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PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
HITACHI DV-PF2E, £300
So far most of the combi VCR/DVD players we’ve looked at appear to have
been cobbled together from bits and pieces lying around on manufacturer’s
shelves. The new Hitachi DV-PF2 is no exception but at least this parts bin
special uses good quality components and performance is not half bad.
For around £300 or so you get a decently specified DVD player and NICAM
VCR. Video recorder features include auto installation and a Video Plus+ timer,
there’s also NTSC replay and a set of front panel AV input sockets for
camcorder connections. With the DVD player you get MP3 replay, SRS 3D sound and
a picture zoom, all fairly standard stuff these days but what sets this one apart
from most of the combis we’ve seen recently is some decent back panel socketry.
Most importantly there’s an S-Video output for the DVD player, plus both
coaxial and optical bitstream outputs, so you stand a better chance of getting
good quality picture and sound from DVD. Not the absolute best quality picture
though. Hitachi stopped short of giving it the DVD player an RGB video output
as well but S-Video is definitely a step in the right direction. No region hack
yet, but we’re quite hopeful.
It’s one step forward but two steps back when it comes to the controls
and displays though and once again Hitachi has little to disguise the fact that
under the skin there lurks two separate devices. Instead of the units sharing a
common operating system you have to muck about with two sets of menus and two
sets of buttons and a mixture of front panel and on-screen displays. Naturally
enough this results in a somewhat bulky and button infested remote handset. The
front panel display panel is devoted entirely to the DVD, the VCR relies on
on-screen indicators and there’s no front panel clock, which seems like an
oversight.
Pop in a DVD or tape and almost all is forgiven, picture quality in
both cases is very good indeed. DVD replay reveals a lot of fine detail, even
in dark scenes and shadows, colours are bright and lifelike and there’s a good
assortment of replay speeds. Movies on tape look a little ragged besides DVD
but the decks ability to render detail and colour is better than usual and
noise levels are very low, resulting in a reasonably crisp, clean image, for
VHS at least. The VCR and DVD soundtracks are at or close to the format’s
respective limits with very little background noise on the video recorder’s
hi-fi tracks. Dolby Digital surround is pin-sharp if you hook it up to an AV
amp using one of the digital outputs.
Combis are starting to make sense, at least with this one you don’t
have to make any serious compromises on performance or flexibility, apart from
the cranky controls and displays, nor does it cost significantly more than a
comparable VCR and DVD player so if the space-saving, and to a lesser extent,
the convenience of a combi appeals, this one is definitely worth short
listing.
Contact Hitachi 0345 581455, www.hitachitv.com
SPECS
Video output composite/S-Video/RGB
SCARTs 2
Audio output analogue mixed
stereo/coaxial/optical
5.1 decoders n/a
EXTRA FEATURES
DVD: Region 2 PAL & NTSC replay, multi-speed trick play, MP3
replay, picture zoom, SRS 3D sound
VCR: VHS LP/SP, NICAM stereo hi-fi, Video Plus+ with PDC, auto tuning,
NTSC replay, picture control
FOR
Top notch AV and sensible back panel connections
AGAINST
Daft VCR menu arrangements
IS IT WORTH IT?
Yes, one of the best combis we’ve seen so far
RATING
4/5
procSti5519 –R/+/R+RW
DENON DVD-900, £250
At just under £250 the DVD-900 is the cheapest Denon DVD player to
date, and that’s quite something for a company responsible for players costing
well over two grand. By current standards it’s fairly basic, no digital
surround decoders or anything like that, but inside the sleek black (or gold)
finished box there’s plenty of advanced decoding and processing circuitry and
it’s very solidly built. Headline features include MP3 replay, it has a two-stage
picture zoom, there’s SRS 3D sound and it can play all types of recordable DVD
and CD discs. You’ll have no problems hooking it up to your TV or AV system
either as it has a full set of analogue and digital connections. Only two
gripes; the remote handset is a bit awkward and out of keeping with the rest of
the machine and so far we haven’t managed to unearth a region code hack.
Denon has avoided any compromises on performance; images are crisp and
packed with detail, colours are crisply rendered even in darker scenes, which a
lot of players have problems with. Similarly audio quality is excellent and
it’ll make an ideal partner for any up-market AV systems, including Denon’s own
range of course. A touch pricey but dedicated Denon fans will reckon it’s a
great deal…
Contact Denon (01234 741200), www.denon.co.uk
SPECS
Video output composite/S-Video/RGB
SCARTs 1
Audio output analogue mixed
stereo/coaxial/optical
5.1 decoders n/a
EXTRA FEATURES
Region 2 PAL & NTSC replay, multi-speed trick play, MP3 replay,
picture zoom, SRS 3D sound
FOR
AV performance and the undoubted Denon style and build quality
AGAINST
Expensive when compared with the competition
IS IT WORTH IT?
Yes, if you’re a Denon fan
RATING
4/5
procomegaSti5519 –R/+/R+RW
ARIA PDVD-2255, £88.13
Just when we thought the DVD market had begun to settle down along
comes the Aria PDVD-2255. The price, at just under £90, is not that remarkable,
but the specification and what you get for you money certainly is! This player
has the lot, including several luxury features, like progressive scan, VGA and
component video outputs plus built-in Dolby Digital and dts 5.1 surround
decoders. It gets better it can play just about any type of disc, including recordable
DVD and CD-R, with MP3 and JPEG picture files and there’s a slideshow mode for
picture replay. It also has a zoom and you can croon along with your fave tunes
using the machine’s Karaoke (with echo and pitch shift) facility. The machine
is shipped with multi-region replay enabled and our sample appeared untroubled
by RCE protected discs.
There had to be a catch, picture quality is mostly okay but the
contrast range could certainly have done with being a bit wider as it masks
details and colours in darker scenes. Ironically it’s a lot better on R1 discs,
suggesting that it may have originally been designed for the US market and
progressive scan TVs. Audio performance is good and provided you’re not ultra
picky about the picture it’s a real bargain!
Contact Aria, 0870 7444448, www.aria.co.uk
SPECS
Video output composite/S-Video/RGB/component/VGA
SCARTs 1
Audio output analogue mixed stereo/ analogue
5.1surround, coaxial/optical
5.1 decoders Dolby Digital & dts
EXTRA FEATURES
Multi-region, PAL & NTSC replay, multi-speed trick play, MP3 &
JPEG replay, karaoke, picture zoom, VGA & component video outputs, volume
& mute controls, SCART & AV leads supplied
FOR
Exceptionally well featured, smart styling
AGAINST
Fairly average picture performance on regular TVs
IS IT WORTH IT?
Definitely, a real bargain
RATING
4/5
process
CYBERHOME CH-DVD 402, £80
We’ve been quietly impressed by the Cyberhome DVD players we’ve seen
over the past couple of years but the new 402 sets a new benchmark for
performance and features and at just under £90 it’s not going to upset the bank
manager. The spec is mostly familiar territory for a budget machine; it has the
usual assortment of playback features though the top speed of 16x is a bit
weedy; there’s MP3 replay, some sound and picture controls plus a picture zoom
and the increasingly popular JPEG replay with a slideshow mode. The only small
disappointment is the handset, which is covered, in small cramped buttons. The
402 is shipped set to Region 2 but by pressing Open/Close, Setup, 1369, left
cursor (3 times) and right cursor once you can change the Region code from a
new ‘Version’ menu that appears on the setup page.
Picture quality is surprisingly good for a sub £100 machine in fact it
puts several players costing twice as much to shame. Colours are bright and
natural, contrast balance is good and there’s plenty of detail and texture,
even in gloomy scenes. The analogue stereo output is crisp and it gives a good
account of itself when connected to a 5.1 channel surround amp/decoder.
Definitely worth considering.
Contact Cyberhome http://www.cyberhome-europe.de/
SPECS
Video output composite/S-Video/RGB
SCARTs 1
Audio output analogue mixed
stereo/coaxial/optical
5.1 decoders n/a
EXTRA FEATURES
Region 2 (see text) PAL &
NTSC replay, multi-speed trick play, MP3 & JPEG replay, slide show, picture
& sound controls, mute, 2-mode zoom, 12-scene bookmark, glow in the dark
buttons, SCART & AV leads supplied
FOR
Affordable price, good spec and very respectable performance
AGAINST
Nasty remote
IS IT WORTH IT?
Yes, a solid little player at a very fair price
RATING
4/5
SONY DVP-NS705, £250
Super Audio CD or SACD is one of two formats vying to replace CD – the
other one is DVD-Audio – and Sony as the main backers of SACD are pushing the
format hard with affordably priced players like the DVP-NS705. At the moment
SACD titles are a bit thin on the ground and there’s no guarantee the format
will flourish so we’ll focus on the DVD side of things. The spec looks quite
good, you get a 5.1 surround decoder and a few extras like a 40-disc ‘resume’
memory which remembers where you left off if you like to dip in and out of
movies. There’s some picture adjustments and the remote will control the main
functions on Sony TVs. Needless to say the region lock is rock solid but
multi-region models are available if you shop around.
No complaints whatsoever about picture quality, it looks great with bags
of detail, rich colours and it does an excellent job whatever you feed it with,
from fasted paced action movies with lots of flashes and explosions to darker
and more sedate material. Soundtracks and effects are lively and sharply
focused and for the record SACD sounds really good through a top-end hi-fi
system.
Contact Sony 08705 111999, www.sony.co.uk
SPECS
Video output composite/S-Video/RGB
SCARTs 1
Audio output analogue mixed stereo, 5.1
surround/coaxial/optical
5.1 decoders Dolby Digital
EXTRA FEATURES
Region 2 PAL & NTSC replay, multi-speed trick play, Dolby Digital
decoder, SACD replay, MP3 replay, multi-disc resume, picture controls
FOR
Sleek and stylish, good AV performance, SACD a possible bonus
AGAINST
SACD still a bit of a gamble
IS IT WORTH IT?
Maybe, if you fancy SACD’s chances
RATING
4/5
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Ó R. Maybury 2002,
0210
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