Panasonic DVD-S97S FAQ / Brain dump - Page 15

Paul
Can either of your displays adjust the picture's position or size? In this link,

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attac...626&fullpage=1

there's a loss of image at the top and bottom. However, you may have controls on the display to adjust for what might be overscan that would allow you to see what's missing in the picture.

Many people are saying it, but I'd just like to give serious props to those of you with these players, obviously Paul in particular, who have gone completely out of their way to populate this thread. Other than the silly "where's XXXX" posts (answered on the first page), there has been a patience and graciousness in this thread that is so often lacking in this (and other) fora.

Thank you guys so much.

To add to the fun, we all know thanks to the efforts of people like Sango that the Panny firmware updates were made at least partially (if convertly) public-accessible. However, it drives me nuts that there are no firmware updates downloadable directly from the manufacturer.

For those of you talking about having the Denon with firmware updates, were these done from an authorized service centre, or via a web download? Are there rumblings already about firmware update for this brand new S97? If so, how will updates be performed?

Any hope of a 5 disc version of this beast coming out? Perhaps a boutique player? A Yamaha re-badge like the RP-82/Yam 910/920?

To respond to shark about the denon firmware. All i had to do was email denon and they sent the firmware in the mail and they also included instuctions. Denon has been great about getting firmware updates out.

Paul, the PAL playback through the HDMI output looked pretty smooth.

When I tried the component outputs, I did not get a picture on my HDTV so I think it is not converting to NTSC but outputting PAL. However, through HDMI, the picture was fine at 720p or 1080i.

So Paul, does the S97 win over your xp50 over component at 480p and 480i ?
Does the S97's HDMI 480p looks better than the xp50 component 480p ?

Sorry to sing the same ol' song ...

Thanks sharkshark for the reply.

It's really up to the manufacturer what they want. I guess they are afraid that the user may mess up. =(

ok, THIS might be a dumb question (sorry, folks) but how are you guys even testing PAL on these machines? What Region 1 source do you guys test with for PAL?

And, knowing it's a broken record, I'm still looking for anybody that's tried real-world testing with an upconverting player into DVI on a CRT RPTV. I'm still not convinced this thing's going to be any better than my RP82 through component, NOT because I don't know that DVD is 480i native and it's all processing in the end (heh...) but that I think the real benefit for HDMI/DVI is for those with fixed pixel displays that upconvert -everything- to native res (so why not do it at the player end rather than the TV end).

Short version: I'd love someone with my TV (Sony 57" CRT RPTV) and my player (RP-82) to tell me that the new baby rocks their world.

Is that too much to ask?

Don't know if this might help you make up your mind, I don't have a CRT RPTV but I do have a Sony 34XBR960 CRT. I had been using my RP82 until now, I wasn't expecting too much of a drastic difference in PQ with this player. But the 1080i output on this player really blew the RP82 away !!! Color rendition is so rich and images look much sharper yet not enhanced. I'm extremely happy with this player, what a nice suprise.

Paul, is this a major concern?

First, I am very impressed by Paul and his dedication to get the info to the form! The amount of response, and the rate in which he is answering questions are amazing. I think this thread is now well over 440 postings and, I bet, third to half is Paul responding to question...Bravo!

So I got mine from Onecall also. Got it yesterday (picked it up at the FedEx station). It is hooked up to Panny commercial 50 plasma (6UY) via DVI blade. While I do not calibrate the combination other than with my own eyes (after all, I'm the one watching it, this unit is most impressive. Frankly, after a disappointing experience with Denon 1910 in early September, I was expecting alot less. For some reasons, I had HCDP handshake problem with Denon and the PQ was only marginally better than my existing 480p player (Panny DVR DMR-80H) via component. Naturally I returned the unit with the intent to buy either the Sony or Panny about now.

After reading several concerns with HDMI>DVI adaptor, I can report that I absolutely see no ill effects, clipping or any noise (using MonsterCable adaptor ~$30). The HDCP handshake still takes a moment - long enough that I had to remove Gefin 2-to-1 switcher out of the loop. I had originally planned to share the DVI blade with my D* (Sony HD-300) tuner but I when back to RGB input for that.

So the most impressive part of the PQ is the depth and texture of image that comes across various DVDs. After playing around for awhile, my sense is that 1080i is marginally better than 720p on my screen. The edges are slightly more smoother in 1080i. As for Macroblocking - well its not bothersome for me at all. What I can say about the image quality is that, compared to some of the movies carried by HDNet, this player can play most DVD good as, or almost good as HD feed on my panel. My sense is that this is a function of source material than anything else.

I tested the player with various movie types - CGI only (Dinosoure, Toy Story2), CGI-based animation (Tarzan, Lion King), CGI-live action mix (Starwars Ep2, LOTR Twin Towers). Amazing amounts of details came out in scense that I had not seen (at least noticed) on my other player. Source material on Toy Story2 in particular showed more macroblocking and posterization against solid color background scenes (maybe higher compression).

Since I just enjoy good looking pictures on the screen, I won't try to be technical about my impression. Besides, Paul has done a wonderful job of that. It is fair to say that I am fully satisfied until the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD or what have you comes along with plenty of HD contents on the market.

Regards,

mgkg3,

Thanks for your post. Just curious, do you have previous Pannies to compare against?

So far still no word against how it compared to previous! Hopefully the answer will be out soon.

Sango

Sony loves to filter and enhance 480p inputs. You might see less difference with a little service mode tweaking.

Other than OneCall - has anyone been able to find this player anywhere for sale?

Ken Crane's in Westminster,Calif. and Ken Crane's in Buena Park, Calif each have at least one is stock as of 3:34 P.M. P.S.T.

Hi Rich -

What is the native resolution of the HT1000?

Am interested in getting this player to replace my old (6 1/2 yrs!) and tired, but extremely faithful, S-Video-only Sony 480i player.

I am using a Sony HS20 LCD projector, which is 1366 X 768, and connecting via it's HDMI input.

Just trying to get a feel if it's worth the extra bucks to go with this player vs just going with a good quality progressive player.

Thanks to you and Paul for all the great info on this player.

Thanks -

Spike

My HT1000 does the same thing with 1080i from the 2910, defaults to the 5% overscan with no option for setting to 0%.

I have a PAL DVD that has been made region free (not a topic for this thread). That's how I tested PAL. Or, you can buy PAL DVDs that say "ALL Region" on the package. The bottom line is - the S97 plays them as long as they are not region-coded.

Spike, the HT1000 is 1024x768.

Interesting, Seems that several of the other competing forums are quoting this thread & Paul's work in particular. You're internationally famous now dude!!

Good thing we aren't in England. List price is 299 pounds & the deals are at 219, but @ $1.80 per pound it comes to about $400US.

Other than OneCall, which I bought my player from, I contacted 6Ave.com weeks ago and it told me it will have the S97 in stock.