Denon 1920, not very impressed…

1136 Views 11 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Person99, Jan 5, 2006

Matt_Smi

Discussion Starter · Dec 26, 2005

I got this player yesterday for Christmas, I figured it was finally time to replace my three and half year old Sony budget model that I bought for about $200 back then (model DVP-S360). I was aware of the flaws with this player such as the on/off issue (which I have not encountered yet), but in the $300 range this player seemed to be the best with no major issues. Now I realize I am judging this player too quick, I have not fully played around with it yet. I have it hooked into my Sony 30â€ HS420 HDTV via its HDMI output. What I did was watched a movie on the old Sony (which is hooked up with component cables BTW), then switched to the new player with the same movie. Spiderman 2 superbit looked slightly better on the Denon, colors where a little better, picture looked a little bit sharper and has maybe slightly more detail, but not the difference I was expecting, not a $350 difference and certainly not â€œnear HD qualityâ€, the picture also looks a bit soft to me sometimes. BTW I cannot tell the difference between 720P and 1080i. Then I played a Sin City and I was rather disappointed with the players black levels, they were more grey instead of black at parts, I suppose I need to play with the black level control on the player before I really judge. Have others experienced this same thing? Is my TV not big enough to truly see the difference, or am I missing some vital setting here? Because right now this player is probably going back.

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Sam S

· #2 · Dec 26, 2005

You should calibrate your TV for the new player before making comparisions. Black level, etc. You're not going to get "near HD quality" from DVD.. 480 interlaced lines is just that, 1/6th the rez of true HD.

Don't forget, for that "$350 difference", you're also getting SACD/DVD-A. If those aren't importantant to you, then it may be worth sending the Denon back.

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BZiggyZ

· #3 · Dec 26, 2005

I actually just replaced my Sony S360 with a Denon 1920 as well. Half of the reason I bought the player was for the audio capabilities, which you'd be hard pressed to equal for anything at the same pricepoint.

Definitely tweak the video settings; I found the factory settings to be subpar as far as color rendition, black level, and sharpness.

I agree with Sam, if you don't care about DVD-A and SACD, you could probably get something with comparable video quality for less $$$ (Oppo, Panasonic S77).

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jimed1

· #4 · Dec 29, 2005

Make sure you turn the black level off. You can access it with the remote while playing a DVD by hitting the "Mode" button. It comes from the factory set to "ON". It will help the blacks quite a bit.

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yromj

· #5 · Dec 30, 2005

I also recently purchased this player. You will definitely want to turn the black level enhancement off.

So far I've been pleased w/ the performance of this unit. I went from a ~$100 JVC to this and noticed a definite improvement in PQ. (I prefer component w/ my CRT HDRPTV.) The image is definitely sharper and the colors are better.

What is the On/Off issue? I had to unplug the unit once during the first day I had it to get it to respond to either the remote or the front panel. Is this the problem? Is there a fix?

Thanks,

John

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Develitate

· #6 · Dec 30, 2005

I recently bought a 1920 as well and have mixed feelings about it. I primarily purchased it for DVD-A/SACD playback and while the upconversion via HDMI is a plus I don't know if the picture quality is better than my DVB-318 via component. I also can't get it to playback DL DVD+r media. Has anyone else had a problem with this? Thanks for the the tip on the black level enhancement, I'll be sure to turn it off. Any other helpful 1920 tips would be apprecaited.

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yromj

· #7 · Dec 30, 2005

Upconverting DVD players can have three possible effects on the display quality on an HDTV:

(1) They can improve the quality if the player's internal scaler is better than the TVs scaler.

(2) The image quality will remain about the same if the player's scaler and the TVs scaler are about the same quality.

(3) The image can be degraded because of a couple of issues. The first is when the TV's scaler is better than the player's scaler. The second is when the player is set to a resolution that results in multiple scalings. For example, if someone has TV that is 720p and their DVP player is outputing 1080i, the image is being scaled from 480i to 1080i to 720p. It is impossible for that to look better than a single scale from 480i to 720p.

The bottom line is this: Compare the output of the player at 480i, 480p, and your TVs native resolution to discover which looks best. Remember, an upscaling DVD player is NOT a true high definition source.

John

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alex1971

· #8 · Dec 30, 2005

In Germany there is a Firmwareupdate to version 1.23 !

The colors at HDMI-connection are optimized...

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yromj

· #9 · Dec 30, 2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by alex1971
In Germany there is a Firmwareupdate to version 1.23 !

The colors at HDMI-connection are optimized...

Have you tried it?

John

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gruffalo33

· #10 · Jan 5, 2006

Could anyone pls explain how to update the firmware. Mine is version 1.17.

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BillP

· #11 · Jan 5, 2006

You have to go through your local Denon website or customer service.

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Person99

· #12 · Jan 5, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt_Smi
I have it hooked into my Sony 30â€ HS420 HDTV via its HDMI output. What I did was watched a movie on the old Sony (which is hooked up with component cables BTW), then switched to the new player with the same movie. Spiderman 2 superbit looked slightly better on the Denon, colors where a little better, picture looked a little bit sharper and has maybe slightly more detail, but not the difference I was expecting...Is my TV not big enough to truly see the difference, or am I missing some vital setting here? Because right now this player is probably going back.

There are basically 3 large areas that effect picture quality:

1) MPEG decoder

2) DAC

3) scaling

If the DAC and scaling in your TV is about as good as in the 1920, you won't see much of a difference. If MPEG decoders in both players are about as good, you won't see much of a difference.

Component is not junk and HDMI the be all end all, I would also try the 1920 480p component to see if you like that better.

All that said, let me make two observations:

1) There are differences between players that I can easily see on my 106" screen, but really have to look for on a 30" screen.

2) In this price range, I liked the S97 better than the 1920 when I did a head to head comparison.

Dave

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