Real Progressive Scan for $300? -- Not Exactly
Written: Feb 05 '01 (Updated Feb 09 '01)
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Pros: Simplified Version of Progressive Scan, Complete Set of Video and Audio Outputs, CD-R, Low $$$
Cons: Simplified Version of Progressive Scan, No Internal DD/DTS Decoder (But not usually Needed)
The Bottom Line: A basic implementation of prog-scan, at low $$$, but you'll soon be able to get a full implementation for not much more $$$.
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| radioguy's Full Review: Pioneer DV-434 DVD Player |
It's human nature to want to get something for nothing, or at least to get something for way less than it should cost. This is evident with the Pioneer DV-434 DVD player, where people think they're going to get a progressive-scan DVD player for a street price of around $300 (or even less at certain online retailers). It's not surprising that they'd get this idea, since the consumer electronics companies play fast and loose with the terminology surrounding the new high-def products. Adding to the confusion, some Epinions reviewers (even an advisor) have told readers that the DV-434 does give them a progressive-scan DVD player for $300.
Something for (Almost) Nothing?
Will you really get a progressive-scan DVD player if you plunk down your $300 for the Pioneer DV434? Let's rephrase that. Why is it that the nearest-priced prog-scan DVD player, the Toshiba SD-5109, sells for $500? Let's rephrase that again. Why does the next prog-scan model up in the Pioneer line, the DV-37, sell for $700, more than double the street price of the 434?
Strictly speaking, the answer is yes, you do get progressive-scan output with the DV-434. In real world terms, this player's inexpensive, technically-basic implementation of progressive-scan output will not provide image quality as good as you'd get with the SD-5109, the DV-37, or other high-end prog-scan players. Essentially, the DV-434 is an entry-level DVD player which also features prog-scan output, but a lesser-quality version of prog-scan than you'll find on the next model up in Pioneer's line of progressive-scan DVD players.
Does Progressive Scanning Make Sense for You?
Progressive scanning might not even be an issue for you. If you have a regular NTSC-standard color TV, then the prog-scan mode of the DV-434 won't do anything for you. Only the regular, interlaced output will display on your TV. If this is the case, you'll do better to just get a standard, interlaced-only DVD player (see my reviews of the Pioneer DV-333, Panasonic RV30, and the Hitachi DVD305U, among others). You can find a decent interlaced-only DVD player for $200 or less (street price).
If you own one of the so-called H/DTV-ready, high-definition TV sets, a set which can accept and display analog signals at the 480p resolution level, then the prog-scan output of the DV-434 would work with your set.
Progressive Scan -- How It Works
Before we get into the specific features of the DV-434, let me quickly explain progressive scanning. Each second of video on your television consists of 30 frames. With the output of an interlaced-scan DVD player fed into your set, each of these 1/30th-of-a-second frames is divided into two 1/60th-of-a-second fields, with the first field containing the odd-numbered horizontal lines of the frame and the second field containing the frame's even-numbered horizontal lines. Due to persistence of vision and the screen phosphor's slight persistence of display (meaning each line remains on the screen for a fraction of a second after it's drawn onto the phosphors), you perceive the two fields as an entire frame.
You can see one of the drawbacks of interlaced scanning if you look at a sharp horizontal edge while displaying a DVD image on your TV, such as the edge between a black letterbox band and the regular picture. You can also witness with regular broadcast TV, such as the edge of a ticker-tape box on a financial channel or the edge of a score box on a sports event. The flicker which you perceive here is the result of interlaced scanning. You're not truly seeing a solid video image, but an image formed of two parts projected in alternating fields so quickly that, in most cases, you view them as a single image, but with a sharp edge you see the flicker.
Progressive scanning, when properly implemented, deals with this problem. With the output of a progressive-scan DVD player, such as the DV-434, during each 1/60th of a second, an entire set of 480 horizontal lines is projected onto the screen (meaning the frame rate, technically, is 60 frames-per-second (fps) but, when showing 30 fps video, each frame is repeated once).
There's Progressive Scan, and then There's Progressive Scan
However, this doesn't mean all your problems are solved. The quality of the progressive-scan output from any DVD player will depend on the method in which the interlaced signal from the DVD player's MPEG-2 decoder is converted to a progressive-scan signal. Generally speaking, this will depend on the quality of the integrated-circuit (IC) chip which performs this function and the firmware algorithm programmed into the chip. Several prog-scan DVD players use the Genesis Microchip gmVLX1A chip.
The latest chips from Genesis Microchip, the gm6015 and the gm6020 (the latter includes Macrovision copy protection -- not much of an advance for the consumer), make improvements on the previous-generation IC's and sell in bulk for $20 per chip. Unfortunately, when you're talking about a product which lists for $450, as the DV-434 does, $20 might represent too much of an investment in a single IC.
Remember, with standard markups, Pioneer would be grossing around $200 on each unit, not leaving them a huge amount of wiggle room for the cost of the raw components which go into the player. Judging by the prices you see for the DV-434 at some online retailers, as low as $220, one would think Pioneer gets an even-lower wholesale price on these players. Clearly, when you get into a model like the DV-37, the next up in the Pioneer prog-scan line, with its list price of $1,000, there's greater leeway for investing in the latest chips and technologies.
Whichever chip is used, what makes its work tough is the nature of movie-source DVD encoding. Movies are, by nature, a progressive signal source, projected at 24 frames per second. The tricky part comes in when these 24 frames are assigned to the 60 fields of the interlaced-scan signal coming from the MPEG-2 decoder (unfortunately, despite the raw data being in native-progressive format on DVD discs, all DVD MPEG-2 decoders output a 60-field-per-second interlaced signal). A method known as 3:2 pulldown is employed, whereby the first movie frame is assigned to three fields, the second to two fields, the third to three fields, the fourth to two, the fifth to three, etc., assigning the 24 frames to the 60 fields.
When a Line Doubler Just Won't Do (Very Well)
Unfortunately, a simple line-doubler, such as the circuitry used in many lower-priced H/DTV-ready TV's, such as the Toshiba TW40X81, to bring a 480-interlaced signal (480i, standard output from a DVD player -- VCR's and broadcast television also use interlacing, but at somewhat lower resolution) up to 480-progressive (480p) for display at this much-sharper resolution level on the set's screen, will run into trouble working with the output from a DVD player used with a film-source disc. It takes a fairly sophisticated chip, with complex algorithms, to deal with that 3:2-pulldown signal, converting it to 480p output without introducing image distortion. Please note that, if the player is dealing with a video-source DVD (a DVD, for example, which is taken from a live television broadcast), it will work to simply line double the interlaced signal to get progressive-scan, since the underlying interlaced signal consists of 30 pairs of identical interlaced-scan fields, based upon the 30 fps interlaced signal from a standard video camera. Video-source DVD's are rare, although sometimes the menus and features on a DVD are mastered from a video source while the movie itself, the main part of the DVD, is, of course, from a film source.
The Magic of 3:2 Pulldown De-Interlacing
When you drop that extra $400 (over the street price of the DV-434) for the Pioneer DV-37, the most important feature you get is the ability to put together solid progressive-scan frames from the datastream of 3:2-pulldown-based interlaced frames coming out of the player's MPEG-2 decoder. Called "Pure Cinema" by Pioneer, this feature, using the field-adaptive de-interlacing method of transforming the interlaced output to progressive-scan output, eliminates most of the motion artifacts and other distortions you're likely to get with an inexpensive implementation of prog-scan, such as you find in the DV-434.
DV-434 Features Begin with a Complete Set of Output Jacks
The DV-434 has all three of the main types of video output connections currently in use. In order of ascending quality, these include composite, S-Video, and component. The composite and S-Video outputs supply an interlaced signal only, while the component output supplies either an interlaced or progressive-scan signal. The type of output you use will depend on the highest-quality input jack available on your TV. Of course, if you have a TV which can display at 480p, you'll have to use the component video connection to benefit from the player's prog-scan capability. While the composite and S-Video outputs each consist of single jack and are carried on a single cable, the component output is actually a set of three RCA jacks (Y-Pr-Pb) and the signal is carried on three separate cables to three corresponding RCA jacks on the TV.
DV-434's Audio Output Options
For audio, you'll find L/R analog stereo audio jacks, a coaxial digital-audio (Dolby Digital/Digital Theater Sonics -- DD/DTS) jack, and an optical digital-audio (DD/DTS) jack. For connection to your stereo (or mono) television or to a stereo receiver, the L/R jacks provide both standard stereo output and, if used with an appropriately-equipped surround-sound receiver, Dolby Pro Logic sound. Using either the coaxial or optical digital-audio output, you can feed a surround-sound A/V receiver which has its own internal DD/DTS decoder (some have only DD).
There is one type of A/V receiver to which the DV-434 is not ready to connect. These are the so-called "5.1-ready" A/V receivers. Generally selling for about $180 to $200, these receivers, such as the Pioneer VSX-D209, don't have DD/DTS decoders, but do have six analog inputs and can take a decoded, six-channel analog DD or DTS feed, amplify this signal, and feed the output to the five full-range speakers and the subwoofer of a surround-sound system. With these receivers, you must use on the higher-end DVD players which have onboard DD/DTS decoders. Naturally, you can use the analog L/R audio outputs to feed a simple stereo signal or a Dolby Pro Logic signal to a receiver like the VSX-D209. Almost all the A/V receivers which have either a DD/DTS decoder, or are at least 5.1-ready, will have Dolby Pro Logic capability.With the DV-434, and many other DVD players, the coaxial or optical digital-audio output feeds the raw surround-sound digital datastream or PCM stereo datastream to any receiver with its own DD/DTS or PCM decoder. An internal DD decoder is generally found on all A/V receivers selling for about $200 and above while at the $300 price level a DTS decoder is usually also included. Most of the above-entry-level A/V receivers will have a mode that takes the digital datastream from a CD and uses it to simultaneously feed the six speakers of a surround-sound array.
Progressive-Scan Controls
There's a switch on the DV-434's back panel to manually select either composite/S-Video or component output and a jack for Pioneer's device control signal. The device control allows for coordinated operation of a number of Pioneer products. For example, when you turn on your DVD player, it will also turn on your Pioneer television and set the TV to the appropriate input for the DVD signal.
With an on-screen menu, you can choose to output the DV-434's progressive-scan signal in either the 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratios (aspect ratio = width:height). You can also set the player to automatically go into prog-scan mode when it senses a 16:9 signal and interlaced mode when it sense 4:3. By the way, 4:3 is the standard, almost-square shape on regular NTSC-standard sets while 16:9 is usually called "widescreen."
The All-Important Remote
One of my favorite thing about DVD players, in general, is their relatively-tiny remotes. Actually, in my opinion, the remotes on DVD players are of a normal size, while the remotes for many TV's are oversized. Sony is especially guilty on this charge. It sometimes seems they want to make you feel justified in the extra money you spent on a Sony by giving you a remote that resembles a scale model of an aircraft carrier with enough buttons to reprogram a HAL-9000 computer. The DV-434 has a nice, compact remote. The buttons could have been arranged a little more logically, in terms of similar functions being next to each other, but overall this unit is easy to operate. The remote can also control some Pioneer video products, such as TV's.
Menu and Playback Options
An onscreen-menu with a graphical-user-interface provides access to picture parameter presets, such as Cinema, Animation, and Standard. Still Play allows a choice of field or frame. Other play options include frame-by-frame and slow-motion. If, for some reason, you wish to view the chapters of DVD out of the normal play order, you can program the DV-434 to play these back in random order. This feature would probably be handier when using this player for audio CD's, when you might want to hear all your favorite tracks in the order you want.
CD-R's Too!
Speaking of audio CD's, one of the nicer features of the DV-434 is its twin-laser pickups, which allow this unit to play not just standard DVD's, CD's, and VCD's, but also CD-R's and CD-RW's. The audio Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) in this player features 96kHz/24-bit performance. Since you can feed the audio signal to an appropriately-equipped A/V surround-sound receiver or amplifier through one of the DV-434's digital audio outputs (either the coaxial or the optical), you'll have the capability of enjoying excellent fidelity from CD's. Of course, you can also get a standard analog signal from a CD, output with the unit's L/R stereo outputs.
Any Color You Want, as Long as It's Black
As I've said before, all DVD players must be in black boxes, 16 inches wide by 4 inches high. It's the law. The DV-434 exceeds the width rule by a half inch and the height rule by a quarter inch. Those Pioneer designers are such rebels! The DV-434 weighs six pounds, making it small enough to easily pick up and carry to the little TV in the bedroom when your wife wants to watch Deep Space Nine and you want to watch Saving Private Ryan.
Front-Panel Features
A small fluorescent display on the front panel gives you updates on the current function of the unit, such as "play" (also indicated by a motion picture beginning to display on your television). A front panel switch allows you to dim, or completely turn off, the status display. Besides the display and the disc tray, the front panel sports a few basic buttons -- power, play, forward, rewind.
Final Thoughts
Generally speaking, the progressive-scan output of the DV-434, displayed on a 480p monitor, is quite good. As previously mentioned though, demanding DVD's, especially those with a high amount of motion, will tax its de-interlacing capability. If you own a 480p-capable TV and are in the market for a progressive-scan DVD player, you might want to take a look at the DV-434.
If you own an H/DTV-ready set, you should also consider the quality of the line-doubler in your TV. The circuitry which upconverts 480-interlaced (480i) input up to 480p for display at that resolution level, the line-doubler in an H/DTV-ready set will vary, having quality that's anywhere from the basic, straight-out doubling capability found in a TV like Toshiba's TW40X81, to the sophisticated 3:2-pulldown-capable implementation used in Pioneer's Elite line of rear-projection TV's. In fact, Pioneer refers to this high-quality form of line-doubling in the TV's as "Pure Cinema," the same name they use for similar technology in their Elite progressive-scan DVD players.
The bottom line is that, since the doubling circuitry in just about any H/DTV-ready TV will be of equal or better quality than that in the DV-434, you might be better off just running the signal of an inexpensive interlaced-output DVD player to the TV and letting the set do the bumping up to 480p. The one key advantage a player like the DV-434 might have over letting the TV do the line doubling is that, since the DV-434's doubling circuitry most likely works directly with the digital datastream from the player's MPEG-2 decoder, it avoids a stage of digital-analog conversion which doubling in the TV necessitates (all DVD signals are output from the players in analog form -- line doubling requires conversion to digital and then the signal must go back to analog to control the set's cathode ray tubes (CRT's) which control the projection of the image onto the screen). If, on the other hand, the datastream coming from the MPEG-2 decoder is converted to an analog signal in the player before going into the line-doubling circuitry, this advantage would be eliminated.
If price is your main motivator in considering this machine, keep in mind that the Toshiba SD-5109, with real 3:2-pulldown de-interlacing capability, sells for a couple of hundred dollars more. Also, as more and more DVD makers bring high-end progressive-scan machines to market, prices on entry-level progressive-scan units, such as the DV-434, the Toshiba SD-5109, and the Toshiba SD-6200, will continue to drop.
Good Prices and Features Come to Those Who Wait/Radioguy's CES Roundup
The imminent release of a whole new generation of prog-scan players, announced (and usually even demonstrated) by the major manufacturers at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, NV, will exert an even more powerful downward pressure on prices of high-performance DVD players. Please note that the prices I'll quote here are list prices, also known an Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (or, to use the abbreviation often found in car ads, MSRP). Generally speaking, brick and mortar retailers, such as Circuit City, will take 10% off these prices, while independent retailers and Web merchants discount anywhere from 10 to 30% or sometimes even more.
Panasonic, whose progressive-scan DVD player line has, to date, been limited to the very high-end DVD-H1000, plans, this spring and summer, to bring out several lower-priced prog-scan models, including the DVD-RP91, which will feature both DVD-Audio (one of several new high-quality DVD-player-based audio formats recently introduced) and DVD-RAM and have a list price of $800. The entry-level RV31, listing at $249, will replace the RV30. Two basic progressive-scan models, the RP56 and RP61, have yet to have their projected MSRP's announced, but these will presumably be somewhere between the RV31 and the RP91.
Toshiba progressive-scan DVD players have always had quite a spread between their MSRP's and their actual selling, or street, prices. For example, the SD-6200 lists for $1,200 while it generally sells for around $700. But even if retailers didn't take a penny off the upcoming Toshiba models, planned for release this early summer, they'll be quite a bargain. The new players will include a pair of prog-scan units, the SD-4700 for $399 and the SD-5700 for $449.
As well as breaking through a previously unheard of price point for a DVD unit which can record, with their $2,500 DVDR1000, Philips plans, early this summer, to bring to market the Q50, a $499 prog-scan player based around the excellent Faroudja DCDi chipset, which employs sophisticated motion-compensation circuitry, allowing the player to reduce the motion artifacts and other picture-quality problems which can crop up when de-interlacing a 3:2-pulldown DVD video source. Philips doesn't state if this completely eliminates the effects of 3:2 pulldown, but the Faroudja chips are used in some very-expensive external line-doublers used with high-end front-projection home theaters. Philips will introduce two more progressive-scan DVD players -- the DVD953 for $299 and the five-disc carousel model DVD972C for $380.
Samsung should attract the attention of those interested in a high-quality progressive-scan player with the announcement of the planned August release of the DVD-P701, a $299 unit which, according to Samsung, includes "3:2 pulldown circuitry" for artifact-free progressive-scan output.
If you want to stick with a Pioneer prog-scan player, and want a carousel model, you'll be happy to note that they plan to bring out an Elite five-disc prog-scan model, the DV-C36, which will list for $599. A similar, but non-Elite model, the DV-C306, will list for $399. Pioneer has yet to specify a release target-date for these new units.
Sony recently set a high-end standard of sorts, with their DVP-S9000ES, a model which lists for $1,999 (among mass-market brands, only the Toshiba SD-9200 and Pana DVD-H1000 have similar or higher prices) and seems destined to slug it out with the H1000 for place of honor as the consumer-level DVD reference standard.
However, just as Panasonic plans to bring some lower-priced siblings into the line with their single high-end prog-scan model, Sony will ad the DVP-NS700, listing at $400 and coming to the market in June.
JVC's currently-available XV-D723GD features DVD-Audio and progressive-scan for a list price of $800. Price and release-date information is not yet finalized on an upcoming progressive-scan model (though it will be cheaper than the 723), the XV-S65GD.
Denon has announced the DVP-2800 progressive-scan player. Slated for release next month (February) at a price of $799, this model is built around the Silicon Image (formerly DVDO) excellent iScan Plus chip which includes the very-useful feature of aspect control (if your high-def display doesn't have it).
Marantz has announced the $899 DV-7100 progressive-scan player, but no release date has yet been fixed.
While the details on all these new models aren't yet completely clear, such as whether or not they'll have high-end 3:2-pulldown processing capability to completely eliminate motion artifacts with progressive-scan output, it's plain to see that, with list prices as low as $299, these models will take away the Pioneer DV-434's current advantage of being the lowest-priced progressive-scan DVD player available. If you own a TV with 480p display capability, and you want to take advantage of it with progressive-scan, then you might want to at least take a look at the DV-434. But if your ownership of a 480p-capable set is still somewhere in the future, it looks like it would be a really good idea to at least wait until June to see what will happen with prices and features in the DVD marketplace. It appears that the current trend of rapidly rising features, coupled with rapidly falling prices, will continue unabated.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 300
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Epinions.com ID:
radioguy
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Member: R.U. Experienced
Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 228
Trusted by: 252 members
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