DV-525 / Component Video Outputs
Written: Nov 05 '00 (Updated Nov 10 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy as pie!
Cons: None
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| i-robot's Full Review: Pioneer DV-525 DVD Player |
I finally got around to hooking this up and what an idiot I was for not doing it sooner! First things first though:
My TV is a Toshiba TW-40F80. This is a 16:9 aspect ratio, rear projector. I have been using my DV-525 with it for some time and was very happy with the results. The Toshiba has component video inputs and the Pioneer DV-525 has component video outputs. So what took me so long to hook this up and try it? Laziness; pure and simple.
Well, after writing a review on the DV-525 previously, I self-guilted myself into getting an appropriate cable set and giving it a go. After much ado, I got the cables (low capacitance video cable) and hooked them up to the set & player. After some futzing about I finally got a picture. Below the S-VHS output jack on the DV-525 is a switch that must be engaged if you are going to use the component outputs. I left the S-VHS cable hooked up too but going into a separate video input on the Toshiba TV. I was able to A/B between the two types of signals albeit with some effort.
Purists would say that a running back & forth A/B might be suspect and I would agree if it weren't for a singular trait that manifested itself with the component hook-up vs. the S-VHS. More on that in a minute. I had figured for whatever reason that some type of color improvement would be noteworthy with the component hook-up. The similarities in color were close between the two hook-up connections though. So close in fact that I had a hard time seeing any substantial differences. I was about to say "Gimmick!" when I noticed a really nice characteristic with the component hook-up that was definitely not apparent with the S-VHS hook-up or at least greatly reduced. I used several pieces of software for the A/B. "Mission to Mars", "The Rocketeer", "Galaxy Quest", "Matrix" & "Toy Story II". (OK, I like SF!) What I saw was depth. By that I mean that the picture took on a "looking through a window" effect. The picture seemed to be more 3D-like than with the other hook-up. This was subtle though and some films ("Mission to Mars" & "Toy Story II") seemed to bring it out more in my system. I tried it again later and came to the same conclusion.
I did not however do a double blind test with someone else throwing the switch. That would have certainly been more conclusive and less likely that I self-biased the results and saw what I wanted too. I am happy though with my conclusions. My wife came in during my testing and commented on how great the picture looked. Without telling her anything additional, I switched over to the other setting, got her reaction and switched back again. She picked out the component setting also. That is good enough for me.
The cable to do this was not expensive and is well worth it IMO.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
i-robot
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Location: Boston, MA
Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 1 member
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