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Author Topic: Cheap DVD Players - Be Careful Buying One Michael Barry Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 584 From: Sydney, NSW, Australia Registered: Nov 1999 posted 12-20-2007 08:48 AM                     The thing about that Denon player is that ANY Blu Ray or HDDVD player would destroy it for quality playback...when playing HD discs. When playing SD the Denon might be better, but how much better, and does anyone care (now)? I cannot see the point of Uber-SD when there's HD available. Makes no sense. If Denon made a Blu Ray or HDDVD player that was ultra expensive, I might see the point for the same customers who buy Krell, Mark Levinson, etc. 'High End SD DVD' is now an oxymoron.  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 12-20-2007 09:29 AM                        So what do you think the production run on this unit was? 10,000 units? 20K? How many do you think Denon still has to unload? Could they EVER make back the R&D costs and production line costs for this elephant? Sure, you KNOW their marketing people were thinking the Top-of-the-Line factor would sell it, i.e., there will always be people who "want the very best" and are stupid enough to think that means if the pay the highest price, then they've got the best. Typically very rich people's mindset. So if you price an item high enough, then you reach that threshold that triggers those people to open their wallets. I guess Marketing weren't taking any chances and hit on a price tag of nearly 4 grand. Bet they hadn't figured in HD coming along! Ooops!  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 12-20-2007 12:32 PM                     First, it is not a new player so it has had a bit of a run. Its output quality with SD discs is about as good as you are going to see SD DVDs...a lot of its output quality is derived from its very good scaler and deinterlacer. Its audio quality is also superior owing to its phenominal D/A converters. Could the average person tell the difference...depending on the monitor, you bet! The bigger the picture, the more you are going to notice it. No it can't make HD from SD but some who have seen this unit in action say it is pretty darn close. I've only had limited viewings of it. It all depends on one's application as to is viability. I suspect that those that would dismiss it here have never seen it and are basing their opinions strictly on their experiences with current players in categories substantially less and therefore surmizing it CANT'T be THAT much better. If you are going to dable in the <$100 to $500 market, you don't have the experience to just the high-end until you start looking at it to judge for yourself. Me personally, I've never sold one of these but I have seen one...and yes, it is notably better...which might mean a lot to someone that has a large and even growing collection of DVDs. Pioneer has a player that is over $1K that is also interesting from a PRO standpoint...it has separate monitor outputs, among many other pro features so one can see the menus and cue up on the monitor and not project that out to the audience. RS-232 control is also a strong desirable feature in a large pro installation as Crestron or AMX is normally used for controlling such a system.  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 12-20-2007 07:30 PM                        Steve, I am not dismissing it because I think it doesn't present a very high quality image and sound, I just think that they are going to have one bitch of a time trying to sell a player in that price range for a format that will soon be replaced by the HD counterpart. It would be like RCA coming out with a souped up monumentally expensive photocell pickup tube just as Fairchild was demonstrating the use of its spanking new P-N Junction Photodiodes (solar cells) as solid state replacements of the tube pickup in soundheads. Point is, I think there will be a very miniscule market for a $3800 SDVD-only player, no matter how good it is. And if a person has THAT kind of money to spend on HD quality, why wouldn't they forget about plunking down 4 grand and just go out and buy decent HD-DVD or/and a Blu-Ray DVD player and replace all his SDVD with HD versions? The HD versions are going to look better than his DVDs even if he plays them with this super player. No matter how well-made it is, it's still can only play a dying format. Another example -- as we get closer to the cut-off date of NTSC broadcasting, who would buy a super quality, $3800 TV set that can only display NTSC signals? Who is going to buy a wildly expensive improvement of a dying technology or format.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 12-20-2007 07:46 PM                     They would buy it because.... The HD discs are going to be mostly concerned with new titles that will build their market place. The person already has an extensive collection This player will out peform an HD player while displaying SD discs (out upscale SDs, not have SD discs look better than HD discs playing in HD). Has better audio D/As than what is in current HD units...etc. And remember...it didn't JUST come out...it is certainly at the end of its life as it would be much smarter to make a Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player will all this great SD upscaling stuff at this point...for sure.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 12-21-2007 03:45 PM                     quote: Steve Guttag The HD discs are going to be mostly concerned with new titles that will build their market place. Actually, of the 350 or so titles that both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD have among their selection, quite a few are older "catalog" titles. A good number of new releases are also appearing on the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD formats. Unfortunately, the selection of titles in the last couple of years has not been all that great. That makes catalog title availability in HD format a more crucial thing. The new Bladerunner and Close Encounters discs are among the more important catalog titles released for HD format in recent weeks. FWIW, Denon is working on new optical disc players that will accommodate both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray in a single player while also providing compatibility with DVD-V, SACD, DVD-A and many other formats. I'm sure Denon will sell at least one of those player models priced into the stratosphere and require a hulking space in an entertainment center rack.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 12-21-2007 04:11 PM                     quote: Bobby Henderson I'm sure Denon will sell at least one of those player models priced into the stratosphere and require a hulking space in an entertainment center rack. ..or do the unusual: have a dual tray unit for each format with a piggyback circuitboards configuration to network to a common output circuitry, thus to keep cabinet size down to acceptable levels for home usage. Prob a project not too distant in the future that DENON would love to dive into.. But, you know that if a project ever get into production, it'll be for the audiophile lovers who has that expensive taste for video and audio combinations. -Monte  |  IP: Logged

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