Philips 963 or Harman DVD-25?
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I bought the DVD 25 last year and was happy with it. But being a regular visitor to this forum I kept noticing rave comments about the Panasonic RP-82. Here, the Panasonic is almost half the price of the HK. So I bought one.
The HK does both NTSC and PAL progressive scan. The Panasonic only NTSC. I watch only PAL discs and therefore when using the Panny I view its interlaced output into my 42" Panasonic HD Plasma. No competition the RP-82 wins for vibrancy and consistency of video output. I don't know about the xp30.
One thing the HK has over the Panasonic is the ability to zoom to 4 levels so if you don't like watching 2.35:1 DVD with bars top & bottom, zoom level 1 will do away with them but with some extra "fuzziness" of the image. I still have the HK in my system and am waiting for the release of the Denon 2900 or maybe to see the Yamaha 2300 or maybe the???? Never ending!
The HK does both NTSC and PAL progressive scan. The Panasonic only NTSC. I watch only PAL discs and therefore when using the Panny I view its interlaced output into my 42" Panasonic HD Plasma. No competition the RP-82 wins for vibrancy and consistency of video output. I don't know about the xp30.
One thing the HK has over the Panasonic is the ability to zoom to 4 levels so if you don't like watching 2.35:1 DVD with bars top & bottom, zoom level 1 will do away with them but with some extra "fuzziness" of the image. I still have the HK in my system and am waiting for the release of the Denon 2900 or maybe to see the Yamaha 2300 or maybe the???? Never ending!
Thanks for the help.
I am looking for a pal progressive scan DVD player...
Has the XP30 Pal-progressive compatibility? I will use it only for see pal DVDs...
Which good Pal-progressive DVD player would you recommend to me for see Pal DVDs?
I am looking for a pal progressive scan DVD player...
Has the XP30 Pal-progressive compatibility? I will use it only for see pal DVDs...
Which good Pal-progressive DVD player would you recommend to me for see Pal DVDs?
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The Philips currently has a lot of issues, such as vertical banding in the progressive output, so until that is fixed, look elswhere. I returned mine because of it (well that was one of the reasons).
In the UK, there's a Limit 9900SE which does Pal progressive, but although it's a good player, the image is a little soft. It's good value though.
Try getting a demo of the HKDVD25 and see what it's like. It's the only way to know really.
Gary.
In the UK, there's a Limit 9900SE which does Pal progressive, but although it's a good player, the image is a little soft. It's good value though.
Try getting a demo of the HKDVD25 and see what it's like. It's the only way to know really.
Gary.
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I haven't seen the HK, so I can't compare, but the Philips I had also would do a 'split screen' effect in pro-scan mode. Switching back to interlaced and back to pro-scan fixed it, and apparently going into and out of the menus did as well. Once playing it would be ok.
I had some popping sounds when in the menus, the image looked overly stark and harsh - it was difficult to calibrate and gave a dark picture, so I had to tweak by eye in the end. It has a sharp picture, but enhanced any film grain/mosquito noise. I wasn't impressed with the image on my projector.
It posterised very badly too - not a gradual change in colour but distinct bands. Not something I expected from a machine at this price point.
I think there were some other issues (see the huge thread), so that when I returned mine, I asked for a refund instead of a replacement.
I tried a Limit, and a Toshiba SD520E. The Tosh is by far the better of the 3 (with my HT1000 at least), but no PAL progressive, just NTSC.
HTH
Gary.
I had some popping sounds when in the menus, the image looked overly stark and harsh - it was difficult to calibrate and gave a dark picture, so I had to tweak by eye in the end. It has a sharp picture, but enhanced any film grain/mosquito noise. I wasn't impressed with the image on my projector.
It posterised very badly too - not a gradual change in colour but distinct bands. Not something I expected from a machine at this price point.
I think there were some other issues (see the huge thread), so that when I returned mine, I asked for a refund instead of a replacement.
I tried a Limit, and a Toshiba SD520E. The Tosh is by far the better of the 3 (with my HT1000 at least), but no PAL progressive, just NTSC.
HTH
Gary.
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Yes, the Philips is not recommendable at this point. I almost took the plunge on it a few times, but there are just too many issues w/ it. And for me, the biggest one might well be the lack of complete aspect ratio scaling features. I could live w/ some of the other flaws, but for a $400 player, I think scaling is a must-have since I have plenty of non-16x9 DVDs and don't like the TV zoom on my TV.
The Philips is soooo close (for me), and yet soooo far. Very frustrating. If only Philips would get some of these issues fixed, including the scaling features.
At this point, I'm starting to lean towards just getting a cheap new Panny since I noticed that the S35 is listed as having "4:3 shrink and letterboxed zoom" features just like the RP91. If the deinterlacing is good enough for film mode, I can live w/ a weaker video mode deinterlacing as long as I get good scaling features. It helps that the Panny's are a lot cheaper than most other players.
_Man_
The Philips is soooo close (for me), and yet soooo far. Very frustrating. If only Philips would get some of these issues fixed, including the scaling features.
At this point, I'm starting to lean towards just getting a cheap new Panny since I noticed that the S35 is listed as having "4:3 shrink and letterboxed zoom" features just like the RP91. If the deinterlacing is good enough for film mode, I can live w/ a weaker video mode deinterlacing as long as I get good scaling features. It helps that the Panny's are a lot cheaper than most other players.
_Man_
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The Denon 2800 MKII can be made PAL progressive, but is a little more expensive - around £500 here in the UK. It also has a few problems I think, so read up on it and try for a demo if possible.
What kind of price range are you looking at?
Gary.
What kind of price range are you looking at?
Gary.
Thanks Gary,
My budget is around 500 euro. I would like to know the posible options for make the correct choice but it seems that are not a lot of Pal-progressive players in the market yet and it seems too that currently they all have problems...
Firstly, for approximately the same price, I have seen the Philips like a better option(Faroudja 13 bits/108 mhz video...) over the Harman(10 bits/27 mhz video) but now I understood why the Philips has the same price than the Harman when its features are higher... I think that the reason can be that the Philips components are more "cheap" than the Harmans due the issues on the Philips...
Regards!
My budget is around 500 euro. I would like to know the posible options for make the correct choice but it seems that are not a lot of Pal-progressive players in the market yet and it seems too that currently they all have problems...
Firstly, for approximately the same price, I have seen the Philips like a better option(Faroudja 13 bits/108 mhz video...) over the Harman(10 bits/27 mhz video) but now I understood why the Philips has the same price than the Harman when its features are higher... I think that the reason can be that the Philips components are more "cheap" than the Harmans due the issues on the Philips...
Regards!
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Yes, the Philips does look like an excellent player - the same spec DAC as the Pioneer 757, but much cheaper. It's such a pity that many of the players have problems.
If you could buy one localy and return it if it's faulty, then that may be the only way to know if it will be a good one that you'll like, or a bad one like me and a few others had.
Having said that, I found that the Toshiba SD520E looked a lot better on my projector than the 963, so maybe the HK DVD25 will give the same apparent improvement as well, and it has PAL progressive.
After all, specs are one thing, but go with what looks best to you with your own eyes.
Gary.
If you could buy one localy and return it if it's faulty, then that may be the only way to know if it will be a good one that you'll like, or a bad one like me and a few others had.
Having said that, I found that the Toshiba SD520E looked a lot better on my projector than the 963, so maybe the HK DVD25 will give the same apparent improvement as well, and it has PAL progressive.
After all, specs are one thing, but go with what looks best to you with your own eyes.
Gary.
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"You should buy the Pioneer then. It could indeed be more stable, however, it cost more money, lacks high quality Faroudja deinterlacing, no CD upsampling and uses low quality DACs."
But more importantly, gives a superior picture.
Gary.
But more importantly, gives a superior picture.
Gary.
Josu,
Try the Marantz DV4300, very good reviews.
http://www.hifissimo.com/store/searc...d.tpml&0=24687
Nacho.
Try the Marantz DV4300, very good reviews.
http://www.hifissimo.com/store/searc...d.tpml&0=24687
Nacho.
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No PAL progressive though as far as I can see...
Gary.
Gary.
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