Sony DVP-NS77H/S 1080p player - Page 2

I just picked this player up at a local Target - thanks for the lead! I will see how it works when I get home tonight.

You have to open her up and take a look. Care to do it?

You got that right. I bought a 15' DVI to HDMI cable for $10 online! Gold plated and everything. And I still got ripped off, because within minutes after ordering I found the same thing for $5.

Trouble is if you need them quick, there's really not options. All the good deals are online (at least in my area) and that means shipping. Having the Cable in the box is simply a convenience thing for me.

Bob

Costco now only accepts electronics returns within 90 days of purchase. Just FYI.


How true!!!

You could try opening the player up and looking. However, it's quite likely the Mediatek name is blackened out - this was the case with the 75.

I'm guessing it's MediaTek and some sort of modification was made to give 1080p output, but probably not in the best manner, hence, 1080i output on this player may still be the route to go. The MediaTek chipset has been known for having better interlaced output than progressive. I know Oppo has recommended MediaTek for interlaced (CRT) displays, while Faroudja for progressive (digital) displays (so long as there's no macroblocking issues).

Does this unit exibit a wider black bar at the top of the screen with HDMI? I read something about that issue with older Sony DVD players (75H?). Is it very slow to load a DVD, as others have complained about the 75H?

I tried the new Sony 77H (Target), and I also picked up the 71H from Cosco, both for 100 bucks, but the 77H froze on the same scene (the second helicopter in A/V demonstrations) on DVE! I never had a player freeze on DVE before, certainly not the Oppo 970. Plus it would not give me 1080p, although the Philips does! At least I can get the Sony to pass BTB in DVE by tweaking the brightness & contrast on the Sony player, unlike the Philips.

I don't see FF/REW buttons on the remote or in the manual. Just skip and 2x forward, but there does not appear to be 4x, 8x, 16x & 32x FF/REW speeds. There was something in the manual about not being able to use the FF with sound option with DTS audio turned on, which seems pretty strange. Plus the zoom still has the 2x on the screen all the time, making it worthless. You'd think they would have fixed that by now!

I will try the 71H tomorrow.

I am hooking up with the same HDMI cable I have been testing my Oppo, Philips and Sony. It froze every time in 1080ii, but only once in 720p. Very strange. Fast play didn't work, if I recall. I hit it once and it went FF, but the second time it said operation not possible or something.

As in John's reply, I have zero problem with my 77H. 71H and 77H are the same in many ways. Therefore, I could tell you that the load time, zoom icon, etc would be the same.

The 77H 1080p resolution is set automatically if the machine determines a 1080p display, but it will drop down to a lower rez otherwise. The 77H sends 1080p to my JVC TV. Somehow, and I don't know why, it thinks that your display doesn't support 1080p. I'm not sure how to fix that, other than letting you know that my unit does give me 1080p.

Regarding FF/REV, they do exist. They are called "Scan" in Sony's terminology. See page 42 in your manual. While Scan has no audio, the Sony player has another one called Fast/Slow Play with sound, which plays a DVD at +/- 10% to 40% speed with discernable audio. (page 28) Hope this helps.

That's what I've been using, but mine just skips forward in sections, not smoothly. Does Scan give faster FF/REW 'scan' speeds than 2x without skipping forward/reverse on your player?

Here's what the manual says:

The × 2>/ × 2< playback speed is about twice the normal speed (that plays smoothly at 2x on my player).
The 3>>/3<< playback speed is faster than 2>>/2<< and the 2>>/2<<
playback speed is faster than 1>>/1<<. Pretty vague description. Not smooth on mine.

I read that review about it being capable of downconverting from 1080P to native 720P. It looks nice and sharp to me. It's a very nice projector being clearanced for only $700 at B&H! Grab em while you can! The only issue is the screen door is slightly noticeable, but not too bad. I put a $20 81C filter on the lens to improve the blacks, which works great. It is DVI, so I use an adapter.

Never had any issues with HDMI with my Oppo. Same setup. The Philips DVP5982 will work in 1080P, but it keeps switching to Auto (720P) when unplugged. This does not look like a handshake issue, as others have the same issue with the Philips.

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, I see what you mean. Mine behaves the same way as yours. 2x is smooth. Higher speeds skip as you have pointed out.

Ahh, so I'm not crazy! Thanks for confirming. I need to check 'scan' FF/REW on the 71H and maybe the 75H (eventually) with the players remotes, as well as with my Harmony remote.

I'm also trying to understand the subject of Resolution Advertisement, if I could call it that. Am I correct to say that your Hitachi PJ has a native resolution of 720p and that it does accept 1080i as well as 1080p input signal by scaling them back down to the 720p native resolution?

As such, while it is capable of accepting these higher rez inputs, perhaps it is not "advertising" itself as anything higher than a 720p? If that's the case, putting the 77H at its Auto/1080p is basically asking the 77H to check what your PJ says and then select the highest rez. If my theory is a working one, it probably will go down to 720p (but did you say it select 1080i?) Could you confirm what Auto does wrt to resolution?

Having said that, I'm quite certain that you could select 1080i from the 77H and your PJ would not barf. By the same reason that's why you could select 1080p on the 5982 and your PJ did not complain.

I wonder, if you put your 5982 HMDI setup to Auto, instead of 1080p, what it would pick up after talking to your PJ? Would it still go to 1080p/1080i, or drop down to the native rez of your PJ? Not that you have to do all these checkings to satisfy my personal curiosity because I'm sure that you have a life to live, and switching players is not a fun task. I'm just suggesting my own theory for you to consider, if and when you want to get to the bottom of it. Cheers.

Yes, it selected 1080i. Apparently the Sony's Auto setting detects the native rez of 720p, and does not allow 1080p if it does not get the proper 'advertisement' from the Hitachi. The Philips just outputs 1080p, 1080i, or any other rez, and has a confirmation screen that you have to select OK for the setting to be retained. It works like my HD tuner. But after unplugging, it reverts to 720p (or was it 480p?).

I'm more concerned about the Philips unresponsive remote and not passing BTB (losing dark details), and the Sony 77H freezing for at least a minute in DVE (not a good sign!) than the resolution settings (not nearly as noticeable), which is why I am more inclined to fire up the 71H than continuing to mess with these two players.

Thanks for the info. If the Sony auto selects 1080i and not Hitachi's 720p native, then my theory doesn't hold water. I'm not sure if I understood what you were saying about the 5982 and its confirmation screen. When I try the 5982, I use the menu to select the resolution. The choices are 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p and Auto. On page 45 of the manual, it says (under Auto) "Output automatically based on your display's supported resolution. Select this to automatically display best resolution settings." So what happens when you select Auto on the 5982?

By the way, after your post, I went back to check the 5982 FF/REV. Mine skips at higher speeds also, but not nearly as obvious as the Sony. But, I'm sure we all agree that is a fairly minor thing.

To me, the 5982 is a worthy contender to Sony. I'm not just looking for a good movie player. I'm also using it as the main CD player, which requires superb audio. That's where the Sony players blow away the Philips. And surprisingly, the 77H edges out the 71H also. Otherwise, I would probably stay with the 71H. Primarily because of the audio performance, I have declared 77H the winner, not because of its 1080p support.

Maybe I'll try another 77H if the audio sounds better. I haven't tried audio yet. Still messing with video in DVE. I need to double check what Auto Rez does on the Philips tonight. There was confirmation screens on all the Rez settings if I recall. Maybe not Auto, but on the others.

I think the Philips has 2x, 4x, 8x & 16x FF/REW. I have no idea what speed the Sony speeds are. The manual is very vague in this regard. I have to double check if the Philips skips. I wish the Philips FF/REW buttons were more intuitive (> < to the left and right of the select/OK button, instead of dedicated FF/REW buttons). Most people tend to hit the skip buttons instead, and I do it by accident when I keep switching players and forget!

The Philips remote has too few buttons and the Sony has too many! I love the Harmony Remote (once I get it set up, which takes a while and requires re-tweaking to get it right)!

Yup. Thanks, John. I've already gone through those audio settings. The RCVR is also Sony and works like a champ with the 77H. From the sound respect, the 77H is the best DVD/CD player I've ever owned, second only to the (much more expensive) Adcom CD player.

From P46 of the Philips manual:
"(For DVI TV only)
If a DVI TV is connected (see page 17) all above resolution options can be chosen,
including the resolution that are not supported by the TV.
A Use ^ to select a resolution and press OK to confirm.
The menu will appear on the TV.
'RECONGIGURING RESOLUTION:
1.ENSURE YOUR TV SUPPORTS THIS RESOLUTION. IF THERE IS A DISTORTED
PICTURE, WAIT 5 SECONDS FOR AUTO RECOVERY.
2.PRESS OK TO CONFIRM AND REMAIN AT THIS
RESOULUTION SETTING
OK CANCEL'
For resolution supported by the DVI TV, the picture will be in a normal mode, press < to highlight { OK } and press OK to confirm."

Do you have a DVI or HDMI display? If it is HDMI, then it may not have the confirmation screen. Maybe that's why the Sony is not allowing 1080p as well (DVI input to the PJ)?

It also says to deactivate resolution change manually:
'Press HD UPSCALE on the front panel to switch to the available resolution.'
I need to try this and see if it retains the resolution I select.

The DVP-NS75H has 192 KHz/24bit Audio DAC/96 kHz/24 bit Digital Output
The DVP-NS77H has 192 KHz/16 bit Audio DAC/96 kHz/24 bit Digital Output.

does this mean the older DVP-NS75H model has better sound capability?

Is the DVP-NS71H exactly the same as the NS75H?

That's what it looks like in the online manuals.

The outputs for the DVP-NS77H and DVP-NS75/71H all have
Video Digital-to-Analog Converter: 12 Bit, 108Mhz
Audio Digital-to-Analog Converter: 24 Bit, 192 kHz
in the marketing specs. I don't see any difference. There must be a typo somewhere.