[andya]

well i decided to get a sanyo z4 projector and try some off these budget hdmi players,read alot of bad reports about the 850 and some probs with most of the budget players,set it to 720p using a qed hdmi cable and i was gobsmaked at the quality and i am very very picky really was suprised and it played ntsc dvds np didnt have to change anything in the menu etc i also like the remote and the styiling off the samsung seems well made to me and it only cost £74 best money ive ever spent glad i didnt bye something in the £500 price bracket cos im sure it wouldnt be £400 better than the samsung and the z4 is so good colour seemed just right to me and the panning was smooth really am shocked

[Nic Rhodes]

Can anyone explain the PAL/NSTC auto switching problem?

[red111]

i also bought the sammy 850 to go with my sony 50" tv and agree with your comments.

i am exremely happy with my set up and the 850 is a bargain.

it looks good and i have had no problems with it. i have it in 1080i.

now all i need is a sound system.

dave

[bluevortex]

Im on the brink of buying this DVD player. Although i have read conflicting comments on it. . .

[OllyH]

I have one and think it's great - really easy multiregion by remote too!

[Nic Rhodes]

I have a 950, which is very similar and I would not recommend this player. It looks great (other than the display) and has loads of features but audio and video performance is below par for the money. HCC described the video as acceptable which sums it well for me. The Pioneers look and sound better IMHO but other want different things than audio / video performance that I am after from a DVD player. Then there is the NTSC / PAL manual switching from the stone age. You can hack HDCP though which is cool.

[TrevorG]

After giving up on two Toshiba SD350E's (both had picture freezing problems) I decided to give the HD850 a chance.
So far I have to say I am very happy with it.
I probably paid over the odds (£109 including 2m HDMI cable) from Curry's but at least I can complain face to face should any problems occur.
Mine is set to 720p and I much prefer this to the tosh that defaulted to 1080i everytime it was switched off.
One minor niggle is that if you set the audio output to bitstream, my PDP-436XDE displays 'HDMI Audio Not Supported' before each film so mine is set to PCM.

Trevor

[andya]

i think at the end off the day for £75 notes you just cant go wrong,and the technology is movin so fast that better things are only round the corner so why pay silly money.im at last watchin movies with out lookin at all the probs and enjoyin them lol maybe im gettin older

[Nic Rhodes]

whatever price you look at you need to get the best device for that money depending on what your priorities are, not something that it 'acceptable', . For DVD player that is audio and video quality for me but I am old fashioned The 850 will need setting for NTSC disc and for PAL discs separately otherwise you will be not be looking at it, at it's best.

[Cowden_harley]

i indeed also have this and think it is a magic bit of kit.

[davy1shoe]

I have 1 aswell and the divx playback is stunning on hdtv divx ripps well get for states.

[Lin3ar]

Another for the 850.
Well worth the money as a stopgap untill Hd DVD comes along.

[imacken]

Doesn't display 'Time Remaining' on films though! Only player I've ever seen that doesn't.
Apart from that it's OK.

[Radio_Daze]

Originally Posted by TrevorG

After giving up on two Toshiba SD350E's (both had picture freezing problems) I decided to give the HD850 a chance.
So far I have to say I am very happy with it.
I probably paid over the odds (£109 including 2m HDMI cable) from Curry's but at least I can complain face to face should any problems occur.
Mine is set to 720p and I much prefer this to the tosh that defaulted to 1080i everytime it was switched off.
One minor niggle is that if you set the audio output to bitstream, my PDP-436XDE displays 'HDMI Audio Not Supported' before each film so mine is set to PCM.

Trevor

I'm having the same problem with the "HDMI audio not supported" message with my HD950 and Pioneer PDP 436XDE when using bitstream. Does anyone know away around this without switching to PCM, as I am useing a surround sound system with DTS and Dolby Digital.

This player is really quite stunning with jpg's when displayed on the Pioneer 436XDE TV by the way.

What do you mean by PAL/NTSC switching from the stone age? After you have done the hack, can this player play PAL or NTSC disks without having to press any extra buttons?

[alan_t]

Originally Posted by mcmanus1000

What do you mean by PAL/NTSC switching from the stone age? After you have done the hack, can this player play PAL or NTSC disks without having to press any extra buttons?

once a player as been made multi region, it will play n e region disc, but some ntcs dvd will cause screen flicker if the player is set to pal.
so you need to go into the menu and switch the player over to ntsc to stop the flickering.
the sammy does'nt auto switch, so you need to go in to the menu to change it over.
auto switching is nothing special,more a luxury, it just saves a trip into the menu possibly each time you watch a movie when you got a variety of different region dvd's.

[Nic Rhodes]

I would consider it a basic function. You and I may well know what to change in the menu but the rest of my family does not. There NEEDS to be an auto function.

[Radio_Daze]

Originally Posted by Nic Rhodes

I would consider it a basic function. You and I may well know what to change in the menu but the rest of my family does not. There NEEDS to be an auto function.

It's more of a slight judder than a flicker, and you only see it on camera pans.
It's a question if many people would even not notice it. Even if you do it's a simple matter to switch from PAL to NTSC.

[Nic Rhodes]

My 4 years twins noticed it, came and told me something was wrong. The wife did as well and she never makes any comments on the 'kit'. It was then removed as she didn't want the hassle, she never had previously. Net result is one new player, bought for ease of use in the family play room, has been removed at their request to gather dust in the HC. I now get in the ear for buying a player that 'doesn't work correctly', her terms.

[Radio_Daze]

It's not that bad on my TV. In fact no worse than my Lite-On LVW5045 DVD/Hard Disc Recorder, as that does the same thing with NTSC discs.

So I bought my plasma Pioneer 436 XDE and thought I'd treat myself to an HDMI DVD player. I decided on the Samsung 850. I have it rigged up with the HDMi lead supplied and I have an LG standard DVD rigged up via Scart. I used the same DVD in both players and the LG is better quality. Not by much but I would have thought that the Samsung would be streets ahead. Am I doing something wrong? I have tried the Samsung in all the settings 1080i, 720 etc. but no difference. If I am doing everything right, then it will be 'cherio Samsung'.

[alan_t]

Originally Posted by Radio_Daze

It's more of a slight judder than a flicker, and you only see it on camera pans.
It's a question if many people would even not notice it. Even if you do it's a simple matter to switch from PAL to NTSC.

sounds like that judder is down to the video chip, rather then a pal/ntsc issue.

[alan_t]

Originally Posted by lambertcar

So I bought my plasma Pioneer 436 XDE and thought I'd treat myself to an HDMI DVD player. I decided on the Samsung 850. I have it rigged up with the HDMi lead supplied and I have an LG standard DVD rigged up via Scart. I used the same DVD in both players and the LG is better quality. Not by much but I would have thought that the Samsung would be streets ahead. Am I doing something wrong? I have tried the Samsung in all the settings 1080i, 720 etc. but no difference. If I am doing everything right, then it will be 'cherio Samsung'.

coz a player as hdmi does'nt mean it will be better.
maybe scart is outputting RGB, so possibly giving better PQ....who knows??

[Lin3ar]

Originally Posted by lambertcar

So I bought my plasma Pioneer 436 XDE and thought I'd treat myself to an HDMI DVD player. I decided on the Samsung 850. I have it rigged up with the HDMi lead supplied and I have an LG standard DVD rigged up via Scart. I used the same DVD in both players and the LG is better quality. Not by much but I would have thought that the Samsung would be streets ahead. Am I doing something wrong? I have tried the Samsung in all the settings 1080i, 720 etc. but no difference. If I am doing everything right, then it will be 'cherio Samsung'.

I would have thought that the Samsung should be quite a bit better than a LG using an RGB output.
I upgraded from a 3 year old Samsung which I used with a top quality RGB lead and the 850 picture was streets ahead of any DVD picture that I had seen before.

[gingerone]

Make sure you have the 850 set to ybcr 4:2:2 instead of RGB normal to get the best out of HDMI, The picture is sharper with more depth.
To be honest although I can just about live with the soft picture this player puts out(mainly cos I'm skint and can't afford an oppo player) anyone who thinks this is a good player is using a hefty set of rose tinted glasses. IMHO.
By first generation standards this would be a poor player when you consider how un-user friendly it is but for current generation players it's a joke.

p.s. I was going to be positive but I can't help it I can't stand this player!

[joboy]

I used to have the 850 but sent it back due to too many niggles with it. The picture quality I thought was good (via HDMI), but compared to the Denon 1920 the picture is much softer.

Like Nic Rhodes I hated the fact that it did not switch between PAL and NTSC automatically - not because it was a major problem for me but because anyone else using the player would not know how to switch it. As far as I'm aware the juddering effect that occurs is due to the different frame rates of NTSC and PAL discs, meaning every so often the picture must skip a frame.

Also, I don't believe there is anyway to turn off the "HDMI audio not supported" message when outputting 5.1 sound. I also found this message popped up during every title change and between layer changes also, not just when inserting the disc.

[imacken]

I find it strange all the posts regarding the 'HDMI audio not supported' message. I have never seen this in the weeks I've owned the 850. I send the audio via optical to my amp.

[Lin3ar]

Originally Posted by gingerone

Make sure you have the 850 set to ybcr 4:2:2 instead of RGB normal to get the best out of HDMI, The picture is sharper with more depth.
To be honest although I can just about live with the soft picture this player puts out(mainly cos I'm skint and can't afford an oppo player) anyone who thinks this is a good player is using a hefty set of rose tinted glasses. IMHO.
By first generation standards this would be a poor player when you consider how un-user friendly it is but for current generation players it's a joke.

p.s. I was going to be positive but I can't help it I can't stand this player!

I agree, the 850 is very non-user friendly but I can put up with thatt because to me the picture is great for a player costing less than £100.

i am very please with mine - it arrived around an hour ago. picture quality is excellent through HDMi on my LE26R51BD.

i can view Lord of the Rings III from about 2 foot away - the detail is superb.


not had any HDMi audio messages yet.



oh...one bad thing so far........the control looks fairly gash.

[andya]

what its all about to me at the end off the day is value for money and thats waht you get with this player ,no way is a £500 + player that much better im still happy and have had no problems whatsoever what does bug me is the cost off the more expensive dvd players in other countrys,rip off britain again sad to say