[BTDT]

I have been lurking on this particular forum for a few weeks now. I recently purchased a Toshiba 52HLX82 (LCoS) but am still running a 5-year-old Sony SVideo DVD player to it. The picture is good, but could be so much better.


So, it has become apparent that some of the best quality/cost deals out right now are in the Panasonic players. The ones I have noted on this forum lately are the RP-62, XP-30, XP-50, and RP-91. The RP-82 sounds very nice but I haven't seen where I could get one for a reasonable price.


Here is my question: Is there a downside in the RP-91 that I should be aware of vs something like the XP-50? I note that the RP-91 appears to be an older player, but has 12 bit video processing rather than the 10 bits of the other players, better scaling modes, etc. Does the XP-30/50 have better or more-recent processing or can I expect the best picture to come out of the RP-91? Any other thoughts on this?


The Tosh LCoS definitely shows off whatever quality or lack of quality is present in the image, so I am interested in getting the best possible picture for a reasonble price.

 

[csv96]

The RP91 is a nice player, but there have been reports of hardware failure after a couple years of use. As for the XP series, most people don't think the picture quality is as good as the RP82. My suggestion is to wait for the S55S to come out before making a decision.

 

[KingofOld]

I've heard that the XP's use the same stuff as the RP82, the 30 just doesn't do DVD A so the pq should be the same. I could be wrong because this is from fairly distant memory. The xp's are discontinued but can still be found around sometimes. I think ebay has a few (30's) the 50's are harder to come by.

 

[DooDoo]

If youre tv has DVI than look into the Bravo D1. It will be available next week.

 

[nekobus]

Quote:

Originally posted by csv96 The RP91 is a nice player, but there have been reports of hardware failure after a couple years of use. My suggestion is to wait for the S55S to come out before making a decision.

The S55 will not be using the Faroudja chip, as Panasonic has made the marketing decision to compete on price.

As for the XP series, most people don't think the picture quality is as good as the RP82. [/quote]


I don't know where you got this impression, but picture quality between the XP series and the RP-82 is essentially the same.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-b...deInt=0&mpeg=0

 

[csv96]

There have been many many posts on this forum about the XP series vs. RP82 especially after the RP82 became unavailable. I thought the consensus here at AVS was that the XP50 did not have the same subjective PQ as the RP82 (unless you can point me to a thread that says otherwise). I swear I've seen about 50 different threads with people saying, "I can't find the RP82, should I get the XP50 instead?" If they are the same, I can't figure out why people would be so stuck on getting an RP82 if the XP50 was readily available.


As for the S55S, even though it doesn't have the Faroudja chip, there's a chance that Panasonic's proprietary chip will be "pretty good". That's why it might be worth a few weeks wait to find out what it will look like. While it may have the same chip as the S35S, there's also the possibility that Panasonic is going to use something slightly different as they did with the RP62 vs. the RP82 where everyone agrees that the RP82 is much better than the RP62.

Quote:

Originally posted by nekobus The S55 will not be using the Faroudja chip, as Panasonic has made the marketing decision to compete on price. As for the XP series, most people don't think the picture quality is as good as the RP82. I don't know where you got this impression, but picture quality between the XP series and the RP-82 is essentially the same. http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-b...deInt=0&mpeg=0

 

[DooDoo]

The Denon 1600 also has the same internals as the xp30 and the rp82. I dont know about subjective tests but they all rated exactly the same in the DVD Shootout.

 

[Spoffo]

Don't overlook the CP-72 changer. It has 99% of the PQ of the RP-82 and is still widely available for around $200. Just be sure to get it from someone you know will take a return, since there have been reports of a quality control problem with grounding on the component outputs. Luckily, if you get a bad unit, you'll know it right away (white flashes) and can swap it for a good one. Actually, a lot of people have been grabbing these, and no one here has reported the white flashes problem lately, so maybe it was just one bad batch.

 

[BTDT]

Thanks for the inputs. I don't see anyone jumping up and down about the RP-91 being in any way extremely superior. The coax digital audio out would have been helpful, but for the price difference I could probably just upgrade to a receiver with more optical ins.


I have thought about waiting for the impending DVI players coming down the pike, but with only one DVI connection I have mentally reserved it for the future HD-TiVo. DVI switchers are apparently a bit pricey.


I am going to look around at lunch today and see what I can find. If an RP-82 fell off a shelf and hit me on the head I would likely buy it. I don't like the bright silver finish of the XPs (all of my other stuff is black) and there are reports of the display being like a spot light in your face.


I haven't seen the CP-72. Is it essentially an RP-82 with a changer, or more like a CP-62 with a changer? Does it have the Faroudja chip?


Note that one difference between the Sammy and Panny DLP sets is this chip choice, with Panasonic using an in-house chip. One strength of the Sammy is in this exact department, so I would expect to see the same with the DVD players.

 

[Marcus-SanDiego]

I have the XP30 and the RP82. I can't tell the difference between the two pictures.

 

[nekobus]

Quote:

Originally posted by csv96 There have been many many posts on this forum about the XP series vs. RP82 especially after the RP82 became unavailable. I thought the consensus here at AVS was that the XP50 did not have the same subjective PQ as the RP82 (unless you can point me to a thread that says otherwise). I swear I've seen about 50 different threads with people saying, "I can't find the RP82, should I get the XP50 instead?" If they are the same, I can't figure out why people would be so stuck on getting an RP82 if the XP50 was readily available.

People were stuck on the RP-82 because it had a much lower price than the XP50 and it didn't have the difficult to read LCD. The RP was also the first unit that people locked onto as a killer deal for the money ($200 at the time).

Quote:

As for the S55S, even though it doesn't have the Faroudja chip, there's a chance that Panasonic's proprietary chip will be "pretty good". That's why it might be worth a few weeks wait to find out what it will look like. While it may have the same chip as the S35S, there's also the possibility that Panasonic is going to use something slightly different as they did with the RP62 vs. the RP82 where everyone agrees that the RP82 is much better than the RP62.

There are already user reports in this forum of the S35 using the Panasonic's new all-in-one chip and the Faroudja chipped players have better PQ.


I have or have had all four players (RP82, XP50, XP30, CP72). The PQ among all units is very similar, it's more a question of features, availability and price.

 

[AndyMon]

Quote:

Originally posted by BTDT I don't like the bright silver finish of the XPs (all of my other stuff is black) and there are reports of the display being like a spot light in your face.

Just hooked up a new XP30 to my new Fuli P50 yesterday. First DVD, Spiderman. Result, awesome!

I, too, thought the silver mirror finish would look odd with all my black components but I was wrong. It's so incredibly thin that it looks like a slick slim silver sliver. Kinda cool, actually.

Insofar as the bright display is concerned, you can either dim it or put it on automatic where it'll only light up briefly while using the remote to input commands. So, it's really a non issue.