Best progressive scan player for the money
Written: Feb 11 '03 (Updated Feb 12 '03)
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Pros: Excellent video quality, small and elegant design, rich set of features
Cons: Cheap looking remote, slow layer change during DVD playback
The Bottom Line: Panasonic RP82 is currently the best progressive scan DVD player value in the market considering the quality and features you are getting for the price
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| travelshark's Full Review: Panasonic DVD-RP82 DVD Player |
Last spring (2002), I was interested in getting a new progressive scan DVD player to use with my HDTV capable projection TV. Based on detailed reviews on several internet sites, Panasonic's RP56 seemed to have one of the best progressive scan conversion circuits (Faroudja chip). RP56 was also one of the few DVD players that did not have the infamous chroma bug that was prevalent in many of the other mid-range progressive scan DVD players available at the time. But I was somewhat hesitant as the RP56 had a pretty ugly front panel design and was nearing the end of its life. Good thing I waited as Panasonic introduced RP82 at the high end of its new compact-size DVD players at a price much lower than their previous top of the line model RP91. Panasonic simultaneously introduced two new progressive scan DVD players at the same time: RP62 and RP82. Both of these units had substantially smaller enclosures than previous models, and also had much improved styling compared to the RP56. While RP62 seemed to be a repackaged version of RP56, I noticed that RP82 also added several new features including:
- DVD-Audio functionality
- 4:4:4 signal processing
- 4:3 shrink function with letterbox zoom & shift
- MPEG Digital Noise Reduction
- Gamma correction
- Built-in DTS Surround Sound Decoder
- Both coaxial and optical digital outputs
Based on these set of additional features, I decided to go with the RP82 even though it was about $50 more expensive than the RP62 and so far, I am very happy with my decision.
I was pleasantly surprised when the results of the 3rd DVD player shootout was published on http://www.hometheaterhifi.com in January 2003. According to the very detailed test results presented in this report, RP82 not only had one of the best progressive scan conversion circuits (based on Faroudja/Genesis FLI2200 chip) but it also had the flattest video frequency response, less than +/- 0.2dB variation from 1MHz to 10MHz. It was interesting to note that several other very expensive (MSRP over $1000) progressive scan DVD player units could not even come near RP82 in terms of video frequency response and chroma delay.
Picture quality
Of course, test results are one thing, personal experience is another. I am using the RP82 with component video connection to a 43" Toshiba projection HDTV. Compared to my older Philips DVD player, RP82 seems to generate much sharper pictures. Colors are very well defined and contrast is good. So far, I have not been able to observe any visible decompression artifacts. One thing to note is that the default black level for this player is too low when using component video outputs and needs to be adjusted using the Black level control function on the Video menu I am quite surprised that Panasonic chose to adjust the default black level for S-Video/Composite Video outputs as anybody who buys this unit should be using the component outputs.
Looks
One thing that you notice first about the RP82 is that it is very small. The dimensions of the box is 16 15/16" (W) x 10 1/2" (D) x 2 3/8" (H). The box is silver colored and the upper middle section of the front panel has a mirror finish similar to the high-end Panasonic receivers. I think this unit is simply the best looking DVD player in the market today.
Outputs
RP82 has a rich set of connectivity options:
- 1 set of component video outputs (Y/Pb/Pr)
- 1 composite video output
- 1 S-Video output
- 1 stereo audio output
- 1 5.1ch audio output (front L/R, surround L/R, center, sub)
- 1 optical digital audio output
- 1 coaxial digital audio output
Ease of use
The setup of RP82 is very easy. When you turn the unit one for the first time, you are taken to a Quick Setup menu when you press the Setup key on the remote. This menu allows you to quickly choose some of the basic settings such as the default language, aspect ratio of your TV, progressive output and speaker settings. For detailed settings, you can quickly access all functions using 5 main menu screens.
MP3 playback
RP82 supports both MP3 and WMA playback. MP3 playback is very easy to use through the on-screen menus, though RP82 is not compatible with ID3 tags. The easiest way to manage MP3 playback is to organize your songs into directories and prefix the MP3 filenames with 3-digit numbers in the order you want them played when you record your MP3 CDs. You can use the remote to select songs to play from the playlist that is displayed, but this is somewhat tedious. MP3 playback over the digital outputs is not supported.
One of the useful features is audio-only mode, which shuts down the video output 15-20 seconds after using the menu. Panasonic claims that this is mostly to prevent potential noise from the video circuitry coupling to the audio signal when playing CDs or MP3s. I did not notice any noise when video was active, however, I found that this feature is useful if you have a TV that automatically detects when there is no video signal and shuts down the screen to save power.
I did not try the WMA playback feature, I don't have any reason to make CDs based on a proprietary Microsoft standard when I can use a proven open standard like MP3.
CD Playback
CD playback quality is very good using the analog outputs. RP82 has very high grade D/A converters. Digital output is also very good for playing CDs as expected. I have been able to play music recorded on CD-R and CD-RW discs on this unit with no problems. I have not tested the DVD-Audio playback yet.
Remote
If there is one weakness of RP82, it is the remote. The remote is very cheap looking, made out of black plastic. Buttons are very small and not illuminated. A slightly larger remote with silver finish and larger, illuminated buttons would have been a better match for this unit.
Features
One of the most useful features you get with this unit is the Variable Zoom. If you are using a 4:3 form factor TV like me, RP82 can expand widescreen content to fill the screen, eliminating the black bars on the top and bottom of the display area. The scaler that is used to accomplish this is very high quality and the expanded picture has minimal loss of detail.
Quick Replay allows you to quickly jump back if you missed something during replay.
Cinema Mode improves the visibility of dark scenes by automatically adjusting the contrast.
Dialogue Enhancer increases the volume of the center channel when using surround sound formats so that the movie dialogue is easier to understand even when there is a loud music or sound effects on the other channels.
Delay adjustment allows the relative delay time for center and surround speakers to be adjusted with respect to the front speakers.
Advanced Surround V.S.S. creates a surround like effect when using only the 2 front speakers or a headphone.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199
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travelshark
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Location: California, USA
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