"I have just returned from a videophile's dream vacation in Florida, where I attended an event put on by Video Magazine and the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF). For those who are unaware, the ISF is headed by Joel Silver and Joe Kane (A Video Standard and Video Essentials). The four-day event was used to train dealers on how to properly set up display devices; it also had a special press event that put some DVD players under a microscope. Along with Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity, there were representatives from Widescreen Review, Stereophile's Guide to Home Theater, and Video Magazine.
I plan on writing a more in-depth look at what transpired during my trip, but I will provide you with some preliminary info here. Joe Kane presented the press section; he played his test run of the DVD Video Essentials through all the players on hand. We had the Toshiba SD-3006, Zenith, Faroudja MK I, Samsung DVS705, Panasonic A300, Pioneer Elite DVL-90 (combo), and the Pioneer DVL-700 (combo). Let me tell you now that they all had their little problems, but nothing could compare to the VERY POOR performance of the Pioneer units!
The Faroujda, Zenith, and Toshiba all used the Toshiba transport mechanism. These three all had a problem with still-stepping. Every time a new chapter came up, you could not still-step past it. This was a software (chips inside the players) issue, and since these were not the production units, the problem may have been fixed. I do have the production SD-3006, and once I get some software (DVD movies) I will let you know how the player performs.
There was a problem that the Toshiba had in Florida: when the "Component/Color Difference" output was used, the Chroma levels were improperly set. This could not be corrected because the Color, Tint, and Sharpness controls are supposed to be disabled on the TV when these outputs are used. This may be a small adjustment that varies from player to player. A good idea would be to add some fine adjustments at the player level to compensate for any difficulties. The Faroudja's component output was set properly, so they have apparently corrected the problem with their player. Again, this was not the production model. The MK II will be available in about 8 weeks, with the MK I being their stepping stone into DVD. The Zenith did not have component outputs.
The Samsung will have component outputs, but the unit on hand did not have the output jacks yet. It performed well, but had a very steep roll-off in the high frequency detail. The Panasonic also did quite well, but its only downfall, I feel, is a lack of component outputs (component outputs make a HUGE difference in image quality).
The Pioneer units are full of problems. I have seen three DVL-90s and two DVL-700s, and they ALL had the same difficulties. The first is that the players are rolling off the high frequency detail way too soon. Since they are sharing the same electronics as the LD portion of the player, apparently they are using the LD roll-off. The second problem is that while playing Video Essentials (DVD), there are severe mosaic effects occurring. Instead of having smooth gradients, they show up as being very blocky (pixilated)! None of the other machines showed this level of blockiness. The Pioneer also did not have smooth image motion, but rather, it was jerky on some parts of the disc.
The copy of Video Essentials DVD was a test run, and it utilized a very high bit rate compared to most DVD movies, averaging 8 Mb per second, peaking at 10 Mb per second on very intense scenes. The encoding (MPEG-II) software has been rewritten, and it is claimed that even higher quality can be achieved with less bits. I will look at the Pioneer units again with the real software (commercial releases to public). Video Essentials has been designed to fully tax the capabilities of DVD, so it will be a very useful tool in evaluating player performance.
Another thing that became apparent was that the DVD players have VERY poor audio performance. The Toshiba-based transports have jitter readings of 40,000 Ps! These units need to have some re-clocking features built-in. Otherwise, they will degrade sound quality. The high-end units coming on the market will have this feature in their machines.
One of the most important parts of setting up your DVD player is to insure you have your Sharpness control on the TV set properly. The reason for this is that turning up the sharpness adds ringing and other artifacts to an image that already has quite a bit of high frequency detail. Also note that having the sharpness too low will detract from the picture as well, but it is a softness effect and it is not as noticeable (fatiguing to the eyes). Since Video Essentials DVD is not available yet, the LD version can be used to set up the sharpness."
Stacey Spears |
