Zenith/Inteq DVX2100 Divx/DVD player
Another look
Ken C Pohlmann
09/01/98 Stereo Review Page 44
Copyright UMI Company 1998. All Rights Reserved. Copyright Hachette Filipacchi Magazines, Inc. Sep 1998
As I unpacked the Zenith/Inteq DVX2100 Divx/DVD player, I had two questions: does it take anything away from the DVD format, and does its ability to play Divx discs add anything to it?
As a DVD player, the DVX2100 wasn't too bad. Overall, the Zenith/Inteq's DVD picture quality was a notch or two below that of my Sony DVP-S300. On the other hand, it was several notches above that of MPEG - 2 satellite broadcasts. Dolby Digital sound quality was identical to that of other players that use an outboard decoder. Over six hours of viewing, I did not hear any snaps, crackles, or pops through my audio system.
The on-screen menus are attractive and straightforward, and the operating features worked well. There were some typos in the on- screen menus and minor glitches in operation, so if you are sensitive to occasional disruptions, you should wait for second-generation models (this is good advice for any new consumer-electronic product). The DVX2100 handled audio CDs with no complaint, but it could not play CD-R discs. It was somewhat sluggish in initializing discs and slow to respond to user commands, but not fatally so.
I did my comparisons with Divx and DVD copies of The Rock. They were different versions (the DVD was widescreen), so they had undergone different mastering-an all-important criterion for determining picture quality. The Divx picture was quite clear - I could see each strand of Sean Connery's unkempt hair- but in some scenes it showed more MPEG - 2 artifacts than the DVD version. For example, in one brief shot, fog was not reproduced as a consistent gradient but instead as layers. These artifacts were also present on the DVD disc, but they did not register as significantly on either the Sony or the Zenith player.
It is impossible to say whether Divx coding has inherently greater limitations than DVD; both use MPEG - 2 video data compression, so the only difference is in the encryption, which is not data-intensive. Still, this particular DVD of The Rock looked better than this particular Divx of The Rock. Other Divx titles looked much better than the Divx Rock, with reproduction that should please most viewers. Divx Dolby Digital sound quality was identical to that of DVD Dolby Digital. (Dolby Digital encoding is straight-ahead, so there isn't as much room for variation as in MPEG - 2 video encoding.) If first-generation Divx is this good, I think that subsequent generations will be competitive with DVD.
Although critics complain that the first Divx discs lack cinematic perks such as widescreen presentation, director's cuts, and theater trailers, a Divx player can play regular DVDs that already have those materials. Moreover, there is nothing in the Divx standard that precludes future titles from embracing these perks. What many Divx critics forget is that the storage capacity of a DVD, while large, is finite. All those cinema perks take up disc space, leaving less for the film itself. Omitting them gives Divx titles more bits for MPEG - 2 picture coding. Thus, all else being equal, in theory a Divx disc could have higher picture quality than the DVD version.
In concept, the Zenith/Inteq DVX2100 convinced me that Divx takes nothing away from the DVD format. A Divx player does everything a DVD player does, and more. The DVX2100 lacks some of the niceties of full-featured DVD players, such as a component-video output, video zoom, or slow reverse, and its picture quality is somewhat lower, so it's definitely not the best DVD player ever made. But is it competitive with DVD-only players in its price range? Certainly. At this price point, I could live with it.
Of course, I was most interested in the player's Divx feature. When you pay $4.49 for a new Divx disc, you have two days before it expires. You can watch it once or many times, skip around or play it straight through. After the viewing period is up, when a disc is loaded, the menu asks if you'd like to watch it again; if so, you have to agree to pay about $3.25 for another two-day viewing window. Alternatively, you can convert the disc to DivxSilver status for unlimited playback on the same account, for a one-time fee of $20 or so, or upgrade to a DivxGold disc (priced like a comparable DVD) that offers unlimited viewing on anybody's Divx player. All billing is automatically performed via modem, purchases are handled seamlessly, and playback begins immediately.
Most interestingly, Divx adds the option of inexpensive viewing. I am not chagrined that it would cost me an extra $3.25 to view a Divx movie again. Frankly, after seeing Flubber once, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to see it again. It doesn't cost anything to open or maintain a Divx account, and you can play DVD discs on a Divx player without an account. I like the Divx concept. I think it is a harbinger of how movies and music will be delivered in the future. Bottom line: Considering the $4.49 initial purchase price of Divx movies, Divx seems to be a useful feature. These first-generation Divx hardware and software samples were beaten by second-- generation DVD hardware and software, but the contest could be much closer in the near future.
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