|
PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
SONY DVP-NS305, £180
Sony has never been entirely comfortable with
the concept of ‘budget’ priced AV products, and it showed with the rather bland
DVP-NS300 but you’d be hard pressed to tell that the recently launched NS350
also cost just £180, just don’t expect too much in the way of toys or frills.
On the other hand there’s no shortage of performance tweaks, including an
advanced digital noise reduction system and Sony’s new ‘Precision 2’ deck
mechanism. The slimline case is a real class act too, just 62mm high, and the
NS350 looks for all the world like a piece of high-end kit.
Otherwise the spec is rather ordinary, there’s a routine set of trick
play options, it has a 3D spatial sound mode and it can play MP3 files on
CD-R/RW discs but strangely there’s no picture zoom, and Sony has saved a few
more pennies by not fitting an optical bitstream socket or separate S-Video
output, though the latter is available through the SCART connector. There is
one unusual extra though, and that’s a 4-mode picture control (Dynamic 1 &
2 and Cinema 1 & 2), which varies brightness, black-level, colour and
contrast levels to suite different types of movies, and for a change they
mostly work quite well.
Despite the low price (for Sony) there is no suggestion of any
performance compromises, quite the opposite and picture quality is the best
we’ve seen on a sub-£200 player to date. Colours are vibrant and it has no
trouble rendering subtle shades like skin tones. Fine details are cleanly
picked out and it’s an artefact free zone, even when thoroughly provoked with
lots of movement and rapid changes in brightness. This makes it ideal for
watching action blockbusters, but it handles gloomy scenes equally well,
extracting every last morsel of texture from backgrounds and shadows.
No complaints about sound quality either, even the 3D effect earns its
keep, adding depth to stereo soundtracks and beefing up music CDs. The mixed
stereo soundtrack has very low levels of background noise and the coaxial
bitstream output is crystal clear, it will definitely benefit from being used
with a decent quality AV amp and speakers, and it won’t hurt audio CD and MP3
replay either.
If you’ve baulked at the price of Sony AV gear now’s your chance to own
a quality DVD player at an affordable price. What it lacks in gadgets it more
than makes up for with superb AV performance and Sony build quality.
Contact Sony 08705 111999, www.sony.co.uk
SPECS
Video output composite/S-Video/RGB
SCARTs 1
Audio output analogue mixed stereo/coaxial
5.1 decoders N/A
EXTRA FEATURES
Region 2 only, PAL/NTSC replay, multi-speed trick play, MP3 replay, 3D
sound, 3-mode picture control,
FOR
Sony performance, good looks and build quality
AGAINST
Basic spec and a rather mean selection of sockets
IS IT WORTH IT?
You bet; great AV quality and it looks like it costs a whole lot more!
RATING
5/5
JVC HR-XV1EK, £300
Before you get too excited, no the HR-XV1EK combi VHS/DVD player cannot copy
discs to tape but it can do just about everything else a separate VCR and DVD
player can do, including make time-shifted recordings, it has NICAM and hi-fi
stereo sound and can replay NTSC and Super VHS recordings on tape. It even has
a couple of basic editing/copy functions, for licking home video movies into
shape. The DVD section has a typical entry-level spec with MP3 replay, 3D sound
and it has a 3-stage zoom/shrink function.
The on-screen displays and slightly tinny construction suggests that it
may be sourced from outside JVC but no matter, tape and disc picture quality
are both good and more or less what you’d expect from JVC. DVD replay could
with just a gnat’s wider contrast range and some details are lost in gloomy
scenes and shadows but colours are always crisp and natural looking. Noise
levels on VCR soundtracks are respectably low; surround effects on DVD are
pin-sharp and very sharply focused.
Combis are very convenient and they do save space but the downside is
that you’ve got to want both devices at the same time, and you do sacrifice
some flexibility but on the whole, this one works quite well.
Contact: JVC UK 0870 330 5000, www.jvc.co.uk
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 only, PAL/NTSC replay, MP3 replay, multi-speed replay,
picture zoom/shrink, 3D sound. VCR:VHS NICAM Hi-Fi with NTSC & SQRB (quasi
S-VHS) playback, Video Plus+ with PDC timer, auto installation, multi-speed
replay
FOR
One-box convenience, AV performance and fair value
AGAINST
Unappealing looks and styling, slightly flimsy feel
IS IT WORTH IT?
Possibly, if you’re short of space and in the market for both products
RATING
4/5
TOSHIBA SD-510, £400
DVD-Audio is one of two competing disc formats battling to take over
from audio CD. The other is SACD but which one will prevail? That’s anyone’s
guess, but the Toshiba SD-510, at around £400, makes gambling on DVD-Audio a
little easier to swallow. The feature list is brim-full of high-end goodies,
including an on-board Dolby Digital decoder, good trick play options, MP3
replay and a progressive scan ColourStream/Component video output, thought
you’d need to have it ‘chipped’ or get an all region model to get any benefit
out of it as it only works on NTSC recordings.
Picture quality gets a big thumbs-up, colours are bright, lively and
natural looking, it’s crisp and detailed, even in dull scenes where on lesser
players background can end up looking flat. DVD sound is excellent as is
DVD-Audio, though the choice of material is somewhat limited a the moment – so
make sure there’s enough of what you want to hear, just in case… Regular audio
CDs also sound very good, comparable with a mid-range component hi-fi deck.
If you’re at all interested in DVD-Audio and fancy a punt the SD-510 is
one of the least expensive options and even if the format goes belly up you’re
left with a very decent DVD player.
SPECS
Video output composite/S-Video/RGB/Component
SCARTs 1
Audio output analogue mixed
stereo/coaxial/optical
5.1 decoders Dolby Digital/dts
EXTRA FEATURES
Region 2 only, multi-speed trick play, MP3 replay, picture zoom, 3D
spatial sound, DVD Audio
FOR
DVD-Audio, good all-round AV performance
AGAINST
Highish price and limited catalogue of DVD-Audio recordings
IS IT WORTH IT?
Yes, if you’re into DVD-Audio but make sure there’s enough software to
keep you entertained
RATING
4/5
AIWA XD-V480, £180
Although it’s fairly obvious this machine is made by LG there are
enough unique design touches to avoid it being labelled a total clone.
Nevertheless, for the price the spec is a bit ordinary, there’s the usual array
of entry-level widgets including MP3 replay, 3D sound, picture zoom and there’s
a bonus feature in the shape of a 5-scene bookmark, but that’s about it. The
remote handset earns extra brownie points for being a good size and easy to
use, but they’re swiftly deducted for the lack of a hackable region lock
(normal on most LG players; we’ll reinstate them if one turns up…).
On screen performance is generally good, rendition of colour and fine
detail are okay, and it handles rapid changes in brightness – like explosions –
without a murmur. Contrast balance is not too bad either coping well with dimly
lit scenes and shadows. The stereo soundtrack is very clean with only average
amounts of background hiss. Audio CD performance is in the same league as
budget and mid-range hi-fi, though MP3 tracks sound a tad flat.
It’s okay, picture and sound quality are both good, but there’s nothing
particularly distinctive about this machine, certainly not the price, which is
on the high side for what these days amounts to a basic entry-level player.
Contact: Aiwa (0990) 902902 www.aiwa.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 only, multi-speed trick play, MP3 replay, 3D sound, 2-mode
picture zoom, 5-scene bookmark
FOR
Solid AV performance
AGAINST
A wee bit expensive
IS IT WORTH IT?
Maybe, if you’re a big Aiwa fan
RATING
3/5
HITACHI
DV-P315, £180
Normally the DV-P315 would rate a respectful nod, it’s an averagely
well-specified entry-level machine from an A-brand manufacturer selling for an
unremarkable price but one thing sets it apart, the region lock is hackable!
It’s the Hitachi name that makes this unusual, normally the big boys toe the
line when it comes to regional coding but on this one just cold start the
player (press Play and Stop together), select English language and press Menu,
Repeat, 38767 and 9 and it’s all region enabled.
Other items of interest include some fancy trick play modes, 3D sound,
2-step zoom and Disc Navigation, which displays a visual menu of stills,
grabbed from the start of each chapter on a disc. There’s plenty of fine detail
in the picture and colours vivid and lifelike – as the occasion demands – and
it handles dark and gloomy scenes well, indicating that contrast balance is
bang on. Noise levels on the stereo output are low and surround effects are
very lively. Audio CD replay is average but pipe it through a hi-fi amp and
speakers and it won’t disgrace itself.
It looks good, the price is just about okay but the loose region lock
and A-brand pedigree marks it out as a very good deal.
Contact: Hitachi 0345 581455, www.hitachitv.com
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 (hackable) multi-speed trick play, Disc Navigation, picture
zoom, 3D sound
FOR
AV performance, hackable region lock
AGAINST
Fairly basic features
IS IT WORTH IT?
Yes, a good solid deck and the hackable region lock is a bonus
RATING
4/5
---end---
Ó R. Maybury 2002,
1605
| 
