true; oppo may not be known to the average customer who can't see or care about differences in PQ or SQ or advanced features; HOWEVER, oppo is recognized AND well respected by professionals and experts AND people with considerable know-how about DVD/HT etc. standing on a busy street probably won't give a chance to meet many of THOSE people.

take a look @ the back panels of a pioneer and a Oppo; you'll see how much more professional the oppo feels/looks.

You seem to think I am knocking the Oppo. I really am not. I also think quality brands like Runco, B & W, Arcam, and JM Labs would have the same reaction given the 50 people sample.
I also agree that the Oppo is better audio wise than the Pio and has more to offer in the way of connectivity, but by the same token, this doesn't mean the pio sucks either. It really has one of the best pictures I have seen on my display (Panny Plasma), and the sound I think was a bit better on the Sony, but I have no issues really with what I am getting from the Pio really.

Who would pay that much for a DV-400 when the new Oppo 980HD is thirty bucks more ($169)?

Millions of consumers?

Brands like Pioneer, Philips, Samsung etc. can be picked up in many, many stores worldwide. Oppo is not one of those brands: it's hard to get in stores (at least in Europe). Not everyone buys their A/V equipment online (*cough* understatement *cough*).

I just bought the DV-400 and I was considering the Oppo as a player to get, but since the Oppo is 1/3 more the cost, the DV-400 was an easy choice for me. It also has a very nice picture and is has nice picture quality controls.
My wife hates all the stuff, but I called her in to see the picture quality of the Pio and she said "this blows away the Sony player you were using (NS75)"
I also agree the Oppo isn't a readily recognized brand. Go stand on a busy street and ask 50 people if they own or have heard of Oppo.
Like the other guy said, it doesn't mean they are not good, but I can see someone being more comfortable buying from Pio.
BTW, I picked this up last Sunday at BB for $99 after they price matched the pio price on the web.
It's been a rough weekend though. The first Pio had to be returned because of no video out of the HDMI, and then I discovered a 20 ft HDMI cable went bad so I have to replace that as well. If I add in my Sony DVD player dying on me last week, it has been a really bad week for me and HT gear.
Since you mentioned you like the DV-400 HDMI output better the ns75H you had, what resolution have you selected? (720P/1080i/1080P)

Thats a bad week, three incidents!

Millions of consumers?

Brands like Pioneer, Philips, Samsung etc. can be picked up in many, many stores worldwide. Oppo is not one of those brands: it's hard to get in stores (at least in Europe). Not everyone buys their A/V equipment online (*cough* understatement *cough*).Why spend $139 for region free version of the DV-400 when you can get a Phillips 5982 for $79 (almost half price) easily to do the same task? If not discussing the region free aspect and you just wanted a good player the Sony NS77H lists at only $100, but already seen it at $85. How this compare against Pioneer DV-400 pricing around $120? I'm not bashing Pioneer but showing they do have competition! :cool:

firdt of all the dv-400 is not 139$, it is more like 120$We were discussing a modified version of the DV-400 see this LINK (http://www.regioncodefreedvd.com/pioneer400.html)

The specs of Oppo DV980H are superior to Pioneer DV-400. Audio on Oppo is 192khz/24bit DA converter whereas it is 96khz/24bit on Pionner FV-400. Also Oppo DV-980H supports multi-channel sound over HDMI whereas Pioneer DV-400 supports only 2 channel PCM

I think it would be more fair to compare the Oppo DV-980H to Pioneer DV-600AV which have similar features and both have a Mediatek chip inside for video processing. The Oppo@US$ 169 is a steal compared to Pioneer FV-600AV which ranges from US$ 240 - 249 for the same features.

I would love to hear comments from someone who has compared both players

Since you mentioned you like the DV-400 HDMI output better the ns75H you had, what resolution have you selected? (720P/1080i/1080P)

Thats a bad week, three incidents!

I tried them all except 1080p which I can't do on my display (7UY). I settled on 1080i as the resolution, but I actually didn't see a big difference from 720P. I normally look at text to see how the edges appear at first glance. I really like the color control on the Pio vs. the Sony.

Why spend $139 for region free version of the DV-400 when you can get a Phillips 5982 for $79 (almost half price) easily to do the same task? If not discussing the region free aspect and you just wanted a good player the Sony NS77H lists at only $100, but already seen it at $85. How this compare against Pioneer DV-400 pricing around $120? I'm not bashing Pioneer but showing they do have competition! :cool:
Yeah, but the player can be easily bought for $99. Where are you getting these prices from?

We were discussing a modified version of the DV-400 see this LINK (http://www.regioncodefreedvd.com/pioneer400.html)
OK, I see what you mean, but region free is not impotant to me. You're paying these people $40 to hack the player for you. I actually have the Phillips player that I bought from Target in my bedroom. The Pio has better PQ IMO.

The specs of Oppo DV980H are superior to Pioneer DV-400. Audio on Oppo is 192khz/24bit DA converter whereas it is 96khz/24bit on Pionner FV-400. Also Oppo DV-980H supports multi-channel sound over HDMI whereas Pioneer DV-400 supports only 2 channel PCM
This is not true. If you set it to "Auto" it will play DD and DTS as they were encoded. The LPCM setting is for people who don't have surround systems.

I think it would be more fair to compare the Oppo DV-980H to Pioneer DV-600AV which have similar features and both have a Mediatek chip inside for video processing. The Oppo@US$ 169 is a steal compared to Pioneer FV-600AV which ranges from US$ 240 - 249 for the same features.

I would love to hear comments from someone who has compared both players
Sorry, I can't help you there, but I really can't imagine the PQ being so much better on the oppo.

I tried them all except 1080p which I can't do on my display (7UY). I settled on 1080i as the resolution, but I actually didn't see a big difference from 720P. I normally look at text to see how the edges appear at first glance. I really like the color control on the Pio vs. the Sony.Thanks. I found that with the recent batch of low end MTK based players that examining 1080P output shows how good a product is being shipped by a particular vendor. 1080i output should be perfect from a player that also output 1080P, with smooth, no graininess picture like you observed. 720P should also be perfect, but not quite as sharp as 1080i on your pioneer DV-400. If the DV-400 was like the Sony NS77H, you would encounter a slight bit of graininess at 1080P .

Yeah, but the player can be easily bought for $99. Where are you getting these prices from?From various sales flyers from my area, and major online sources. Speaking of getting BB to give it to you for $99, that was a nice deal as they still have it only discounted to $108 online (List $120). ;)

It was $99 at my local BB when I picked up mine.

I notice that the HDMI light at the front of the player blinks instead of still but it plays HDMI.
Any idea why it is so??

Hi !
I've bought DV400 DVD player.. but i'm looking for how to unlock it to be REGION FREE ?
Who knows ?

Hi !
I've bought DV400 DVD player.. but i'm looking for how to unlock it to be REGION FREE ?
Who knows ?
Don't think there is any way to do it. That is the main reason I went with the Philips 5982 instead.

seems the method below works for dv300,dv400 and dv600 of european model.
I wonder if this works for the player sold in US and Japan ...

i can not put url by restriction..
please search pioneerfaq

I have a 5 year old Sony DVD player which autoswitches the widescreen output to proper ratio using Component connection to my HDTV. I'm now using Component output on my Pioneer 400 unit as well and it doesn't seem to automatically switch the modes on my HDTV like the older Sony. Is this an HDMI only feature or is there a problem with my player? Or won't it switch because it isn't supported?

Anyone know?

Firmware upgrade?

have any of you guys played with the video settings on the DVD unit itself?

What settings/levels do you currently have set?

I have many things changed between this and my LCD TV colour settings and have tried to obtain a balance of colour/brightness/contrast/etc

I'd be interested in finding out in what you guys have.

seems the method below works for dv300,dv400 and dv600 of european model.
I wonder if this works for the player sold in US and Japan ...

i can not put url by restriction..
please search pioneerfaq

I bought DV-400V in Japan and tried the method on Pioneerfaq website. I used the Logitech Harmony mothod but didn't quite work. I sent the ccf file for Pronto to Logitech and they converted and added in my profile as "Palm." When I turned on Dv-400V and pushed "palm" on harmony, the dvd player turned off. But when I use region 1 DVD, the player still rejucts it, saying that The dvd is different from player's setting, and edjects the disc.
Does anybody know if I'm doing something wrong? or if the method simply don't work on Japanese players?

I bought DV-400V in Japan ......

How much was it in Japan?

How much was it in Japan?

Usually selling it for 14800 yen (about $120) but I got it for 12000 yen ($100).

Had a few questions regarding the Pioneer 400 and my Sansui HDTV. Both are HDMI compliant and supposedly feature 480i, 480p, 720i, 720p, 1080i and 1080p resolutions, but I noticed my Sansui has a pixel resolution of 1368 x 768. I was wondering about compatibility with the 720, 1280, and 1920 pixel resolutions of the Pioneer. Should they work? Anybody know?

Your panel will scale down from 1080 or up from 720 and 480 resolutions in order to display the image. That is the norm. You wont have any problems.

is it just me or does not very many places sell this model? i bought mine at BB, but couldnt find it anywhere else (B&M)

I have a 1080i tv and when i play a dvd on the 1080i resolution there is a b/w static line at the very right edge of the screen. Any idea what's causing this and how i can get rid of it? It doesn't happen when i choose 720p.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I am looking at getting a good PAL>NTSC DVD player, and i'm researching how they differ at doing the PAL>NTSC DVD conversion, and if the difference in picture quality is worth the difference in price.
I'm currently considering the Philips DVP 5982, and 2 Oppo's - the 980HD andthe 981HD.
Can the Philips do PAL>NTSC conversion (out-the-box)? If so how good is it when compared to the above mentioned machines?
PAL>NTSC conversion and playback of English PAL DVDs is very important to me, and having HDMI for future TV also is important.
Thanks for any help.

Just wondering whether anyone here can assist me:

My Hitachi plasma is DVI. My 400 is connected to my Hitachi Plasma via a HDMI-DVI adapter ( HDMI end of the adapter into the 400).
1) I can only upscale to 720p.
2) Can't play Pal through HDMI but ok via Component. When i play PAL via HDMI the
picture moves to one side OR the picture is centred but static( signal) lines at boyh
sides.
Anyone knows what the problem is and how to solve it?

Can the 400 upscale on component? If so how? My Sammy 748 which I
bought 2 years ago can upscale to 768 and 1080i on component only.

Thanks.

is it just me or does not very many places sell this model? i bought mine at BB, but couldnt find it anywhere else (B&M)

if your lucky enough u might find it a your local walmart i did for 88 bucks plus tax

I found some instructions on pioneerfaq on how to set it as multi-region.
Can I use the built-in IR from a regular laptop?

Thx

are the default settings on this very good? what changes have people made?

Does this player support AVIs with VBR audio and packed bitstream?
I am considering purchasing it but if it can't handle those types of files, it'll be a no go.
I don't have the time to go through my entire collection to re encode.

I found some instructions on pioneerfaq on how to set it as multi-region.
Can I use the built-in IR from a regular laptop?

Thx

did it work on US player? please explain?

.

I tried, and it didn't work

Does anyone know what type/version of USB this model has? I could not find this info in specs.
Also, can you let me know if this player does upscaling to 720p/1080i/p via Component Video? Or only 480p allowable?

Thanks so much in advance!

Does this player support AVIs with VBR audio and packed bitstream?
I am considering purchasing it but if it can't handle those types of files, it'll be a no go.
I don't have the time to go through my entire collection to re encode.

Anyone?

Does anyone know what type/version of USB this model has? I could not find this info in specs.
Also, can you let me know if this player does upscaling to 720p/1080i/p via Component Video? Or only 480p allowable?

Thanks so much in advance!

im pretty sure that it only upscales to 720p/1080i/1080p via hdmi and 480p via component and 480i via s-video or composite though i have not tried component only hdmi u could still try it out and see what happens.

What about USB? 1.1 or 2.0 ?

Thanks!

What about USB? 1.1 or 2.0 ?

Thanks!

im not sure about that i dont think it says it in the manual or the front but either way it has worked great for me when using usb flash drives and my digital camera. i think usb2.0??

... it has worked great for me when using usb flash drives ...

Thank you fresh.
Can you playback DivX video files from flash drive? I was wondering if this player is capable to play DivX files up to 1,400 GB via its USB port. Does your flash drive FAT32-formatted or NTFS (My apology if you do not know what I'm asking about. I do not want to confuse you).

quick question on the DV-400v-k model. Would this be a good DVD player for my Sharp XR10XL projector? Im a complete newb concerning PJs and what will match up with what.

Im not sure what other info you would need from me but any help on this would be appreciated..thanks!

The PJ doesnt have a HDMI hookup so I would be going from HDMI to SVGA cable?

Thank you fresh.
Can you playback DivX video files from flash drive? I was wondering if this player is capable to play DivX files up to 1,400 GB via its USB port. Does your flash drive FAT32-formatted or NTFS (My apology if you do not know what I'm asking about. I do not want to confuse you).

it have played some divX files from my flash drive but not like 1400 gb as for my flashdrive i just got a 2gb sandisks cruzer and its in and i dont remember the drive format but i think its ntfs

I've got this player yesterday for test-drive. Had only chance to test USB and a couple DivX video files. Its USB does not work with NTFS formatted drives. Still not sure what version of USB is in there.
Image and sound quality are both fine but I cannot say that I noticed anything better over step-down DVD players. What I like in this player is that it can output 480i signal via HDMI. My Panasonic plasma HDTV does nicely image up-scaling itself so I do not need up-conversion feature on DVD player but good to have HDMI as I can output video and audio via one single cable. My current JVC TH-C50 HTIB outputs signals via HDMI starting with 480p (no option for 480i). I like HDMI colors enhancement options and wide range of video picture quality adjustments on DV-400. GUI and navigation much better and more user-friendly than in Philips players, but list of AVI (DivX / Xvid) file names appeared with limited characters the same like on majority of other DivX-featured DVD players. Still confused about TV type option "16:9 compressed" - can anyone explain what that "compressed" means? As I thought so its Component Video does not output unconverted to 720p/1080i/p signal. Only 480i and 480p (unless I overlooked or missed something).

Yeah the 400 will only use Fat 32 or 16 format on USB flash drive have played 1 gb files with no problem from USB. Files play fine from DVD as well. Nice having several movies/TV shows on 1 disk - great for collections.

Does anyone know how the PQ of this player compares to the Philips 5982 using both (upscaled) DVDs and USB based DivX/Xvid ?

Does anyone know how the PQ of this player compares to the Philips 5982 using both (upscaled) DVDs and USB based DivX/Xvid ?

I did not have a chance to compare PQ between Pioneer DV-400 and Philps 5982, but I compared DV-400 with JVC TH-C50 DivX Ultra HTIB and Philps 5960. Based on my own vision perception I can say that I did not notice much differences in PQ. Pioneer and JVC have more colorful picture via HDMI while Philips 5960 looked a bit "washed-out" or, let say, less-saturated to me. Picture via component video looked equally fine for all of them.

I swapped out the Philips 5892 for the DV-400V because the philips wouldn't work behind a hdmi switch. Anyway, this player doesn't look much better, it does seem to work with my switch, but I can't use it to upconvert. When I select 720p 0r 1080i, the screen goes black and I get nothing. I have an older Sammy DLP w/ dvi only. Native is 720p. Anyone else see this problem? At least the Philips player was able to upscale correctly when connected directly to the tv.

Any help would be appreciated.

Finally bought me the DV-400V which is the model they sell in this part of the world, for about $180 (yes I know I know...). The only difference is mine comes with a digital optical output. Waiting for my HDMI cable to arrive but I must say even when playing SD DVDs on a composite video cable it looks damn good on my Sammy 40" R81.

The Pio replaced a Philips DVP320/69 but even on the Philips SD DVDs looked good too. TBH I can't tell the difference on both Pio and Philips when using composite output.

Quite happy with the Pio esp its USB DivX playability. Heck, even a 700MB+ DivX movie looks fab on composite. Am expecting a noticeable improvement once I get my HDMI cable...

OOT, does this mean the Sammy does a good job upscaling for my non-AV eyes?

Does this player support AVIs with VBR audio and packed bitstream?
I am considering purchasing it but if it can't handle those types of files, it'll be a no go.
I don't have the time to go through my entire collection to re encode.

No one - not even Pioneer evidently -could answer my question.
I went ahead and purchased it locally so it would be easier to return if it didn't suit my needs even though the price was a little bit more than ordering on line.

Pros so far:

Yes! It can play AVIs w/packed bitstream and VBR audio right out of the box :D
AND not only that but XviDs that always caused the Philips 642 to display trippy colors was no problem for the Pioneer. AND it can handle the DVDR+DLs (ISO>ISO, Verbatim) pretty smoothly, even ones that the 642 use to stutter on or wouldn't play at all. :cool:

I hooked up a USB thumb drive just to give that a quick test (must choose USB mode on the remote) and played an MP3 - that worked fine. :)
I haven't tested the USB part for anything else yet but there is a thread starting here where others are:
http://forum.videohelp.com/topic336451.html

Has an actual Open/Close button on the remote as opposed to the secret "press and hold stop" trick on the Philips remote.

Cons so far:

Because of the design of the remote, I sometimes find myself aiming it the wrong way :o

Pause, Stop, FF ect are not clearly marked on the remote.
However, other buttons such as Menu, Audio, Subtitle, Angle, USB ect are clearly marked.

Can't display long file names. The 642 couldn't fully display long file names either but this player seems even more limited in this area.

After inserting a DVD+R containing AVIs, the menu button has to be pressed in order to choose a file and play. At this time I haven't been able to play with it enough to find out if you can configure it to just start playing automatically like the 642 could.

Only comes with regular red, white and yellow cords (the 642 also supplied an orange digital audio cable) but that was no problem for me since this is in a bedroom hooked up to an old 4:3 TV and a cheap Walmart special surround sound system anyway and I used the orange cord from the 642 for the audio.

A personal con for me is that I prefer silver but I could only find it available in black.

...Cons so far:

Because of the design of the remote, I sometimes find myself aiming it the wrong way ....

I do not have any experience with Philps 642 so I cannot say anything about its remote control. But remote control for 5960 and 5982 models is horrible and much worse than Pioneer’s remote control. I do not want to say that I’m very happy with Pio’s one but at least user can see where is “rewind” and “forward” buttons. On the Philips’ remote non-thechi people like my parents could not easily figure out how to rewind and/or forward video without reading manual. I can only say that Pioneer’s remote is looking cheap but at least user-friendly. Philips’ remote is horribly designed and user-unfriendly.

I do not have any experience with Philps 642 so I cannot say anything about its remote control. But remote control for 5960 and 5982 models is horrible and much worse than Pioneer’s remote control. I do not want to say that I’m very happy with Pio’s one but at least user can see where is “rewind” and “forward” buttons. On the Philips’ remote non-thechi people like my parents could not easily figure out how to rewind and/or forward video without reading manual. I can only say that Pioneer’s remote is looking cheap but at least user-friendly. Philips’ remote is horribly designed and user-unfriendly.

i actually think that the pioneer's remote is very well designed not to big and wide and awkward looking. the buttons are well laid out and easy to understand. imo

I really don't think it's a big deal and I'm sure I'll get use to it. :)
(after all, I got use to the Philips remote ;) )
So far, this player is doing very nicely for my needs and I'm happy.

i actually think that the pioneer's remote is very well designed ..

I did not say that Pio's remote is bad, and on the contrary it much batter designed than Philips once. But my winner is JVC remotes based on their ergonomic design and user-friendliness criteria. But it is only matter of individual opinion of course. And sister is right - it is not a big deal. We are no longer live in era of high-quality "Made in Japan" A/V electronics. So cheap material-made, low-quality and badly design remote controls became normal things in nowadays consumer electronics.

Thank you fresh.
Can you playback DivX video files from flash drive? I was wondering if this player is capable to play DivX files up to 1,400 GB via its USB port. Does your flash drive FAT32-formatted or NTFS (My apology if you do not know what I'm asking about. I do not want to confuse you).

I've had mine for about 1 1/2 months and I use a WD MyBook 500GB that I have my divx Flicks organized in sub folders... Action, Comedy, Drama etc... and it plays everything. The largest Divx file I've run through it is Superman Returns which was 900MB. I have a HD version of Bladerunner that's 4GB but it won't even load that. By load I'm talking about the percentage reading that appears in the upper right ahnd corner of the screen when you select a divx movie for playback.

I haven't had anyproblems with this one but the first one I had would freeze and require unplugging to reboot on certain movies both from my HDD and DVD Disc. I had a samsung model before this one which displayed a glitter like effect when I was playing anything on it so I took it back and got this pioneer.

This one is really great on some of my flicks it looks incredible snatch looks almost as good as the 1080i from my Fios HD channel. I've also converted a few .MKV files to .Avi and I get sound with no picture and only a message about the resolution not being supported see my thread here ~~> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=906350

I do have an NTFS formated 500GB MyBook that I will try when I get back to the crib 2night to verify the non-support for NTFS formated drives.

Hope this helps a little.

BiGg RiE

Thanks so much BiGg RiE for your info. Very informative.
I've got DV-400VK as a second player for my household needs. Still testing this player against my JVC TH-C50 HTIB and taken a few days ago Philips 5982 also for test-drive.
Still love my JVC with 2.0 USB and most likely Pioneer will be my winner over Philips by several personal reasons based on my subjective opinion. Anyways, I was trying to use my NTFS-formatted LeCie "d2" 320 GB hard drive with Pio's USB drive and I've got no luck. Then I referred to Pio's user manual for details and troubleshooting and it clearly says that USB port on DV-400VK model only accepts FAT16/FAT32-formatted drives. I did not have a chance to re-format my LeCie as I still have some files in there perfectly played by JVC, but will probably do so as I need that player to playback DivX video only from external HDD based on my project. Apparently Philips 5982 also does not work with NTFS-formatted mass-storage devises. So far only JVC easily recognized and accepted my NTFS drive but cannot play DivX or XviD media files with more than 1 Gigabyte data size.

I bought this player yesterday and hooked it up to my Optoma HD70 digital projector. While I'm extremely happy with the picture quality I am suffering some issues. When watching a dvd I get pauses and sometimes an accompanied 'flickering' in sound. I triede multiple DVDs and experienced this problem each time. I am currently using some of the cheap Rocketfish brand HDMI cables from Best Buy and was wondering if this could be the issue or if it's a defective player?

...I am currently using some of the cheap Rocketfish brand HDMI cables from Best Buy and was wondering if this could be the issue or if it's a defective player?


I'm doubtful that this is HDMI cable related issue. I also using cheap HDMI cable off eBay for $3. I believe you've got defective player. Try to exchange and see how another one will work. Or exchange HDMI cable so at least your can exclude cable-related issue first if it wasn't a cable. Did you try component video or S-Video?

Has anyone verified whether or not this unit has the vertical compression issue?

...vertical compression issue?
What are the symptoms of this issue? Thanks

I just bought a Pio PDP-4280HD plasma panel, and currently watch SD DVDs via a Panny DVD-S53 1080p-upconverting DVD player with HDMI. Picture quality with the Panny is pretty good. But you folks who have experience watching the DV-400V-K, do you think the DV-400V-K would show an even better SD DVD picture on my Pio 4280? Does PureCinema make all that much difference over a player without it? I don't really want a high-definition player until the "format war" is settled. (I've already ordered the DV-400V-K, so I guess it will be what it will be...I just wondered what your impressions were! Thanks! :))

...do you think the DV-400V-K would show an even better SD DVD picture on my Pio 4280? Does PureCinema make all that much difference over a player without it? ...


I do know anything about Panasonic DVD-S53 and its SD-DVD picture quality so I cannot comment on it, but I wrote here in this thread my opinion over Pioneer DV-400V-K picture quality compared with JVC TH-C50 and Philips 5982. All of them showed practically the same picture quality. And I personally have no clue what should I expect to see from Pioneer's PureCinema. On my Panasonic plasma HDTV picture from both Pio DV-400VK and JVC TH-C50 looks great to me and met my expectations. JVC TH-C has no things like Pio's PureCinema but its picture quality is not worse at all.

I do know anything about Panasonic DVD-S53 and its SD-DVD picture quality so I cannot comment on it, but I wrote here in this thread my opinion over Pioneer DV-400V-K picture quality compared with JVC TH-C50 and Philips 5982. All of them showed practically the same picture quality. And I personally have no clue what should I expect to see from Pioneer's PureCinema. On my Panasonic plasma HDTV picture from both Pio DV-400VK and JVC TH-C50 looks great to me and met my expectations. JVC TH-C has no things like Pio's PureCinema but its picture quality is not worse at all.

Thank you for your answer. The picture quality on the Panasonic is decent; I'm just hoping the Pioneer-Pioneer combo might be a little better. I think the Pio will look better cosmetically when combined with the Pioneer TV. I suppose the performance will be only marginally better (if it is better).

I bought the silver Dv-400Vs with optical out& multi-coded.
How do I go about activating the Pioneer's PureCinema?
Thanks.

..How do I go about activating the Pioneer's PureCinema?....

I have the same question and Pio's PureCinema still enigma to me. I still have no clue what picture improvement (or whatever it should be) experience should I expect?

Anyone? Any thoughts from Pioneer video gears experts here? :)

I hooked up the set and tested that Component PQ is better then HDMI..
HDMI PQ seem to be noisy & wash out even at 480i/p...
Component PQ is way better..
LCD TV was a LG 37LC7R.

I tried hooked up to my Sharp 32PX5M and the PQ do not have the noisy
problem as my LG & better PQ..

Any expert can advise?
Thanks.

I hooked up the set and tested that Component PQ is better then HDMI..
HDMI PQ seem to be noisy & wash out even at 480i/p...
Component PQ is way better..
LCD TV was a LG 37LC7R.

I tried hooked up to my Sharp 32PX5M and the PQ do not have the noisy
problem as my LG & better PQ..

Any expert can advise?
Thanks.

From my experience, LG LCD sets have a high amount of image noise in general unless the contrast is jacked to the maximum.

I bought the silver Dv-400Vs with optical out& multi-coded.
How do I go about activating the Pioneer's PureCinema?
Thanks.

I scoured the manual, and I'm pretty sure the player activates PureCinema automatically, based on the recording source (film- or video-based). The manual states, "PureCinema Progressive Scan video: When connected to a progressive scan compatible TV or monitor using the component video outputs, you can enjoy extremely stable, flicker free images, with the same frame refresh rate as the original movie." (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong on this stuff, thanks.)

I'm sorry I don't know what benefit PureCinema provides (the definition seems a bit technical to me). However, as noted above, the manual says you need to connect using the component video outputs. Which leads me to another question: Does PureCinema mode not work using the HDMI output? Is it unnecessary when connected via HDMI? I have no idea....

Also, since my PDP-4280HD has PureCinema settings (Film Mode: Off, Standard, Smooth, Advance), should I leave the TV's PureCinema setting Off? That is, does the TV provide the same PureCinema functionality that the player does?? I'm soooo confused. lol :o

just picked this up for my bedroom paired with a vizo gv42lf.. easy to use and navigate. looks good upconverting to 1080p.

How does the DV-400V compare to the Sony DVP-NS77h?

Kage -

While I haven't tried the Pioneer, I too returned the Oppo DV-980H (due to a "black screen" bug I was experiencing) in favor of the Sony DVP-NS77H. Since I was really happy with the Sony, have no real use for the USB port on the DV-400V, had no place local for me to test drive it (I refuse to shop at BB) and looking at Pioneer's history on upconverting (non-Elite) players on the Secrets site (it seems like they've gone downhill over the years), I decided not to bother. Plus, I was able to pick up the Sony for $70 at Crutchfield using the $20 off $100 Visa card discount and $20 in credit I had from a referral. The cheapest I found the Pioneer for was $88 shipped on-line.

How does the DV-400V compare to the Sony DVP-NS77h?

No DivX / MPEG-4 playback support. Other than that Sony DVP-NS77H
has no any superiors to Pio DV-400V. Not in picture quality nor in up-scaling capability. If you do not care about DivX, USB, and not having 480i via HDMI output then go with Sony if you feel that your like Sony more .

Is there any firmware upgrades/dates for the Pio dv-400. I just snagged one up and was just wondering. If so can you point me to a download site.

-Danks

just picked this up for my bedroom paired with a vizo gv42lf.. easy to use and navigate. looks good upconverting to 1080p.

The DV-400V-K looks "okay" to me (my best results were also using the 1080p setting). Funny thing is, I thought it would look much better than the Panasonic DVD-S53 I had before, since my TV is a Pioneer PDP-4280HD. In fact, the reverse was true...the Panasonic actually looked slightly better, although the difference in picture quality wasn't huge. More noticeable was when I paused the picture, the Panny was sharper (I'd describe the Pio player's picture as "softer"). To me, the Pio menu was also definitely more user-friendly and better-looking than the Panny's. I'm going to keep the Pio, since neither one is high-def or expensive. (I also tried Component...with my TV, HDMI looked better. Guess I'll just have to keep looking forward to one company winning the "HD format war." :rolleyes:)

Hi, finally one DV400 come to my hands and can tell...
Opposite to the version of model supplied to Europe, in LA the DV400-V-S come with the HDMI cable into the box, is multiregion, and it's building with digital optical out. This pack rocks for me !! :cool:
The player can handle faster and bright the WMV files with any problem, the AVI files (divx - xvid) run like a charm even in 1080p resolution.
BUT... one miss that pain a lot my ass is, now the firm can´t handle the MPG and OGM (don´t show any file of this types in the menu).:eek:
So I wonder... if all the Pioneer models that are Divx certified like the dv383/380, dv393, dv300, htz131, etc. play good mpg and ogm files, what the hell this firmware of dv400 don´t even recognise it???

That was a big big deception, c'oz i have a lot of music mtv like videos in mpg and mpeg format.

I almost sure that the hardware whould handle this files too, but the question is... there are some way to patch or unlock this firm to make possible play mpg and ogm too like all others old Pioneer models?

..I'd describe the Pio player's picture as "softer...

There is sharpness control setting in Pio player. You can set to "Fine" mode to increase sharpness if you wish.
And do not forget that your TV has also "sharpness" setting. If you ever set your setting off manufacture preset while using your old Panny DVD player then it maybe needed now to adjust sharpness on your TV suitable to your eyes for your new player. Perception of sharpness / softness, colorfulness, brightness and etc. of the image are vary from person to person. You can adjust all of those to make your viewable picture best suitable for your own eyes. That is why both TVs and DVD players have picture quality adjustment/enhancement settings. I personally feel very comfortable with all Pio's default manufacturing preset. Picture looks clear and sharp enough to me.

I was about to buy the pio from Wally's World, but I thought I'd ask this general question. I know some people are using the upconverting dvd players until they decide to by hd or blu-ray. I already have blu-ray but it's ps3 which I was told doesn't upconvert and also I don't know if I want to use it for gaming AND all std dvd movies (I only own a few blu-ray at this time but quite a few std dvds). Does anyone know if playing std dvds on the ps3 is close to this or other <$100 upconverting dvd players? Also how does the HDTV factor into it? I have a sony xbr4 and I wasn't sure how much improvement just the tv can make on std dvds? Thanks, I know this is probably a newbie question.

There is sharpness control setting in Pio player. You can set to "Fine" mode to increase sharpness if you wish.
And do not forget that your TV has also "sharpness" setting. If you ever set your setting off manufacture preset while using your old Panny DVD player then it maybe needed now to adjust sharpness on your TV suitable to your eyes for your new player. Perception of sharpness / softness, colorfulness, brightness and etc. of the image are vary from person to person. You can adjust all of those to make your viewable picture best suitable for your own eyes. That is why both TVs and DVD players have picture quality adjustment/enhancement settings. I personally feel very comfortable with all Pio's default manufacturing preset. Picture looks clear and sharp enough to me.

I thought it was clear and sharp enough to me, too (when I said it was "soft," I only meant the default settings seemed so). However, I'm returning the DV-400V-K and keeping the Panny DVD-S53, and I'll show why via the attached pictures.

As I said earlier, I was very happy with the DV-400V's menus, it's very easy to navigate around within them. Also, what I've seen said about the "load times" was also true; it loads faster than the DVD-S53. Color on both is acceptable and adjustable (though I found the defaults fine, and do my color tweaks with my Pio PDP-4280HD anyhow, which I intend to someday have calibrated...probably after the 1-year warranty runs out ;)).

However...when I compared the picture quality of the two players, I found I was seeing artifacts (jaggies?) along the edges of light areas with the DV-400V. I think you can see them clearly in the attached pics (be sure you look at them at 100% size in your browser). The DVD-S53 also had some; but to a much less--and therefore less distracting--degree.

These are still photos; but the artifacts were just as obvious when the picture was in motion. I also felt there was a little more "noise" in the shadows with the DV-400V, which was really hard to "tune out." (The diagonal lines in the pics are camera moire.)

I tried making various adjustments to the DV-400V, but to no avail. The artifacts remained, no matter which resolution I set it for (up to and including 1080p), and no matter what other settings I adjusted.

Therefore, because my PDP-4280HD revealed these artifacts very plainly to me, I decided to return the DV-400V in favor of the Panny DVD-S53. Your results may vary, and I hope they do! Anyway, thanks for all your advice; it was most helpful. :)

Well... hmm..
Everything what I see is the Pio has a bit sharper image if compare to second screenshot made from S53. At least it looks so to me. That is why "artifacts" are more probably noticeable. But it is only up to your judgment.

Moving up from an older DVD player, I'm quite happy with the PQ of the Pioneer. One thing that I find kind of annoying though is during slow motion play, a bright blue information bar displays accross the width of the screen and there's no way to get rid of it (at least no way I've found). I'm used to seeing these info displays for a second or two before they go away, but in this player, it stays on until you return to normal playback speed. Anyone know how to clear the annoying info bar?

Well... hmm..
Everything what I see is the Pio has a bit sharper image if compare to second screenshot made from S53. At least it looks so to me. That is why "artifacts" are more probably noticeable. But it is only up to your judgment.

Six of one, half-dozen of the other, I suppose. :) Both players have their strong points and both have decent picture quality. And, I very nearly kept the Pioneer (just because of the better menus and faster loading), until I began noticing the "jaggies." Maybe it's a little like stuck pixels...once you see them, they're hard to ignore? But for sure, for less than a hundred clams, both players are pretty doggone good.

any affirmative successful region hack for US pioneer?

Sorry, no info on that zoro.

Re firmware though, I've noticed I get different results on my DVI-based TV depending on what firmware is contained on these Pioneer players. Some will display 720p/1080i via the (HDCP-compliant) DVI input on my Sony 34XBR800 CRT, and some will not. The ones that do not display 720p/1080i are units that contain the latest firmware: YGB7516A.

Units with the older firmware, YGB73281, seem to work OK though for the most part via DVI on my TV.

According to Pioneer, units made between January and May of '07 should have shipped with the older firmware (though it's possible some resellers may have updated it). These older units have serial numbers beginning with GA, GB, GC, GD & GE. (GA=Jan, GB=Feb, and so on...) Models built in June through August should have the newer firmware (ie the one that does not work properly via DVI on my Sony TV), and serial numbers starting with GF, GG & GH. Serial numbers are listed on the outside of the box, and also on the back of the unit.
Serial Month Firmware 720p/1080i via
#: Mfr'd: Included: DVI on my TV:

GA... Jan 07 YGB73281
GB... Feb 07 YGB73281
GC... Mar 07 YGB73281
GD... Apr 07 YGB73281 Yes
GE... May 07 YGB73281

GF... Jun 07 YGB7516A No
GG... Jul 07 YGB7516A
GH... Aug 07 YGB7516A No
If you're having trouble getting this model to work on a DVI display, you might want to look for a unit with the older firmware (and avoid updating to the newer firmware for the time being).

(Tks to the OP for info on how to check the firmware version.)

I also am getting flickering white bands and clicking sounds with different DVDs using monoprice HDMI. I used for about 20 HRs and I will be returning to BB for a new one.

Hi,

I have problems playing any HD content (avi or wmv). I downloaded some demo files from the microsoft WMV showcase and burned these on a DVD. When I try to play them I keep getting the error that the video resolution is not supported. With some I do hear sound but still no video. I have tried to change the HDMI resolution settings of the dvd player but on every setting I get the same error. The dvd player is connected with a HDMI cable to a samsung tv.

What am I doing wrong here?

thanks.

Sander

Hi,

I have problems playing any HD content (avi or wmv). I downloaded some demo files from the microsoft WMV showcase and burned these on a DVD. When I try to play them I keep getting the error that the video resolution is not supported. With some I do hear sound but still no video. I have tried to change the HDMI resolution settings of the dvd player but on every setting I get the same error. The dvd player is connected with a HDMI cable to a samsung tv.

What am I doing wrong here?

thanks.

Sander

It cannot play HD (>720p) DivX/wmv files. Everything below that plays fine.

Pioneer DV-400V does not play WMV-HD or DivX-HD. WMV should be SD and about 720x480 resolution or less.

One thing I noticed is that my Pio 400 displays a better still image if it is set to 480i. 480p and the others don't display as well. With my HDTV, I can't get the DVD player to display a picture on my HDTV [a 32" Sansui model] when set to the highest setting on the Pio 400 1920 x 768 [1080p], even though my HDTV supposedly supports the resolution.

Also, the only other thing that bugs me about the Pio 400 is that it will not switch my HDTV's resolution automatically when i insert a DVD. I need to set the screen mode manually on the TV. I had an earlier Sony DVD player that switched the TV automatically for the resolutions [never needed to touch it!!]. It had a 4:3/WS setup mode. It's 4 years old, BTW. It had component out but no progressive scan mode.

I wish Pioneer would do a firmware update to fix this, but there's probably little chance of it, since I had talked to a tech at Pioneer recently after buying my player [it has the newer firmware [GF], he didn't seem to think there was even a problem.

One thing I noticed is that my Pio 400 displays a better still image if it is set to 480i. 480p and the others don't display as well. With my HDTV, I can't get the DVD player to display a picture on my HDTV [a 32" Sansui model] when set to the highest setting on the Pio 400 1920 x 768 [1080p], even though my HDTV supposedly supports the resolution.

Also, the only other thing that bugs me about the Pio 400 is that it will not switch my HDTV's resolution automatically when i insert a DVD. I need to set the screen mode manually on the TV. I had an earlier Sony DVD player that switched the TV automatically for the resolutions [never needed to touch it!!]. It had a 4:3/WS setup mode. It's 4 years old, BTW. It had component out but no progressive scan mode.

I wish Pioneer would do a firmware update to fix this, but there's probably little chance of it, since I had talked to a tech at Pioneer recently after buying my player [it has the newer firmware [GF], he didn't seem to think there was even a problem.

Why would you want to do this and not just output everything at one resolution to your display (720p, 1080i/p)? Are you talking about your display's Zoom/Full Screen feature (if content is in 4:3)? My display handles this fine with this player as well....

I can't get the DVD player to display a picture on my HDTV [a 32" Sansui model] when set to the highest setting on the Pio 400 1920 x 768 [1080p], even though my HDTV supposedly supports the resolution.


i am having this same issue. i have a 47 inch toshiba regza that does 1080p. it is working fine with my xbox 360 elite. but my pio 400 will not display at 1080p. it will display at 1080i but not 1080p.

does anyone know what is going on? can anyone provide any direction?

Did some one region hacked US player yet?

i am having this same issue. i have a 47 inch toshiba regza that does 1080p. it is working fine with my xbox 360 elite. but my pio 400 will not display at 1080p. it will display at 1080i but not 1080p.

does anyone know what is going on? can anyone provide any direction?

I just checked on my 3 displays (all are 720p native displays)... the Olevia 537h will display 1080p from my pioneer...

turbe:

based on what you have provided, what do you take from that?

i am having this same issue. i have a 47 inch toshiba regza that does 1080p. it is working fine with my xbox 360 elite. but my pio 400 will not display at 1080p. it will display at 1080i but not 1080p.

does anyone know what is going on? can anyone provide any direction?

Working with the 360, hmm, is your display a LZ or LX?

One thing I noticed is that my Pio 400 displays a better still image if it is set to 480i. 480p and the others don't display as well. With my HDTV, I can't get the DVD player to display a picture on my HDTV [a 32" Sansui model] when set to the highest setting on the Pio 400 1920 x 768 [1080p], even though my HDTV supposedly supports the resolution.

I think I'm having an issue similar to you. I've got a DV-400 hooked up to my Sharp 52D62U 1080p LCD. The display should be capable of a 1920 x 1080 image, and I thought the DVD player could output the same. So I went online and found some 1920 x 1080 jpg images, stuck them on a thumb drive and plugged them into the DVD player.

When they appeared onscreen, however, they were shrunk considerably, with black on all sides. Not only were they shrunk, they were out of proportion, with a little too much vertical squeeze.

If you have 1080p display, verify that it's HDMI port(s) support a 1080p input, not all do... for example the Toshiba Regza 47" LX models have a 1080p panel but their HDMI ports do not support a 1080p input... the LZ models (and LH I believe) support a 1080p input. Most 32" 720p sets (that I have checked out recently) do not support a 1080p input (HDMI).

A quick check shows that your Sharp does support a 1080p signal......

I guess, check the firmware version, try a different hdmi cable (though I don't think that is the problem) and check your serial number (see post #333 above) to see when your pio was manufactured... if and older version, perhaps find a newer one and bring it home for a test.. :).. Also, if you changed your hdmi colorspace (in the pio), set it back to the default....

bought my Dv-400 yesterday and i cant see any avi (divx) files under the explorer! everything else is ok, mp3, jpg, etc.... but in folder where are the movies files they just dont appear! its like the folder is empty! when i connect to the computer ,everything its ok!

formated fat 32! so thats not the problem! can someone help me? pleaseee!

bought my Dv-400 yesterday and i cant see any avi (divx) files under the explorer! everything else is ok, mp3, jpg, etc.... but in folder where are the movies files they just dont appear! its like the folder is empty! when i connect to the computer ,everything its ok!

formated fat 32! so thats not the problem! can someone help me? pleaseee!

Thats odd - are you using a thumb drive or a portable drive?

Thats odd - are you using a thumb drive or a portable drive?


Portable drive iomega 2.5"" with 160 gb in fat 32!! but i can see everything on my hdd, except avi files.... they dont apear in their folders!!! strange... really strange!!!:eek:

On Page 10 of the manual, it does say the player supports Divx in AVI format. (There's no mention of it under the USB instructions on page 31 though.) Page 31 also mentions it can take some time for the player to read alot of files from disc. Are you giving it ample time to read all the files? Also, what happens if you move some of the AVIs from the folder into the USB drive's root directory?

There's also some info about registering Divx video-on-demand content on page 40, and some USB troubleshooting tips on page 48.

If none of the above works, then perhaps the Philips 5982 may be worth a try. (Or you could try burning the files to DVD... which is probably not what you want.)

If none of the above works, then perhaps the Philips 5982 may be worth a try. (Or you could try burning the files to DVD... which is probably not what you want.)

Yeap.... thats not what i want..... :) but i tried with a different hard drive and i t worked fine!!! The iomega disk i tried is full of stuff, maybe its that the player is having difficulties to catalog so many files... ill try to clean up a bit and try that again later!! also the disk is not being supplied but an external power source, so maybe is that too!! i tried with another hard drive (20gb) witch have external power and it worked!! but the disk was almost empty!! maybe that helped!! i tried to watch a movie on a pen with 1 gb, and it worked!! AMAZING!!
Sometimes i experience a little bit of slow down in the frame rate , but is very rare!! This happens on the pen and on the hard drive too!!
I would bought the philips 5982, but i couldnt find it anywhere.... only the 5960 was available... :( the 5982 was cheaper than dv-400 and it has divx pro!!!)

I'm going to update the firmware, with a moded one... It has a lot of improvements, and modifications!! But im searching for the original one, to go back if i dont like this one... anyone has it??? Or can i save the original on my dv-400? If so, how can i do that? thnkx in advace!! :)

I've got a really strange problem with my Pioneer DV-400V that I'm hoping someone can help me out with. I picked up the DVD Player a couple of days ago due to the great price for an upconverting player and the feedback here on this board. I have an LG 42LB5D LCD Screen and have the Pio connected to it via an HDMI cable. It is outputting at 1080p and the audio is connected to my receiver via the Digital Coax output.

The problem I'm having is that the audio appears to be playing at a slightly faster rate than the video. When someone on screen begins talking, the audio and video start at the same time and are synched up. By the time the audio ends, however, the video appears to be a bit behind. The longer the 'speech' is, the more off the audio and video become. It's almost as if the audio is coming out at 58 Hz and the video at 60 Hz. I am certain that it's not the TV because when I have my digital cable HD feed coming in the synch issue isn't there. It's only when using the DVD player. I am wondering if it's because of the HDMI connection, or if it's the automatic 3:2 compensation that's making the video take longer to display than the audio.

Has anybody else experienced this?

The problem I'm having is that the audio appears to be playing at a slightly faster rate than the video. When someone on screen begins talking, the audio and video start at the same time and are synched up. By the time the audio ends, however, the video appears to be a bit behind.Audio issues ain't my forté, but do you have the same issue with the other audio outputs as well? And have you tried tinkering with any of the settings in both the Audio Settings and Initial Settings menus to see if that helps?

i tried with a different hard drive and i t worked fine!!! The iomega disk i tried is full of stuff, maybe its that the player is having difficulties to catalog so many files... ill try to clean up a bit and try that again later!! also the disk is not being supplied but an external power source, so maybe is that too!! i tried with another hard drive (20gb) witch have external power and it worked!! but the disk was almost empty!! maybe that helped!! i tried to watch a movie on a pen with 1 gb, and it worked!! AMAZING!!
Sometimes i experience a little bit of slow down in the frame rate , but is very rare!! This happens on the pen and on the hard drive too!! Good to know.

Something else you might try is shortening the filenames on the Iomega drive.I would bought the philips 5982, but i couldnt find it anywhere.... only the 5960 was available... :( the 5982 was cheaper than dv-400 and it has divx pro!!!)Best Buy and probably some other brick&mortar stores carry it FWIW. Read up on the unit before you consider buying though. The 5982 supports 1080p and probably has better upconversion quality than the 5960. The one open-box 5982 I tested had noticeable errors (green depression) in it's HD color decoding though, which was a deal-breaker for me. Aside from that, the PQ seemed pretty similar to the Pio 400V and Sony 77H. (All three units use Mediatek chips I believe.)

I'm going to update the firmware, with a moded one... It has a lot of improvements, and modifications!! But im searching for the original one, to go back if i dont like this one... anyone has it??? Or can i save the original on my dv-400? If so, how can i do that? thnkx in advace!! :)Don't have any experience updating this model, but when speaking to Pioneer CS re the 720p/1080i DVI issues I got the distinct impression that once the firmware was updated ...for better or worse... there was no goin back. Whether that impression was correct, I can't really say.

Working with the 360, hmm, is your display a LZ or LX?

turbe,

i actually have a toshiba 47hl167 and the manual states that it is supposed to support 1080p24/60.

as i stated, i am getting 1080p from my xbox 360 elite via hdmi. but i only get a blank screen when i set my 400v to 1080p. i wish i had an additional source to run 1080p with.

I wonder if this could be firmware-related (as turbe mentioned previously) like the 720p/1080i issues on my Sony DVI TV. Have you tried plugging the player into the same input as the xbox though (IOW an input confirmed to support 1080p)? Also what firmware does the player have? (See this post for how to check that.)

Also, the only other thing that bugs me about the Pio 400 is that it will not switch my HDTV's resolution automatically when i insert a DVD. I need to set the screen mode manually on the TV. I had an earlier Sony DVD player that switched the TV automatically for the resolutions [never needed to touch it!!]. It had a 4:3/WS setup mode. It's 4 years old, BTW. It had component out but no progressive scan mode.

I wish Pioneer would do a firmware update to fix this, but there's probably little chance of it, since I had talked to a tech at Pioneer recently after buying my player [it has the newer firmware [GF], he didn't seem to think there was even a problem.FWIW, the switching works a little differently when using HD output than when using 480i/480p as on your old player. When using 480i/480p, the TV can usually sense whether the signal is 4:3 or 16:9 and automatically correct the aspect ratio. When using the HD modes (720p/1080i/1080p), the TV has no way of knowing whether the picture should be 4:3 or 16:9... It simply assumes all HD signals are 16:9. So it's generally* up to the player to make the necessary A/R adjustment, and add pillarboxing to 4:3 DVDs when upconverting the signal to HD. That's what the different options are for under the player's Initial Settings/Video Output/TV Screen menu.

Per the instructions, if you have a 16:9 TV, the 16:9 (Wide) setting should expand 4:3 content to fill the whole width of the screen, while the 16:9 (Compressed) setting should pillarbox 4:3 content and display it (more or less) at it's correct aspect ratio. That's the way it's supposed to work anyway... However the units I've tried don't always seem to follow this pattern.

I often like to use the "Wide" setting to stretch 4:3 content to fill the whole screen (at 1080i). The player frequently seems to forget it's been configured that way though, and often reverts to pillarboxing 4:3 content. This may not always be the player's fault. Some DVDs may perhaps try to force it into displaying 4:3 content (such as movie trailers) in pillarbox mode. Once this occurs though, the player often seems to stick to playing all 4:3 material in pillarbox mode... until it's been turned off and then back on, and reinitialized. Perhaps you've run into this sort of thing as well.

*Many recent TVs also offer some (manual) AR/stretch adjustments to HD content as well. (These adjustments may, or may not include AR modes to pillarbox or zoom 4:3 HD content.) If your TV has such features, then some adjustment may be necessary on both the player and TV to get the results you're after. Features like this are less common on older HDTVs though.One thing I noticed is that my Pio 400 displays a better still image if it is set to 480i.I haven't tinkered much with the other resolutions, but when using 1080i, I've also noticed that the player displays only one line-doubled field when paused (rather than the full vertical resolution of the frame), which results in noticeable jaggies.

Some notes on the 400V's Gamma control...

The 4 options (Off, Low, Medium, High) increase/darken the gamma (which is usually what I need). There are no settings to decrease/brighten gamma.

Each setting seems to increase the measured display gamma by about 0.25. Following are the approximate changes one could expect on a 2.2 and 2.5 gamma display:

Off 2.20 2.50
Low ~2.45 ~2.75
Medium ~2.70 ~3.00
High ~2.95 ~3.25

Black detail may become crushed with the higher gamma settings, unless a correction is also made to the player's Brightness control. These are the settings that seemed to work best for me:

Gamma Brightness
Setting: Adjustment:

Off 0
Low +2
Medium +3
High +5

Color decoding errors begin to develop with the higher gamma settings as well. They get worse the higher you go. Have not had a chance to see if this is correctable via other tweaks.

Using the Gamma control with the Full Range RGB HDMI Color seemed to produce even more unpredictable behavior in darker shades than the regular RGB Color setting for me. YMMV. (The Component HDMI color option is not supported via DVI.)

Player Details
Date Mfr'd: April 2007
Firmware: YGB73281
Connection: DVI
HDMI Color Mode: RGB
Resolution: 1080i
Display: Sony 34XBR800 CRT

Some other issues I've noticed...

In addition to forgetting the way 4:3 content is configured, and the firmware-related issues with DVI, these are a few other issues I've run across with the 400V.

Deinterlacing of unflagged and video/field-based DVD content does not seem quite as good as on the Sony 77H. The Pio seems to produce more combing on movie trailers/previews at the beginning of DVDs, and more noticeable jaggies on my home-authored field-based DVDs than the Sony. The Pio does fine on most film-based "main attractions" though, including feature films with flagging errors/bad edits that I've tried, such as chapters 2 & 3 on Star Wars ANH.

Chroma shift? I can't be 100% sure whether this is a problem with the player or my TV. For the record, I get the exact same effect with the Sony 77H. Both players I suspect use the same Mediatek chip though. The shift seems most noticeable on the edges of blue objects or backgrounds, and usually manifests as a red, orange or green outline a pixel or two in width along the vertical edges of the object.

Picture sometimes becomes garbled if I turn the TV off and then back on while a DVD is playing via HDMI/DVI. Turning the player off and on usually fixes it.

Player is a bit on the noisy side. It makes a constant hum/whirring noise that's audible in a quiet room from a couple yards away.

As others have mentioned, paused images look rather jagged/pixelated because the player displays only half the vertical resolution of a frame when the picture is stopped. Unlike the Sony 77H, there appear to be no options for adjusting this behavior on the Pio 400V.

When using the Repeat/Title function, a reminder message pops up at the beginning of each chapter.

Some advantages of the Pioneer DV-400V vs. Sony NS77H...

The main advantages I've found on the Pio 400v over the Sony 77H so far are:

Gamma control.

Support for 480i via HDMI.

USB input.

DivX support.

WMV (SD) support.

Zoom mode does not leave icons on screen.

More controls on front panel.

Some users also report a bit of graininess when using 1080p on the Sony. However, results seem to be a little inconsistent. Haven't been able to compare this to the Pio since my 34XBR800 TV only goes up to 1080i.

Reasons I'll probably go with the Sony NS77H instead...

Fewer jaggies on my homemade field-based DVDs.

Less combing on movie trailers. (The Sony still combs a little on some, but it doesn't seem as frequent as the Pio.)

Full resolution (ie no jaggies) in pause mode.

Less noisy drive.

More reliable 4:3 stretch mode.

A/V sync.

Optical audio out.

Sony seems more DVI-friendly, and generally more reliable and trouble-free with my TV (so far). Unlike the Pio, I've rarely encountered situations where the Sony needs to be turned off to fix something. (Think this only happened once on the Sony.)

Gamma control on Pioneer is not quite as convenient/useful as I hoped due to issues with color decoding and black level mentioned in last post.



Closing thoughts...

Comparing these two players has been an arduous, and also sometimes interesting process. Both have their strong and weak points and the picture quality on regular film-based motion pictures is very similar (perhaps because they're both Mediatek-based), so the decision which to go with has not been an easy one.

The two features that initially drew me to the Pioneer were the Gamma control and 480i support via HDMI. However, after finetuning the lighting and picture on my display a bit more, I think the Gamma control may be something I can do without. The Sony player also generally seems to do a better job of upconverting video (and film) based DVD content than my TV, making the lack of 480i HDMI support on that player basically irrelevant. USB and Divx support are other cool features on the Pio, but I don't really have a use for those at the moment.

For the record, some of the issues I've encountered with the Pioneer 400V could possibly be related to using the older firmware, the RGB Color mode (instead of Component), and DVI rather than HDMI. Pioneer's documentation states that: "...using a DVI connection may result in unreliable signal transfers". Using the newer firmware or HDMI (with Component Color setting) was not an option for my TV though.

There are undoubtedly other facets to these players that I've overlooked that could be of greater significance to other users as well (perhaps particularly on the audio side, which I haven't explored in as much depth). Anyway, this is just my personal 2¢ on the Pioneer 400V. Hopefully some will find it useful. As always, YMMV.

Pioneer Player Details
Date Mfr'd: April 2007
Firmware: YGB73281
Connection: DVI
HDMI Color Mode: RGB
Resolution: 1080i
Display: Sony 34XBR800 CRT

Some other issues I've noticed...

Why don't you just exchange with another Pio unit and see if another one works for you well. In my case with Pioneer DV-400V I do not have any issues as you described. Mine is working flawlessly and nicely like a charm. Very pleased with. Wired via HDMI to my 42" plasma Panasonic (Pany set to "normal" video mode as manufacturer prescribed and never went through custom calibration)

Some advantages of Pioneer 400V vs. Sony NS77H...
The main advantages I've found on the Pio 400v over the Sony 77H so far are...


You forgot to mention that Pioneer supports MPEG-4 (DivX, XviD and etc.) video formats payback and can also playback SD WMV (Windows Media Video) format. Also has more (with winder range) image quality adjustment / enhancement controls.
I used to get SONY 77H for a "test-drive" while I was on the market of purchasing another DVD player for my household. I cannot say that SONY has anything batter in PQ than Pioneer. Both players are pretty much equal in respect to DVD-Video picture quality and up-conversion quality and capability. But it is my opinion of course and based only on my own experience.

That don't sound good. Audio issues ain't my forté, but do you have the same issue with the other audio outputs as well? And have you tried tinkering with any of the settings in both the Audio Settings and Initial Settings menus to see if that helps?

Okay, here's a quick update on the situation. I tried out a different HDMI cable and saw the issue I had with the video appearing to display slower than the audio lessen quite a bit. I went and exchanged the HDMI cable and the "issue" disappeared by about 70%. Not fully gone, but much better. I also went to my audio setup and looked at each and every button and setting that I could find. I found one button that I had never used before, and discovered that it was a time delay setting. For some weird reason, the speakers were set with a delay that was causing a great deal of this "synch" issue. I changed all the delays back to 0 and then looked over the setup with a fine toothed comb to make sure there was nothing else I overlooked.

Finally, I can say that the issue is approximately 95% resolved. There is still a VERY small noticeable effect, but I'm attributing that to the DVD itself (All of the Star Wars DVDs) and the fact that I used to watch them on a tiny, 17" LCD screen on my computer. Going up to a 42" LCD screen makes tiny flaws in the film stand out a lot more so I'm just seeing things that I couldn't see before due to my setup constraints.

Overall, I'd say that this problem is resolved. :D

Awesome!

Why don't you just exchange with another Pio unit and see if another one works for you well.Well, I tried 4 different units in all, each manufactured in different months, one as recently as August '07. I'm afraid the dealers near me will get pissed if I try to buy/return any more of these players.In my case with Pioneer DV-400V I do not have any issues as you described. Mine is working flawlessly and nicely like a charm. Very pleased with.I believe that. And would not even go so far as to say I was displeased with the 400V. The player has many positive qualities. You forgot to mention that Pioneer supports MPEG-4 (DivX, XviD and etc.) video formats payback and can also playback SD WMV (Windows Media Video) format.http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/images/icons/icon14.gif Thanks for catching that. Another one I forgot was the lack of lingering icons in the Pio's Zoom mode. (When zooming on the Sonys, a small icon always remains present on-screen). Added all these to the list.Also has more (with wider range) image quality adjustment / enhancement controls. From what I could see, the basic video adjustments were about the same on both players, except for the add'l Gamma control on the Pio. Both have Brightness, Contrast, Color, Hue and Sharpness adjustments. The Sony also has some preset video configurations.Both players are pretty much equal in respect to DVD-Video picture quality and up-conversion quality and capability.I'd tend to agree with that. Both do a comparably good job with regular film-based DVDs. The differences were mainly in the details. And I suspect many folks would indeed find a preference for the Pioneer for some of the factors mentioned above such as DivX, WMV, USB support...

I am replacing pioneer for oppo 980H, with dvd audio, sacd, usb, ease of region free firmware, for around $70 more?

I just grabbed one of these units tonight...I purchased a Panny 50" PZ77U as well...I wasn't sure which format I wanted to go with and the $$ BB pm CC, it was like I got it for nothing.

Hey, I have a strange problem with my PIO 400v

I just bought it in a shop in belgium, went home ( in belgium :D ) and connected the DVD Player directly to my Beamer ( Optoma ). I ran initial setup , just used HDMI on 1028*780p which in the maximum resolution of my beamer ( HD Ready ). I watch a movie and shut down everything

Now when I wanted to see another movie, I had no image, my beamer stated : Source Found 1024*768 @ 60Hz , but no pio logo! Reset to 480p and ran the same setup, and I will not go higher anymore , I always get a black screen!

Can someone help me!?

How do you get srt subtitles to display on this player?

The srt file is not listed on the menu (but it *is* there).
Pressing the subtitle button doesn't make it display.
I made sure the srt file is named exactly the same as the DivX file so I know that's not the problem...

Edit: The subs play just fine and dandy on my PC.

I think I've stumbled onto something that fixed it. :)
It's not the player's fault - it's a faulty nut at the keyboard, haha!

I ran the srt file through DivX Land Media Subtitler and it popped up with some errors.
I let it fix those and saved to srt, burned onto a DVD+RW and this time, the subs displayed. (after pressing the subtitle button on the remote).

I see that Media Subtitler changed some characters (such as music note symbols to "&") though.

It's getting late so I'll have to deal with that hopefully tomorrow.
Progress for me anyway! :D

Sorry, no info on that zoro.

Re firmware though, I've noticed I get different results on my DVI-based TV depending on what firmware is contained on these Pioneer players. Some will display 720p/1080i via the (HDCP-compliant) DVI input on my Sony 34XBR800 CRT, and some will not. The ones that do not display 720p/1080i are units that contain the latest firmware: YGB7516A.

Units with the older firmware, YGB73281, seem to work OK though for the most part via DVI on my TV.

According to Pioneer, units made between January and May of '07 should have shipped with the older firmware (though it's possible some resellers may have updated it). These older units have serial numbers beginning with GA, GB, GC, GD & GE. (GA=Jan, GB=Feb, and so on...) Models built in June through August should have the newer firmware (ie the one that does not work properly via DVI on my Sony TV), and serial numbers starting with GF, GG & GH. Serial numbers are listed on the outside of the box, and also on the back of the unit.
Serial Month Firmware 720p/1080i via
#: Mfr'd: Included: DVI on my TV:

GA... Jan 07 YGB73281
GB... Feb 07 YGB73281
GC... Mar 07 YGB73281
GD... Apr 07 YGB73281 Yes
GE... May 07 YGB73281

GF... Jun 07 YGB7516A No
GG... Jul 07 YGB7516A
GH... Aug 07 YGB7516A No
If you're having trouble getting this model to work on a DVI display, you might want to look for a unit with the older firmware (and avoid updating to the newer firmware for the time being).

(Tks to the OP for info on how to check the firmware version.)


I saw this problem with a newer manufactured unit (GG) when I was connected to a 40" LCD which only has a DVI (no HDMI and not HDCP compliant), this set is 3 years old. I was going to try to find an older version (with older firmware) but we were using it with one of our other displays.

Yesterday, I purchased a Onkyo TX-SR705 (has 1.3a HDMI support), connected my D* HD box to HDMI 1 and the Pioneer to HDMI 2, display connected to the 705 via a HDMI cable and HDMI to DVI converter). The Pioneer is now working on that display. I went through my DVD collection and have had no problems with any titles of have tried - and they look great with the Pioneer's upscaling.

I don't know what to make of this, perhaps there is some issues there that will be addressed in a future firmware update, though I doubt I will upgrade mine.

I got this player from BB today and found 16:9 Compress Mode is available on HDMI only and not on Component
(this was already in the manual which I did not notice earlier)
I would be mostly using component. It also does not do upconversion on component.
My be this is going back. I got it for a really good price after PM at BB.

..I would be mostly using component. It also does not do upconversion on component.
My be this is going back. ....


ASFAK All DVD/DivX players within the same price range that you can get in your local electronics stores do not do up-conversion via component. 480i/480p only. Up-conversion feature is only available via HDMI. Not sure about OPPO or similar to OPPO players. May be they do.

ASFAK All DVD/DivX players within the same price range that you can get in your local electronics stores do not do up-conversion via component. 480i/480p only. Up-conversion feature is only available via HDMI. Not sure about OPPO or similar to OPPO players. May be they do.

I agree. Upconvert is not may main issue. It's the pillar boxing feature which is missing on component.

My first post on these forums but thought I would give my experience with the DV-400V player.

I got my player through the local Radio Shack which got it by special order from Pioneer. I have had it for about 2 weeks or so. I have it connected by HDMI directly to my Samsung LN-4665f HDTV (love this tv by the way). I am quite satisfied with the Picture quality. It upscales to 1080P quite well on my HDTV.

Now the down side. As some have mentioned it's the sound. I have an older (maybe 4 years old) Yamaha HTR-5450 receiver which I have loved since i got it. Since the receiver lacks HDMI and the DV-400V only has Coaxial audio, I have it connected to the one Coaxial input on my receiver (it's labeled "CD", if that makes any difference). Any way with this hook up I get no surround sound through my 5.1 setup. Normally I get good sound. As an alternate connection I have gone from HDMI to my TV then from TV to Receiver with Optical. It comes in as Dolby pro-logic PCM. Some surround but not as good as the surround when viewing HD Cable.

Also, although the video is better on my Pioneer the sound from my older non upscale Sony DVD player is much better which comes in as digital.

I have tried all (I think all) audio combinations on my Pioneer but nothing helps.

I do like the remote and the onscreen display.

I am considering getting a new Onyko TX-SR705 receiver, both to help with this problem and because I want to upgrade anyway. From what I have read here on this forum I am not sure the new receiver will help.

Lonesomedave

Lonesomedave,

I'd guess the coaxial input labeled "CD" on your receiver is not surround sound capable. I'm just now putting together my 7.1 system and the 705 is on my short list of receivers. Go for the upgrade and you'll be golden.

OK guys, so i got my DV-400V and connected its HDMI output to my HDTV input and its coaxial digital output to my receiver's input (i bought an inexpensive JVC receiver to use in my dining/kitchen area that does not have HDMI inputs).
After making sure that i selected "HDMI RESOLUTION" at 1920x1080P and "HDMI DIGITAL AUDIO" to " ON", i get no sound from my speakers when watching dolby digital/DTS encoded dvds, and i found out that whenever one connects the DV-400V via HDMI to a tv that can accept such input, the audio coming through " COAXIAL DIGITAL OUTPUT" is DISABLED !!!! Damn you, Pioneer !
So now i'm stuck : either i connect the dvd player to my HDTV using analog video connections and bypass the HDMI connection (which doesn't make sense, since i made sure that my HDTV had HDMI inputs when i purchased it) and get dolby digital/DTS through the coaxial digital output from the DV-400V, or use the HDMI connection and not get any dolby digital/DTS through its coaxial digital output (which doesn't make sense either), or sell my JVC receiver and buy another receiver that has HDMI inputs (why should we be forced to do so due to poor implementation of basic features of a dvd player ?), or find another dvd player that outputs dolby digital/DTS through both its HDMI and coaxial digital and sell my brand-new Pioneer DV-400V ! .....Great, thanks Pioneer, the fun never ends....
I wonder now whether or not this applies to all dvd players that have HDMI outputs : when one uses the HDMI connection, all other digital audio output connections are automatically disabled ?
Any suggestions would be appreciated >>>
-------------------------------------------
Marcos

Has this been fixed via firmware upgrade? Otherwise, this player is a big no go for me. Gotta have the flexability to listen on TV, or Stereo.

thanks.

My first post on these forums but thought I would give my experience with the DV-400V player.

I got my player through the local Radio Shack which got it by special order from Pioneer. I have had it for about 2 weeks or so. I have it connected by HDMI directly to my Samsung LN-4665f HDTV (love this tv by the way). I am quite satisfied with the Picture quality. It upscales to 1080P quite well on my HDTV.

Now the down side. As some have mentioned it's the sound. I have an older (maybe 4 years old) Yamaha HTR-5450 receiver which I have loved since i got it. Since the receiver lacks HDMI and the DV-400V only has Coaxial audio, I have it connected to the one Coaxial input on my receiver (it's labeled "CD", if that makes any difference). Any way with this hook up I get no surround sound through my 5.1 setup. Normally I get good sound. As an alternate connection I have gone from HDMI to my TV then from TV to Receiver with Optical. It comes in as Dolby pro-logic PCM. Some surround but not as good as the surround when viewing HD Cable.

Also, although the video is better on my Pioneer the sound from my older non upscale Sony DVD player is much better which comes in as digital.

I have tried all (I think all) audio combinations on my Pioneer but nothing helps.

I do like the remote and the onscreen display.

I am considering getting a new Onyko TX-SR705 receiver, both to help with this problem and because I want to upgrade anyway. From what I have read here on this forum I am not sure the new receiver will help.

Lonesomedave

Have you tried setting the Pioneer's digital audio output to bitstream? I think that may be your problem. If you are sending it PCM, I believe that means the player has already decoded the stream and is sending the audio to your receiver. If you send it a bitstream signal, then the receiver will decode the audio stream as it's intended be it dolby digital or dts.

Does it has new firmware available?

Have you tried setting the Pioneer's digital audio output to bitstream? I think that may be your problem. If you are sending it PCM, I believe that means the player has already decoded the stream and is sending the audio to your receiver. If you send it a bitstream signal, then the receiver will decode the audio stream as it's intended be it dolby digital or dts.


My receiver has Dolby decoder and DTS in it also.

But these are my settings on my Player for the Initial Settings on Digital Audio Out

Digital Out-------------On

Dolby Digital OUt------Dolby Digital

DTS out-----------------DTS

96 kHz Out-------------96kHz

MPEG Out---------------MPEG

HDMI Out---------------Off

I am not sure what PCM does for the audio. I do seem to have some surround with it set to PCM on "Digital OUt".

And, of course, I get better sound, but not better surround sound on DTS with those DVDs that have DTS encoded. I am checking it now with the movie "Open Range" and the gun fight scene

Lonesomedave

Does it has new firmware available?

According to the above list, It is the latest build. Having the GH prefix on the SN.

Lonesomedave

Did any one compare this with oppo 980H?

My receiver has Dolby decoder and DTS in it also.

But these are my settings on my Player for the Initial Settings on Digital Audio Out

Digital Out-------------On

Dolby Digital OUt------Dolby Digital

DTS out-----------------DTS

96 kHz Out-------------96kHz

MPEG Out---------------MPEG

HDMI Out---------------Off

I am not sure what PCM does for the audio. I do seem to have some surround with it set to PCM on "Digital OUt".

And, of course, I get better sound, but not better surround sound on DTS with those DVDs that have DTS encoded. I am checking it now with the movie "Open Range" and the gun fight scene

Lonesomedave



Hi,

This is only a suggestion.

Connect the Coaxial audio from the Pioneer to the one Coaxial input on your receiver.

Only change your

HDMI Out---------------Off

to

HDMI Out---------------Auto

Leave the rest unchanged.


I believe you should get surround sound 5.1 now.

Hi,

This is only a suggestion.

Connect the Coaxial audio from the Pioneer to the one Coaxial input on your receiver.

Only change your

HDMI Out---------------Off

to

HDMI Out---------------Auto

Leave the rest unchanged.


I believe you should get surround sound 5.1 now.


Does putting HDMI Out = Auto allow for the audio to be sent to either out the HDMI, or the coax to the receiver? need to be able to hear it on both without having to go into the menu and change something everytime I want to hear the audio on the receiver.

My receiver has Dolby decoder and DTS in it also.

But these are my settings on my Player for the Initial Settings on Digital Audio Out

Digital Out-------------On

Dolby Digital OUt------Dolby Digital

DTS out-----------------DTS

96 kHz Out-------------96kHz

MPEG Out---------------MPEG

HDMI Out---------------Off

I am not sure what PCM does for the audio. I do seem to have some surround with it set to PCM on "Digital OUt".

And, of course, I get better sound, but not better surround sound on DTS with those DVDs that have DTS encoded. I am checking it now with the movie "Open Range" and the gun fight scene

Lonesomedave



Ooops. It looks like i misunderstood the user manual. I dont think my suggestion would work. Just disregard my earlier post.

My apologies. My bad.

Does putting HDMI Out = Auto allow for the audio to be sent to either out the HDMI, or the coax to the receiver? need to be able to hear it on both without having to go into the menu and change something everytime I want to hear the audio on the receiver.


I'm sorry but I have no idea.

I made the earlier suggestion when i was going through the user manual. I think HDMI Out should only affect the audio going out via HDMI. Which was not what Lonesomedave wanted.

I'm still using crt with component cable for my setup.

I'm sorry but I have no idea.

I made the earlier suggestion when i was going through the user manual. I think HDMI Out should only affect the audio going out via HDMI. Which was not what Lonesomedave wanted.

I'm still using crt with component cable for my setup.

Nope. I tried that. What I am doing now is to connect HDMI to my tv then connect by optical digital from TV to my receiver. I get surround but don't think it's 5.1

My old Sony which is not upscaling has better sound and 5.1 With that I go video with S-vidio and audio with Optical into my receiver and then s-vidio into my tv.

Lonesomedave

Thanks. Looks like I will go with the Sony NS77.

Guys,

I bought Pioneer DV 400V from Amazon and I got it today. I could play some of the mp3, images and divx files. however it could NOT play some divx/avi files from here

avsforums thread id 819468 (sorry couldn't post links as i am new here)

1080p got only audio. 480p said can't play the file. While playing the 1080p i got on the display saying that - ''the video resolution of this file is not supported". Did you anyone of you had similar issues with these files? Is there something wrong with my player or these files corrupted? (pc plays them fine, though)

Thanks. Looks like I will go with the Sony NS77.

Hi,

According to previous postings in this thread, dv-400 is able to send audio out to both hdmi and digital out. Read postings #163, #165, #180.

Nope. I tried that. What I am doing now is to connect HDMI to my tv then connect by optical digital from TV to my receiver. I get surround but don't think it's 5.1

My old Sony which is not upscaling has better sound and 5.1 With that I go video with S-vidio and audio with Optical into my receiver and then s-vidio into my tv.

Lonesomedave


I'm glad you figured out an acceptable compromise workaround for your setup.

I'm glad you figured out an acceptable compromise workaround for your setup.


Yes. I suppose. Just that I hate it when things don't work like I think they should. I do like the picture quality. I know some have thought it no up to snuff but to me it is fine.

I will upgrade my receiver I think. I am about to pull the trigger on the purchase of the Onyko TX-SR705. I knew I would have to do this eventually when I got my Samsung LN-4665F HDTV this May. (which is a fine LCD, by the way). Then if I can't do much better with that addition, I might get a different Player. But this time I will do more research. I thought I had before but it seems I had not.

thanks for the replies

Lonesomedave

I'm glad you figured out an acceptable compromise workaround for your setup.


Yes. I suppose. Just that I hate it when things don't work like I think they should. I do like the picture quality. I know some have thought it no up to snuff but to me it is fine.

I will upgrade my receiver I think. I am about to pull the trigger on the purchase of the Onyko TX-705

dave

Yes. I suppose. Just that I hate it when things don't work like I think they should. I do like the picture quality. I know some have thought it no up to snuff but to me it is fine.

I will upgrade my receiver I think. I am about to pull the trigger on the purchase of the Onyko TX-705

dave


My simple HT and LCD TV just arrived yesterday so was busy setting things up. BTW my dv400v-s is the asian version, therefore it has both coax and optical digital outs.

My dv400 does send audio to both the tv speakers(LPCM 2 CH) and the digital out(my receiver displays that the incoming audio is DD5.1 or DTS).

It can also play Mpeg4 (divx and xvid) files with subtitles that are muxed into the avi (ie extension .divx) or external subtitle files with extension .srt However, such files if viewed through hdmi set at 1080i (my tv cant do 1080p) give boxy pq. Acceptable pq is when hdmi set at 480p. Dvds look better at 1080i then 480p.

To solve my problem i connected the component output from dv400 to tv as well with component out set to Progressive (ie 480p).

I watch mpeg4 files with component out and dvd with hdmi. pq seems ok to me.

Just sharing what i've experienced so far with my dv400.

P.S.
How do you tell that your old receiver actually interprets that the digital signal it is getting as DD5.1 or DTS or ??? Is it shown on the receiver display?

If you do get the new receiver, hopefully it wont burn too big a hole in your wallet. :)

One thing about research, just when you thought you have covered all possibilities. Somehow after you've bought it, a few other things you didnt think of will invariablely pop out. Such is life.

I would like to know if there is any chance to found any firmware update for hack zone. I have zone 1 NTSC silver dv-400v made in taiwan. I have some zone 2 european movie dvd collection... I'm living in Canada.
I try this unit and I have good display with DVD and 1080p but with DivX 1080i is better than 1080p...
Anyway, in this two cases, DvD or DivX, is it just a very very very little better than my 29$ Kosch DvD/ivX cheapo player... and my Kosch is plugged with RCA plug !!!! Pioneer have HDMI expensive cable..
I have SONY BRAVIA 40V3000 TV
So if I can give you my really best opinion : DONT BUY THIS UNIT, or other one, upconverting/upscalling DVD player are ********, there is just a very very very very little improvement to compare with standard DvD/DivX player at 30$...

Having somewhat of a problem with my player. When I watch movies, every so often there will be a flash on the top half of the screen. It's hard to tell, but it looks like it's the actual frame, just moved up about half of a screen. When you rewind the flash will not be there again, so it seems like it is just a random thing.

Has anyone ever heard of this happening before? Right now I have it plugged in directly to my Samsung LNT4661F via a Monoprice 3' HDMI cable, outputting at 1080p. At first I thought it was the DVD I was watching, but I've since watched 2 or 3 others and they all have the same problem.

Any help is much appreciated!

-Chris

Having somewhat of a problem with my player. When I watch movies, every so often there will be a flash on the top half of the screen. It's hard to tell, but it looks like it's the actual frame, just moved up about half of a screen. When you rewind the flash will not be there again, so it seems like it is just a random thing.

Has anyone ever heard of this happening before? Right now I have it plugged in directly to my Samsung LNT4661F via a Monoprice 3' HDMI cable, outputting at 1080p. At first I thought it was the DVD I was watching, but I've since watched 2 or 3 others and they all have the same problem.

Any help is much appreciated!

-Chris

Well, swapped the HDMI cable with the 6' one I'm using with my PS3 and didn't have a glitch for the entire movie. I'm kind of disappointed it's the cable, I'd heard nothing but good things about monoprice cables.

Well, swapped the HDMI cable with the 6' one I'm using with my PS3 and didn't have a glitch for the entire movie. I'm kind of disappointed it's the cable, I'd heard nothing but good things about monoprice cables.

I had a problem with the HDMI cable I ordered from monoprice as well. Had it hooked up to a Pioneer 4271 and always had green screen issues. Installed a Cardas HDMI cable never had the problem again.

I had a problem with the HDMI cable I ordered from monoprice as well. Had it hooked up to a Pioneer 4271 and always had green screen issues. Installed a Cardas HDMI cable never had the problem again.

Ugh, turns out it's not the cable after all. It's HDMI port 2 on the TV. :mad:

I own the silver DV-400V. It's hooked up to my LG 42PC5D plasma via HMDI at 1080i with Full RGB mode selected. I calibrated the image using DVE disc, and I noticed the player clips the black level (does not pass blacker than black). Is this a known issue? If so, are they any firmware updates or menu settings to fix this problem? Thanks.

Does anyone own a DV-600AV? Looks like it's only available at B&H now.

My first post on these forums but thought I would give my experience with the DV-400V player.

I got my player through the local Radio Shack which got it by special order from Pioneer. I have had it for about 2 weeks or so. I have it connected by HDMI directly to my Samsung LN-4665f HDTV (love this tv by the way). I am quite satisfied with the Picture quality. It upscales to 1080P quite well on my HDTV.

Now the down side. As some have mentioned it's the sound. I have an older (maybe 4 years old) Yamaha HTR-5450 receiver which I have loved since i got it. Since the receiver lacks HDMI and the DV-400V only has Coaxial audio, I have it connected to the one Coaxial input on my receiver (it's labeled "CD", if that makes any difference). Any way with this hook up I get no surround sound through my 5.1 setup. Normally I get good sound. As an alternate connection I have gone from HDMI to my TV then from TV to Receiver with Optical. It comes in as Dolby pro-logic PCM. Some surround but not as good as the surround when viewing HD Cable.

Also, although the video is better on my Pioneer the sound from my older non upscale Sony DVD player is much better which comes in as digital.

I have tried all (I think all) audio combinations on my Pioneer but nothing helps.

I do like the remote and the onscreen display.

I am considering getting a new Onyko TX-SR705 receiver, both to help with this problem and because I want to upgrade anyway. From what I have read here on this forum I am not sure the new receiver will help.

Lonesomedave


An update on my audio problems with the Pioneer DV-400V player::

Saturday I purchased the Onkyo TX-SR705 receiver. I connected the 400V to it by HDMI, only, change some settings in the Audio menu of DVD player. Great sound. The 705 is a great receiver with lots of features. Good controls. Took care of my problem.

Lonesomedave

An update on my audio problems with the Pioneer DV-400V player::

Saturday I purchased the Onkyo TX-SR705 receiver. I connected the 400V to it by HDMI, only, change some settings in the Audio menu of DVD player. Great sound. The 705 is a great receiver with lots of features. Good controls. Took care of my problem.

Lonesomedave

Congrads and enjoy.

I own the silver DV-400V. It's hooked up to my LG 42PC5D plasma via HMDI at 1080i with Full RGB mode selected. I calibrated the image using DVE disc, and I noticed the player clips the black level (does not pass blacker than black). Is this a known issue? If so, are they any firmware updates or menu settings to fix this problem? Thanks.

Anybody have info on this?

Anybody have info on this?

My DV-400K hooked up to Panasonic plasma via HDMI. Black level is very good. My Panny never been calibrated and remains in stock manufacturer setup. I do not even know if I need more from black-level perspective. Very nice picture quality and black enough.

I thought I could share with you all....

I have had the chance to test many upconvert DVD players and let's just compare between Oppo DV-980HD, Phil DVP-5982, Sony DVPNS77, and this Pio DV-400V-K as I beleive they all have the "Mediatek" chip. Based on my own tests and 2 cent opinion:

Assuming my scale is from 1 to 10 (10 means most favorable):

1) Picture quality (upscaling quality and after some calibrations done):
Oppo DV-980HD - 10
Phil DVP-5982 - 8
Sony DVPNS77 B - 9
Pio DV-400V-K - 8.5 (slightly better than the Philips' one)

2) Ease to use:
Oppo DV-980HD - 9
Phil DVP-5982 - 9
Sony DVPNS77 B - 10
Pio DV-400V-K - 9

3) Features/options provided:
Oppo DV-980HD - 10
Phil DVP-5982 - 8 (was thinking of 7 but gave it 8 for after region-free hack)
Sony DVPNS77 B - 6
Pio DV-400V-K - 9

4) Pricewise (relative to quality and features):
Oppo DV-980HD - 7
Phil DVP-5982 - 10
Sony DVPNS77 B - 7
Pio DV-400V-K - 9.5

By the way I tested them on the Panasonic 42" 720p Plasma. As you can see from above, Oppo is the clear winner but overall I favor more on the Pio choice because I don't need all the great features that Oppo provides and I'm also cheap :-) (Pio's price is almost only 1/2 of the Oppo's). Hope this helps anyone still looking for the decent DVD player.

Cheers,
Govee

finally :
I found DiNDERI MODD FIRMWARE TO DEZONNE ANY ZONE DV-400V Pioneer DVD Player!!!
I modd the osd langage (OSD 2 - language 1 only) for english default
I modd the PalDY parameter in mtkwindows to 86 for sub at bottom
I burn the cookie... Put it in player... close tray, wait for update message and I push "enter"... DONT TOUCH ANYTHING NOW and few second and the player eject disc immediately, then REMOVE the disk and wait one minute... player close tray ITSELF... push the "enter" button and stay few seconds will player go power off.
Power on now and...... woooooooo E X C E L L E N T ! I have now a zone 1 multiregion player with VERY NICE FULL NAME MENU MOVIES
This is the link for this english default dinderi mod DV-400V Pioneer FW :
Download the file : http://www.badongo.com/file/4827000 or here : http://files-upload.com/files/585468/YGB7516A.BIN
you must see how to burn the cd to upgrade here : http://files-upload.com/files/585465/howtoburn.pdf
This is the link for forum dinderi about it
http://forum.pioneerdivx.net/tematy54/967,15.htm

I have had the chance to test many upconvert DVD players
....Assuming my scale is from 1 to 10 (10 means most favorable):

1) Picture quality (upscaling quality and after some calibrations done):
Oppo DV-980HD - 10
Phil DVP-5982 - 8
Sony DVPNS77 B - 9
Pio DV-400V-K - 8.5 (slightly better than the Philips' one)
.....


I also have had a chance to test Philips, Pioneer and Sony S77 before I finally ended up with Pioneer DV-400VK. I do not know if I could scale their picture quality, but I can simply say (per my own experience and my individual perception) that I did not notice difference in picture quality between those three players. All of them are decent players and equally good in regards to PQ and up-conversion. My tests were done on stock 42" Panasonic plasma TV set in "Normal" picture mode. I tested players via HDMI as well as Component connections. I only went with Pioneer because I need MPEG-4(DivX, XviD and etc.) playback and USB features. I did not go with Philips only because I had bad experience with their 642 model in the past and Philips' "user friendly" remote controls are making me sick. And I did not go with Sony because this model lock of feature and options that I was looking for. But generally they all are very good and equal in picture quality. IMO

I also have had a chance to test Philips, Pioneer and Sony S77 before I finally ended up with Pioneer DV-400VK. I do not know if I could scale their picture quality, but I can simply say (per my own experience and my individual perception) that I did not notice difference in picture quality between those three players. All of them are decent players and equally good in regards to PQ and up-conversion. ... generally they all are very good and equal in picture quality. IMO

True that their quality are almost the same as they use the same Mediateck chip anyway. However, I did notice some differences among them. Oppo is the best one out of 4 players. Sony S77 is also as good but lack of support features (divX avi, USBetc...) like you said. DV400V, on the other hand, is good but I had to spend a lot of time to adjust its settings (especially the video's). Right out of the box, it was set too dark IMO. After spending lot of time on it, I got the 400V to the same quality level of Sony S77 but no matter what I tried I could NOT get it up to Oppo 980 quality. Something is still "missing" there if you know what I mean. I usually use the Lord of the Rings and The DaVinci Code as bechmarks of my tests. IMO, the darker the scenes are, the worse the picture may show on player.

I like everything about the Oppo, but I did not pick it because of its double price compare to the Pio 400v with very minimum in pic quality difference.

Just my 2 cents.

Does anyone know if a Microsoft Zune will work with the USB port? I have seen posts referring to an iPod working but nothing about the Zune. Has anybody tried it?

finally :
I found DiNDERI MODD FIRMWARE TO DEZONNE ANY ZONE DV-400V Pioneer DVD Player!!!
I modd the osd langage (OSD 2 - language 1 only) for english default
I modd the PalDY parameter in mtkwindows to 86 for sub at bottom
I burn the cookie... Put it in player... close tray, wait for update message and I push "enter"... DONT TOUCH ANYTHING NOW and few second and the player eject disc immediately, then REMOVE the disk and wait one minute... player close tray ITSELF... push the "enter" button and stay few seconds will player go power off.
Power on now and...... woooooooo E X C E L L E N T ! I have now a zone 1 multiregion player with VERY NICE FULL NAME MENU MOVIES
This is the link for this english default dinderi mod DV-400V Pioneer FW :
Download the file : http://www.badongo.com/file/4827000
This is the link for forum dinderi about it
http://forum.pioneerdivx.net/tematy54/967,15.htm

Would you like to share instruction, re burn, install this firmware for R1 player, US born lol:Dthnx

I too purchased a DV-400V from Best Buy and despite not having a TV at the moment to hook it up to, I'd like to report on a few things about it that really has me excited.

The following info is taken right from the owners manual:

TV Aspect Ratio
4:3 (Letter Box)
4:3 (Pan & Scan)
16:9 (Wide)
16:9 (Compressed)

HDMI Resolution
720x480i (rare)
720x480p
1280x720p
1920x1080i
1920x1080p

Component Out
Interlaced
Progressive

HDMI Colorspace
Full range RGB
RGB
YCbCr (Default for HDMI) (Called "Component" in menu)

Video Adjust Menu
Sharpness (Soft, Standard, Fine)
Brightness (-20 to +20)
Contrast (-16 to +16)
Gamma (Off, Low, Medium, High)
Hue (Green 9 to Red 9)
Chroma Level (-9 to +9)

Audio DRC (Dynamic Range Control)
Off, Low, Medium, High

Virtual Surround
Off, On

Equalizer
Off, Rock, Pop, Live, Dance, Techno, Classic, Soft

Dialog Enhancement
Off, Low, Medium, High

Digital Out
Off, On

Dolby Digital Out
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital --> PCM

DTS Out
DTS
DTS --> PCM

96 kHz PCM Out
96 kHZ
96 kHz --> 48 kHz

MPEG Out
MPEG
MPEG --> PCM

HDMI Audio Out
LPCM (2CH)
Auto
Off

DTS Downmix
Stereo
Lt/Rt (compatible with Dolby surround matrix decoders)

General Features
Will do Zoom X2 and X4
Will play DivX, VCD, MP3, WMA, WMV (discs), MPEG-4 AAC, CD, JPEG, and of course DVD
Will display a multi camera/angle icon on-screen when it detects a multi-angle scene. (Defeatable)
USB input on front face
DVD/USB Button on player and remote
17 button functions on the player. (Full menu controls)

Downside: No Optical Out....Only digital coaxial out. This might be a big deal to some but not to me. My Audio system has Coax in and TV is HDMI.


A little more info....after removing the case, I found it to be using the MediaTek MT1389FE chip

Now I just have to hook it up and check picture quality.

By the way, BB had it for $30 more than what Pioneer was listing it for on their website :eek: . Once I pointed that out and they checked Pioneer's site, they gladly beat that price.


Anyone else out there that has tried this unit out yet ???

http://www.mrmdvd.com/catalog/images/dv400vk.jpg

I haven't but it looks like this one is tough...

After researching the Pioneer 400 and the Philips 5982; I think I will be paying more for the Pioneer.

I wont be using it for HDMI upscaling or anything, really just to utilize the different file formats it supports. Another factor for me is he quality of the brand.

I owned three Philips DVP642 and two of them broke, the menu system is sluggish and from the sounds of it thats what I'll get with the 5982.

Does anyone know which hard drives or flash drives work best with the Pioneer 400? I was thinking about buying a Western Digital external or getting a hard drive with an enclosure.

Thanks,

After researching the Pioneer 400 and the Philips 5982; I think I will be paying more for the Pioneer.

I wont be using it for HDMI upscaling or anything, really just to utilize the different file formats it supports. Another factor for me is he quality of the brand.

I owned three Philips DVP642 and two of them broke, the menu system is sluggish and from the sounds of it thats what I'll get with the 5982.

Does anyone know which hard drives or flash drives work best with the Pioneer 400? I was thinking about buying a Western Digital external or getting a hard drive with an enclosure.

Thanks,

Any Flash drive or hard drive is fine but it has to be FAT16 or FAT32 format. NTFS won't work.

Use DINDERI FIRMWARE HERE http://forum.pioneerdivx.net/ in download section (firmware is in polish default language) or if you prefer I had modd the polish for english default and subb at bottom HERE http://www.badongo.com/file/4827000 and here http://files-upload.com/files/585468/YGB7516A.BIN ( I modd it because dinderi have subb on top...) This is what this modd firmware do : http://forum.pioneerdivx.net/tematy54/976.htm
Use this step to burn cookie : http://files-upload.com/files/585465/howtoburn.pdf (sorry, you must do it like pictures show, its polish language...)
When the cookie is burned (CD ONLY):
-Put the cookie in the player
-close tray and wait for update message with grey band
-push "enter"... and DONT TOUCH ANYTHING NOW
After few second the player eject disc itself, then just REMOVE the disk and wait...
-The player close tray ITSELF... and power off
Power on and hold "enter" button and stay few seconds will player go power off.
Do a Power on now and...... You have now a multiregion player with VERY NICE FULL NAME MENU MOVIES
To activate multizone you must gentle hold "enter" and let the player go off
The firmware have some curious accents in french like ,e or o in some DivX subb movie srt or sub or txt, but nothing annoying and not in DvD. It run with perfection on dvd divx mp3 or USB etc. YOU CAN DEZONNE ANY ZONE PLAYER WITH IT, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, ntsc or pal.
Enjoy. I dont know anything about macrovision...
Michel T

NB: With original firmware, or this excellent modd firmware, my player doensn't accep my 2,5 laptop drive... I have seagate 80gig 7200 PATA with fat32 LBA and Hitashi 100gig SATA with fat 32 LBA too. No success with this drive...
ZORO EXCUSE MY POOR ENGLISH

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks/pioneer-dv-400v/8351

region hack info

I've been hearing that the Philips player only allows external hard drives that have their own power source; is that the case with the Pioneer?

The Passport line of Western Digital drives use power through the USB. I hope hoping for something small like that, but i suppose physical size doesn't matter too much.

Damn, I just called my nearest BestBuy and they said they cant price match the manufactures website price.

Use DINDERI FIRMWARE HERE http://forum.pioneerdivx.net/ in download section (firmware is in polish default language) or HERE http://www.badongo.com/file/4827000 and here http://www.badongo.com/file/-1311494912 (I modd dinderi for english default, and subtitle at bottom) because dinderi have subb on top...This is what this modd firmware do : http://forum.pioneerdivx.net/tematy54/976.htm
Use this step to burn cookie : http://www.badongo.com/file/-1311495045 (sorry, you must do it like pictures show, its polish language...)
When the cookie is burned (CD ONLY):
-Put the cookie in the player
-close tray and wait for update message with grey band
-push "enter"... and DONT TOUCH ANYTHING NOW
After few second the player eject disc itself, then just REMOVE the disk and wait...
-The player close tray ITSELF... and power off
Power on and hold "enter" button and stay few seconds will player go power off.
Do a Power on now and...... You have now a multiregion player with VERY NICE FULL NAME MENU MOVIES
To activate multizone you must gentle hold "enter" and let the player go off
The firmware have some curious accents in french like ,e or o in some DivX subb movie srt or sub or txt, but nothing annoying and not in DvD. It run with perfection on dvd divx mp3 or USB etc. YOU CAN DEZONNE ANY ZONE PLAYER WITH IT, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, ntsc or pal.
Enjoy. I dont know anything about macrovision...
Michel T

NB: With original firmware, or this excellent modd firmware, my player doensn't accep my 2,5 laptop drive... I have seagate 80gig 7200 PATA with fat32 LBA and Hitashi 100gig SATA with fat 32 LBA too. No success with this drive...
ZORO EXCUSE MY POOR ENGLISH

NP! dude! It seems pretty cumbersome!First, how do I make this FW into English, and then burn install! Could you provide, modified English firmware including English instructions , upload for us with US player?

I would have appreciated a REMOTE CONTROL hack, preferably for ease!

NP! dude! It seems pretty cumbersome!First, how do I make this FW into English, and then burn install! Could you provide, modified English firmware including English instructions , upload for us with US player?
I would have appreciated a REMOTE CONTROL hack, preferably for ease!

I have a NTSC region 1 US player, I'm in canada... you have all info in my last post.
You can find my personaly english default here (english language extracted from original firmware) : http://www.badongo.com/file/4827000 or here : http://files-upload.com/files/585468/YGB7516A.BIN
It run on any region PAL or NTSC and with my NTSC region 1 perfectly
This is the link where to find the steps to burn your cookie : here http://files-upload.com/files/585465/howtoburn.pdf (see pictures, we don't Kerr of polish text). Remote control hack is a ********. This is a safe way than any other hack. See my precedent post to complete instructions. Go AhEaD AnD MaKe YoUr DaY
MiChEl T

Damn, I just called my nearest BestBuy and they said they cant price match the manufactures website price.


Buy it from J&R or B&H online for $90.

Sorry, i thought i had edited my post.

Suspecting the guy i spoke to at Best Buy just gave me that answer to get me off the phone I called another Best Buy which quickly told me they would price match it.

I've watched two things on the player so far and I love it. I enjoy it so much im thinking about getting another one for downstairs. I was going to get a Sandisk TakeTV, but this plays for file formats.

I forgot to turn my receiver (Sony STR-DA333ES) off one night, and was awakened to the sound of deafening static coming from the system. I've since had it happen a few other times as well - once or twice when the screensaver kicked in. Basically, audio is fine most of the time, until the DVD player is idle. Then there's a chance for the horrible static to start.

Is this a problem with my receiver? Or with the DVD player? It doesn't seem to happen with any of the other digital channels.

Second, despite setting output to 1080p and piping it to my Sharp 52D92U set to dot-by-dot, DVDs seem to always show up as windowboxed rather than letterboxed or pillarboxed. I then have to use one of the stretch or zoom modes, which sorta defeats the purpose of the initial 1080p upscaling. What's up with this?

I will post my results / make more comprehensive instructions if i succeed.

I have downloaded the firmware, the player sees the disc, ejects it and nothing happens. i put a region 2 dvd and it doesn't work...

i did everything in the previous posts and i can't make it work on the US player. help!

it works!!!! i'm watching bernie from europe!

Hey dudes, this firmware is number one, I updated my player from polish language... and I don't understand any polish... I modd myself this dinderi polish firmware for english default language (from original fw) and tweaked the subb to have it at bottom on TV. That's it what I did for you. You can thanks me, I love it ! :Smile:
But warning : If you doesn't have any other region dvd movies don't lost your time, if you don't understand anything about hacking don't lost your time go to wal mart and buy a candy ! But If you prefer You can modd yourself the default language for any other language with MTKRemaker (you must extract the OSD language2 from original one) you can modd too the subbtitle with MTKWindow (adjust the PAdlY under 86 like 96 or someone). Go AhEaD AnD MaKe YoUr ****InG DaY

I have a NTSC region 1 US player, I'm in canada... you have all info in my last post.
You can find my personaly english default here (english language extracted from original firmware) : http://www.badongo.com/file/4827000 or here : http://files-upload.com/files/585468/YGB7516A.BIN
It run on any region PAL or NTSC and with my NTSC region 1 perfectly
This is the link where to find the steps to burn your cookie : here http://files-upload.com/files/585465/howtoburn.pdf (see pictures, we don't Kerr of polish text). Remote control hack is a ********. This is a safe way than any other hack. See my precedent post to complete instructions. Go AhEaD AnD MaKe YoUr DaY
MiChEl T

Hey Mikele! Thanks again! What do you mean by burning cookies? is it burning this your modified dloaded firmware to CD?

I think I got it! Now I have a big python as screen saver? BTW, but my sub titles on dvd are sscrewed up, have gone up, and partially cropped, please advise? guys how to fix it?

Cookie = cd... the little problem for sub with dvd is only with few one, not with all and this is not annoying. for now there is no change from author. dinderi will make soon an other firmware with more function but for now we have to wait. I tried my player since one week and it run very at the best. Python is amazing... there is an original firmware on dinderi site if you want to go back here : http://forum.pioneerdivx.net/dload.htm?action=category&id=8 and you can modd yourself if this is really a problem for you check here : http://forum.pioneerdivx.net/tematy54/1031.htm

Hey Mikele! Thanks again! What do you mean by burning cookies? is it burning this your modified dloaded firmware to CD?
I think I got it! Now I have a big python as screen saver? BTW, but my sub titles on dvd are sscrewed up, have gone up, and partially cropped, please advise? guys how to fix it?

Cookie = cd... the little problem for sub with dvd is only with few one, not with all and this is not annoying. for now there is no change from author. dinderi will make soon an other firmware with more function but for now we have to wait. I tried my player since one week and it run very at the best. Python is amazing... there is an original firmware on dinderi site if you want to go back here : http://forum.pioneerdivx.net/dload.htm?action=category&id=8 and you can modd yourself if this is really a problem for you check here : http://forum.pioneerdivx.net/tematy54/1031.htm

Thanks again! for all your help Mikele! I look forward Dinderi fixing this occasional sub title issue! I have a couple R2 dvds, that I tried!

I think he tried fixing divx sub title issue and dvd got screwed up! but never mind! we will wait!

btw I can not download orig firmware, could you please help?

Is this forum English or ? Language?

Original firmware from dinderi website for you : http://files-upload.com/files/588539/dv-400originalfirmware.rar
I never tried it, I just used for taking original OSD2 english language with MTKRemaker... not sure but I think this firmware is OK and for all region.


Thanks again! for all your help Mikele! I look forward Dinderi fixing this occasional sub title issue! I have a couple R2 dvds, that I tried!
I think he tried fixing divx sub title issue and dvd got screwed up! but never mind! we will wait!
btw I can not download orig firmware, could you please help?
Is this forum English or ? Language?

Original firmware from dinderi website for you : http://files-upload.com/files/588539/dv-400originalfirmware.rar
I never tried it, I just used for taking original OSD2 english language with MTKRemaker... not sure but I think this firmware is OK and for all region.

I can not thank you enough for your time and effort for helping us out here~

Your presence is an asset! I tried to register for forum, but never recieved any confirmation email..waiting! I will join you there! I like your python firmware! except issue with one of my dvd subs!

Are their special instructions to burn this ORIG version and then install?

If it is not multiregion, then I can always go back to Dineris, and may be he will give us fixed one!

thanks again! btw, I hope USB, mp3/divx stuff works with dineri's? I did not check yet! Please keep on stopping by here!

zoro I never used this original firmware and unfortunately I can't tell you anything about this except its the same step for burning and installing than the modd. For me the problem with sub are secondary and very not annoying and I don't have any trouble with USB or mp3 or anything other. I have some DvD and no problem with sub exept some accent in french but nothing annoying. I hope this forum help the DV-400V pioneer users. Thanks for your thanks : ))
I can not thank you enough for your time and effort for helping us out here~
Your presence is an asset! I tried to register for forum, but never recieved any confirmation email..waiting! I will join you there! I like your python firmware! except issue with one of my dvd subs!
Are their special instructions to burn this ORIG version and then install?
If it is not multiregion, then I can always go back to Dineris, and may be he will give us fixed one!
thanks again! btw, I hope USB, mp3/divx stuff works with dineri's? I did not check yet! Please keep on stopping by here!

Hi

The firmware works on the US Region 1 NTSC player. At first I thought it didn't, and I had a panic. But then I realized I had not presses and held the ENTER button on the remote control after the player restarted from the Firmware update.

Now it works and I am SOOOOOO happy, I can now watch my region 2 DVD's for work!

Thanks to everyone who worked on this firmware, especially Dinderi!

Lawrence

Hi

The firmware works on the US Region 1 NTSC player. At first I thought it didn't, and I had a panic. But then I realized I had not presses and held the ENTER button on the remote control after the player restarted from the Firmware update.

Now it works and I am SOOOOOO happy, I can now watch my region 2 DVD's for work!

Thanks to everyone who worked on this firmware, especially Dinderi!

Lawrence

Lawrence, did you try your R2 dvds? are subtitles switched to top?

I just picked one of these up last night, and I'm already having issues. I bought an HDMI to DVI cable (not adapter), and the best I can do is 480P using that. My TV doesn't have HDMI, so I'm forced to use DVI. I know 720P will work on DVI, cuz I had my Xbox 360 running at 720P. I also know that the older firmware for the DV-400V allows for 720P via DVI, but unfortunately I have the newest firmware.

Here's my question... Was anyone able to get a DV-400V to work on DVI at 720P? Keep in mind, I'm talking about with the new firmware.

TIA,
WG

I recently purchased a Samsung lnt-5271 lcd and have the pioneer DV-400 hooked up via HDMI. It plays great at 480p but when I change it to 720p/1080i or 1080p I get white specks/dots on the screen (looks like snow falling). Any ideas what could be causing this?

Thanks in advance.

back to the store, return for an other dv-400 player

I recently purchased a Samsung lnt-5271 lcd and have the pioneer DV-400 hooked up via HDMI. It plays great at 480p but when I change it to 720p/1080i or 1080p I get white specks/dots on the screen (looks like snow falling). Any ideas what could be causing this?
Thanks in advance.

Zoro , my (DVD *not divx*) subtitles are switched to the top (PAL & NTSC MOVIES).
http://img61.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cgs1va5.jpg
Most of my movie collection is subtitled and PAL.
Been messing around with MTKwindows with no luck.
Have original firmware backed up might re-flash it and take player back.
Love this player but I need my subs at the bottom of the screen.

WITH MY ENGLISH FIRMWARE MODD Just select russian or 'tr' or 'hu' for the subtitles language on Initial Settings Menu and the font will be bigger and the subtitles are in a position that seems the best. After that, select your language subtitle with remote only.

Zoro , my (DVD *not divx*) subtitles are switched to the top (PAL & NTSC MOVIES).
http://img61.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cgs1va5.jpg
Most of my movie collection is subtitled and PAL.
Been messing around with MTKwindows with no luck.
Have original firmware backed up might re-flash it and take player back.
Love this player but I need my subs at the bottom of the screen.

WITH MY ENGLISH FIRMWARE MODD Just select russian or 'tr' or 'hu' for the subtitles language on Initial Settings Menu and the font will be bigger and the subtitles are in a position that seems the best. After that, select your language subtitle with remote only.

so what you saying, i can go after new dragon firmware into initial settings with remote, select russian as subtitles, and then change to English during play back?

Didn't work.
My DVD subs (for a Regular DVD, not DIVX) is at the top of my screen still.
I think you are confusing subtitles for Divx Subtitles.
Some languages are too low or all the way at the top.
something is wrong.

I don't understand what you did exactly. With this modd firmware you are supposed to have subb at the bottom, not completely at bottom but perfect with region 1 and 2 DvDs. In my case I have subb at bottom on dvds and i have this modd fw installed.
So, remember you can modd it yourself with MTKwindows Check the dinderi english forum to learn more about this, thats can help you. You can reinstall the original fw too...

Didn't work.
My DVD subs (for a Regular DVD, not DIVX) is at the top of my screen still.
I think you are confusing subtitles for Divx Subtitles.
Some languages are too low or all the way at the top.
something is wrong.

Still at top of the screen, what 0x?? do I modify to change height of DVD subs (not Divx Subs). I can fix it if I knew what number it was.

so what you saying, i can go after new dragon firmware into initial settings with remote, select russian as subtitles, and then change to English during play back?

Hi Mikele! Is this the way to fix it?

Zoro , yes that works for Divx subs not DVD subs.
Some DVD movies subs are still at the top of the screen.
I'm taking mine back. I knew this player was too good to be true (1080p/WMV/Divx/DTS/region free) :-P

ZORO / BORNSLIPY / all other
WARNING CHECK MY LAST POST after this ONE. IN MY NEXT POST THERE IS THE LAST V1.1 HAKAN/Dinderi/me! update
I founded "hakan" brand new region modded firmware named YGB7821A and I tweaked it to have perfect subb at bottom and "dinderi" skin/menu skins background. This multiregion pal/ntsc firmware doesnt have any issue with accent and it run perfectly on USB, DivX and DvD. the subb are at p e r f e c t bottom. There is here just for you from me hakan v1: http://files-upload.com/files/613019/YGB7821A.BIN or here http://www.badongo.com/file/5100928
MichelT à MontreaL
Zoro , yes that works for Divx subs not DVD subs.
Some DVD movies subs are still at the top of the screen.
I'm taking mine back. I knew this player was too good to be true (1080p/WMV/Divx/DTS/region free) :-P

ZORO / BORNSLIPY / all other
I founded "hakan" brand new region modded firmware named YGB7821A and I tweaked it to have perfect subb at bottom and "dinderi" skin/menu skins background. This multiregion pal/ntsc firmware doesnt have any issue with accent and it run perfectly on USB, DivX and DvD. the subb are at p e r f e c t bottom. There is here just for you from me : http://files-upload.com/files/613019/YGB7821A.BIN or here http://www.badongo.com/file/5100928
MichelT à Montreal

mikele! you are the man!! many thanks!I will try tomorrow and report!

And this is my last version of hkan 1.1 made today with srt bug fixed and UOP disabled (FBI warning).
I tweak the subtitle at perfect bottom off the screen and I put the dragoon and dinderi menu skin inside : hakan/Me v1.1

http://files-upload.com/files/615482/YGB7821A.BIN
or here
http://www.badongo.com/file/5112779
and readme file from hkan :
http://files-upload.com/files/617472/Readme.txt

MiChElT a MoNtReAl

so which version should I use mikele? first posted or second(recent)

Please do not distribute my firmware’s without the read me file that’s included in the zip file that the modified firmware comes with, found at www.pioneerfaq.info ! Also remember by using this modified firmware your warranty is voided!

so mikele looks like, dinderi/hikin/u comb s 1.1 way to go?

Didn't read through all the posts. Just got this sucker and haven't got it home yet. Does anyone know if you can play DVDs filled with MP3s?

zoro I'm not sure what you mean exactly...
so mikele looks like, dinderi/hikin/u comb s 1.1 way to go?

zoro I'm not sure what you mean exactly...

Sorry! I downloaded both of these firmwares from ur posts, so should I use(2) or first one?

zoro use this last v1.1 :
http://files-upload.com/files/615482/YGB7821A.BIN
or same but in another server here :
http://www.badongo.com/file/5112779
readmefile
http://files-upload.com/files/617472/Readme.txt
Sorry! I downloaded both of these firmwares from ur posts, so should I use(2) or first one?

zoro use this last v1.1 :
http://files-upload.com/files/615482/YGB7821A.BIN
or same but in another server here :
http://www.badongo.com/file/5112779

Thnx for clarifying, i assume directions for burn install are same like orig dinderi, dragon version that we installed . Is it?

zoro see the readme file. this is not primary school there:rolleyes: and you're not insane... ?

Thnx for clarifying, i assume directions for burn install are same like orig dinderi, dragon version that we installed . Is it?

zoro see the readme file. this is not primary school there:rolleyes: and you're not insane... ?


Sorry! Mikele!! I understand! Read me file was not available man! I am sorry if I challenged your patience to the max!

With all my left over sanity I thank you very much being here and helping a couple insane ones too!

Any how, I used same old instructions, it did work!:D GUI, is new I guess, colorful like DENON, looks nifty!

Please do not give up! keep visiting here!thanks again!:o

I did the Hakan 1.1 firmware update and so far it's been working OK. The dragon background looks kinda cool; however, the Pioneer FAQ screensave looks kinda ugly. The "Pioneer FAQ" word got cut-off at the bottom and it's tilted with an 10% angle. Anyone else sees what I'm seeing? Wish to have a better screen saver image in the future firmware release!

Just my 2 cents!
Govee

any major differences between the latest hacked firmware vs the original? Other than the Divx subtitles looking different and screensaver etc?

See this Audioholics article on Dolby versus DTS.

DTS has always been a step higher in audio quality compared to Dolby Digital on most DVD's sampled.


I see after buying my DV400-V that the DTS is forced to downsample from 96khz to 48khz. If the DVD is encoded with 96khz DTS, then why mess with it? Is this simply to cripple the player? Afterall, why not just output the DTS unchanged from the DVD? Can one hack the firmware to get this feature back?

The above article didn't seem to mention 48khz vs 96khz. Any opinions on that?

If you're having trouble getting this model to work on a DVI display, you might want to look for a unit with the older firmware (and avoid updating to the newer firmware for the time being).

(Tks to the OP for info on how to check the firmware version.)

hmmm seems I am experiencing similar to this ADU. I have a bit of messy set up and am running a PC and the Pioneer DV-400V into a brand new Dell 2407WFP-HC 24" widescreen monitor. The Dell has both DVI and Component inputs (sadly no HDMI) and is capable of 1080p through the DVI input apparently. Thought I'd run the PC through DVI and the Pioneer through component into it initially. However, was really disappointed with the picture from the DVD through component so thought I'd give it a whirl using an HDMI-DVI adaptor and try 1080p upscaling via HDMI to DVI. Alas, anything above changing the HDMI resolution from 576p doesnt seem to want to be displayed. Would have been half happy getting 720p even! Further to this I went out and bought a decent direct HDMI - DVI lead and still had no enjoy. Obviously this could well be related to the firmware issue as described above.

I don't suppose anyone knows of any other way round this or a way of replacing the current firmware with the older version? Would be really pleased if poss as movies just look so poor which has quite suprised me, although maybe I have bitten off more than I can chew with my overall arrangement!!

I see after buying my DV400-V that the DTS is forced to downsample from 96khz to 48khz. If the DVD is encoded with 96khz DTS, then why mess with it? Is this simply to cripple the player? Afterall, why not just output the DTS unchanged from the DVD?

I think you may be confused. If you're outputting the DTS bitstream from the player for your receiver to decode, the player won't mess with it. So if your receiver supports DTS 96/24, you'll get 96/24.

But if the player is doing its own DTS decode, either through the analogue outputs, or outputting PCM up the HDMI, then you'll get 48kHz output because its on-board decoder doesn't support the 96kHz extension.

(DTS 96/24 is backwards-compatible with normal DTS - it's a 1536kbps stream where 75% of the data is standard DTS that will be decoded by a standard decoder, and the other 25% is extra information used to reconstruct a 96kHz signal).

hmmm seems I am experiencing similar to this ADU. I have a bit of messy set up and am running a PC and the Pioneer DV-400V into a brand new Dell 2407WFP-HC 24" widescreen monitor.Firmware might be one possibility. But is the Dell display HDCP compliant? Not sure how the standards work in your area, but Region 1 players will not upconvert regular commercial DVDs to 720p/1080i/1080p unless the display they're attached to is HDCP compliant.

I no longer have the DV-400V btw. It wasn't a bad player, but there are some other devices I think'll be a better fit for me instead.

We look forward some input by mikele Dude here!

Thanks for your input ADU - I can confirm the DVI on the Dell is HDCP compliant

ok, I haven't read thru all of the thread, but I just hooked up a DV-400V-k to my Panasonic TH-50PX60U, set at 1080p, and using the best HDMI cable I could find (audio goes to my Yamaha).
fyi, I also have an older Pioneer hooked in with Component video.

The reason I bought the upconverting DV-400V was because I thought I was being smart , waiting out the winner if Blu-Ray and HD-DVD and thought I would get a bigger bang than my older DVD player.

Ok, so what's the deal ?
to my 'untrained' eye, I was expecting to be wowed or at least notice a difference.
I moved the DVD from one player to another watching the same scene over and over to try to justify why I bought this new player.

So, I am asking all of you guys out there, what should I be expecting ? Maybe I set something wrong, or don't know what to look for or simply had the wrong expectations.
thanks in advance for your input.

The aspirin effect into intravenous is immediate but it is dangerous for our health:o

ok, I haven't read thru all of the thread, but I just hooked up a DV-400V-k to my Panasonic TH-50PX60U, set at 1080p, and using the best HDMI cable I could find (audio goes to my Yamaha).
fyi, I also have an older Pioneer hooked in with Component video.
The reason I bought the upconverting DV-400V was because I thought I was being smart , waiting out the winner if Blu-Ray and HD-DVD and thought I would get a bigger bang than my older DVD player.
Ok, so what's the deal ?
to my 'untrained' eye, I was expecting to be wowed or at least notice a difference.
I moved the DVD from one player to another watching the same scene over and over to try to justify why I bought this new player.
So, I am asking all of you guys out there, what should I be expecting ? Maybe I set something wrong, or don't know what to look for or simply had the wrong expectations.
thanks in advance for your input.

Mikele,
you most have gotten your forums confused,
this is AVS forum, not WebMD,:)

if you have any practical advice on my posting however, please reply or PM me,
thanks

....So, I am asking all of you guys out there, what should I be expecting ? .

thechase789,
First of .. your the_best_HDMI cable will not benefit at all over not_the_best one. IMHO!
Second ..for your particular Panasonic model the best (and maximum) setting of DV-400V upconversion is 720p. Any upconvesion settings above 720p will not benefit and even (in some cases) can make picture quality worse. Your Panasonic TV (mine is the same one) will downscale anything above 720p to its native resolution (which is 768 pixels of vertical resolution). I hope this helps and does make sense to you.

S.Brudzinsky,
thanks, I'll set it to 720P and give it a try.

S.Brudzinsky,
thanks, I'll set it to 720P and give it a try.

thechase789,
I would suggest even set it to 480p as a first try and see how picture will look to you then. Even use of 720p mode may not really be necessary. Panasonic plasma TV does good up-scaling job itself (per my own experience with) so I do not see a critical needs to use player’s upconversion feature. In many cases 480p and 720p are look identical to me. Player’s Progressive modes (480p / 720p) will de-interlace video and your Panasonic will do the rest by up-scaling incoming (de-interlaced by player) video signal in to its native resolution. This mutual process (player’ de-interlacing job + TV up-scaling job) will result in good near HD quality video. Using 1080i and/or even 1080p upconversion DVD player settings for HDTV with only 768 pixels of vertical resolution may result in degraded picture quality due to downsampling/downscaling (whatever you name it) process. Just my thoughts and opinion.

In the "display settings" section of the "home menu", what is the difference between "full range RGB" and "RGB"?

...but Region 1 players will not upconvert regular commercial DVDs to 720p/1080i/1080p unless the display they're attached to is HDCP compliant...

Would making the player "region free" change this in anyway?

In the "display settings" section of the "home menu", what is the difference between "full range RGB" and "RGB"?

"Full range RGB" setting in HDMI color section is for - If colors of the viewing video are weak, this gives brighter colors and deeper black. Just one of the PQ enhancement feature.
"RGB" setting if colors appear overly rich on the Full Range RGB setting. Just scale down setting of "Full range RGB".

Is it possible that "full range RGB" would contribute to an overly dark picture? For example I watched Ocean's 13 the other night and during the dark scenes all detail was lost in the dark areas of the screen, i.e big blobs of black instead of a dark suit or detailed shadows. I have only noticed this when watching a DVD, otherwise the TV does an OK job with dark scenes considering it is an RP LCD.

Is it possible that "full range RGB" would contribute to an overly dark picture? .

Yes. Very possible. If your original video is in a good picture quality then no adjustments to HDMI color settings are needed. Keep it default (which is "Component colors" if I can recall this correctly).

SB I appreciate the replies.

I changed it from "full Range RGB" to component, which, according to the manual is the default for HDMI devices and it does look better.

The manual really doesn't elaborate what the difference between RGB and Component is though.

SB I appreciate the replies....

No problem 68rustang! Enjoy Pio DV-400VK. Very good quality player for its price.

After searching this post concerning the sound output of the DV-400, can anyone clarify whether the unit can be set up to output 5.1 sound from the coax to a receiver and at the same time output both video and 2 channel sound from the HDMI? This would allow listening to full theater sound with video or send both audio and video directly to the TV in the event theater sound isn't wanted.

Second question, any requirements on the TV side for up conversion to work?

Thanks.

...any requirements on the TV side for up conversion to work? ....

HDTV type TV with HDMI input. Pioneer DV-400V-K only outputting up-converted video through HDMI only. Nothing else comes to my mind that TV should require on its end for up-conveted signal support.

Does anyone know if it is possible to change the time display format on DV 400 front panel from default mm:ss to hh:mm:ss e.g. 1:20:30 instead of 80:30? Thanks!

Does anyone know if it is possible to change the time display format on DV 400 front panel from default mm:ss to hh:mm:ss e.g. 1:20:30 instead of 80:30? Thanks!

I personally do not think it is possible. I never saw time display format change option in DV-400V menu and I do not see even a room for displaying HH:MM:ss format on the front panel display.

...can anyone clarify whether the unit can be set up to output 5.1 sound from the coax to a receiver and at the same time output both video and 2 channel sound from the HDMI?

Yes it can but there isn't any set-up needed other than plugging in the cables. I've had mine set up this way from the start.

Can anyone fast forward more than 1 speed on a divx video off a CD? I can only do one speed, and it isn't that fast. That's very, very lame. I often watch videos and leave and then pick up days or weeks later. I have to FF through to the part where I left off. At the slow FF speed I have it would take a while...

Seems really odd since my DVP642 could FF much faster...

EDIT: Ok it looks like it will FF faster but not show any indicator of what level of FF you are on...

Just bought one and love the pq, but am having trouble with a number of formats. Has anyone found any workaround for playing .mpg files? Sorry, newbie here, but is there such thing as firmware hacks which allow for playing different formats such as mpeg2 (?) in this case?

Lastly, what's the average load times for initial startup and usb drive loadup? It takes a good while once I press the power button and it takes forever with a 2GB thumb drive before finally listing the files. Thanks.

Pioneer DV-400V does not play ".mpg" files. You have to convert them into VCD format (if mpg or mpeg file is MPEG-1) or DVD-Video (if file is MPEG-2). Or just use Microsoft Media Encoder 9 (freeware from Microsooft) and create .WMV file from mpeg. DV-400V can play Windows Media Video (.WMV) format.

Pioneer DV-400V does not play ".mpg" files. You have to convert them into VCD format (if mpg or mpeg file is MPEG-1) or DVD-Video (if file is MPEG-2). Or just use Microsoft Media Encoder 9 (freeware from Microsooft) and create .WMV file from mpeg. DV-400V can play Windows Media Video (.WMV) format.

Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a try. Too bad though, even my 3 year old mintek will play mpegs.

... Too bad though, even my 3 year old mintek will play mpegs.

Every player has its good sides and bad sides, advantages and disadvantages. At least Pioneer can play WMV files. As far as I know there is no player around the same price rage capable playing back WMV format. If you more concern about ability of playing pure MPEGs then I could only recommend to get Philips DVP-5982/37 instead.

Every player has its good sides and bad sides, advantages and disadvantages. At least Pioneer can play WMV files. As far as I know there is no player around the same price rage capable playing back WMV format. If you more concern about ability of playing pure MPEGs then I could only recommend to get Philips DVP-5982/37 instead.

That's what I guessed. I was actually thinking about picking one up to have both since the phillips is so cheap.

Any ideas why my External WD passport 160GB HDD wont work over USB? a Thumb drive works perfectly, the drive is formatted as Fat 32, and I have read online people being succussful with the exact same setup as me.
The drive turns on, but never starts to spin and never shows up on the screen like a thumb drive. Any help would be great!!!!!!! Please!!!!!!
So what I want is my Pioneer DV400 bought on Nov 30th wont recognize my USB Western digital Passport 160GB Harddrive.

Thanks
--Eric

Eric,
I wonder if your external HDD has a power on?
I'm using LaCie d2 320GB external HDD I do not have any issues. But! Pio player cannot see my external HDD if power is off. I have to turn power on HDD.

The external HDD powers on itself through USB Bus, the light turns on but it never spins, there is no button to turn it on, its just a portable HDD you can plug into any USB and it becomes a HDD on the machine its plugged in. Which is what I want because when I turn off the DV 400, it will turn off the HDD as well... No power cord, in fact, the only output is just the usb out. Its really bumming me out. I have another external thats not powered through USB that I will probably try to be sure its a power issue. Just find it odd that I have read that it works for others, but not me. Thanks for the quick response. If anyone has had success let me know

I'm guessing of course. Cannot be sure but I believe that where the issue is. Pioneer cannot spin your HDD by itslef. Not enough power doing so. Your external HDD shoube on its on power.

I bought DV-600 model a couple days ago and I am having problems with de-interlacing. When there is movement on the screen comb effect occurs immediately. This is very odd because I thought DV-600 uses a different video chip than DV-400. The picture gets better when I set the resolution to be 576i and let the video projector to do the scaling. Does anyone have similar experiences?

NOTE: I am living in Europe and watching PAL DVDs only.

Eric,
I wonder if your external HDD has a power on?
I'm using LaCie d2 320GB external HDD I do not have any issues. But! Pio player cannot see my external HDD if power is off. I have to turn power on HDD.

How are you getting your 320gb drive formatted as FAT32?

EDIT: found this article on formatting larger drives:
http://pendrivelinux.com/2006/09/20/large-external-usb-hard-drive-fat32-format-utility/

I'm guessing of course. Cannot be sure but I believe that where the issue is. Pioneer cannot spin your HDD by itslef. Not enough power doing so. Your external HDD shoube on its on power.

I second that notion, that's what I've heard about the philips player and it would surprise me if this were any different.

How are you getting your 320gb drive formatted as FAT32?


Windows Disk Management Utility. Was very friendly to LaCie d2 Quadra. I did not have any problems to format that drive to FAT32. I was able to select "FAT32" option in that dialog in Disk Management that was responsible for "Format this partition with the following settings". Sorry, I'm not much into computer hardware stuff, so I just follow what manual for this hard drive recommended. I also installed software from LaCie CD prior formatting hard drive.

Has anyone tried the firmware upgrade to region free on a Japanese model yet. I am in Japan and need a region free player I have a 400 movie collection I brought over here and hate to have to rent and burn to play movies here and dont want to buy 2 players to accomplish this, then have to buy an HDMI 4-in 1-out and bla bla bla.

Has anyone tried the firmware upgrade to region free on a Japanese model yet. I am in Japan and need a region free player I have a 400 movie collection I brought over here and hate to have to rent and burn to play movies here and dont want to buy 2 players to accomplish this, then have to buy an HDMI 4-in 1-out and bla bla bla.

You should be able to use the moddified* firmware!
How ever if you normally get Japanese in OSD menu, this might not be the case in moddified FW as the Japanese fonts are removed to make place for other fonts!
If this is the case, please contact me and I can have a special Japanese version made!

* All usage of moddified firmwares are done on own risk!

Has anyone else experienced a problem with the player not remembering the aspect ratio that is set? I have it set to 16:9 (Wide) in the menu options, but yet every other dvd I try it will go back to 4:3. Weird?

It will take me over 10 years to read Japanese so changing the OSD to English is fantastic. Are all of the firmware links yours and what is the last one?

I would get an Oppo but the shipping from the US would be terrible so the local one is my best solution. Thanks in advance for your great work on this I really appreciate it. Now i need to go price shopping for this player here.