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Review 2 of 3
Price Paid:
$229.00
from J&R Summary:
I'm what you would call a hybrid in the home theater world, I'm an audiophile, home theater enthusiast, and videophile all rolled into one person. As you can imagine I am very critical of video and sound, however I am not rich, as much would like to purchase the Denon DVD-5910 with the Teranex processor, I can not afford to (as my wife constantly reminds me). The Panasonic is a real world player, with a real world price tag. I have owned several dvd players over the last year, varying in price. I've owned the Denon DVD-2200, the Onkyo DV-SP800, the Pioneer DV-59AVI (my wife is still upset at me over this one), and a Vinc Bravo D2. Based on picture quality, the Bravo D2 and Denon DVD-2200 had the best picture quality of the above players, with the edge going to Bravo D2 but let's talk about the Panasonic player.
I've had the Panasonic for 5 months now and I'm loving it more and more everyday. Initially I wasn't that impressed with the picture quality compared to the Bravo player, the picture was good but it lacked the detail and brightness that the Bravo had. As time went on, I got more and more familiar with this player, I have never used a dvd player with more picture adjustments than the panasonic. There are a ton of picture ehancement modes. After dedicated several hours to adjusting picture levels, I am now amazed at this player, the picture quality via the 1080i hdmi output to my LCD rear projection tv is staggering. I know that it isn't true high-def, but with well recorded dvd's it's hard to tell, believe me, I have a very critical eye, it's hard to tell the difference on SOME dvd's. Older dvd's lack the same luster, but they never look bad. I have not run into the macro blocking problems that others have experienced, playing with the picture adjustments can lessen this effect. What impressed me most about this player was it's ability to display a bright image that is sharp, not washed out, with a respectable black level. The DVD-Audio on this player is quite good as well, not as dynamic as the DV-59AVI, but it is respectable. In picture quality i have to give the nod the Panasonic due to it's adjustments.
The Bottom line is, if you have the time to properly calibrate this machine you will have a dvd player that is incredibly satisfying until the blu-ray - HD/DVD war is over. I am still amazed at what $250.00 can buy you in a dvd player. There's a reason why this thing is sold out everywhere.
My System:
Panasonic PT-50LC13 LCD RP 16:9 HDTV
Sherwood Newcastle R-865 Receiver
Nad S-200 2channel Power Amplifier
Panasonic DVD-S97S Dvd Player
Sony DVP-NC555ES (SACD/CD Player)
Philips DVDR77 Dvd Recorder
Belkin PureAV PF40 Power Center
NHT ST4 (Fronts)
NHT SC2 (Center)
NHT SB3 (Rears)
NHT SuperzeroXU's (Suroound backs)
Velodyne DPS-12 Subwoofer
Monster Cable Reference Interconnects Strengths:
Amazing picture quality
Tons of Audio/Video adjustments
Attractive Styling
Great price Weaknesses:
Cheap build quality when compared to similar video quality players (those players also cost alot more).
Only comes in silver. Similar Products Used:
Denon DVD-2200
Onkyo DV-SP800
Pioneer DV-59AVI
Vinc Bravo D2
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