I agree on what has already been required:
- perfect adaptive deinterlacing (i.e. no flag reading) for BOTH NTSC and PAL progressive
- no chroma delay, chroma bug or chroma roll-off
- region free (must be doable from remote, no hw hacks)
- excellent video characteristics otherwise
- flawless audio/dvd performance on multiangle and difficulty authored titles (a list of these titles available on request for testing players performance)
- no audio synch problems of any kind
- no crashing, no audio drop outs, jerky images, etc.
Those are not hard to do and represent the minimum baseline to even get in the ring with other contenders (costing as low as $220!).
Then, if the manufacturer wanted to up the ante they could do any of the following (some taken from previous posts):
Signals and connections
- 480p/576p/720p/960p/1080i/1080p scaling and output
- component and RGB output
- DVI/Panel Link output
- firewire for connectivity and upgrades
- balanced audio outputs
- RJ45 internet connection for freedb.org connectivity
Format compatibility
- DTS 24/96 compatibility
- mp3 playback (Ogg vorbis would be a nice plus)
- CDR/CRW/DVD-R playback
- VCD/SVCD support
- NTSC->PAL, PAL->NTSC conversion
Audio capabilities
- CD, HDCD, multichannel SACD (real DSD->analog), DVD-A
- bass management (for multichannel audio formatsl)
- CD to 24/192 multi deltasigma upsampling on cd audio
Usability
- Ability to preprogram what soundtrack, what subtitles and what action to perform by default when disc is inserted (e.g. Select DTS discrete EX or DD if no DTS, disable subtitles and PLAY the DISC).
- good remote (too cumbersome to go into details)
- extremely fast operations and layer changes
Future proof
- Firmware upgradeable with cd-r (it WILL have bugs)
- firewire and DVI/panel link for future DVD-A/SACD digital output formats
Build quality
- Expenses used on the INSIDE not the front panel by selecting the best of class components in the price range
- separate power sources for audio and video parts
- good EMI/RFI shielding
Tricks to be done (if can't be put on a shipping player)
- No macrovision on ANY output
- SDI output
If it did all of the above with flawless audio/video performance, then it would sell not thousands, but hundreds of thousands. It would set a benchmark for all dvd players to follow.
I'd personally buy two right away and recommend it to a few hundred avid videophiles in at least seven countries.
I'm sure others will add to this, but the above would for me be the dream player and I'd be willing to pay up to $4000 for it, if it really worked and existed.
Cheers,
Halcy
PS A lot of manufacturers have gotten into the "feature game" only and have forgotten the "performance game". To succeed in this market, one must have a minimum set of features and EXCEL in the performance of these. Everything else is a step closer to the dream player, but if the fundamentals fail.... bye-bye...