[the Saint]

Does anyone know why the Kenwood 5700 price is going down? I currently have a demo on loan which has severe shimmering between high contrast material. The dealer claims ignorance and I am waiting for a new unit to see if this continues to be present.


I replaced the Denon 2800 because of severe stuttering which could not be repaired. The image was fantastic and I could live with chroma but not the constant stuttering. I wanted a similar quality unit with coax digital output rather than optical, so I picked the Kenwood over the Pani....


I wonder if I just have bad luck or is there a problem in the quality and consistency of progressive DVD players. Stacey can you help me?

 

[pnichols]

the Saint,


Have you tried reducing the video enhancer setting down from it's default value of 8 to a low value of 1 or 0?

 

[the Saint]

I have adjusted all settings and yes the video enhancement is at zero; in addition I have tried turning off the enhancement setting as well as the dcdi and the defect remains.....so I don't think that this is an adjustment issue!

 

[j768]

I see that this player is selling for $799 at Crutchfield. I would have to very seriously consider this player at this price, since it is a multi-disc player, along with DCDi, and DVD-A. What do others think about it in this price range?

 

[pnichols]

j768,


The 5700 is an excellent player value at this price point if you don't have to switch between interlaced and progressive conveniently.

 

[the Saint]

pnichols: Have you actually seen the 5700 in action? I thought that the ideal dvd player did not exist for you.


I just want to get a progressive player with a steady chroma free picture and a coax digital output; however after reading the comments about coax vs. optical I am completely confused. Are they equal or not?


Why did the two technologies develop in Dvd Players?



Is the 5700 Still a good choice to replace the Denon 2800? I really don't want to go for a Camelot.

 

[C Clark]

I just purchased this unit from Tweeter. They price matched Crutchfield. It still cost me a little more locally since taxes are more than shipping.


I'm still trying to figure out all the possible settings. Like what's the difference among the progressive mode settings: normal, fine, soft, cinema, animation, and user selectable. And even if I set it one way on the player, the TV has its own settings to deal with.

 

[pnichols]

the Saint,


I tried to demo a 5700 at a dealer early and they knew nothing about it and I couldn't get it to work ...... but I ignored this as "showroom problems" because of the excellent reports of it on forums, AVS Shootout II results, and HT mag reviews. It's specs read pretty good too, which is what attracted me to it from day one.


What I did notice at the dealers was the inconvenience of switching the player between interlaced and progressive - which is important in my situation. So I passed on it and am patiently awaiting anything coming close to it - but with a couple of things added: Switchable via remote interlaced/progressive and zooms.


One of the the August Pany models DVDRP82 or DVDXP50 may finally do it for me, although I have budgeted to spend more than what they will MSRP for. This bothers me, as their build quality will not match that of the 5700.


This coax vs optical isue is an ongong discussion. They're both equal in their transfer of sound data, from an engineering perspective. The couple of arguments I've heard that make some semblence of sense are to perhaps avoid optical because of the relative flimsiness of the connectors/cabling involved and reliability liability incurred from use of the additional optical transmit-receive electronics at each end. Due to my conservative bent, I'd always look for a player with both optical and coaxial capability. The 5700 has both.


The 5700 has tons and tons of flexibility and adjustability - in general a just plain great value from all I know and read.

 

[El Pollo]

Things like color, sharpness, brightness, contrast, etc. I usually leave it at the default or neutral level on the source. Then, do all the adjustments on the TV's controls with the help of Avia. This is usually what many people suggest.

 

[pnichols]

El Pollo,


Unless you TV is limited ....... then you want a DVD player with more powerful capability. Plus some things are better adjusted on the transmit end - like Y/C delay.

 

[sspears]

Can you explain what you mean by shimmering on high contrast?

 

[the Saint]

The shimmering effect I have noticed on many dvds where there is the juxtaposition of light areas against dark areas. An example would be the scenes in The Last of the Mohicans running through the woods. The leafs on the trees and the bark where the sun strikes it becomes alive and actually shimmers like tinsel on a christmas tree.


Another example was in Captain's Corelli's Mandolin during the scenes of the fields as well as some of the buildings in the main town during the day. Another way to describe it would be a More' type effect but the edges between light and dark actually fluctuate.


I have the unit on progressive and all settings neutral. I have adjusted my sanyo 21 with avia and turned down the edge enhancement on the kenwood as well as turning off the dcdi; however the shimmering remains.


The unit I have is a demo and I am still waiting for the new unit. Hopefully this shimmering is unique to this demo unit.....otherwise I may need to resort to Denon 1600.

 

[the Saint]

Stacey: another question about kenwood 5700..I noticed in the shootout that the unit has slow recovery from film/video cadence. Could the shimmering/more' pattern be a result of this problem?


This effect is very noticeable and everyone who has viewed the defect can clearly notice the shimmering; so it is not just me!

 

[salvador_dali]

I don't see any shimmering problems due to contrast. Sounds like your TVs power supply is being taxed. The settings to use are turn the edge enhancement off, turn gamma to +1 and turn sharpness down all the way. The gamma should help your shimmering.


Any film video cadences, in my emprical based experience, would make the images less sharp not wavering like a mirage.


The 57 is a nice player at 8c and is worth it if you have the component progressive inputs on your TV.