After being unable to find a Sammy DVDHD960, being unwilling to spend for the Denon 1080p model, and not wanting to mailorder an Oppo, I decided to take a chance on the new Panasonic player:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8251223&st=DVD-S53&type=product&id=1169857842857

So far so good, the player allows me to hit my v2500's native rez and enable 'full pixel' mode for zero overscan.

Struggling with the transition to HDMI though, component-based players provided a more natural-looking picture.

Still tweakin'...

I was at BB yesterday, didnt see it, i'll check back today, it says it plays Mpeg4/Divx, the S52 said that and didnt, my LG418 is having trouble with DL's i might give it a try.

I wonder which chipset they are using to accomplish 1080p.

It usually takes a while for Panasonic US to post info about new stuff on their web site. In the mean time here is some info on the S53 on the Panasonic UK web site...
http://www.panasonic.co.uk/dvd-players/dvd-s53eb-k/index.htm
You can also download the manual.
The following two lines in the specs are a bit worrying...
Dolby Digital Decoder Yes (2ch)
DTS Decoder Yes (2ch)
Why only 2 channesl for DD and DTS?

It's only two-channel for Dolby Digital and DTS because it only has a two-channel analog output. It also doesn't appear to offer any support (even two-channel) for DVD-Audio.

Look at the pic of the remote on the BB web site....it has an Open/Close button. Its been a while since Panny DVD players had that!

Anyone know if this player will be available in silver?

gonk, according to manual for UK model it specifically states that DVD-Audio is NOT supported. Another shining example of feature removal from one model year to the next!

Upon reviewing the UK model manual it looks like the User mode for Picture has gone as well so no ability now to set Contrast, Brightness, Color, Sharpness, Gamma, etc.
I also don't see a setting to control how 4:3 material is handled. Ie. pillar-boxed, etc. So maybe its now just stretched like its competition.
Its looking like the new S53 is dumbed down relative to last year's S52 (and the S77 and S97 before it).

I was at BB yesterday, didnt see it, i'll check back today, it says it plays Mpeg4/Divx, the S52 said that and didnt, my LG418 is having trouble with DL's i might give it a try.

If you look at the website, it's backordered.

I got it today at BB. It's good, but as a Divx player is mediocre. It doesn't play PAL Divx files, and NTSC ones are hit and miss, many will play audio but not video or viceversa, and it doesn't scale to the screen size, so you get black frames around the image. So if you intend to use it as a Divx player you might wanna look somewhere else. Image quality is excellent over HDMI, although picture fine tweaking is not available like it is in the S52. Search is faster than the S52 but still very poor compared to Sony players. As for 4:3 material, there is a setting in the setup to correct the aspect ratio, but depending on your TV set it might be easier to just do it on the TV set instead. Optical audio output is gone (S52 has both). Also, the overlay text is annoying, it will stay on whenever you hit the pause and even frame by frame. There's no way to make it go away, as opposed to the S52. Bitrate meter is also gone. The exterior looks really cheap, I liked the previous line of Panasonic players and recorders, it was pretty original and practical. This one has the Open close button all the way to the right while the tray is on the left. Seems really retarded.

So the only plus of this new model as opposed to the S52 is the Divx playback, which is not that great, and since I don't have that many Divx files, I think I will keep the S52.

Before you return it, open it up and let us know the chipset, pleeeeeze :D

Yeah, right

I'll probably pick up an S53 to try out. I saw it my local BB today. Its build quality seemed poor, about the same as the S52 and thats not saying much!
I also have an S52 and an S77. I previously owned an S97 (sold and subsequently regretted, hence the S77). I have no problem opening it up and checking the chipset. I did the same for the S52 last year. I'll guess that the S53's is the same as the S52's.

After using the S53 for a couple of days, I think this one's a keeper for me.

This $99 1080p player is probably the perfect match for my value-driven $1999 Sony 40v2500 (what can I say...I'm cheap).

The unit's not much to look at and I do wish the disc tray was on the right side near the open/close button.

Regardless, this unit should be a big hit for people who want 1080p on a budget (not to mention all the money saved by blowing off HD formats).

I've been vacillating/reading/researching over new formats/players/upconverts since buying an HDTV on Black Saturday, so thankfully my endless search is over (back to watching movies)!

I purchased this player at Best Buy today. I was hoping it would be better than the 10 or so cheap upscalers on the market in this price range. I have a 57" Samsung LCD , Denon 4806Ci and Toshiba XA2. This unit is on the lower end of the PQ scale. It outputs 1080P but is very grainy and lacks color depth. My DVP-NS70H Sony has better PQ as well as the oppo 981HD I returned when I purchased the XA2.
Any forum member looking for great PQ spend a little more money and get the Oppo. Do not waste your time with this as it is not worth the 100 bucks I paid for it.

How is it at 1080i (with your TV doing the deinterlacing)?
S52 may be a better choice than the S53 in the sub-$100 players and it (silver finish) is on clearance at Circuit City. Panasonic DVD players have definitely gone downhill since the S77/97.

How is it at 1080i (with your TV doing the deinterlacing)?
S52 may be a better choice than the S53 in the sub-$100 players and it (silver finish) is on clearance at Circuit City. Panasonic DVD players have definitely gone downhill since the S77/97.

I tried all 3 outputs. 720P, 1080i and 1080P. All look like crap.

I got it today at BB. It's good, but as a Divx player is mediocre. It doesn't play PAL Divx files, and NTSC ones are hit and miss, many will play audio but not video or viceversa, and it doesn't scale to the screen size, so you get black frames around the image. So if you intend to use it as a Divx player you might wanna look somewhere else. Image quality is excellent over HDMI, although picture fine tweaking is not available like it is in the S52. Search is faster than the S52 but still very poor compared to Sony players. As for 4:3 material, there is a setting in the setup to correct the aspect ratio, but depending on your TV set it might be easier to just do it on the TV set instead. Optical audio output is gone (S52 has both). Also, the overlay text is annoying, it will stay on whenever you hit the pause and even frame by frame. There's no way to make it go away, as opposed to the S52. Bitrate meter is also gone. The exterior looks really cheap, I liked the previous line of Panasonic players and recorders, it was pretty original and practical. This one has the Open close button all the way to the right while the tray is on the left. Seems really retarded.

So the only plus of this new model as opposed to the S52 is the Divx playback, which is not that great, and since I don't have that many Divx files, I think I will keep the S52.


Thanks for that informative review, saved me $106!
Panasonic, Sony, will never come close to Xvid playback, unlike a Oppo, LG, Bravo players.

Apex started it all 8 yrs ago with with features it's that used the potential of the internet, VCD, SVCD, MP3...etc playback, there still trying to play catchup!

After using the S53 for a couple of days, I think this one's a keeper for me.

This $99 1080p player is probably the perfect match for my value-driven $1999 Sony 40v2500 (what can I say...I'm cheap).

The unit's not much to look at and I do wish the disc tray was on the right side near the open/close button.

Regardless, this unit should be a big hit for people who want 1080p on a budget (not to mention all the money saved by blowing off HD formats).

I've been vacillating/reading/researching over new formats/players/upconverts since buying an HDTV on Black Saturday, so thankfully my endless search is over (back to watching movies)!

well I wouldnt say that you're cheap. but i'd spring for an oppo considering its only about $50 more.

I tried all 3 outputs. 720P, 1080i and 1080P. All look like crap.
What did you use to calibrate?

larry

well just got home with it. all i can says it terrible. tried all the settings (480 on up) very grainy. no optical out, which is pretty sad. the unit itself is VERY flimsy, be careful not to touch it to hard or look out. probably one of the worst up converting players i have tried (and i have tried 5 in the last week). will be bringing it back tomorrow and sticking with my denon 557.

The s53 is in the BB ad this week, same price.

The Panasonic DVD-S53 has excellent picture quality, very sharp and clear. It has HD settings to even make more sharp if you prefer. It's quiet, very cool running, never gets DVD disc warm or hot like some players and the unit doesn't even gets warm. It's HDMI on-the-fly settins are 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p. It's looks are like most typical of todays cheap-out product and again gives no forward or reverse buttons on unit, very much the trend of today's DVD players sadly! Shame Panasonic is playing into the trend for higher profits. Overall the Panasonic DVD-S53 is a solid performer with excellent picture quality that will please most. It's DIVX playback is very basic and would have been nicer if Panasonic would have given greater divx capabilities. The DVD-S53 is very stable and doesn't have any problems with skips or freezing like some other HDMI DVD Players.

Not sure what "blackssr" problems were with this player but it's picture quality is definitely not crap! Going from 480i, 480p, 720P, 1080i, and 1080p with each step up the picture quality gets better. It gets so sharp and clear to the skin that you can see actors bumps and wrinkles on their face to seeing the thread detail on fabrics.

I just bought this Panny DVD-S53 and have it connected via HDMI to a Mitsu WD-Y57 (which is basically the WD-57731 DLP 1080P), and I'm not sure which mode to use on the DVD Player. I'm also a bit confused by the settings in the setup menu (I didn't get a manual in my box, so I had to download it from the UK site mentioned above, but some options seem different)..

Anyone know the 'best settings' for the S53 on this TV (or other 1080p DLP)? It seems to look great in any progressive setting (things definitely look worse in the interlaced modes).

Might the scaler in the TV do a better job than this DVD Player? I've read the de-interlacer on this TV isn't great, but the scaler is 'OK'. If I put it on 480p or 720p, would the TV would do a better job taking it up to 1080p than the DVD player does, while letting the Player do the deinterlacing? Or would it be a waste to not use the upconverting capability of this player? Does the DVD player have an advantage somehow doing the upconversion, since it has the raw DVD data to work with?

Additionally, I'm not sure which 'color space' to choose (RGB, YCbCr 4:4:4 or YCbCr 4:2:2). There's an "Enhanced" versus "Standard" RGB Range setting in this player's setup - not sure it makes any difference, but sounds like 'enhanced range' and the 'RGB' color space would be the best. Can't really tell experimentally, since it takes so long to make the changes and get back to the image, but to my eye the RGB setting looks best (but it wasn't the default)...

Anyone know what the 'TV Type' setting actually does? The options like 'CRT', 'Standard', 'Projection', only seem to change the contrast or brightness when I change it. And there's a black level 'light' or 'dark' setting that isn't really explained in the manual, and doesn't seem to do much. Also don't know what the "HD enhancer" does in the HDMI functions display. Too many options!

One thing I do notice - when I set it to 1080p, the picture appears brighter, and 'may be' more washed out than when it is on 480p or 720p (or is the 480/720 just too dark? can't tell).

The TV has to upconvert everything to it's native resolution, but I'm just not sure who will do the best job (all the progressive modes look pretty good, but 1080p seems bright and not necessarily crisper). My ego wants to put the player on 1080p, to turn it 'up to 11'. But is that really best? I hate choosing settings just because they're the 'max'.

I appreciate any help!

One helpful thing that wasn't obvious in the manual - to change the HDMI video modes / color space manually, you have to press 'functions' 4 times on the remote to get to the HDMI settings, then tweak the settings with the D-pad. It doesn't seem possible to change the desired resolution or color space in the actual setup menus (which confused me for awhile).

With regard to some poor impressions of the s53, you have to take into account that most people are plugging the unit into an unconfigured HDMI port.

I did the same thing and was initially underwhelmed.

Most HDTVs now remember picture settings as 'per input', which means you're back to 'torch mode' everytime you tap a new input.

This unit does seem to enhance (reveal?) grain as a function of upconversion, as opposed to the Oppo which apparently enhances microblocking.

The remedy in both cases is proper calibration, after which this unit easily delivers perfromance which exceeds it's price.

Can 'better' upconversion be had for 2X, 3X, 5x, or 10x as much? Sure, but only at 1080i or at a higher cost.

The slight grain structure visible on large, flat, single-color fields to me looks almost Blu-ray like (based on the BR demos I've watched).

It doesn't really bother me because I've already associated 'HD' with sharper pictures and more grain.

Trap, sorry you didn't get a manual that really blows...

As far as player settings go, I'm using 1080p and 4:4:4 color.

1080p will allow many LCD/DLP users to get 1:1 pixel mapping with no scaling or overscan.

4:4:4 color gives me the most natural results, but I didn't play with RGB.

I believe 'TV Type' is only present to allow for a slight audio delay with plasmas sets (?).

There is also a setting for 'lighter' or 'darker' blacks, but the manual says somewhere that does not affect HDMI connections (only component).

I didn't see much difference with or without the 'HD enhancer', so I left it OFF along with DNR (which really kills PQ).

For best results, calibrate everything with a newer live-action movie...not some hopped up animation title or a TV show with 5 hours of content on one disc.

When I was done, ATL was stunning.

I bought this the other day, and the picture looked horrible on my sharp LCD at all the resolution, even my 3 year old Toshiba dvd player playing at 480p is better looking than the panny.

I did all the tweak but decided it was really bad so i returned it back the other day.

Trap, sorry you didn't get a manual that really blows...

As far as player settings go, I'm using 1080p and 4:4:4 color.

1080p will allow many LCD/DLP users to get 1:1 pixel mapping with no scaling or overscan.

4:4:4 color gives me the most natural results, but I didn't play with RGB.

I believe 'TV Type' is only present to allow for a slight audio delay with plasmas sets (?).

There is also a setting for 'lighter' or 'darker' blacks, but the manual says somewhere that does not affect HDMI connections (only component).

I didn't see much difference with or without the 'HD enhancer', so I left it OFF along with DNR (which really kills PQ).

For best results, calibrate everything with a newer live-action movie...not some hopped up animation title or a TV show with 5 hours of content on one disc.

When I was done, ATL was stunning.


All the tweaking in the world could not help this player. It looks terrible on my Samsung LCD. Have you tried the Oppo 981HD or the Toshiba XA2? If you did, you would return this player right away. Do not settle for a crappy picture just because the unit is cheap.

I bought this the other day, and the picture looked horrible on my sharp LCD at all the resolution, even my 3 year old Toshiba dvd player playing at 480p is better looking than the panny.

I did all the tweak but decided it was really bad so i returned it back the other day.


Same here. Terrible PQ.

Not sure why you quoted me in post #27, I'm happy with my purchase.

I don't even want to know what an XA2 costs...

The picture was blurry in all the resolution on my LCD tv.

Trap, sorry you didn't get a manual that really blows...

<edit>

When I was done, ATL was stunning.

Thanks for the help, Frank@N! I got 30 days to try it out I guess.

So far, looks like 3 people on this thread think it REALLY sucks, and 2-3 people think it's good or great...

I'm too much of a n00b to really judge (not to mention it's a new TV too). I'll do some comparos against my x360 with the movies you suggest and see how it fares. Maybe I can find another upconverting player at a local store to pit it against.

Any chance a 'great' 720p upconverter will look as good or better on my 1080p DLP via HDMI than this 1080p upconverter? Not a lot of other 1080p upconverters readily available. In fact, I think I got the last S53 around here.

Pioneer is coming out a new 1080p DVD. I am going to give it a try, they are known to make one of the best disc player. I am still using my LD player.haha

[QUOTE=Frank@N]With regard to some poor impressions of the s53, you have to take into account that most people are plugging the unit into an unconfigured HDMI port.

I did the same thing and was initially underwhelmed.

Most HDTVs now remember picture settings as 'per input', which means you're back to 'torch mode' everytime you tap a new input.






it was configured, and its still junk.

OK, so I played around with Avia on this thing hooked up to my Mitsu 57731 via HDMI, and noticed something weird. When I had 'transfer mode' set to 'auto1' (the default), I would get the most horrible flickering on the white level and resolution tests, among others. This only occured in progressive modes on this player.

But when I set the 'transfer mode' to 'auto2', they were all completely fixed.

The worst test pattern I saw this on was the 'Resolution 200 TVL' pattern. I was about to declare 480i as the only good mode on this player (with 1080i in second), and was considering returning it to the store, but after switching the transfer mode to 'auto2', I notice the progressive modes (including 1080p) on this player seem to do a better job of cancelling moire patterns in the center circle and bottom horizonal patterns on the "200 TVL" test pattern than my TV (and all the 'i' modes showed moire). Also the 1080p mode does seem to have less jaggies on the circles than the 480i or p mode on my TV.

The menu seems to indicate each time I put in a disc, it will go back to Auto1, which may only be a problem with discs like avia. I'm not sure if this problem is happening because Avia is using / changing between custom frame rates, or if it will happen on every disc. Here is the complete description of 'transfer mode' from the UK manual PDF:


When playing NTSC discs,
AUTO1 (normal): Automatically detects the film and video content, and appropriately
converts it.
AUTO2: In addition to AUTO1, automatically detects film contents with different frame rates and appropriately converts it.
VIDEO: Select when using AUTO1 and AUTO2, and the content is distorted.

With HDMI AV OUT connection
If you have set “VIDEO FORMAT” to “480p”, “720p”, “1080p”, or “1080i”
( page 17, On-Screen Menu 4).
Select between AUTO1, AUTO2, and VIDEO for the method of conversion for progressive output.

Basically, you only toggle 'Transfer Mode' when you're seeing deinterlacing problems (motion combing) on screen.

I put on The Avengers animated movie a few days ago and saw jaggies, so I switched to Video and everything was fine.

The TM resets after each disc (most players work like this, I believe, because the default option is right more often than not).

I've only use 1080p because I feel that's the best option for my hardware, but every setup is potentially different.

As the thread opener, I just want thank everyone who has posted here, your posts are keeping this thread flying high with almost 2K in views.

Pioneer is coming out a new 1080p DVD

When? Where? How much?

Is there a region mod for this player?

The Picture Quality is excellent with this Panasonic. I think most issues some may have is more with their LCD TV not being the best match possibly with the Panasonic or need to spend some time configure the HDMI as "Frank@N" has mentioned. The HD settings are for sharper image, starting 1 sharper to 3 as the sharpest. Setting 3 gets in so sharp and clear that it also reveals compression noise on some DVD's that have been compressed more for space than for picture quality.

The Color settings change instantly, no delay waiting for it to change but this will greatly depend on your LCD TV causing a delay with waiting talk time between the two units. I see hardly no difference between any color changes, again, may greatly depend on your LCD TV.

If the Panasonic is compatible with your LCD TV, you will get excellent picture quality and preformance.

Do try and spend some time with settings to get this right, it's worth it for it's picture quality/performance if your LCD allows you to. My HDMI LCD automatically starts to test, calibrate, and change settings for best picture per port and any time something new is plugged into any of the inputs.

Basically, you only toggle 'Transfer Mode' when you're seeing deinterlacing problems (motion combing) on screen.

I decided to return the Panny to Best Buy. I ordered an Oppo 970 instead (part of me wonders if I should have gotten the 981HD though).

Here are my reasons, in order of 'importance':

* I get a very 'washed out' overbright look on my Mitsu with this player in 1080p mode. The brightness goes away at all other resolutions. I get quite a bit more than I get with my PS3 at 1080p. There are no manual brightness adjustments in the player to compensate for this (yes, i calibrated, with Avia, and it still was 'washed out' with a lack of color depth - problem went away at 720p, 1080i, etc).

* I seemed to get more noise around moving, small objects with this player set to 1080p than when it is set to 720p (easy to see on "Happy Feet" DVD). 720p looks best on this player for me.

* I get terrible flicker in many DVD Menus (Happy Feet does it, among others) with this player, and also on most FBI and other warning screens, etc. They all go away when I put it into auto2, but the player goes back to auto1 every DVD. This doesn't happen on any of the other progressive players I have. The problem doesn't seem to occur during the actual feature, but it's still annoying as menus are important and the warning/info screens are the first things you see. And if there are weird cadences or whatnot in the feature, it would probably flicker.

The player would have been fine if I had wanted to keep it for 720p upconversion. It does a very good job with that. But I figured, why settle for the Panny at 720p when I can get the highly reviewed Oppo for $149 (with an HDMI cable)... It arrives tomorrow, hopefully I'm not disappointed.

Thanks for all your help on this thread though!

Here's my review of the Panasonic S53 from Amazon.com for $99 free ship.
pardon the non experience A/V-phile writing :)

THE GOOD
- Picture really sharp esp. @ 1080i up
- Action or fast moving scenes are solid with no breakups
- Animated movies look good
- Good natural colors
- No pauses or hangups
- Nice choices of menu options
- Seems more sturdy vs my Samsung 870
- Relatively intuitive remote & screen menu


THE BAD
- Black images are really dark....can't separate between the details.
- Teeny writing in manual
- Uninformative manual

CONCLUSION
@ $99 shipped, it was as I had hope it would be: sturdy, well built & provided a natural picture with ample setting choices. The form & function are first rate & goes well with my Mitsubishi 62531 RPLCD. While my niece's animated DVD's didn't have the almost 3D like pop that some people like, it was by no means dull. When compared to my Samsung 870 which I bought @ the same time, this machine seems worth the $20 more because of the Panasonic built & performance. If you don't get annoyed with the dark blackouts that is inherit in many of today's DVD players & HDTV, then this 1 is for you @ <$100. Otherwise, I think the $150+ range has some better choices but maybe not the same value.

I bought this player the other day and I must say the picture looks fantastic on 1080i. The only gripe I have is that it wont display widescreen divx files properly (black bars all around). Is there ANY fix for this? Also, will it play 4:3 DVD's in pillarbox format? I have it hooked up to a Sharp 37 inch LCD SH20 via HDMI.

I bought this player the other day and I must say the picture looks fantastic on 1080i. The only gripe I have is that it wont display widescreen divx files properly (black bars all around). Is there ANY fix for this? Also, will it play 4:3 DVD's in pillarbox format? I have it hooked up to a Sharp 37 inch LCD SH20 via HDMI.

If this player has a zoom function, that may be how to do it. My older Panny 5 disc changer had several zoom options as well as an auto zoom that worked well with non-anamorphic letterbox DVDs. Even moved any subtitle info up as to keep them from being cut off.

Would image this model still has that function to some extent.

Yeah it has a zoom feature but the next step up looks too blown up. :(

Yeah it has a zoom feature but the next step up looks too blown up. :(

Does it not have an incremental zoom? The previous Panny players did, but I have heard that some previously std Panny features were stripped on this one. Don't know since I haven't seen this unit in person.

Best bet is check the owner's manual and it's section on the Zoom function.

I'm looking for a DVD player for my new th50px60.. I've read on the boards that since the TV will do the scaling, it isn't neccessarily needed to get an upscaling DVD, but that at times it can help. Also, my old DVD player is an old 480i player, so I think even the 480p output will give me a picture improvement?

Would this match up well with my tv??

OK, so after getting the Oppo 970 to replace my S53, I'd say the Oppo is a better buy. Yes, it's $50 more (a whopping 50% increase), and it can't do 1080p. But it does have HDMI, great PQ, and is a swiss army knife of functionality. It also comes with an HDMI cable in the box, which I put to good use.

One thing it has, that might help the reviewer quoted below, is brightness/contrast/gamma controls right in the Player. So you can tweak the darks to your liking if your TV doesn't have the range you need.

I also think it handles 'slow camera pans' better than the Panny. I got 'juddering' with sweeping scenes in minority report and happy feet. Other than that, I'd say the PQ was comparable. The Panny looked best in 720p, the Oppo in 1080i (on my Mitsu 57731). YMMV.

Features the Panny doesn't have:


A very useful 'memory' button that allows you to return to an exact spot in a movie the next time it's loaded into the player. It remembers these positions even if you swap disks or turn off the player. This is worth a lot of the extra $50!

It does letterboxing/pillarboxing as necessary, so might be a better player for those divX movies, etc, that some of you are talking about. The zoom has more levels than the Panny. It's nice to not get stretched 'SD bonus content' on DVD's (it can be set to stretch all, for CRT & Plasma burnin etc).

It has seemingly automatic 'transfer mode' detection. I was getting very bad flickering on dvd menus and fbi warning screens with my S53 that could only be fixed by putting the Panny in 'auto2' transfer mode (which resets every disc). The Oppo seems to take care of this automatically (or just starts out in a 'auto2' type mode).

It can be switched easily to be a region-free player, and the Oppo can play PAL discs effortlessly, converting them to NTSC (or vice versa). Of course, I have no PAL discs...

It supports DVD-A, SACD, and HDCD, among other esoteric formats. All the HD audio formats can be played over the HDMI 1.1 cable instead of using analog outputs. But it does have 5.1 analog audio outputs for those who may have older, great sounding 5.1 direct input stereos that don't do DTS or Dolby Digital, which the Oppo will decode for you to analog.

Panny only has COAX digital audio out, where Oppo has both Optical and COAX outs. This could be a big deal for some. Oppo also has the aforementioned 5.1 analog output in addition to a 'mixed' L/R (you can pick downmix of DVD audio to L/R for Pro Logic, Stereo or Surround for TV's, etc).

It has memory card and USB readers on the front to display picture and/or play digital audio/video. This is nice for viewing pics off your digital camera or playing music directly off your mass-storage capable MP3 player (not iPod).

It has more levels of fast forward/rewind and slow. It has more audio/video tweak knobs.

On top of all that, it's user-flashable, meaning you can upgrade the firmware by downloading it from Oppo's website if they fix/improve something in the player. They have been known to release updates frequently, if needed. Panny just makes a new player to fix bugs.


The Oppo has a sexy looking bright red display, with lots of useful info (a bit more info than the Panny), but it does look different in my rack. Most AV units don't have red displays... I'm not sure if the display's brightness or color can be adjusted - the panny does have a dim mode.

The Oppo dvd tray is very thin, and is clear plastic - it looks pretty neat. I'd say the build quality of both are somewhat flimsy, especially compared to a Denon or something. Most 'new' DVD players are flimsy though. ;) When I push the DVD tray of the Oppo, it slides in nicely, where my Panny would 'click' in a bit then close (gear missing a tooth?). I always press the tray to close it instead of using the button.

I definitely think the Panny's remote works and feels better (it reminds me of my XR55 remote!). I use a harmony remote so it doesn't matter. I also wish the Oppo was black (you can get the Panny in both colors, which is nice).

They're both good players, but I have to give the Oppo the edge, even in value. I didn't think the Panny looked too good in 1080p (or 1080i) mode, but it might have done better if I could have adjusted its brightness/contrast/gamma.

-T9

Here's my review of the Panasonic S53 from Amazon.com for $99 free ship.
pardon the non experience A/V-phile writing :)

THE GOOD
- Picture really sharp esp. @ 1080i up
- Action or fast moving scenes are solid with no breakups
- Animated movies look good
- Good natural colors
- No pauses or hangups
- Nice choices of menu options
- Seems more sturdy vs my Samsung 870
- Relatively intuitive remote & screen menu


THE BAD
- Black images are really dark....can't separate between the details.
- Teeny writing in manual
- Uninformative manual

CONCLUSION
@ $99 shipped, it was as I had hope it would be: sturdy, well built & provided a natural picture with ample setting choices. The form & function are first rate & goes well with my Mitsubishi 62531 RPLCD. While my niece's animated DVD's didn't have the almost 3D like pop that some people like, it was by no means dull. When compared to my Samsung 870 which I bought @ the same time, this machine seems worth the $20 more because of the Panasonic built & performance. If you don't get annoyed with the dark blackouts that is inherit in many of today's DVD players & HDTV, then this 1 is for you @ <$100. Otherwise, I think the $150+ range has some better choices but maybe not the same value.

trapnine, I'm happy you found what works best with your TV unit.

It's obvious that the Panasonic will be a great performer if it goes well with your unit but in your case it did not. I haven't any of the problems you did with the Panasonic as it is an excellent match with my unit. It looks best in 1080i/1080p by far. This unit will also reveal bad movie recording quality transfers on DVD's very easily but with excellent DVD movie re-masters the Panasonic always gives an excellent picture quality. I've never seen so clear and sharp where you can see actors skin pores, moles, bumps, skin problems, wrinkles, or scars. You can see fabric threads in clothing and detail I've never seen as clear in my other DVD models. Again, this will likely depend on your TV LCD unit on just what you will get as you found out but the Panasonic is an excellent value for many if it goes well with their unit. I recommend it to anyone looking for an excellent picture quality HDMI DVD player.

Side note: It's alway a good idea to open/close the player's door with your remote button or button on unit. Using your hand to open/close until is never recommended due to problems it could cause.

Thanks for your input........ enjoy! :)

Yes, I think the Oppo's red display is nice too. LiteOn uses a combo of Orange/Red that is nice too.

All the tweaking in the world could not help this player. It looks terrible on my Samsung LCD. Have you tried the Oppo 981HD or the Toshiba XA2? If you did, you would return this player right away. Do not settle for a crappy picture just because the unit is cheap.

You know you are comparing apples to oranges right?
& that is in performance only.
Haven't even mentioned price yet.

After using and enjoying the s53 for about three weeks, I decided to return it.

I wouldn't by any means agree with those who derided the unit, but my new LCD was just a little too unforgiving of the DVD background noise that the s53 seemed to amplify.

I probably would have kept the unit if the A2 hadn't price dropped to $399 with NINE free HD movies on 4/1.

Even better, when I purchased the A2 at CC they had to adjust the price of the player down to $270 so the 'free' movies could be priced normally and have the whole thing come out to be $399.

So I went back the next day and returned the unopened movies for ~$140 in cash (so the A2 only cost me $270).

Then I went to GameStop and bought a bunch of used HD-DVD movies for a song, but I'll end my story there since this is the SD board...

Bottom line: I probably would have kept the s53 if I couldn't have got the A2 for $270 (and yes, the A2 is a very nice upconvert player).

Wow, that's a great deal Frank@N! Now I'm thinking about copying you. What's a consumer to do - so many options, so many sales.

I hope I was fair in my 'review' and didn't deride the S53 - I posted the comparo, because I believe the S53 and 970 are in the same 'price class' ($99 vs $149 HDMI upconverters) and others will be curious about their differences.

Also, my TV just didn't like the Panny's at 1080p, but certainly it's not a 'bad player'.


After using and enjoying the s53 for about three weeks, I decided to return it.

I wouldn't by any means agree with those who derided the unit, but my new LCD was just a little too unforgiving of the DVD background noise that the s53 seemed to amplify.

I probably would have kept the unit if the A2 hadn't price dropped to $399 with NINE free HD movies on 4/1.

Even better, when I purchased the A2 at CC they had to adjust the price of the player down to $270 so the 'free' movies could be priced normally and have the whole thing come out to be $399.

So I went back the next day and retuned the unopened movies for ~$140 in cash (so the A2 only cost me $270).

Then I went to GameStop and bought a bunch of used HD-DVD movies for a song, but I'll end my story there since this is the SD board...

Bottom line: I probably would have kept the s53 if I couldn't have got the A2 for $270 (and yes, the A2 is a very nice upconvert player).

Wow - I can't believe what I'm reading Frank@N
I can't say I agree with your method of taking advantage of how to get the price down even more with the A2, just doesn't seem right to me, I wouldn't do that.

I'm still very pleased with the S53, the picture is excellent and it's performance has been solid. I wouldn't care what anyone says negative about it as long as it works great with my setup and it does! I'm keeping mine, I just bought another one for my second system so I can have the picture quality on that setup too. I had to wait for two weeks because Best Buy kept selling out of the S53 every time I went in to pick another one up when they got their new shipments in. This time I made my salesman HOLD it until I got there.

Can you skip the flags for things like the warning screens, etc?

poor picture quality. It's not sharp at all. It has EXCELLENT sound. It has a feature that makes the dialogue sound louder, which is excellent in action scenes where sound effects drown out people's voices. It doesn't play all formats either. I couldn't play any of my backed up movies or converted avi to dvd videos. I had to take it back to CC. I got a Toshiba SD-5000 instead. It definitely has a sharper picture and plays everything. You should only buy a DVD-s53 if you have a true 1080p TV and only want to play store bought movies.

I just got the S53 today and will be hooking it up to my Tosh 42LZ196. I'll give you guys a sitrep later. And audiocvk, when I read your posts, why do I feel like I'm talking to a Panasonic rep?

Weird. So I hooked it all up and indeed, the instruction manual leaves much to be desired. Lots of info just very poorly laid out. The navigation through the settings was a bit hairy but once you get through that, there isn't much difficulty.

For the hardware however, something strange is happening and I'm not sure how I 'fixed' it. I have a Tosh 42LZ196 with two HDMI inputs. I have my Bell receiver in #1 and a put the DVD player in #2.

When I finally figured out how to switch to 1080p I did so and I got a blank screen. I thought it might be a handshake issue, so I turned everything off then on again. Nothing. Then I noticed the picture come through barely accompanied with a lot of digistatic. Almost like there was a loose connection. But when I change it to anything else, 720p, 1080i, etc., the picture comes back just fine. I mucked around with the players internal settings for progressive/interlacing without any effect. My TV also didn't display 'Native' as does with my two other 1080 sources (Sat and 360).

I thought it might be the $15 HDMI cord I bought. So I switched it with Sat. Same problem. I put the DVD in HDMI input #1, same problem. Then I gave up. And all of a sudden, it goes to 1080p just fine, and my TV reads it as a 1080 source.

I put in Hellboy to check quality and randomly (it seems) the display cuts out as it the 1080 isn't holding, then comes back.

I'm giving up for now so I can watch the Canucks destroy Dallas, any suggestions would be much appreciated. I'm going to have to compare the quality of the DVD player to that of the 360 so I can get a good reference. After the game though.

Keep us updated on your progress. I'm curious if it's just a bad handshake software thing between the 2 brands.

I though most of the Toshiba displays were 1080i...

Anyway, there's a separate menu for interlaced or progressive and then there's the menu with all the various resolutions.

I guess I'd set the player to interlaced and try increasing the rez notch by notch on the other menu.

If that went well, I switch to progressive and try going up again.

Sorry to be vague, I don't have the player anymore.

I though most of the Toshiba displays were 1080i...

I know what you're getting at and yes the LZ196 is 1080p. I also explained that I had incremented the resolutions, to no avail, with and without the seperate p/i settings.

As for a second update, strangely, the picture quality is a lot better since I tried the first time. I watched 'Return of Zorro' and it was very good quality. Mind you, it was mastered in HD, so you don't see the filminess. This quality change could be because I was getting frustrated the first time and was seeing more red than anything. :mad:

More importantly, there does seem to be a handshake problem; I experienced both a video interruption for about 5 seconds (movies still continues but without sound or video) and a few more just sound cut-outs.

I swapped the DVD player into the other HDMI port and with a different cable to the same effect.

I'm going to keep it as long as I can before the return policy expires and fiddle around with it some more. More to come.

I bought the S53 about 1 month ago and it has worked very well. The only thing I can't figure out is why the player always lights up the "D.Mix" on the front display.

What does this mean...the instruction manual is useless in this regard. I've got the S53 hooked up through an Onkyo 674 receiver....but I'm still not sure that I'm getting true 5.1 audio in all of it's glorious wonder....?

Contrary to some other posts in this thread, I'm having no issues with 1080p upconvert. HDMI out to the Onkyo and then HDMI out of receiver to Pioneer 5070HD gives crisp and great picture.

Kindly advise.

Contrary to some other posts in this thread, I'm having no issues with 1080p upconvert. HDMI out to the Onkyo and then HDMI out of receiver to Pioneer 5070HD gives crisp and great picture.

I was having a HDCP handshake issue between the DVD player and my TV. Your player seems to be doing fine talking to your receiver. I'm not sure if it was just my TV or it happens to all LZ196s.

However, I couldn't resolve the issue and returned it for a Samsung HD-960 which works fine. Nothing was wrong with the quality of the Panny, just didn't work for me. Good luck to the rest of you.

I got this player (s53) a little over a week ago. At first the picture was crappy and blocky, but after I realized it was still set to "vivid" on the Panasonic Plasma. I corrected that and I gotta say, I really like the way my old dvd's look. Not sure if it makes any difference over 720p, but I have it set to upconvert to 1080p. No probs whatsoever.


I bought the S53 about 1 month ago and it has worked very well. The only thing I can't figure out is why the player always lights up the "D.Mix" on the front display.

What does this mean...the instruction manual is useless in this regard. I've got the S53 hooked up through an Onkyo 674 receiver....but I'm still not sure that I'm getting true 5.1 audio in all of it's glorious wonder....?

Contrary to some other posts in this thread, I'm having no issues with 1080p upconvert. HDMI out to the Onkyo and then HDMI out of receiver to Pioneer 5070HD gives crisp and great picture.

Kindly advise.



I have that on mine as well. Not real sure what it means. I'm thinking it stands for Down mixing? I think that it indicates that the dvd is a multichannel unit that can be downmixed to two channels.

I have an older Sony Amp and the sound seems like it's pretty good. I have the coax hooked up because to me it sounded better than the audio over HDMI.


Anyway, I'm not real familiar with any other players, but I'm absolutely satisfied with the S53.

Before buying this dvd player I need to know if it's possible to get the audio on the Hdmi and Coax outputs at the same time. My previous dvd player did allow this (hdmi cable connected to the TV, coax cable connected to the A/V receiver). Thanks in advance for your answer.

Yes, it does.

Yes, it does.
The user manual I downloaded today seems strange. Page 8 / Step 1 indicates that audio should be set to off (hdmi menu) when the coaxial cable is connected. Should I understand that it is mandatory or a logical preference ?

The user manual I downloaded today seems strange. Page 8 / Step 1 indicates that audio should be set to off (hdmi menu) when the coaxial cable is connected. Should I understand that it is mandatory or a logical preference ?I'm just telling you what I experience with my S53...audio over both HDMI to TV and digital coax to AVR simultaneoulsy, which is the same scenario that you asked about.

I'm just telling you what I experience with my S53...audio over both HDMI to TV and digital coax to AVR simultaneoulsy, which is the same scenario that you asked about.
Definitively clear. Thank you very much for your answer.

I decided to return the Panny to Best Buy. I ordered an Oppo 970 instead (part of me wonders if I should have gotten the 981HD though).

Here are my reasons, in order of 'importance':

* I get a very 'washed out' overbright look on my Mitsu with this player in 1080p mode. The brightness goes away at all other resolutions. I get quite a bit more than I get with my PS3 at 1080p. There are no manual brightness adjustments in the player to compensate for this (yes, i calibrated, with Avia, and it still was 'washed out' with a lack of color depth - problem went away at 720p, 1080i, etc).

* I seemed to get more noise around moving, small objects with this player set to 1080p than when it is set to 720p (easy to see on "Happy Feet" DVD). 720p looks best on this player for me.

* I get terrible flicker in many DVD Menus (Happy Feet does it, among others) with this player, and also on most FBI and other warning screens, etc. They all go away when I put it into auto2, but the player goes back to auto1 every DVD. This doesn't happen on any of the other progressive players I have. The problem doesn't seem to occur during the actual feature, but it's still annoying as menus are important and the warning/info screens are the first things you see. And if there are weird cadences or whatnot in the feature, it would probably flicker.

The player would have been fine if I had wanted to keep it for 720p upconversion. It does a very good job with that. But I figured, why settle for the Panny at 720p when I can get the highly reviewed Oppo for $149 (with an HDMI cable)... It arrives tomorrow, hopefully I'm not disappointed.

Thanks for all your help on this thread though!
So how did that turn out? I am in just the reverse situation. I have an OPPO 970 and am considering the Panasonic DVD player. The reason is that the panny programeable remote does not have the codes for an OPPO but does do Ezsync with my new Panny 50PX77U and this DVD player. I'd consider swapping. But the reviews on this player sound a bit negative here. I only need it to output at 720p.

I still want to use a Panny dvd player to take advantage of the EZSync but now that the Panny BlueRay player is out and it looks like BR will be the standard I will get that in a month or so and ebay my OPPO

Yes, it does.

I bought this and hooked it up to a Panasonic viera. Right of the box it looks stunning, Maybe it is because it is a Panasonic to a Panasonic, I did some tweaking and the picture is flawlesss. I have the HDMI and coaxial hooked up. Bought it at BB with a 12% off coupon. I feel like I got a bargain. THis unit works impressively with my system.

There must be something wrong with me. I just got this player and for the life of me I can't find where to change the resolution output!!!!

I NEED TO SEE TO DECIDE if I want to keep it or not.

Also, once you set it to 1080p, does it stay there for every disc or do I have to set the player every time? That was the main reason I traded the Samsung, it would reset ever time I turned it on.

SO, PLEASE HELP!! lol I can't find the setup menu for resolution!!!

HELP!!!

There must be something wrong with me. I just got this player and for the life of me I can't find where to change the resolution output!!!!

I NEED TO SEE TO DECIDE if I want to keep it or not.

Also, once you set it to 1080p, does it stay there for every disc or do I have to set the player every time? That was the main reason I traded the Samsung, it would reset ever time I turned it on.

SO, PLEASE HELP!! lol I can't find the setup menu for resolution!!!

HELP!!!No need to blow a gasket! Did you read the manual? Its described on pages 18 & 20.

Two new enhanced firmware releases (S21B325A and S21D325A for the DVD-S33 / S23B337A and S23D318A for the DVD-S53) have been made available.

For more information about the new releases check

http://www.xperience.podzone.net

Have fun

Tom

No need to blow a gasket! Did you read the manual? Its described on pages 18 & 20.

Thanks. It's not explained very clearly, but I did figure it out. Nice player, hands down 100% better than that Samsung pile of garbage.

I bought the S53 about 1 month ago and it has worked very well. The only thing I can't figure out is why the player always lights up the "D.Mix" on the front display.

What does this mean...the instruction manual is useless in this regard. I've got the S53 hooked up through an Onkyo 674 receiver....but I'm still not sure that I'm getting true 5.1 audio in all of it's glorious wonder....?

Contrary to some other posts in this thread, I'm having no issues with 1080p upconvert. HDMI out to the Onkyo and then HDMI out of receiver to Pioneer 5070HD gives crisp and great picture.

Kindly advise.D. Mix is not always shown on my S53. It seems to depend on what audio the disc provides. If its DD or DTS 5.1 then D.Mix shows.

Here is what the S53 manual's glossary says about Down-mixing (D.Mix)....
This is a process of remixing the multi-channel audio (surround sound) on some discs into two channels. When you want to listen to the audio on a DVD with a 5.1 channel digital surround track through your television speakers, the down-mixed audio will be output.

TVs that accept digital audio via HDMI cannot handle 5.1, only 2.0, so the DVD player is smart enough to know to downmix to 2.0 for the TV when using HDMI (unlike the HR10-250 DirecTV HD-Tivo receiver that won't).
However, if you are feeding HDMI to an HDMI-capable AV receiver then you'll get full DD or DTS 5.1. I've confirmed this on my Panny XR700.

I dug a bit deeper by looking in the S52, S77 and S97 manuals and came across the following statement (emphasis mine)...
"D.MIX” on the display indicates that a soundtrack with three or more
channels can be down-mixed to two channels.
This statement is missing from the S53 manual. So, it looks like D.Mix indicates a possibility rather than an action amd cannot be disabled.

Has anyone tried the S53 or the Oppo 971H with the new Optoma HD 80 projector ?


Just to answer my own question, Yes , the S-53 shows fine with the HD 80 .
Older SDs were great to see , Jaws ,Waterword, Blade runner,Jurrasic Park, even Crossfire Trail showed good detail actually better than my Toshiba 37" LCD.
That is because of the HD 80 , awsome machine !
The Oppo played just as well.

I just bought a brand-new Panasonic DVD-S53 to accompany my also-new Panasonic TH-42PX77U. In terms of functionality, this pairing has been a disappointment.

The HDMI control (EZ-Sync) offers no remote control of the DVD from the TV. If the DVD is powered up, the TV switches inputs to follow it. That's the extent of the linking. Panasonic confirms this.

Meanwhile, I can't get my TH-42PX77U remote to control the S53 the 'old fashioned' way, by inputting a numeric code in programming mode. None of the twelve codes Panasonic provides in the TH-42PX77U manual will control the S53. The DVD-S53's manual doesn't list a code number to use. So I have no control from the TV's remote.

Has anyone determined what the 'code' is to control the S53 with a PX77?

I'm very frustrated.

The answer to my question is 0490.

...I still want to use a Panny dvd player to take advantage of the EZSync

As noted above, EZsync doesn't offer much, at least for Panasonic DVD players connected to their plasma displays.

I just acquired this DVD player and plan to use with my Panasonic plasma 50PX75U. This set's native resolution is 768p but is compatible with 1080i and 1080p sources. So, what resolution should I set the DVD player to in order to optimize the picture?

On a related note... did I err in not buying an HD-DVD player (1080p)? Since the TV set's native resolution is not 1080p, would I actually be able to take advantage of all an HD-DVD has to offer?

Thanks,

The Panasonic DVD-S53 has excellent picture quality, very sharp and clear. It has HD settings to even make more sharp if you prefer. It's quiet, very cool running, never gets DVD disc warm or hot like some players and the unit doesn't even gets warm. It's HDMI on-the-fly settins are 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p. It's looks are like most typical of todays cheap-out product and again gives no forward or reverse buttons on unit, very much the trend of today's DVD players sadly! Shame Panasonic is playing into the trend for higher profits. Overall the Panasonic DVD-S53 is a solid performer with excellent picture quality that will please most. It's DIVX playback is very basic and would have been nicer if Panasonic would have given greater divx capabilities. The DVD-S53 is very stable and doesn't have any problems with skips or freezing like some other HDMI DVD Players.

Not sure what "blackssr" problems were with this player but it's picture quality is definitely not crap! Going from 480i, 480p, 720P, 1080i, and 1080p with each step up the picture quality gets better. It gets so sharp and clear to the skin that you can see actors bumps and wrinkles on their face to seeing the thread detail on fabrics.

Great summary, audiocvk. My picture looks very nice for upconverted SD. Even when paused, the picture is clear and crisp (I also found my best results were the 1080p setting). On the other hand, the Pioneer DV-400V-K I returned a week ago showed some "jaggies" in high-contrast images.

The only thing I don't really like about the S53 is having the disk status showing during Pause; I prefer that it not show. (Please see picture below.)

However, the fact that picture adjustments appear the moment they're made is a big plus over the Pioneer (the Pio requires that you exit the menu for changes to take effect, and then repeat the process if you don't like the change).

I paid less than $90 and so, until the "HD format war" is settled, the DVD-S53 works very well for my SD DVDs.

I exchanged a Sony DVPNS77H/B for a Panasonic S53 yesterday after I discovered the Sony didn't support DivX/XviD. I'd bought the Sony after my new KDL-40V3000 arrived last week to see the wonders of upscaled DVDs. I liked everything about the Sony player except the limit on formats (What's up with that, Sony?). I have an LG that plays files in these formats, but it doesn't upscale.

I tried out the Panny with a couple of anime fansub XviD discs; the shows were in the 704x400 format and looked beautiful when upscaled to 1080p. A little fiddling with the settings on the player and on the TV resulted in full-screen pictures with the subtitles visible.

My only complaint about the Panasonic is that it doesn't display the full filenames on the disc like my LG does. (In fact all the menus are incredibly ugly as well, but that's less of an issue.) Truncated filenames are really unhelpful when you have a disc with 20+ episodes of a series, and you can't see the episode numbers. Any ideas why the filelists are so truncated? I assume the player uses UTF-8 for texts, and I write my disks on Linux with the UTF-8 charset as well. I looked through the manual to see if I could change how the filenames are displayed, but to no avail.

Also, has anyone tried playing .asf or .wmv files with this machine? Does it support higher resolutions in these containers. The manual states that a 720x576 limit is imposed on DivX, but it doesn't list any size limits for MPEG4 files. I'd love to put some of my 720p files into a container the Panny will play and watch them at full resolution.

And please, manufacturers, think about adding Matroska support in the near future. Not all of us want to remain in the thrall of Microsoft (or Apple, for that matter) forever.

I have a Question i bought the Panasonic DVD-S53 some time now but always had a standard tv thus never needing to up convert or what not. I recently bought a 40inch LCD Sony 1080p TV set. I used component cables thinking it would at least do 720p or 1080i it kept saying 480p. So i thought maybe going and using the HDMI connection would be the only way to up convert but it still says 480p. Now im curious to how to up convert it to 720p, 1080i, 1080p? I tried messing around the setting even the hdmi setting but no where states anything about resolution or what not. Could someone inform me if im doing something wrong or what i need to do to up convert it and does it really make that much of a difference up converting from 480p? Thanx in advance

I have a Question i bought the Panasonic DVD-S53 some time now but always had a standard tv thus never needing to up convert or what not. I recently bought a 40inch LCD Sony 1080p TV set. I used component cables thinking it would at least do 720p or 1080i it kept saying 480p. So i thought maybe going and using the HDMI connection would be the only way to up convert but it still says 480p. Now im curious to how to up convert it to 720p, 1080i, 1080p? I tried messing around the setting even the hdmi setting but no where states anything about resolution or what not. Could someone inform me if im doing something wrong or what i need to do to up convert it and does it really make that much of a difference up converting from 480p? Thanx in advance

If I understand your question, I think you need to go to the "Function" button on the remote. Press it 3 or 4 times (can't remember now) and you'll get to the HDMI menu. In the middle of the upper screen, you'll see the ability to change to the different resolutions. If I get a chance to take a closer look at home, I'll try to post more exact directions.

js

Thank you it worked its weird how they wouldnt have that option in the setup section of the HDMI hmmm anyway but curious i really dont see that much of a quality change honeslty which is what i was really expecting because i cant see how the quality can be that much different from dvd to 1080p.

no price talk here, but fry's/outpost (http://slickdeals.net/?sduid=108451&t=664459&u2=http://shop2.outpost.com/product/5184226) has one HECK of a deal on this player for black friday. it currently says "call for availability" so they all may have been snatched up...but it's worth a look

a hair ot; the s97 is still commanding a premium price, at least at cc, jr, maybe more.

I hope I got a good deal ;) . It was on sale at my local BB for $75.00 out the door.

I have no got to mess w/ HDMI or Component, so no upconvert to my 32"LCD yet but I did mess w/ it in S-Video it looked very nice.

What exactly do I need to do in order to get the sound from my a/v receiver? I've tried everything in the manual and still I get no sound. Any ideas? I have my coaxial from my DVD player to my receiver and I've selcted the audio option in the HDMI menu off.

What exactly do I need to do in order to get the sound from my a/v receiver? I've tried everything in the manual and still I get no sound. Any ideas? I have my coaxial from my DVD player to my receiver and I've selcted the audio option in the HDMI menu off.

Are you sure the coaxial-in on your receiver is switched on/selected? I had to go into my Denon receiver's onscreen menu to turn on the coaxial-in before I could get any sound ...

anything special i need to do when burning a divx disc? player can't read the cd, but computers can. content is a downloaded .avi file that's supposedly divx. i burned it onto a cd on a mac. cd works on the mac and a pc. any ideas?

If I understand your question, I think you need to go to the "Function" button on the remote. Press it 3 or 4 times (can't remember now) and you'll get to the HDMI menu. In the middle of the upper screen, you'll see the ability to change to the different resolutions. If I get a chance to take a closer look at home, I'll try to post more exact directions.

js

I just got this thing last night and am having the same problem. I have the unit hooked up through HDMI but it will not let me select any thing other than 480p and RGB on the HDMI screen (funtion 4x). I have a 32 inch 720p Olevia TV. I've tried messing around with it every which way but I get nothing. I had a toshiba I sold to my friend that all you had to do what push an 'HDMI' button to cycle throught the resolutions.

Anyone have any thoughts?

When you select the 480p to change it, it just blinks. the same for the RGB. Cable is HDMI to DVI - shouldn't be a factor. And what's with not being able to switch between aspect ratio's on the fly. It sucks to have to stop the DVD, enter setup mode, then select the friggin thing, then resume playing.

I guess using a pc w/ power DVD on my 32inch display for the past 2 years has made me spoiled cause this unit can't compare.

Still, not being able to select 720p is really starting to piss me off

Fwiw, I have no problem changing resolution, aspect ratio, etc. on the fly on my S53. Its connected via HDMI to a Sony SXRD (55A2020).

anything special i need to do when burning a divx disc? player can't read the cd, but computers can. content is a downloaded .avi file that's supposedly divx. i burned it onto a cd on a mac. cd works on the mac and a pc. any ideas?

It might be a resolution issue. The Panny has a maximum DivX size of something like 720x576 (I don't have a manual at hand, but it's mentioned on the page about DivX playback). If you're trying to play an AVI in something like 1280x720, it won't work. You'd need to re-encode the video to a smaller frame size. (704x400 is a good choice for 16:9 files.) There are many free tools for doing this. I recommend visiting the site called Doom9 for a start.

I'm a Linux user and rely entirely on the free "mencoder" program that comes from the folks who make mplayer (http://www.mplayerhq.hu). With a full suite of codecs you can perform almost any transformation you might need on a video. It's a command-line program, though, with literally hundreds of switches so it's not for the faint of heart. You might look for AllToAVI if you're a Windows user.

Sorry for joining the party so late on this player, I purchased it in december but only recently connected it

I have read the entire thread and more or less have a good idea of what settings I need to choose to get the most out of it with my Panasonic 58" Plasma

However, only a few ones remain which I am not sure about

1) Picture Mode? Normal, Cinema 1, Cinema 2
2) HDMI Video Priority? On or off

thanks
J

well I've been trying to view what setting my player was in and thanks to this thread I was able to change it to 1080p :)

through the "set up" button you can only choose from progressive and interlace and I was confused.... but after reading this thread you simply push the "function button" 4 times to change it from 420 - 1080p ..

piece of cake but it should have been an option in the set up menu..
I'm only writing this again so others won't miss it....

I think most people who bash this player probably assume(like I did at first) that since it's hooked up via HDMI they think it must automatically upconvert to your TV's potential ???
thats what I was thinking after messing around for an hour in the set up menu...I didn't even know what the function key was for.....It's definitely better now and I can see a difference from 420p.
I'm not saying this player is the best or anything but it is a bit confusing setting it up correctly..

anything special i need to do when burning a divx disc? player can't read the cd, but computers can. content is a downloaded .avi file that's supposedly divx. i burned it onto a cd on a mac. cd works on the mac and a pc. any ideas?

I know this may be too late of a response, but many divx players won't recognize the file format to be avi, but rather divx. So make sure the file extension is .divx and not .avi. Even if the file was compressed using divx algorithms, it won't work unless the file extension is .divx .

I doubt that's an issue for this player. I just tested it again with a few XviD encodes in the AVI container. The player has no problems with this format. Since XviD is just DivX without the proprietary bits, I would imagine a DivX in AVI file should play as well.