[lupo]

I have been thinking of upgrading my pioneer 444 dvd player. I was wondering if the 575 would make much difference? I have upgraded my amp to a Denon 2803, the tv i have is a panasonic 32" pg50 tv. I am willing to spend £300.

The most importand thing for me is, picture and sound quality.A seamless layer change would also be good.

I am not biased towards any manufacturer, I just want the best I can get for my money ( don't we all )

[jtf]

after alot of changing between my original 444 and a tosh 340e and a pio 575 i would def go for the 575 its 10x better than the 444. both picture and sound are first class and the layer change is seamless. the added bonus is that it will play virtually any disc that you through at it.

[Paul97]

Hi
Does the 575 come with prog scan on pal and ntsc.

Paul

[jtf]

yep, it does both

[Ikki]

On a 32" screen, you will have to spend quite a lot to improve on the already good PQ of the 444. When I checked out players to replace my 444, I had to be looking really hard to see any difference in PQ in players in the up to £300 market. It's not as if you spend time while watching movies, straining your eyes looking for extremely tiny differences in PQ. I didn't check them for sound quality. On a big screen or projector, the outcome may be different.

In the end I went for an Arcam on which I could see a noticeable difference in the general picture. The sound quality is also much better. The best thing to do is to try out a few players, afterall it's your eyes and screen/sound setup that will determine how the different players perform.

Where modern players in the up to £300 category win is in the improved features i.e. DiVX capability, progressive scan. I didn't find the build quality to be much better though.

[Paul97]

Hi Ikki
What Arcam DVD player did you buy and what screen are you watching it on, I have the Limit 900 at the moment and although I am very pleased with the sound quality, I agree with you I had a 444 and was happy with the PQ on my then 28" tv, but when I upgraded to my present Hitachi 42" plasma I upgraded to a player with Prog. Scan. I must admit I can't seem to see any real difference between the two.
I have been thinking of upping my budget to something more better but have read problems with Denon players (Macro blocking etc) on this site.
Any comments would be helpful

Paul

[Ikki]

I was lucky to get a DV88+ from Creative-Audio in Shrewsbury when they were selling it at half price (£499) as an end of line. They have it's successor, the DV78 for £699 inc £100 of QED scart + digital cables.

I agree with what you say about the Denons, there are far too many threads from people that have spent vast sums to end up with problems like macroblocking and others.

I also have a Hitachi plasma. I can't see any real difference between prog scan and interlaced from the Arcam (which has more to do with the way that the Hitachi deals with the signal than anything else), but the PQ is much better than the cheaper units that I tried. I use the component inputs mainly because the scarts are all taken up with other devices. There are a lot less digital artefacts and the edges are better, dark detail and colours are also improved.

[Paul97]

Thanks Ikki
Paul