DV88+ not impressed.

Smurfin

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Well this is my second DV88+ (sold the last one a few months ago to trade down, but couldn't resist the Creative audio deal:)) and honestly, I'm very disappointed with it.

Overall the picture quality is better than my Philips 963a, but as soon as I fired it up yesterday the chroma bug smacked me right in the face. Reds look terrible imho, and results in a less satisfying picture than my Philips.

Not only that those damn horizontal lines showed up again...why do I see these when no other DVD player I've ever owned has this flaw????? It happened with my first DV88+, and its happening again; the lines appear onscreen for literally 1 or 2 frames and usually as a new scene cuts onto the screen. I watched 2 episodes of The West Wing (season 1, region 1) yesterday and 4 times did I see these lines:mad:

Anyone else share my sentiments? Or am I simply going mad?
 
It's like the whole picture structure becomes visible for a split second....hundreds of horizontal lines flash across the whole image for 1 frame (enough to be annoying, to start with some people don't notice it but once you do....:()
 
Can't say I notice this.. and I've had a DV88+ since they were available.. what display are using? progscan or interlaced ?

Matt
 
hi there, you can try the following

On the DV88 Plus go into the set-up menu.
Press 2 0 1 0. You should now be in Progressive Scan Menu #2.
Change the CRT Mode. I think the default is ON. Change it to OFF.

Also, try setting your DVD88+ to PAL only in the menu (not auto or NTSC).

They may well solve your problem - espeically the top one.

CaM
 
I think it's called a bad edit. I have tried lots of DVDs and had no problems, but SG-1 R1 was unwatchable last night.

Cameron what exactly does the crt mode do?
 
Smurfin, I think this is definitely is the players inability to handle bad edits:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volu...uide-to-progressive-scan-shootout-1-2003.html

The link above shows an example, and this is what I am experiencing and it sounds like the same problem you are having.

Here is what the secrets guide has to say:

This is a huge, huge issue, and the thing that really separates the best deinterlacers from the worst. Combing is one of the most visible artifacts, and avoiding it on material like this is difficult. We feel strongly that players that can't pass this test are not worth considering, given that there are inexpensive players that do pass it.

This never happened on my denon 3800. Does this mean that if we don't want to see bad edits we are going to have to plump for the si upgrade board?

Some input from arcam would be great.
 
I'm not quite sure what the CRT mode does; but I know when my Sim2 was having problems with the DV88+ I turned off the CRT mode and it fixed alot of my problems.

There is no difference in quality between the 2, it is merely a compatibilty settings.

I hope that helps :)

CaM
 
Originally posted by Urotsukidoji
I think it's called a bad edit. I have tried lots of DVDs and had no problems, but SG-1 R1 was unwatchable last night.

Cameron what exactly does the crt mode do?

I'd like to know the anwser to that as well. I have a DLP monitor. Should CRT mode be off (it's On on my DV88+)?

Dean
 
Input from Arcam would be excellent. Glad I'm not the only one seeing this issue...
 
I would say that if you are having troubles trying turning CRT off to see if it fixes it.

CaM
 
That has no effect on bad edits :mad:

Arcam continue to respond to questions regarding the dv79 but ignore this thread, even though the dv79 has the same deinterlacer and subject to the same bad edits.
 
Must admit I haven't tried it yet, will try it later tonight or tomorrow.
 
I've not tried the CRT mode yet, but I set the video to "PAL" - and on the Fox intro trailers (you know the ones, showing old movies like the Abyss and Fight Club etc) where the lines were really bad (lots of fast cuts) the lines disappeared. I've just watched something briefly but this looks to have sorted it:)

But having set it to PAL...does that mean it won't output NTSC progressive now:confused:
 
Originally posted by Urotsukidoji
It means all ntsc stuff will be converted to pal....yuck.

Getting tired of ssaying this, but some input from arcam would help...:lease:

Yeah, it looked awful frankly, some terrible juddering, so I switched it back to Auto. I also tried the CRT switch and it hasn't affected it. It's a real shame, as the pic is much better than my Philips.

As a matter of interest, what display are you using Urot?

I phoned Creative audio yesterday and they've been great, saying that they've never had a single Arcam 88+ back for the problems I've noticed (equipment incompatibility? or maybe I'm just susceptible to seeing these "lines"?), but they're happy to refund me my money.

Doubt Arcam will respond on here tbh, which leads me to believe they know exactly what we're talking about...
 
I'm using a fujitsu p42vha30 (improved panny 6 glass).

Doubt Arcam will respond on here tbh, which leads me to believe they know exactly what we're talking about...

That's really disappointing.

The only reason I bought a dv89 was because of arcams customer service, and also because John Dawson has said on many threads here that the Vaddis5 was an "excellent deinterlacer". I don't expect it to be as good as the SI 504, which it isn't, but to not correctly handle bad edits is terrible at this price point.

If creative audio agreed to refund you, I will probably return my dv89.

I am so disapointed in Arcam:mad:
 
Originally posted by Smurfin
It's a real shame, as the pic is much better than my Philips.

Have you exhausted all the PQ settings on your 963 ?
I am interested that you prefer the Arcam, thought the opposite myself. :cool:
Been watching this thread since you first posted, wasn't going to reply because I can't help with your problem, this being the purpose of a specific Arcam forum I guess. Great as it is to have an authoritive manufacturer voice here, can't help notice Arcam are undeniably selective responding to threads.

Creative Audio are great ! :smashin:
 
Because it won't do any good, it's a "trait" of the player. My first DV88+ did the same on trailers but it didn't really bother me too much as I rarely saw it and it was one giant leap ahead of my Skyworth player; but after living without the chroma bug for a while and then seeing the lines again it's really annoyed me.

Anyway, I don't really care any more as I'm taking the player back:)

Cheers
Matt
 
Great as it is to have an authoritive manufacturer voice here, can't help notice Arcam are undeniably selective responding to threads.

It does seem that arcam are only interested in talking about their soon to be released products such as the avr300 or dv79.

If arcam had replied to this thread I probably wouldn't be taking my dv89 back, but the complete lack of response has put me off arcam.

Shame really, all arcam have done is lost two customers who may have purchased arcam in the future.
 
But you have to remeber this is not a Official Arcam support forum.. its always best to talk to them directly (or through your dealer)..

I've had mine for a couple years now and not had any issues with the picture.. though tbh I have not tried progscan yet and I do not have large screens (plasma/projector) but a 28" (soon to be replaced 32" Thomson) so maybe thats why its never bothered me!.

Good luck with whatever you choose next.

Matt
 
To be honest I think you should see Arcam's presence here as a bonus. None of the Arcam employees who post here have a huge amount of time to spend here and I suspect that the title of this thread "not impressed" makes this thread look as thought it would be a negative rant thread, regardless of its actual content, so I'd be surprised if they haven't just skipped it without reading.

If you need to get Arcam's input on something then give them a ring. This is their supported help route; these forums are not. Everytime I've needed to speak to them (only twice!) they've been more than helpful.

I find it amusing but sad that people complain about companies like Arcam who have a presence on avforums when they wouldn't about companies with no such presence. You don't get people going: "I had huge problems with my ***** DVD player, I've posted N times and nobody from ***** every replied, their employees don't even care enough to visit these forums!"

Charles.

[Edit: beaten too it by Matt, but my comments still stand.]
 
Good points all, equally I would argue that as Arcam do have a presence here - i.e John Dawson, the man himself - he'd show an interest in what is a justifiable cause for concern.

But point taken, this isn't a manufacturer's support forum.
 

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