show and they look like crap. Have you tried a high quality source DVD?

I watched Lord of the Rings, XMen 2, Shark Tale and in order to make a comparison Anchorman.

They all looked pretty grainy. Obviously I wasnt expecting much from Anchorman...

Iv8r, this player is very compatible with downloaded files; see http://home.wi.rr.com/ntngod/dvp642_vs_dvp5140/ (and note that the 5960 and 5140 are the same w/r to video playback), There are a couple of issues: (1) the newer firmware (that solves DTS problems) causes stuttery playback of some mpeg files with packed bitstreams (2) Long filenames get munged - DR

I have a Philips Widescreen LCD and I've noticed that letterboxed progaming seems to be slightly shifted Up leaving a different sized black bar at the top and bottom. I guess this doesn't matter so much seeing I'm not loosing detail but, can anybody tell me if 4:3 programing is cut off on top due to this issue. I've tried to determine this but, not quite sure.I just noticed this today as well.

Watching "Team America World Police" (which is 2.35:1) the image seems to be shifted up a bit, in turn displaying more black on the bottom.

Nothing is lost in the image, but just thought I'd let you know that you're not the only one.
I already tried that. I have a Harmony 880 that controls all the stuff in my HT. I had hoped it would do a better job than the original remote, but no such luck. (It solved my remote performance issues with my Lite-On DVD/VCR.)

Neither the original remote nor the 880 work very well much farther than 3' away. Maybe I've got a bad DVD player. Good to hear that yours works well.

--TedJust a follow up to my post... Using a universal remote provides me slightly better range then the Phillips remote, but isn't great.

I guess the unit just has a ****** IR setup.....

--------------------------------------------

.... I've got a question regarding the bit-rate display.

My older plays with this function would say 6.23Mb, 4.85Mb, etc.

This unit just shows a double digit. I.E. 40, 42, 60, 80, etc.

As that supposed to be 4.0, 4.2, 6.0, and 8.0 Mbit respectively?

Thanks for the response, and sorry for the confusing abbreviation - I was actually interested in how it handles home-brewed dual-layer media as I've been switching over to it more and more lately (mostly Fuji +DL discs). Intersting, I thought I saw over at VideoHelp that the 5960 had some improvements over the 5140 in it's video playback...could be mistaken though, it's been a while.

For media handling, you'll get better information on videohelp than here. As for the 5960 decoding video better than the 5140, that is unlikely unless there is just anewer version of the firmware for the 5960. Of course, the 5960 can upscale the video...this makes for a noticeable improvement in PQ on some shows. - DR

I've had great luck with RiData and Memorex dual-layered media. Not a single problem.

I am planning on getting a DVP5960 dvd player and hooking it up by HDMI to my Philips 32PF7321D LCD.

I do not have an HDMI out on my lcd, so can I just run a Digital Coaxial from the DVD player to my receiver and receive full DTS/DD 5.1??

Thanks in advance everyone.

Using the Zoom button on the remote, I've noticed from comparing with the 1/2-size view that in the normal, unzoomed view my video picture is trimmed all around (top, bottom, left, right). In other words the unzoomed video is zoomed in too much. This is with composite output, and it's doing this with content from widescreen DVD, fullscreen DVD, and downloaded videos on a hard drive over the USB. I've changed the player setting to 4:3 letterbox, and I've tried with both a 4:3 LCD and a 4:3 CRT. Is anyone else getting this with their unit? I'm wondering if this is a problem with the composite output on all DVP5960 units, or if my unit is defective.

I am planning on getting a DVP5960 dvd player and hooking it up by HDMI to my Philips 32PF7321D LCD.

I do not have an HDMI out on my lcd, so can I just run a Digital Coaxial from the DVD player to my receiver and receive full DTS/DD 5.1??

Thanks in advance everyone.

Yes, in fact that is the only way to connect it to get full 5.1 surround. If you were to connect a digital cable from your tv to the receiver, the tv would most likely downmix the sound to Stereo, which is what most tvs end up doing. Don't forget also that you need to go into the player's settings and enable the digital audio to get DD5.1/dts to your receiver.

Yes, in fact that is the only way to connect it to get full 5.1 surround. If you were to connect a digital cable from your tv to the receiver, the tv would most likely downmix the sound to Stereo, which is what most tvs end up doing. Don't forget also that you need to go into the player's settings and enable the digital audio to get DD5.1/dts to your receiver.

thank you very much for the information! If I have a 5.1 surround system, DTS and DD5.1 would yield the same results...correct? I've heard that the only difference is that DTS can support more than 5 speakers (and a sub).

Well, yes and no. You may be opening up an argument in this thread about DTS vs. DD5.1. There are already several threads about this discussion. You'll get full, discrete 5.1 surround from your 5.1 system from either audio format. As for the difference between the two formats, it'll most likely be very similar quality unless you're an audiophile. Other than that, I'll keep my mouth shut on the topic.

thank you very much for the information! If I have a 5.1 surround system, DTS and DD5.1 would yield the same results...correct? I've heard that the only difference is that DTS can support more than 5 speakers (and a sub).
Actually, both support the same number/type of speakers; they're just different encoding/compression algorithms. Some people prefer one over the other, but both sound very nice to my ears. :)

Actually, both support the same number/type of speakers; they're just different encoding/compression algorithms. Some people prefer one over the other, but both sound very nice to my ears. :)
Quoted for truth. :)

Also wanted to add that DTS using less compression and in turn has higher audio bit-rate. The audio connoisseur's will tell you DTS is a lot better, but in all honesty they sound simliar to me.

If you did a side-by-side comparison you can probably tell that the DTS will provide you with cleaner highs, but again it all depends on your ears.

Dolby Digital sounds perfect to me and that's the audio track I use when given the option of DD or DTS on DVD's.

Did a quick test tonight. I have the 5960 connected to a Toshiba 62HM116 TV via hdmi and to my Pioneer AVR via digital coax. The 62HM116 is connected to the AVR via fiber. I used Top Gun as a test DVD. When the DVD was set to DD5.1, both the 5960 and the TV sent DD5.1 to the AVR. In 6.1DTS mode, the 5960 sent DTS6.1 to the AVR but there was no output from the TV. Guess the TV will decode and passthru DD but not DTS. YMMV, some sets will pass the audio, some will not.

reavs,

I don't have this player myself but my parents do, and they haven't noticed anything odd athough they are using HDMI rather than composite.

The thing you may want to consider is that the problem may not be the player at all, but your TV. What you describe sounds suspiciously like overscan, where some of the image you would expect to see disappears offscreen. You don't mention what kind of TV you have, but I'm assuming it's probably an older analog 4:3 style TV if you're connecting the player using composite.

I noticed with my old 19" analog and my friend's old 20" analog the overscan was awful. We both like fansubbed anime and I had to recode the files to compensate for it or else the subtitles would be partly off the screen and be unreadable. When I switched to an HDTV and used a digital connection, I did not have issue with overscan even using the same player. That doesn't mean that no HDTVs have overscan, but I've found it's less severe and you can often adjust the level of overscan in modern sets.

Julie

After using this machine for about 3 weeks now I'm just amazed at what a good job it does upconverting through the HDMI. I had all 3 of the much praised Oppo machines and had nothing but, problems so, I decided to by this one which was a 3rd of the price and it blew those away "WITHOUT" the problems that were continuously blamed on my Philips display. I have no doubt there are better machines out there but, for sure you will not find a better machine in the below the $300 price range; best part is this one is below $100 let alone $300. :D

The Philips USA site shows firmware posted 1/30/2007. The readme file shows the same version number as the one posted last August and the file date on the download is 8/10/2006. Anyone know anything about this? Is a new firmware release coming out or did they just update their website?

alright thanks for the responses everyone. much appreciated!

I've got a question regarding the bit-rate display.

My older plays with this function would say 6.23Mb, 4.85Mb, etc.

This unit just shows a double digit. I.E. 40, 42, 60, 80, etc.

As that supposed to be 4.0, 4.2, 6.0, and 8.0 Mbit respectively?
Refreshing my question...

Does anybody know in what manner the bit-rate is displayed on our 5960's?

reavs,

I don't have this player myself but my parents do, and they haven't noticed anything odd athough they are using HDMI rather than composite.

The thing you may want to consider is that the problem may not be the player at all, but your TV. What you describe sounds suspiciously like overscan, where some of the image you would expect to see disappears offscreen. You don't mention what kind of TV you have, but I'm assuming it's probably an older analog 4:3 style TV if you're connecting the player using composite.

I noticed with my old 19" analog and my friend's old 20" analog the overscan was awful. We both like fansubbed anime and I had to recode the files to compensate for it or else the subtitles would be partly off the screen and be unreadable. When I switched to an HDTV and used a digital connection, I did not have issue with overscan even using the same player. That doesn't mean that no HDTVs have overscan, but I've found it's less severe and you can often adjust the level of overscan in modern sets.

Julie

Hi Julie,

Thanks for your helpful post. I hadn't heard of overscan before and I read up about it after seeing your comment: I think you're right that what I noticed is overscan.

From what I've read, it sounds like most TVs and HDTVs overscan. So I guess the vast majority of people watching movies on DVD don't realize that they're not seeing 5 to 15% of the movie image as seen in the theatre ...

I'm surprised DVD player manufacturers don't market a quality incremental zoom or at least a fixed 0.8 zoom factor ... For example, the DVP5960 lets you zoom out to 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4-size, but I wonder if anyone ever uses those ratios? Wouldn't it be more useful to more people if they offered say 0.80, 0.85, 0.90, 0.95 instead?

So I'm also wondering: is this something that could possibly be changed in the firmware, as in change 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 zoom to, say, 0.90, 0.85, 0.80?

reavs,

I'm not sure if the Phillips' firmware could be updated to do the incremental zoom as you describe. I do know some Panasonic players will do this, but in the US they don't play MPEG4 files the way the Phillips will. So I think it depends on what your priorities are.

Julie

Ok hopefully somebody has an answer to this question. This DVD player is hooked up to my receiver through the Coaxial and at the same time I have it hooked up through the analog audio inputs as well. DVD playback fine however, I've noticed that when playing a CD (store purchased CD's) I'm getting audio drop outs and audio is only coming from the right speaker. Now if I cut over to the analog in put it works fine. I also noticed that if I cut the upsampling down to 88.2 I the problem goes away through the coaxial. Has anybody encountered this? I'm not sure if I'm going to exchange it or not but, does anybody know if the upsampling is only available via the analog and not the digital connection? :confused:

Why would you have both coax and analog hooked up to your receiver simultaneously?

Why would you have both coax and analog hooked up to your receiver simultaneously?

I have a Harman Kardon AVR75 which is quickly coming up on 10 years old and when you have a DVD that's encoded in 2.0 I can't change it to surround unless I go analog.... not to mention having access for test purposes such as this; the receiver does both with no problem.

I'm thinking that what may be the culprit here is that my receiver only goes up to 80KHz and seeing that I had the Philips DVD player set at 144KHz my guess is that it has difficulty recognizing this frequency. I don't get the problem when I go down to 88KHz (even though this upsampling setting is still a little higher it has less issue with this signal than the 144KHz). Can anybody tell me if this what was causing the issue I was encountering this morning?

Sorry if this has been asked somewhere else, but has anyone tried this player with a Toshiba 50HM66 or similar DLP? I've narrowed my field down to this or the DVP5140, and I'm curious as to whether the TV or the 5960 will do a better job on the upconversion to 720p, and therefore, whether it's worth the extra $30 between the two players. Does the HDMI connection make THAT much of a difference over component video?

I just got this dvd player and hooked it up to my Pioneer Elite 74txvi. I get nothing but a green screen using the hdmi connection. Used component, but apparently no upconversion available through component. I had to hook up the hdmi directly to the set, which I do not want to do. because I then have to change inputs on the tv.

Anyone have this problem.
Also, how do you check to see what firmware version you have and then how do you update it??

Thanks,

hoopsrgreat, almost surely it is your hdmi cable. First thing I would try is just reversing the cable, next would be to get a better cable. You could also try cycling the resolution (button on the front player's panel)while connected.

I believe that the latest official firmware is 37.06.42.29. - DR

Also, how do you check to see what firmware version you have and then how do you update it??

Thanks,

Download the firmware from the Philips web site here (http://www.usasupport.philips.com/productDocuments.html?ProductCode=DVP5960/37&subCat=DVD_PLAYERS_SU_US_CONSUMER)

The readme file on that page has instructions for checking the current version and updating if necessary.

Has anybody confirmed the latest firmware release yet? The Philips site shows a new one posted 1/30/07, but the actual firmware file date is 8/10/06. Is the "new" one actually a new update?

The files are the same (bytewise comparison). It is a mystery why they reposted. - DR

hoopsrgreat, almost surely it is your hdmi cable. First thing I would try is just reversing the cable, next would be to get a better cable. You could also try cycling the resolution (button on the front player's panel)while connected.
- DR



I have never had a problem with anything into this receiver before with these cables, but I will try your suggestions. I have tried shutting everything off and turning back on to no avail.

Curious why the upconversion wasnt allowed to wok through the component outputs on this thing.

Also, does this thing not do dts?

As far as I've been able to ascertain, the machine will pass a DTS signal out, but cannot decode it. And I do remember seeing people fairly pissed that component is specifically NOT supported for upconversion, HDMI only.

Ok, even though the dvd player showed the newer firmware version, I updated it with what was at the site, and now i can get the dts to pass to my receiver.


Do I need to go in and set the audio up for digital audio EVERYTIME I turn the thing on? Does it default back to 2 channel stereo? If so, what moron would design that?

No eject button on the remote?

No, you do not need to setup the audio everytime. It will remember the audio output settings through power cycles. As for an eject button on the remote, simply press and hold the 'stop' button on the remote for ~5 seconds and voila.

Few DVD player will upconvert through component, and most of them will need a hack anyway to enable the feature.

Manufacturers have pretty much all signed on to DRM agreements proscribing (among other things) upconversion over component. For a variety of reasons this particular prohibition is silly, but that's the way it is. Some players (eg, the Oppo 971) did not have this restriction because it was on the market before the agreement.

It could be worse. Sony - a content provider themselves, so a big advocate of content restrictions - sells a machine based on the same chipset as the 5960 that not only does not upconvert over component, is also does not play DivX files (or other downloadable content), and cannot be made region-free. All for only twice the price of the Philips:-) - DR

Can the philips be setup to output 1080i by default, or do we need to cycle through the outputs each time.

Thanks

Can the philips be setup to output 1080i by default, or do we need to cycle through the outputs each time.

Thanks

Mine does not change. It outputs 1080i all the time unless I manually change the setting.

For anyone thinking of buying this player, I bought this dvd player for $80 at bestbuy to replace my Philips 642 and I am seriously impressed. It will play anything you throw at it and the upconvert over HDMI is incredible. I have it paired on my Samsung HLS-5087W and it's amazing. There are only a few drawbacks (not enough to require returning):

1) The IR for the remote sucks. Plain and simple. I have to reach my arm in the air to FF and RW etc......

2) It takes a good 5-10 seconds for my tv to recognize the HDMI input (yes it's the DVD player not the tv since my cable is an instant connection via HDMI)

3) long loading time to turn on

4) no optical (only digital coax) - you can always get a converter if need be.....

5) no long filenames

Although I have listed a few cons, there are many many positives especially the picture quality, USB support!!! and the PRICE!

Does this dvd player upconvert xvid/divx video too, or only dvd video?

Was the firmware posted on the philips site last week new or just repost of current version?

Stone_age: yes.
Zoyd: it is the same firmware that has been out for months. - DR

Stone_age: yes.
Zoyd: it is the same firmware that has been out for months. - DR


Hey dr0s, yes it upconverts xvid video too, or yes it only upconverts DVD video?

I have recently bought this dvd player and I'm using HDMI connection, upscaled to 1080i. My tv doesn't allow HD singals to be displayed in standard 4:3 mode. I need to switch to 480p for that. i was wondering if there's anyway to change that though a firmware upgrade?

If it doesn't exist can Philips theoretically do it? If they can I think we should lay on the presure with a email campaign. It seems like a standard thing for them to do, allow video to be watched in the proper aspect ratio.

Jaycromer

zoyd: it upconverts all video.

jaycromer: This is a common problem with inexpensive upconverters. Some DVD players using the same mediatek chipset (eg Oppo, Sony) will optionally pillarbox 4:3 material when upconverting, so it is theoretically possible on the Philips, but it seems unlikely to me that we will see this in firmware for this machine. It is a relatively slight irritation - changing the resolution to 480p is easy, and most 4:3 material is of sufficiently low image quality that upscaling would not help it much if at all. - DR

I got one of these players online and I'm having trouble with the HDMI. It's cutting out after a couple minutes of play. I haven't tested it yet, but I'm planning on exchanging it. Has anyone else heard of a problem like this?

It sounds like it is losing the handshaking. The first thing I would try is a better cable (or just reverse tha cable you have). - DR

There are only a few drawbacks (not enough to require returning):

1) The IR for the remote sucks. Plain and simple. I have to reach my arm in the air to FF and RW etc......

I had this same problem with my first player. A second one is very responsive to the IR. (I also tested one in the store with my own remote -- it was responsive from 25-30 feet away.)

I suggest you return the player and complain about the IR response and say you want a new player.

--Ted

I've encountered a rather odd bug with my Philips 5960. I currently have it connected directly to my Philips LCD via HDMI and I also have audio connected via coaxial and analog to my receiver. Now to the problem..... when playing a CD I'm noticing the audio cutting out (mostly during the 1st and 2nd track) and its normally preceded by a click type sound. I think I've narrowed it down to something related to the LCD in that the click is coming from the LCD and then immediately following the audio briefly cuts out. What is odd is that the Display isn't even turned on at the time. I will say that this resembles what happens when you change the HDMI settings during playback of a movie. To narrow this down to the player being connected to the HDMI on the Display causing this "audio cut out" issue is I've changed the digital out to "All" off hence not sending audio via the HDMI to the TV. What I'm thinking is that if the DVD player is looking for a handshake with the Display if there is no audio present through digital out then it may not cut out like this. Anybody out there with some additional thoughts on this?

PS: This only happens during CD playback and I have "zero" issues with audio or video cutting out during DVD playback.

does this player output 5.1 sound??

Hi all,

I've had this player for a few weeks. So far I'm very happy. The only thing I've run into that is a little annoying is that xvid's at a certain resolution (i.e. 960x528) won't play but they will play at 624x352. It gives an error like "invalid resolution" or something like that. Anybody know a way around this - OR an easy way to adjust resolutions on the PC? 624x352 just looks like crap on my LG.

As has been mentioned many times before, this player will not play high definition video files. Neither will any other non-HD dvd player.
While you cannot simply adjust resolutions of a video file, you can transcode to a different resolution, eg using Dr. DivX or Stoik converter. - DR

Okay, just had my 5960-37 arrive by post today, hooked it up and threw in some of my trusty MST3K avi discs to find that, while they've always played perfectly on the several years old JVC NP-10s DIVX machine this player was supposed to replace, they ALL come up "Video Codec Not Supported". GSPOT reports the codec as being MP42, but, like I said, they've ALWAYS played in my previous DIVX machine, and I had assumed that the Philips would support them, as it seems people have said it'll play just about everything they can throw at it. Is this possibly a FourCC problem which can be fixed without transcoding my whole library of AVIs, or is this a peculiar shortcomming of the the Philips? Hopefully someone can give me an answer soon, because the chain I bought this through has an obscenely short window for returns. Thanks, guys!

Okay, just had my 5960-37 arrive by post today, hooked it up and threw in some of my trusty MST3K avi discs to find that, while they've always played perfectly on the several years old JVC NP-10s DIVX machine this player was supposed to replace, they ALL come up "Video Codec Not Supported". GSPOT reports the codec as being MP42, but, like I said, they've ALWAYS played in my previous DIVX machine, and I had assumed that the Philips would support them, as it seems people have said it'll play just about everything they can throw at it. Is this possibly a FourCC problem which can be fixed without transcoding my whole library of AVIs, or is this a peculiar shortcomming of the the Philips? Hopefully someone can give me an answer soon, because the chain I bought this through has an obscenely short window for returns. Thanks, guys!
This reminds me of when I bought my first standalone DivX player several years ago; I realized that most of my files wouldn't play, including all of those crappy old DAP MST3K files that, for some reason, are MP42. I'm impressed that your JVC plays them. My solution was to transcode them, which in hindsight, I consider to be a ridiculous waste of my time. No one hates Philips more than I do, but FWIW, I think you'll find that most players won't support those files. I don't think my Pioneer players will play them, and I don't think it's a FourCC issue. Personally, I blame DAP for this. Luckily, some of the files are being replaced by DVDRs and XviD, but of course, a lot of it is still MP42.

does this player output 5.1 sound??

does this player output 5.1 sound??
Yes.

Thanks, MechanicalMan, I really appreciate the info. Too bad it's not an easily fixable problem, but I guess both machines are going to be co-existing for a while, as I can't bear to be without my MST3K shows handy, but am certainly not going to spend the time to transcode 10 seasons worth of movies, or try re-DLing the lot. Anyways, glad to know I can stop swearing and throwing things at the Philips and point the finger at DAP for the poor codec choice.
Another question as I explore this new player, is there any way around the ENORMOUS overscan this thing seems to do? I've cycled through the picture settings on my Tosh. 50hm66 and can see that the image the Philips is outputting over component is dramatically cropped in compared to a zoomed-out view (did that make any sense? The whole anamorphic frame contains much more side-to-side information than the 5960 is sending out, as verified by cyling through the various options on the TVs display, the tv isn't cropping, the DVD player is). Would the crop be any different over HDMI?

There is zero cropping on my setup over hdmi (checked using a test pattern on DVE).
There is however the usual mediatek vertical compression on upscaled resolutions.
I haven't tried with component, but I know others have reported overscan with composite, and as far as I know there is no fix. - DR

There is zero cropping on my setup over hdmi (checked using a test pattern on DVE).
There is however the usual mediatek vertical compression on upscaled resolutions.
I haven't tried with component, but I know others have reported overscan with composite, and as far as I know there is no fix. - DR

Do you know about what percentage the typical vertical compression is? Is it different for 720p vs 1080i? I haven't noticed it on mine but maybe it is a small effect.

Do you know about what percentage the typical vertical compression is?

Not offhand, but if it is important I could dig out DVE this weekend and find out exactly. It is small, but should be clearly visible on any TV that doesn't underscan.

Is it different for 720p vs 1080i?

Yes, but should be visible on both. - DR

[I]Not offhand, but if it is important I could dig out DVE this weekend and find out exactly. It is small, but should be clearly visible on any TV that doesn't underscan.


Not that important, I think there is a test pattern on my getgray disk that I can check it out with.

cheers

O.K. Here's a goofy one. I have a Mits 65831 and just replaced a old DVD player that quit. I wanted a stop gap before getting an HD player so I got the 5960. Hooked up via HDMI. On all 1.85 DVD's there is about an inch gap on the bottom but the top is filled. I have tried different TV's and Different cables, same thing. Took it back and got a new one, same issue. What gives?

Got my answer. It's a mediatech issue of vertical compression. Not that big a deal, I do like the player, especially for the price.

I've played a few DivX videos now on my DVP5960. The performance is usually great. However, at least once during a video I get a lot of audio/video stuttering, usually when the screen seems "busy". It generally passes after a few seconds.

I tested the same videos on my PC. The stuttering did not occur, even when I ran them off the thumbdrive.

Has anybody else noticed this? Is it a limitation of the USB port? Do the same videos play fine from a disc?

-Tim

Do the same videos play fine from a disc?Well, I was going to ask you this question!

There has been extensive discussion of playback quality, both here and at the videohelp.com forums, and most problems do not seem to be USB1.1 related, though some seem to be related to the particular drive used. There are so many reasons the playback might get balky or jerky - level of video compression, which generation firmware, quality of drive - that it is hard to know the answer without further diagnosis.

If it plays OK from the disk, I would guess that you have some packed bitsreams in your video files. - DR

How come this DVD player is becoming increasingly hard to find? Is there a better one being released that costs the same and does more?

I have found a great USB hard drive that works well with this divx player.
I bought the AcomData 500GB HybridDrive that comes pre-formatted with Fat32.
I put a divx file in a folder via my PC, then unplugged the drive and plugged it into the Philips, and it saw the folder and inside it the avi file.
So i played the file and it played PERFECTLY, no stutter, no obvious dropped frames. It looked like the original DVD.
Now i have a hard drive i can store my entire dvd collection plus any tv shows i record. At the res. i converted the file (700MB), i could fit about 600+ dvds on the 500GB drive.
WOW. Now if it only knew long filenames...

OK, I admit I haven't read this whole thread, but here's my setup.

I just got this Player a couple days ago.

Visio Plasma HD50
Onkyo TX-SR503 Receiver

I am running coax audio to the receiver and HDMI to my plasma.

I checked my firmware and I have the latest version:

When playing a DVD with DTS (U571) I can't get the Philips to switch to DTS.

Also, I have noticed on some DVD's that the picture is a little squished (larger black bar at the bottom than the top).

I am thinking of returning this, anyone have any fixes for the above problems?

OK, I admit I haven't read this whole thread, but here's my setup.

I just got this Player a couple days ago.

Visio Plasma HD50
Onkyo TX-SR503 Receiver

I am running coax audio to the receiver and HDMI to my plasma.

I checked my firmware and I have the latest version:

When playing a DVD with DTS (U571) I can't get the Philips to switch to DTS.

Also, I have noticed on some DVD's that the picture is a little squished (larger black bar at the bottom than the top).

I am thinking of returning this, anyone have any fixes for the above problems?

Have you selected ALL and not PCM ONLY in the audio menu? The set-up you describe works just fine for me for Dolby and DTS after I upgraded to the latest firmware.

Have you selected ALL and not PCM ONLY in the audio menu? The set-up you describe works just fine for me for Dolby and DTS after I upgraded to the latest firmware.

Yes, I am set to all. I also just read online that some people have had the latest firmware and then updated anyway, and that fixed the DTS problem. I may give that a try.

One question though, to switch to DTS while the DVD is playing, don't you just hit the audio button on the remote? When I do this it gives me than anti icon like there is nothing else to change to.

Also, Zoyd, have you noticed the slightly larger bars at the bottom than the top?

One question though, to switch to DTS while the DVD is playing, don't you just hit the audio button on the remote? When I do this it gives me than anti icon like there is nothing else to change to.

Also, Zoyd, have you noticed the slightly larger bars at the bottom than the top?

yes on the audio button, it should just cycle through the available tracks on the dvd, try a different dvd to check. I have not had the vertical size problem but it has been reported before. It varies by output resolution and is inherent in the upscaling chip.

Back in stock in the employee store for $54.99 + tax as of 10:28AM PST today. I just ordered two!

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.php?catid=18&threadid=676975

Edit: Out of stock, congrats to those who got it

Has anyone experienced a problem with the volume 'jumping' loudly after playing a CD or DVD for a few minutes.

I noticed this yesterday after playing an original CD (not burned or downloaded) for a few minutes, the volume jumps to a louder level. My firmware is updated to the latest one, dvd is connected to the receiver via digital coax and PCM is set to all.

I'll try to play several CD's and determine if it is isolated to one particular CD. Thanks for any input on this.

I am having some echo issue if connected via HDMI. DVD HDMI>ONKYO HDMI>TV HDMI. Not sure where it is coming from but here is my set up.

Philips 5960 DVD Player
Onkyo 604
samsung HLS5086

If I use my digital coax for audio the echo is gone. I recently installed the latest firmware which fixed the DTS issue.

Another issue I am having is sometimes the DVD froze and the only way to make it work again is to unplug the power and plug back on. I am thinking of having it replaced but wanted to get some inputs from you guys.

To all:

anyone know how to set this player to "region free" so we can play any kind of DVDs ??? Please share....

To all:

anyone know how to set this player to "region free" so we can play any kind of DVDs ??? Please share....

Wow, I don't even own one yet and I know how to do it. But I'm not going to tell you in the hopes you'll search on google instead.

Give a man a fish...

Philips now has a 1080P model for ~$70. Hopefully we'll see some reviews soon.
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-DVP5982-Up-Scaling-DVD-Player/dp/B000N254LU/ref=sr_1_1/105-6109580-8174833?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1173452123&sr=8-1

matrix.ca, I have never once had this problem with my unit. If yours is still under warranty you might want to replace it. - DR

I have a Dell W4200HD TV and I just bought the DVP5960 last week. I love the DVD Player - except that it will NOT let me upscale my resolution beyond 480P.

I checked and changed HDMI cables, and they are all fine.

The problem seems to be that the player is trying to be too clever in reading resolutions, and instead of making recommendations for ideal resolutions, it locks out :( (by graying out) those resolutions that it considers unavailable.

From reading this forum, and other web sites, this problem also occurs with Samsung TV's (who make the Dell W4200HD), and other manufacturers too.

This ought to be an easy firmware upgrade, and as someone has already pointed out in this thread, a similar fix already exists for the UK/European model of this DVD player (i.e. the 5960/05).
However, I am worried about flashing my player with firmware intended for another model/variant, especially when everything else works so well!

Come on Philips, why not make it available for the 5960/37?

PS: I know how good the picture can be with upscaling from this player because I have tried it with another HD set that I own (using the same cables too!), the HP LC3260N, and there it works great!

When you spoke to customer service at Philips about this, what did they say? - DR

When you spoke to customer service at Philips about this, what did they say? - DR

Good question - because I did call them. I got a good support technician (I'm always happy when I speak to someone who seems to know what they are doing) but he was not a Philips engineer, and sometimes you just want to go directly to the source.

After having me cycle the TV and the DVD player, reverse cables, etc. he finally googled "W4200HD 720P". One of the hits, at ExpertsTech, revealed that the W4200HD display is natively 1024 x 768. 720P is actually 1280x720, and so he guessed that the problem lay in the DVD player reading the native resolution and deciding that the TV could not handle anything higher than 480p.

If this is true, then it is, of course, a ridiculous algorithm for a DVD player to use. My Dell W4200HD has received rave reviews for its support of 720P and 1080i resolutions, using its internal PixelWorks processor. Additionally, every HDTV scales to its native panel resolution. Surely panel resolution cannot be the problem.

My guess is that it has more to do with a problem in the HDCP handshake between the two devices - the 5960/37 fails to read the resolutions that the TV supports, and then defaults to not allowing anything other than 480P. All the more reason to allow the user to override the automatic choices selected, and select their preferred upscale resolution.

A new firmware upgrade is required.

After having me cycle the TV and the DVD player, reverse cables, etc. he finally googled "W4200HD 720P". One of the hits, at ExpertsTech, revealed that the W4200HD display is natively 1024 x 768. 720P is actually 1280x720, and so he guessed that the problem lay in the DVD player reading the native resolution and deciding that the TV could not handle anything higher than 480p.
That's pretty bone-headed, if that's the case (and I suspect it is not) -- just about every 720p fixed resolution display I've see, whether plasma, LCD, or whatever, is really 768p. (Of course, most are not 1024x768, but even so.)

Are you sure it's not an HDCP problem? If HDCP doesn't properly establish, the DVD player won't upscale. (Which is stupid; it's just upscaling, not HD content, but alas...)

EDIT: I should read all of the words that you wrote. You specifically mention thinking that it is an HDCP problem. Never mind. :)

I have one of these that won't upscale right now due to an HDCP problem (connecting to a 720p LCD w/DVI and an HDMI->DVI cable). I'm going to try re-flashing with the US firmware (even though it seems to be the same version), and if that doesn't work I'm going to try the Euro firmware and risk my $50 player. :) Will post results.

I have the 5960 with a Dell 4201C and I do not have that problem. Mine also is 1024x768.

I have one of these that won't upscale right now due to an HDCP problem (connecting to a 720p LCD w/DVI and an HDMI->DVI cable). I'm going to try re-flashing with the US firmware (even though it seems to be the same version), and if that doesn't work I'm going to try the Euro firmware and risk my $50 player. :) Will post results.

Sounds like a plan. :) I, for one, willbe looking forward to your posting of results.

To all:

anyone know how to set this player to "region free" so we can play any kind of DVDs ??? Please share....


FYI here is the Region Free Hack for this machine..

Power Up the unit with NO Disc in the tray.
Open the tray
Press the SETUP Button on the remote control
Navigate to the PREFERENCES page using the Right Arrow Key
Press the DOWN ARROW one time to select
Press the 1 button on your remote control
Press the 3 button on your remote control
Press the 8 button on your remote control
Press the 9 button on your remote control
Press the 3 button on your remote control
Press the 1 button on your remote control
The current Region Code Setting will display
Use the UP/DOWN Arrow Keys to select the region required or '0' for All Regions
Press the PLAY Button on the remote control
NOTE - The 0 (zero) in the above sequence represents the Region Code 0 - Region Free. If you want to set to a specific region, just replace the 0 with the region number that you want.

I just tried the new (1/30/2007) firmware and while the date appeared to be the only difference I've notice the DVD's eject faster now and load faster. Anyone else comfirm this?

No noticeable difference here.

Has anyone used the HD JPEG feature of this player. I have tried it and while the pictures look great, they do not cover the entire screen, even with different image resolutions. I tried native 720p (1280x720), 1080i/p (1920x1080) and even the native tv resolution of 1366x768, but in all the cases, the picture still leaves black bars around the tv image. any ideas on how to get the pictures stretched to the entire screen.

I have a panasonic plasma with a picture viewer via SD cards and it only accepts 1920x1080 image sizes for full screen, so I am sure there must be some resolution that the player can accept for full screen displays. any help apprecited. thanks.

hi guys, new one here as I just bougt this phillps player from BB Yesterday.

My only question is, is there any way to minimize the letter box bars when watching in 720p, 1080i mode?

My older dvd player had an option to cut out completely the letter box when viewing...

Has anyone used the HD JPEG feature of this player. I have tried it and while the pictures look great, they do not cover the entire screen, even with different image resolutions. I tried native 720p (1280x720), 1080i/p (1920x1080) and even the native tv resolution of 1366x768, but in all the cases, the picture still leaves black bars around the tv image. any ideas on how to get the pictures stretched to the entire screen.

I have a panasonic plasma with a picture viewer via SD cards and it only accepts 1920x1080 image sizes for full screen, so I am sure there must be some resolution that the player can accept for full screen displays. any help apprecited. thanks.

take the picture in 16:9 mode, if your camera supports (my Lumix does). It will fill the entire screen (and look pretty good)

take the picture in 16:9 mode, if your camera supports (my Lumix does). It will fill the entire screen (and look pretty good)My Casio supports 16:9 mode, but it also seems to squish it vertically on my 16:9 LCD TV. Since the pictures take so long to display I don't like to use it anyway.

I've had this for a couple of months now. Connected to my LCD HDTV via HDMI, output set to 1080i. Very nice player. Works with every USB drive I could throw at it. A week ago I finally hooked it up with a Maxtor 200GB IDE hard drive, enclosed in a generic Meritline enclosure, and formatted with fat32format. I have all kinds of media on it.

MP3 playback:
flawless

JPEG playback:
imaging part is great, but it takes FOREVER to load (5 seconds, sometimes longer). I have 3 Mega pixel and 6 Mega pixel photos, so the file sizes range from 1 to 3 MB. HD JPEG is turned on. I have not tried to turn it off. Is there any way to make it load faster?

VOB playback:
UGLY. I have some DVDs ripped onto a hard-drive with FABDecrypter and DVDShrink. I can navigate and play a VOB file, but the picture is jumpy, freezes a lot, almost like USB 1.1 bit rate is not fast enough. Can this player even play "DVDs" off a hard-drive?

DivX playback:
Mostly very good, sometimes lip-synch problems, sometimes not (I have not upgraded to the newest firmware). I guess I am satisfied with the quality. Can some point me to a good instruction set on how to convert DVDs to DivX? I am using Dr. DivX, but I am not sure which parameters should be set (bit-rate, etc.)

Thanks in advance

My only question is, is there any way to minimize the letter box bars when watching in 720p, 1080i mode? If the DVD is an anamorphic 16:9 disk then it should fill your screen at 16:9 if the player is set correctly.

If the DVD is a 4:3 disk - even if the picture is widescreen encoded into a 4:3 image - then it will be horizontally stretched at upscaled resolutions, and have the wrong aspect ratio even if your TV has a zoom that works on HD signals (many/most don't). In this case you need to set the DVD player to 420p, then zoom at the TV or player level, whichever works best. Some players avoid this by "pillarboxing" 4:3 images, but this one won't. - DR

take the picture in 16:9 mode, if your camera supports (my Lumix does). It will fill the entire screen (and look pretty good)

I have a Canon powershot but not sure if it has 16:9. Can you post the final resolution of your jpg that is produced from the Lumix (that produced full screen images with no borders)?

I guess I can crop my pics to that exact resolution.

Thanks

Not sure if this has been brought up. I just noticed today that when this dvd player in turned on , the power led does not light up. When it is off/standby mode, it goes to red. Isn't the power button suppose to light up white when turned on? I was certain it lit up before but now it's not. Can someone confirm?

That's the way it is.

I just picked up this player this weekend on sale- it is hooked up via HDMI>DVI on my 32 inch westy. After using the firmware fix for 720p on the HDMI>DVI (See post below) here are my thoughts:

Previously I used my xbox 360 via vga(1360x768) as my DVD player. After using this Philips either a) The Xbox 360 is a really bad DVD player or b)This Philips is an exceptional DVD player. My guess is it falls somewhere in the middle.

Pros:
-Upscale via 720p details are quite good. The picture is sharp with no washout (compared to the 360)
-The reverse 3:2 pulldown works well. During high action scenes in Revenge of the Sith I used my freeze on my TV and did not see any noticecable interlacing/jaggies. (This is where I noticed how bad the 360 was- blurry, interlace lines, and jaggies)

Cons:
-Playing Divx movies requires some fine tuning. There are definate sync issues on the USB and Discs. Using the lip sync in the setup I was able to fix them for the most part but it can be annoying doing this with every Divx movie.
-The zoom feature is a big dissapointment. The increments are just too big making it impossible to zoom a movie at 2:35:1 to 16:9 to fill the tv without the bars. However, this may not bother everyone.
-The remote is horrible, non-responsive at times.
-The lack of an optical output- only coaxil.

In the end for the price I paid I am definately happy with the PQ.

IPlaying Divx movies requires some fine tuning. There are definate sync issues on the USB and Discs. Using the lip sync in the setup I was able to fix them for the most part but it can be annoying doing this with every Divx movie.
Do you experience the same problem with all of them?
In my experience, the most sync problems with the DivX files almost always could be traced to bad encoding, and not to the player(s).

Like others I could not select any resolution other than 480p when using a HDMI>DVI cable, even with the newest firmware. I can confirm using the latest European firmware fixes this issue (Credit to Chris55HDM71 for posting this fix earlier)

1) Go to http://www.p4c.philips.com
2) Enter "5960" in the search.
3) Click on "DVP5960/05"
4) Click on the "Software and Drivers" on the left of the page
5) Download the "English (UK), Zip file (1.00 MB) V12.06.36.40"
6) Rename the file to DVP5960_37.BIN
7) Burn and apply the update per the instructions on the website

Now you should be able to select all of the HDMI resolutions. However, by using the European firmware your region code has changed and will not play US DVDs. To change the region code back you will need to do the following hack (credit to SteveCaron orignal poster of this):

Power Up the unit with NO Disc in the tray.
Open the tray
Press the SETUP Button on the remote control
Navigate to the PREFERENCES page using the Right Arrow Key
Press the DOWN ARROW one time to select
Press the 1 button on your remote control
Press the 3 button on your remote control
Press the 8 button on your remote control
Press the 9 button on your remote control
Press the 3 button on your remote control
Press the 1 button on your remote control
The current Region Code Setting will display
Use the UP/DOWN Arrow Keys to select the region required or '0' for All Regions
Press the PLAY Button on the remote control
NOTE - The 0 (zero) in the above sequence represents the Region Code 0 - Region Free. If you want to set to a specific region, just replace the 0 with the region number that you want.

I didn't think the xbox360 was a bad dvd player, but I used component and let my tv do the upscalling. That said, the 5960 was a little better. Not that much IMO.

nichrf36, did the forum that suggested the Euro firmware explain what it is about the current US firmware that makes the selection ability go away with some displays? Anyway, glad to see you got the system working. - DR