Sony DVP-NS975V FAQ / Brain dump - Page 6  

I have not bought a DVD player in three years. I just bought a new Sony 55" KDF55WF655 LCD (built-in HD tuner?) and decided I would get the latest and greatest in DVD players to compliment it. I am truly a novice and am looking for the best DVD player for my TV (picture and sound). The KDF55WF655 has an HDMI connector and I would be sending the audio to my Onkyo TX SR602 receiver via optical connection from the player.

After reading Paul's strings for Sony 975V and the Panasonic 97S using HDMI I am uncertain if they will provide the best picture and sound; or if I should get a very good progressive scan DVD player. Before reading the two forum strings I simply assumed with my Sony HDTV 55" having a HDMI input that a DVD HD player with HDMI output would be the best. I also had a salesperson at Sound Track (they have both the 97s and 975V) that I would not be able to tell the difference between the HDMI players and a good progressive scan player. Now I just don't know and am even more confused.

So this newbie has a couple of questions for the experts to help me make my choice:

For this TV and receiver should I go with a HDMI DVD player?

If so would the logical choice be the Sony 975V for a Sony TV or doesn't it matter?

If a progressive scan player would be a better option then what would you recommend for a player in the $200 to $300 range to match this TV?

I appreciate any help in puttting this newbie in the right direction.

Thanks

mike..

i am also in a similar hunt...

just bought a new pt50lc14. have a yamaha htr5760 receiver.

still holding my urge to pull the trigger on a dvd player

Buy the same brand dvd palyer as your display.

Geekrule: Buy the same brand dvd player as your display.


Is this a general rule of thumb? Or are there specific reasons to support that suggestion?

Thanks Paul,

If you have a moment could you or another veteran of this technology post your thoughts to the three questions I posted above? Really just looking for the best match and would like some input. Like so many other consumers I am looking for the best decision entering this area. I am sure there are others that have read these forums with great interest that are still confused as to what choice the uneducated buyer would want to make in this.

I am leaning toward the 975V but am wondering if I am wasting my money when a good progressive scan might be better. With a 55" Sony HD/LCD and not having seen the visual comparison between progressive scan and the 97S or 975V is making the choice difficult. I assume the larger screen will magnify any shortcomings not noticed in smaller displays. I would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks

The 975V is a progressive-scan player.

Mtnmike and iamtarun,
If you recently spent several thousand $$ on a new display, why cut corners with these entry-level upscaling DVD players. Why not consider the Denon 3910 (at the top of the Secret's shootout)? It has no CUE problem, and less macroblocking than the Panny (none with 720p output).

MtnMike asked:

For this TV and receiver should I go with a HDMI DVD player?

If so would the logical choice be the Sony 975V for a Sony TV or doesn't it matter?

If a progressive scan player would be a better option then what would you recommend for a player in the $200 to $300 range to match this TV?

Billp:

If you recently spent several thousand $$ on a new display, why cut corners with these entry-level upscaling DVD players. Why not consider the Denon 3910 (at the top of the Secret's shootout)? It has no CUE problem, and less macroblocking than the Panny (none with 720p output).



Would love to but about maxed out on my limits so I have to stay under $400.00 includung if I have to fork out $100 plus for a HDMI > HDMI cable.

Bill, I disagree. No DVD player out there these days are perfect, even the 3910 has flaws. And by spending over 1K on a dvd player, sophisticated videophiles will find those flaws even more jarring and harder to bear. I argue that because dvd players are not easily upgradeable, will never have the latest digital input/outputs, hard/software decoders, and with HD-DVD players looming, low end HDMI upconverters are the way to go. Sometime next year, we'd all be back at our local electronic shop ga-ga'ing at the latest HD players anyways!

For now the only most practical way of squeezing the best picture out of 480i media is via a HTPC, which you can upgrade and tweak to your hearts content.

Gene

hi billp,

thx for ur suggestion

i wish i can afford a 1000$ dvd player.

Also,
i dont know yet if i am a videophile or not. :) :(
so i would prefer to go step-by-step.

rgds,

Thank you, Paul.

Thanks guys. Looking at Direct TV's specs for their HD DVR/Receiver I just noticed that the Direct TV HD DVR I ordered has HDMI out. That adds to my dilema since the Sony display has only one HDMI input. So something has to give. The HD DVR receiever also has 1 Video Component (YPrPb), 1 S-Video, 1 Composite (RCA type) and audio 1 Digital Optical, 1 Stereo L/R RCA so maybe using the YPrPb and digital optical would be the alternative from the receiver to the display with the HDMI on the HD DVD player.

Unless someone makes a dual HDMI input splitter or something to use two HDMI sources? Anything like that out there; or for that matter would that even be feasible? Decisions, decisions, decisions!

CNET reviewed Sony DVP-NS975V at: http://reviews.cnet.com/Sony_DVP_NS9...tml?tag=glance

Yep, Gefen makes an HDMI switcher:

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=2208

They've also announced a 4-way switcher, for $349.

Joe Schwartz: Yep, Gefen makes an HDMI switcher!

Joe,

That helps. Only $249.00 for the unit is a great price especially considering it comes with two 6ft HDMI cables which by themselves would cost about $200.00 !! Thanks for the info!!

Why are people still paying $100 for HDMI cables??? They're $30/6ft at ramelectronics.net, don't settle for anything more!

A friend of mine is in a similar boat as you. He bought a Sony KDF-60XS955 LCD TV w/ HDMI and it's HDCP compliant and he bought the Sony DVP-NS975V DVD player because of the HDMI output. He's got the NS975V connected to his Sony TV via HDMI and can not tell the difference between the 480p output over component video and the HDMI output. He has NOT adjusted any of the DVD player's settings and left the player in the "Auto" HDMI resolution setting. He's not aware of the HDMI light on the front of the player was lit or not so he's not 100% sure he's getting a 1080i signal from the player via HDMI. Assuming he IS getting a 1080i signal via HDMI, why would he not see a difference in video quality between 480p over component and 1080i over HDMI?

Ok, here is an update. Accroding to the TV manual (pg 96):

My friend DOES recall not being able to access the DRC mode when the Sony was connected via HDMI, which is evidence that the NS975V was outputting a 1080i or 720p signal to the Sony LCD TV. He's got an interlaced only DVD player connected via component video and can't tell the difference from that video (480i -- component video ---> TV converts to 1080i) and 1080i over HDMI from the NS975V. Should there be a noticable difference in video quality? Would he benefit from a different DVD player that upconverts to 720p/1080i and outputs over HDMI or is the quality of upconversion about the same across DVD players, at this point?

Peace...

That's interesting tomdkat. I'm thinking about picking up that Upconverting Sony DVD player, but if the difference is negligible, I'll just wait until whenever HD/DVD comes out.

Just got my Sony 975 DVD player the other day. Its all hooked up now and working well. Overall, I'm happy with the purchase though I have to admit it has its quirks. For example, I believe the HDCP handshake needs me to turn on the player before the TV, because if I turn the TV on first the Sony 975 will not power on. The menus are not really laid out well and the remote is less than mediocre. Oh, and of course, no DVD Audio :(

With that said, this Sony player is a WORLD of difference on my JVC plasma TV, compared to my previous DVD player. Everything is much smoother, sharper, and clearer when run on a 1080i or 720p feed. It is a 200% improvement from what I had previously. I'm probably not that much of a videophile to notice the -20% green depression discussed in this thread, but in general I don't think you can go wrong with this if you have a plasma or other fixed pixel display.

MtnMike,
I wouldn't worry too much. Chances are that your HDMI output on your Directv HD DVR won't work anyway. I am on my second unit as we speak and like my first, it doesn't work either. Directv knows about the problem and told me to use component for the time being until they iron out the problems. There are some people who are on their fourth units. Yours will either be DOA right out of the box like mine, or will go bad within a month. Bank on it.

Rockytopps: I guess my question is are you able to receive HD from the receiver through component. If not they should be giving you a refund or not charging for the programming.

Tomdkat: Since the DRC pallette is disabled when 480p, 720p, or 1081i sources are being received the custom palette is lost and the normal mode does not display 480p, 720p, or 1080i . That being the case then the wide mode must be selected and "vivid" video picture mode selected in order to display the 480p, 720p or 1080i source. At least thats how I understand it, but I could be way wrong on that.

Has anyone stated if/when Secrets is going to do a full-fledged Shoot-out for this player?

I'm interested to see what their more 'official' testing shows. :)

[quote]Originally posted by Mtnmike
[b]Rockytopps: I guess my question is are you able to receive HD from the receiver through component. If not they should be giving you a refund or not charging for the programming.

Mtnmike,
Yes, you can receive HD through component on the HD Tivo and it looks great. Of course, for right now I cannot compare it to the HDMI option. But again, yes you can watch HD via component.

Can someone please explain (Paul Bigelow) what in the heck is a SD/HD color matrix and where on my menu I can find out which my display uses. I have a Panasonic AE700 projector and yesterday I ordered the Sony DVPNS975V BEFORE I read your review. Now I am second guessing myself and wondering if I should have bought the Panny 97S. I have looked on my menus and can't find anything specifically labeled as color matrix. Any help that Paul or anyone can provide would be great.

Thanks, Brian

P.S. there is a "color management" system on my pj where you point a cursor at a specific point on the screen (i.e. a red sweater, facial tone, etc.) and can tweak the color. Not sure if this has anything to do with color matrix or not.

Thanks for this info. Would this have an impact on 480i upconverted to 1080i (presumably) by the TV being indistinguishable from 1080i input via HDMI? If this is the case, my friend will simply return the Sony and the expensive HDMI cable and stick with component video for his DVD player connection since the HDMI connection apparently won't give him any visible benefits he can appreciate.

Thanks....

Peace...

Is anyone aware of a way to see what signal is being sent to the tv? I mean to say, how do you know if you are watching 480p or 720p? Is there any way on the panny 7UY to see what resolution it is displaying?

Thanks!

Some of you may be interested in this promo at Amazon for this player. Spend $250+ on a dvd player or TV and get a $50 GC. You have to buy from Amazon directly and not Crutchfield via Amazon to qualify. It won't work for the Panasonic S97 (only sold through J&R), as someone pointed out to me in the other thread.