Denon DVD A-11 or 3910 ? Chroma bug ?

[Dave Cawley]

Guys I have a Hitachi 3000 42” Plasma and want to buy a Denon DVD A-11 ex-dem from Sevenoaks or a new 3910, and connect directly via the component video. I have a large collection of Region 1 and 2 DVD’s.

The rest of my system is THX Ultra (the old ultra), if cost wasn’t a consideration, which would you buy, and does the A-11 suffer the chroma bug ??

Thanks

Dave

[Shamoon]

Dave

I am about to put my black MR Denon A11 on the market as have ordered a Tag. I have not tried the 3910 but can confirm the A11 is an excellent machine. I have had no macro blocking problems on either the Runco or the Pioneer (connected via component). Picture quality is sharp on both, with no bleeding edges. Sound is also first class, especially DTS. SACD also sounds very good but I'm not a big fan of surround music.

Let me know if you're interested - I'm in the Croydon, Surrey area. I can demo, if you catch me before I get my Tag!

[Dave Cawley]

Shamoon, sorry I already have the two machines on hold, it's the chroma bug A-11 versus 3910 which is my question guys.

Thanks

Dave

[zeropoint]

Neither have CUE, other than being borderline on Chroma, 3-2 Alternating Flags. See Secrets of Home Theater High Fidelity PS shootout benchmark.

Both have varying degrees of 'macroblocking' emphasis - depending on your display.

The 3910 shares most of the A11 circuit boards, adds HDMI, DPIC; looses BNC o/ps, etc., has less sophisticated PSU, and more compromised build.

[shortround]

the A11 doesn't have the chroma bug. the 3910 and A11 are pretty much identical on the video side of things except the 3910 has HDMI and DVI outputs, and A11 only has DVI. if you're only using component then this won't be an issue. the main differences are in the audio. the A11 has better audio components so should sound better than the 3910. if audio is not a factor for you then i would go with the 3910 if it's cheaper. if they're both the same price then personally i would go with the A11 as cosmetically i prefer it's looks.

one thing to make sure of though, is to ask the dealer if you can test the player with your display before purchasing, to see if it shows the macrolocking bug or not. if the macroblocking bug shows up on your display then i would advise against either of these players as it will annoy the hell out of you.

[Dave Cawley]

to see if it shows the macrolocking bug

Shourtround, what would be the best way to do this ?

Are there any A11 users on this list ?

Thanks

Dave

[shortround]

do sevenoaks stock your display? if so they could hook it up in the shop for you. if not, see if they will lend you a demo model for a few days to test. the only dvd i can think of off hand from my collection that clearly shows the bug is donnie darko (R1 original release). you can see the macroblocking quite clearly right from the opening fade-up of the film and on all other dark scenes in the film. if you do a search for macroblocking, there may be some other examples of more common dvd's that you may own to test with.