Marantz DV4300 now PAL progressive capable? - German owners...

[retrof]

Hi - there are several recent posts regarding the DV4300 on www.beisammen.de (German HC forum)
My German is poor, but using babelfish, I was able to see that many users have Marantz DV4300 outputting PAL progressive (not PAL->NTSC prog. conversion). Does anyone have any further information, or maybe someone with good German can take a look and maybe report back?
Many German HC websites are selling the 4300 now as PAL progressive capable...

cheers,
-rf

The guy I deal with at 7oaks had one outputting PAL-P in a dem room when I spoke to him 10 days or so ago. Apparently, he was being supported by Marantz to get it going, so it sounds like an official change to the player spec. Note, however, that the deinterlacing chip in the DV4300 is not supposed to be a particularly good one...

_

[retrof]

interesting info Underscore. I wonder if this has been via firmware upgrade, remote hack, or has there been a change to the model itself (mark 2 or something like that).
Regarding the deinterlacing chipset - yes, I have also heard that. I notice though that on these German HC forums, there appear to be many knowledgable people who consider the dv4300 to be better than the 963SA as regards picture quality - it was second only to the NAD progressive-capable player.
Strange - maybe it's subjective, or perhaps they are less hung-up on what chipset is used, and more interested in genuine PQ?
Havent a clue, and it doesnt help that I have no way to demo these without travelling long distances...

-rf

[retrof]

I have just checked with one of the larger German dealers - they have confirmed that the DV4300 is PAL progressive capable by software upgrade - they provide the software upgrade to anyone that requests it.

Now, I wonder if this is something just anyone can do, and if so, where to get hold of the updated firmware!

[perrdl]

I have just noticed that www.homecinemaheaven.com has the Marantz dv4300, and it states progressive scan. No metion as to whether its just NTSC.

[retrof]

Additional info:

I contacted Marantz in Germany - the response was that the PAL progressive is not allowed (they all say that...). The guy said that the unit is capable of PAL progressive, and once it is "allowed" they will tell people how to enable it. He said that dealers may have a hack (i.e. they do!) to enable it, and that I should contact the dealers for more details.

I asked how the unit was upgradeable - he said that it wa upgradeable by CD-ROM.

So, there's got to be a hacked/leaked firmware for the DV4300 player out there which enables this - can anyone assist in sourcing it???

and this will likely be my last post on the topic, as I appear to be talking/typing to myself here!

cheers,
rf

[perrdl]

I have just phoned home cinema haven, and they say that the DVD player only outputs progressive scan in PAL?????

Quite weird I know!!!!

[retrof]

Nah - if they have an unmodified one, it definitely only outputs NTSC progressive or standard PAL- apparently you need the firmware upgrade to get PAL progressive out.
I'm always wary of the info I get from dealers to be honest - I would have thought that HCH would have it right though...

[perrdl]

The thing is, it states Multi Region, and the guy I spoke to was sure that it only outputted Pal Progressive Scan.

I'm still not sure though, unless the firmware has been loaded onto it, which I find hard to believe!!!!

[sr78]

I've been doing some research on this as well... apparently picture quality of the Marantz wasn't particularly impressive, RGB or component. As I haven't seen the player, I was wondering if anyone could confirm this. I'd be using the progressive output over a 32" Panasonic TV.

Edit: I checked the forum mentioned in the openingpost. There's some contradictory stuff there (as usual). Apparently no software update is needed, the player is Pal PS ready out of the box! There also seems to a problem with Panasonic PS TVs, apparently the DV4300 sends a 16:9 signal to the TV even with 4:3 or 2,35:1 DVDs, which leads the Panasonic to switch to a fixed 16:9 aspect ration.

I'll be checking the posts in the forum, and I'll keep you guys up-to-date.