[chris210972]

does anyone own this dvd player, if so how do u rate it?
i i've just ordered a hitachi 32pd5200 plasma and was thinking of getting this dvd player.

[andya]

have connected it to my sanyo z3 projector and thought the quality was awful until my mate came around and changed the settings ,now i have a fantastic picture at 720 p the menu is a bit fiddly but once you are used to it its ok through hdmi it is amazing really sharp and bags of detail highly recommended considering its low price

Hi Chris,

I have it with the same plasma as you (albeit 42pl5200) and I am extremely pleased with this.
Like the post above it requires a bit of tweaking, but the results are brilliant (more so when you consider the price).
I'm not sure if the 32" hitatchi has a DVID input. I assume it does as mine does, and if so, buy a DVID to HDMI cable (or get adapter which is cheaper) from keeneelectronics.com and run the audio thro' your amp.
the results are quite brilliant.

I would recommend this player very highly. I looked at a few comparable and found this to be the best for me.

[Such]

I have one too - what tweaking did you need to do?

Thanks

Hi, sorry I should explain, the tweaking was really on the plasma to compliment the original settings on the dvd player.



cheers

[3wrLcs]

Not used my S97 yet as only received it today, good to see in the manual that there is some adjustment for lip sync for people without that facility on their amp.

Brendan

[chris210972]

i have a problem guys that hopefully u'll be able to help we with.

i have received my 325200 today and i hooked it up to my pioneer 575 dvd player (no received panasonic player yet) using an ixos component cable.

problem i am having is the colour of the picures, they are almost yellow.

i've tried scart to scat and thats fine its just a problem when i use the compionent leads.
it makes no difference whether i set the player to interlaced or progressive, its still got that yellow picture.

can anyone help???

Hi,

Can anyone help?

I have connected my pan dvd from HDMI TO DVI on plasma, I can only get sound via stereo jack to phono, not through the HDMI lead is this correct. Also when changing to the DVD channel on my tv the screen flickers and ni sync signal appears and then flickers some more and goes off everything is ok from there. The picture (colours) are outstanding, I played bad boys 2 in re-mastered HD format, amazing, even standard dvds are better, but I just have the issue with the screen flickering at the beginning. Also I have no where to plug in my surround sound?

Cheers

John

Originally Posted by John redcliffe

I have connected my pan dvd from HDMI TO DVI on plasma, I can only get sound via stereo jack to phono, not through the HDMI lead is this correct?

Yes. While HDMI is a combined audio+video connection, DVI is video only,
as it was originally designed for use with computer monitors. So if you use
an HDMI to DVI cable (or adapter), you will only be able to feed the video,
not the sound...

I have no where to plug in my surround sound?

To get DD/DTS, you will have to run an optical or coaxial cable
from the DVD player to your amp.


HTH,


~ MARK ~

[gandley]

I use the S97 along with the Sim2 300extra-H and i must say the pic the S97 spits out is very very good. However to get the best from it you will need to upgrade to firmware version 541. this fixes a few faults and after a bit of watching has tamed MBE (macroblocking).
Also it is very imprtant to calibrate your display as best you can, setting brightness and contrast just right is vital (get a copy of Avia or Digital video essentials for all the test patterns etc). bit tricky to get right but once done the picture takes on a new dimension. I must say i find the HDMI output of the S97 quite a bit better than the component out. in fact i wouldnt use it if i was forced to component, but with HDMI the pic is on par with the denon 3910, but not quite as sharp as say the pio868 but suffers less problems so is a trade off. For £149 its an absolute steal if you can find one.

[mgebbet]

Is the firmware upgrade a dealer only upgrade or is it possible to do it yourself?

Do most new players have this latest firmware?

Thanks,

Mark

[p5yco]

i know this has probably been asked before but here goes anyway, if i was to get a panasonic s97, what is the latest firmware available for it which i need. bearing in mind that i live in the uk, it will be a uk player, playing all pal discs? thanks

[gandley]

OK

the firmware is no different from other region models, except i guess the far east.
The latest firmware revision is 541.
The update is very easy to do, you download the file and burn it to disc as a normal data file. easiest way is to use win XP own burning software.(ie use 'send to', to send the file to your re writer.
Plug the disc in with your tv turned on. if you need the update the S97 will say "you need this update do you whish to continue" or somthing like that. click yes and it updates. follow last few onscreen instructions and your done. Its that easy.

[p5yco]

with version 541 does this affect the playability at all, i read somewhere that people were upgrading to 536 as a newer version has problems playing with pal discs?

p.s where is the easiest and safest place to download 541?

[gandley]

There is also version 540 which some reported issues but i didnt see any but a slight pixel crop which was the same as version 536.
Pixel crop has been reduced with 541 and i see no other issues.

Pal playback seems aok to me.

Download firmware 541 from here. (as said im using this and i am UK based)

720p output does seem cleaner now than it did before.

http://www.mechwollier.de/pana_s97/DVDPUPDT.FRM

[p5yco]

thank you very much, great help.

[gandley]

just dont turn off the S97 while updating, as that would be very very bad.

Also keep in mind it does does take a few minutes to complete and your display will show some crazy stuff going on, but dont panic.

Does this latest firmware affect the multi region on this player ?.

[gandley]

No, on the panasonic firmware does not control the MR region stuff. I think its a handset code that sets the panasonic to MR, so this will not effect your multi region setting. so if your MR now you will be MR after upgrade and if your region2 only after upgrade you will still be region2

Top man.

Thanks

[gandley]

Glad i could help

I can concur - my player is still MR after installing the new firmware. Some notes on changes the firmware has made:
1 - Pal playback is defo better in 720p. I had a small "nick" in the picture on the far right hand side - about 10 inches from the right edge, the picture dropped about 2mm, only on pal discs output at 50hz. Setting the player to output pal at 60hz cleared this up. I can confirm that the firmware has fixed this bug. I can now run R2 discs at 50hz and the picture is correct all the way accross the screen.
2 - Component output. IMHO, the biggest letdown of this player was the component output into my plasma. HDMI into the PJ was always first rate. Well it seems that the people at Panasonic have listened because the component output has been improved 100%!!

This is by far the best FW upgrade so far for the S97 and has probably made it as good as it's going to get. Navigating the menu's seems to have speeded up a tadge as well...

Many thanks to Gandley for pointing this out.

Hi just bought the Panasonic DVDS97, Instructions say it plays Mpeg4 but not Divx, always thought they were the same, I presume now that they arent!

[supermackem]

wooot, i hope its fixed the MB a tad as it can be annoying as hell. Updateing now. Only thing missing from this player is divx playback which is a shame really.

[gandley]

I use 720p out and i am quite suprised at how well mb has been tamed. it is nowhere near as bad as before. Dont know how good it will be with component or other resolutions though as i havent played with them much

[stanleyntl]

How do you check which firmware you have?
Hopefully acquiring a demo S97 from Richer Sounds.
Do you think Panasonic have abandoned the high end DVD players, by axing the S97 prematurely?
Or will we see cheap players from them with bolted on HDMI?

[gandley]

there already a replacement for the S97. think its the S77 but its not quite as good according to early reports, but then Pana may sort that again with firmware as they did with the S97.

Panasonic do seem to have a short cycle for dvd players these days

[Ekko Star]

gandley how good is the S97 compared to a 868 ? I've just had and returned a Tosh SD350, not impressed by that.

[gandley]

yeah SD350 has problems so not surprised by that. The glory days of toshiba have gone from DVD. Lets hope they pick up the pace with there HD-DVD units.

868i is solid with a sharper pic with HDMI, but it does suffer CUE issues which is why the S97 is so popular. IMHO the S97 with the latest firware is on par with the denon 3910 for pic.
It goes with out saying the S97 cant stand up to these with redbook or dvd audio music. But if your buying for HDMI then i think you would well surprised by how good it can perform.
Dont think it will compete to well with 989 arriving at the end of the mth, but considering i paid £149 deliverd for it i dont care. S97 is a half decent bit of kit.

[stanleyntl]

Originally Posted by gandley

there already a replacement for the S97. think its the S77 but its not quite as good according to early reports, but then Pana may sort that again with firmware as they did with the S97.

Panasonic do seem to have a short cycle for dvd players these days

I've seen it on the US Panny site, and read what Home Theater Secrets said about it.
One wonders about Panny's sales logic though, you have premium priced Plasma/Lcd panels ($4000 42" HD panel), and their best player is below $300 in the States (S77).
Proper bonkers I say!
They really need midrange priced players at least!

The Teac DV-L800 looks a chunky player (retail - £300, WEB - £217-230),
anyone out there familar with this one?