Panasonic DVD-RP82 DVD Audio/Video Player - The Best Performer On The Market Today
Written: Jul 31 '02 (Updated Jan 06 '04)
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Pros: The best picture quality on the market, features, price, DVD-Audio and Progressive Scan
Cons: Remote could be better, but for this price and with great performance who can complain?
The Bottom Line: The RP82 is an excellent DVD Audio/Video player with progressive scan. In fact, it is a bargain, considering that it has ...
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| dkozin's Full Review: Panasonic DVD-RP82 DVD Player |
The Panasonic DVD-RP82 is a stylish DVD player with DVD-Audio playback, progressive scan and a price tag of less than $230! It also plays CD-R and CD-RW discs, discs with MP3 and WMA audio and has zoom function that allows you eliminate black horizontal bars above and below the image while watching the widescreen material.
Front Panel
The front panel of the RP82 is stylish and features silver and black accents. The display is located on the left side from the disc tray. The player is quite slim and the front panel includes buttons for basic playback functions, a button for activation/deactivation of progressive scan as well as “Audio Only” button, which shuts off video circuits during DVD-Audio playback to minimize noise and interference.
DVD-Video And Real Progressive Scan
The RP82 gives you a “real” progressive scan with 2:3 pulldown conversion using patented DCDi technology from Sage/Faroudja chip. The picture quality is excellent with no stairstep artifacts, chroma upsampling issues or combing. In fact, the picture quality of this DVD player is quite likely the best on the market today!
The button on the front panel allows you switch between progressive scan and interlaced (standard) scan. The progressive scan capability requires HDTV or HDTV-ready TV and progressive scan signal is only output through the component video out, when the feature is turned on. It gives you smoother and clearer picture.
DVD-Audio
For less than $230 you get DVD-Audio playback with 5.1 analog output jacks and both Dolby Digital and DTS decoding. The DVD-Audio signal gets output through the 5.1 analog out only, since the digital audio output could allow one make digital audio copies (and recording industry doesn’t want this to happen). No DVD-Audio player allows you use digital output to transfer audio signal (same for Super Audio CD).
CD-R/W
The player plays CD-R and CD-RW, discs with MP3 and WMA files and VCD. It also plays XVCD discs (even though the manual doesn’t mention it). The MP3 playback interface is very neat and the player can play MP3 files at 32 to 320 kbps and WMA at higher than 48 kbps.
Inputs
The player has analog stereo (2-channel) audio out, 5.1 analog audio outs as well as an optical digital-audio output and coaxial digital audio out (both Dolby Digital and DTS compatible), which you can use to connect it to Dolby Digital or DTS receivers or mini-systems. It also has an S-video and component video outs. You can select “audio only” mode, in which the video circuits shut off to reduce the noise level and interference.
Features And Such
The player has picture zoom and allows you zoom in on a widescreen movie, eliminating black bars above and below the image if you are using conventional TV (4:3 aspect ratio).
The RP82 has 5 slow scan speeds in either direction as well as 5 fast scan speeds in either direction (including 200x speed).
The dialogue enhancer allows to boost volume of the center channel (which usually carries people’s voices) so that the dialog doesn’t become drowned out by the explosions and such.
The “resume” function remembers where you stopped the playback and can resume from the same point even if power was shut off (but not if the disc was removed). “Quick Replay” function (and corresponding button) allows you quickly replay last 7-10 seconds if you missed something.
The “Position Memory” allows the player to memorize the position on up to 5 discs at a time and start from that position even if the disc was removed. “Re-Master” function is supposed to improve the quality of sound of the regular CDs by converting them from 16bit/44kHz to 24bit/88 KHz and then applying one of the three available setting so it.
There also is a dynamic range compression setting for night time watching. The player has several Digital Cinema modes and features that are virtually standard for modern DVD players – virtual surround sound, angel select, subtitle select, soundtrack select, parental control, etc.
Remote
The remote control doesn’t allow you control your TV or receiver, but has logical button layout and is compact. However, it has strange shape with hard angles and small buttons that are not backlit. But what can you expect for such a low price?
Bottom Line
The RP82 is an excellent DVD Audio/Video player with progressive scan. In fact, it is a bargain, considering that its picture quality is better than virtually anything on the market, including players that cost thousands.
Current Panasonic DVD Players
Below you can find the current lineup of Panasonic DVD players:
Panasonic DVD-F65
Panasonic DVD-S55
Panasonic DVD-S35
Panasonic DVD-S25
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 229
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Epinions.com ID:
dkozin
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 in Electronics |
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Location: California
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About Me:
I love to push buttons on electronic (audio and video) equipment. It makes me happy.
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