[alan_t]

dunno, but PQ looks excellent though.

[Racquel Darrian]

I can't see much of a difference TBH.
Looks great though.
Going to watch Monsters Inc tonight.

[dorgan]

Originally Posted by Racquel Darrian

I can't see much of a difference TBH.
Looks great though.
Going to watch Monsters Inc tonight.

If you use a tabbed browser, open the large PNGs in seperate tabs and switch between them. You'll see a difference then.

1: HDMI
2: Component
3: Scart RGB

[Racquel Darrian]

Originally Posted by dorgan

If you use a tabbed browser, open the large PNGs in seperate tabs and switch between them. You'll see a difference then.

1: HDMI
2: Component
3: Scart RGB

I did and yes I can see a difference.

When you did this test on screen what did you think Dorgan.
Was there a big difference between any of them?

I've had a reply from Philips regarding the screensaver issue.
Quite basically they are offering a free technician to come out and fix the problem in house.

Not sure how a Tech is going to fix it but at least he will go away and report that there is a fault.

I'm going to get as many faults as I can as get a tech out to view them.
Thing is there isn't many faults with this player.

[dorgan]

That's good news on the tech. Do you think you could mention to him the problem I experienced with the green block breakup? It's probably a HDMI issue. I already sent my projector back to Panasonic to get a firmware upgrade that sorted another HDMI issue (white flash with a Denon 1910 player). I was watching The Incredibles this evening and it froze for about 4 or 5 seconds at the part where Mr. I and Elastigirl catch the robber on the building. I left it and it resumed. I skipped back but it played through fine the second time. I'm wondering if I should send this player back to Amazon while it's still in the 14 days return period.

As for the test: For me, HDMI is the best picture quality. At first I thought it looked a little washed out compared to the others, but after watching each connection for a while you could easily see noise and other "stuff" through the other connections. HDMI is much cleaner, sharp and more natural looking.

@Anto: Since you are connected via HDMI, have you seen any weird happenings involving green blocking breakup for a few seconds on screen?

Cheers.

EDIT: Don't think I will send it back 4 to 7 week delay on this player now!

Sounds like a decent machine, and am now thinking of this rather than the Sony 92 (mainly because of shifting problems).

One question though, how is the remote control in terms of range? I mean my current setup has my main equipment behind me leading to a projector. My current DVD (ancient Technics hifi effort) has to have behind the head reverse remote control actions to control it, and it would be nice if I didn't have to do that. HS50 projector has a *brilliant* remote BTW. You would almost have to be in a lead lined box for it not to pick up the remote. Failing that, does most things appear on screen? I mean my Technics DVD has *nothing* when doing the main controls (fast forward, volume etc).

Cheers

@Anto: Since you are connected via HDMI, have you seen any weird happenings involving green blocking breakup for a few seconds on screen?

Hi Dorgan,

To be honest I haven't that much chance to use it, but of the 5 or 6 movies I've watched so far, I have seen no blocking or freezing at all. I'll be keeping a good look out though and will report any nasties that I see!

Anto.

[dorgan]

Thanks Anto.
Crivens, the remote is not bad. It's has better range than my Samsung had. That remote, while having more functions, had terrible range. I had to make sure nothing was in the way of the beam. With the Philips, I can remain in my seated position (DVD player off to the left) and not have to point it directly at the player. The most I will have to do is raise it slightly, but still not have to point it at the player. Hope that helps.

EDIT: As for things appearing on screen, yes, all function labels appear on the screen. The remote has some buttons doubling up some functions, like Stop button also used for Eject when held down for a few seconds, menu nav buttons used for scan. Probably some more as well.

Thanks Dorgan. Glad it displays everything on screen, and the remote angle sounds pretty good. How about if you point the remote in the opposite direction from the DVD, any joy? I doubt it, but would be good if it did. If only everyone made remotes as good as my Sony projector (HS50) remote. Come to think of it, my tenant's Sony DVD player is also brilliant from most angles. Perhaps a Sony thing. If the Sony NS92 didn't have that shift problem then I'd go with that. Then again, this thread is pretty good when it comes to picture quality and abilitity to play pretty much anything thrown at it. All good stuff.

Cheers

[alan_t]

did n e one test to see if the philips will upscale through component yet?

[Racquel Darrian]

Dorgan,
I think you should watch a few films via Component and scart to see if the green block issue is still visible.

You would then be able to narrow it down to the HDMI.

Going to watch the rest of Amityville Horror 2005 via DIVX now.

Can DVP5900 play Divx movies with subtitles or not! I have a lot divx movies with subtitles in .sub or .srt form on my Computer, and I`ve been wondering can I burn movie with subtitle on CD or more divx movies on DVD and then play on DVP5900? Will be able to see subtitles on TV?

[Racquel Darrian]

Originally Posted by votkavisnja

Can DVP5900 play Divx movies with subtitles or not! I have a lot divx movies with subtitles in .sub or .srt form on my Computer, and I`ve been wondering can I burn movie with subtitle on CD or more divx movies on DVD and then play on DVP5900? Will be able to see subtitles on TV?

Yes it will. The option comes up on screen if the player detects the Subs have been encoded.

I've been testing Divx and Xvid files for the last couple of days.
Quite simply it's outstanding.
But to note it does not like BADLY encoded files, which is fair I say.

One big thing, I have discovered, is that is will almost play NERO MP4 files.
I say almost as in a perfect picture but no sound or sound but stuttering picture.
I'm going to try encoding in different ways as I may stumble upon the right combination.
Either way I think a simple firmware tweak would sort it out.

hey, i'm serioiusly considering buying this player, but before i do i thought i would ask you guys about the zoom feature and the AR choices.
first of all, does the player let you zoom in and out or just in? i know that the dvp642 only lets you zoom in. i'm asking because i want to watch anime that has subtitles which are normally displayed below the bottom of the screen.
i would also like to know if this player gives you the ability to change the AR between 4:3 and 16:9.
thanks for your help guys!
Junior2k4

[Racquel Darrian]

As far as I can see it will only let you zoom in. It's not a function I ever use though.

You can set the AR to 4:3, letterbox, or 16:9 in the menu system. Is this of use?

yea, that is a lot of help. changing from 4:3 to 16:9 shows an immediate change on the screen correct?
thanks Racquel, you rock!
Junior2k4

And the first thing I end up doing is upgrading the firmware!!! The following is what I experience so far and would like to know anyone have the same experience as mine?

There is a bug (I very bad one) that if you use HDMI -> DVI for your Display (It is detected by cable) then the audio will be downsampled to PCM 2 channel regardest which audio mode you selected in the menu. Luckly, upgrading the firmware from 2.20 to 2.24 will fixed this problem.

I am still very unsure about the PCM stuff in the DVD player. I am wondering if the player is sending raw PCM stream to the receiver when I am playing PCM content (such as audio CD). Since changing the LPCM rate from 48K to 96k seems to make a difference. (I have not test this after the firmware upgrade and I have not do a A / B testing will my existing player). And I still have no idea what this setting is exactly doing to the audio stream.

Playing avi seems to be fine but long filename will be truncated in the menu which is a little bit annoying.

Note: This player will not support S-video or toslink. I end up buying a coax cable and a HDMI->DVI cable. The 2nd cable is what I am planning for anyways.

Otherwise, it seems to be a nice player for the price of it. I got it in bestbuy for $100 CAD which is $50 cheaper than the samsung one.

Originally Posted by dungbobo

And the first thing I end up doing is upgrading the firmware!!! The following is what I experience so far and would like to know anyone have the same experience as mine?

There is a bug (I very bad one) that if you use HDMI -> DVI for your Display (It is detected by cable) then the audio will be downsampled to PCM 2 channel regardest which audio mode you selected in the menu. Luckly, upgrading the firmware from 2.20 to 2.24 will fixed this problem.

I am still very unsure about the PCM stuff in the DVD player. I am wondering if the player is sending raw PCM stream to the receiver when I am playing PCM content (such as audio CD). Since changing the LPCM rate from 48K to 96k seems to make a difference. (I have not test this after the firmware upgrade and I have not do a A / B testing will my existing player). And I still have no idea what this setting is exactly doing to the audio stream.


I also bought 5900 at $99 and have tried to compare its performance under different output modes but really saw no major difference in picture quality. Honestly, this was a surprise to me. PQ on component progressive scan, HDMI 480p, 720p or 1081i look almost the same to me. I also compare it with my Phillip 642 (non-upconverting player) in component output mode and the result is the same - no noticable difference. I mean PQ is awesome. Even the S-video output looks great via a high-quality Monster cable.

This makes me to suspect that any type of signal inputs might be upconverted anyway at my Sony RP LCD TV to 720P which is the native resolution of the TV. I just wonder if anyone has similar experience on this.

If this concept holds true. A TV with good upconverting capability may do away with spending extra dollars for upconvertion DVD players.

Playing avi seems to be fine but long filename will be truncated in the menu which is a little bit annoying.

Note: This player will not support S-video or toslink. I end up buying a coax cable and a HDMI->DVI cable. The 2nd cable is what I am planning for anyways.

Otherwise, it seems to be a nice player for the price of it. I got it in bestbuy for $100 CAD which is $50 cheaper than the samsung one.

I also bought 5900 at $99 and have tried to compare its performance under different output modes but really saw no major difference in picture quality. Honestly, this was a surprise to me. PQ on component progressive scan, HDMI 480p, 720p or 1081i look almost the same to me. I also compare it with my Phillip 642 (non-upconverting player) in component output mode and the result is the same - no noticable difference. I mean PQ is awesome. Even the S-video output looks great via a high-quality Monster cable.

This makes me to suspect that any type of signal inputs might be upconverted anyway at my Sony RP LCD TV to 720P which is the native resolution of the TV. I just wonder if anyone has similar experience on this.

If this concept holds true. A TV with good upconverting capability may do away with spending extra dollars for upconvertion DVD players.

I too bought the 5900 for $99 CDN at the Best Buy Boxing Day Sale and have hooked it up to my Philips 5320 HD LCD monitor via the Component Video. (Haven't parted with the money for a heavily marked up HDMI cable yet)
With my old SD DVD player hooked up via S-video, I can zoom in my letterboxed movies to fit the 16:9 screen and keep the aspect ratio. (round objects remain round) But with the 5900, the LCD will not change out of Widescreen mode and I end up with a stretched picture with black bars above and below. If I hook up the HDMI, will I be able to get my movie upconveted to HD and be able to adjust the aspet ratio to fill the screen correctly? Thanks.

[Racquel Darrian]

I have found out how to do a step frame by frame.

Hit pause and then keep pressing pause to move forward frame by frame.

[Racquel Darrian]

Originally Posted by WKA

I too bought the 5900 for $99 CDN at the Best Buy Boxing Day Sale and have hooked it up to my Philips 5320 HD LCD monitor via the Component Video. (Haven't parted with the money for a heavily marked up HDMI cable yet)
With my old SD DVD player hooked up via S-video, I can zoom in my letterboxed movies to fit the 16:9 screen and keep the aspect ratio. (round objects remain round) But with the 5900, the LCD will not change out of Widescreen mode and I end up with a stretched picture with black bars above and below. If I hook up the HDMI, will I be able to get my movie upconveted to HD and be able to adjust the aspet ratio to fill the screen correctly? Thanks.

WKA,
Can I get this clear with you?
Your LCD is showing an anamorphic widescreen picture (still having black bars, top and bottom, for a 1:2.35 picture) and you want to zoom the picture in so that it fills the screen hence not having any black bars. Is this correct?

[SuperSeven]

Got the player from comets today for £99. Unpacked, wired up, upgraded to v24 firmware and region coded hacked all in about 10 minutes.

Looks good so far. Picture is acceptable for the money, and I've not had any picure shift problems (like the Sony NS92), lip sync problems (Denon 1920) or freeze ups (Toshiba 350e).

I don't think the HDMI is offering much pq improvement, but I wanted to use the HDMI as my LCD TV only has 1 component socket and this is being used by Xbox 360.

Originally Posted by alan_t

did n e one test to see if the philips will upscale through component yet?

I've tried. No upscaling through component, just progressive signal.

However it does dual output. Hence 576 progressive via component to projector and 1080i via HDMI to LCD TV. I don't use them both at once, but with this player I am able to switch between the tv and projector without having to touch any wires, or change any menu options.

Hopefully it'll do me until HD proper arrives.


If I'm being really critical then I'd say the colour is a bit washed out when compared to other players, and it's a shame there's no colour etc adjustments on the dvd player itself to tweek these at source, rather than on the tv.

[alan_t]

Originally Posted by SuperSeven

I've tried. No upscaling through component, just progressive signal

thx for the info dude.
here you got a tosh lcd screen?

[SuperSeven]

Originally Posted by alan_t

thx for the info dude.
here you got a tosh lcd screen?

Yep the Toshiba 37inch WLT58, very pleased with the screen. PM me any questions you have about the TV as I've been following / contributing to the Toshiba WLT58 thread for months.

bought mine, its pretty cool .. but I never had any experience with HD / big screen tvs.

Just recently purchased a sony kfe50a10 and then picked up the philips for the upconversion and divx playback

so far its pretty neat. It won't play every divx file but it did play the majority.

where can i find the link for the firmware upgrade?

nm found the link

http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/d...37_fur_eng.pdf

[petrolhead]

How do you think this compared to the the LG player

[Racquel Darrian]

Done some experimenting with the remote.

I can point the remote at a wall, that is exactly opposite the player, and it still works.

This is going to be useful as I have a new TV stand coming tomorrow and the player is going in the bottom shelf. I won't be able to see the DVD, in my viewing poistion, as I have a coffee table between me and the player.
I'm hoping I will be able to operate the player, from my seated position, without raising the remote upwards and downwards.

[Racquel Darrian]

Originally Posted by SuperSeven

If I'm being really critical then I'd say the colour is a bit washed out when compared to other players, and it's a shame there's no colour etc adjustments on the dvd player itself to tweek these at source, rather than on the tv.

I noticed this in comparisson to my Pioneer 360. But I think The Philips picture is slightly more sharper than my Pioneer. This is very noticeable on the "pre-film warnings" which are usually white on red or blue backgrounds.

I'm currently playing the Superbit version of Hollow Man and loving it.

[alan_t]

Originally Posted by SuperSeven

Yep the Toshiba 37inch WLT58, very pleased with the screen. PM me any questions you have about the TV as I've been following / contributing to the Toshiba WLT58 thread for months.

cool, i have the same but the 32wlt58 tv instead, had mine prolly month or so now also.

its good to see that someone as basically the same tv, and got the dvd player that seems i will be getting.
so all looks good then?

[SuperSeven]

Originally Posted by alan_t

cool, i have the same but the 32wlt58 tv instead, had mine prolly month or so now also.

its good to see that someone as basically the same tv, and got the dvd player that seems i will be getting.
so all looks good then?

Watched Star Wars ROTS and Fantastic Four tonight and both looked very good.

For £100 I think it looks good, and been complety "bug" free so far. I really am very impressed with the build quality, better than the £200 Denon 1920 I previously owned which had to be returned because of lip sync issues, but the Denon did have the edge on pq, but I'd hope so for twice the price.

It looks like the Philips is going to be a great stop gap machine until proper HD DVDs arrive.