PQ & SQ DV-668AV versus DV-868AVi

[Argento]

Does anybody know how great the differences are regard the picture and sound quality of these two players?

Thanks

Rich

 

[V5-APS]

I have seen both running thru' HDMI and both looked great.....could not tell any difference PQ wise on the 434HDE they were connected to.

 

[Kazman]

The PQ between the 868 and 668 is virtually identical.

SQ is also almost identical but in stereo the 868 is supposed to be better than the 668.

I currently have the 668 and it's movie abilities are fantastic. It is ok with stereo CD's (My Marantz CD5400 betters it imho), but feels a bit harsh, and the timing is ever so slightly off compared to a dedicated CD player. Multi channel music however sounds fantastic!! And movie sound reproduction is also very good.

It is also a damn sight cheaper than the 868.

 

[KraGorn]

Apart from i-Link which I don't have so can't comment on, the major difference from what I see is that the 868 can scale to 1280x720p and 1920x1080i while the 668 is only able to scale to 4:3 PAL or NTSC resolutions.

 

[V5-APS]

Also, i think the scaler on the 868Ai only works when using HDMI connection.

 

[KraGorn]

Possibly, have to admit I've not tried it with component.

 

[Argento]

Thanks for the info folks - gone for the 868Ai. Are they easy to make multi-region?

Rich

 

[inzaman]

Kragorn so are you saying that the 668 cannot scale to 720 & 1080, thanks inza

 

[joys_R_us]

Originally posted by inzaman
Kragorn so are you saying that the 668 cannot scale to 720 & 1080, thanks inza

that's correct. The question is, why you would want it to scale ?

(projector owner ?)

 

[inzaman]

joys-r-us, thanks and yes i am a pj owner hence the desire for my next dvd player to scale. Was hoping to get away with a 668 but looks like i will need to go the 868, still debating with myself at the mo though, you know what its like.

 

[Argento]

How good is the scaling anyway?

 

[Kazman]

I was unaware the 668AVS did not scale, there goes my plans for a high end projector, unless I go for an external image scaler.

Can we confirm or have a link to confirm that the 668 cannot scale to higher resolution?

 

[Kazman]

Never mind, just checked the Pioneer website, and yup, the 668 does not have the image scaler of the 868.

Oh well.......

 

[gmt steve]

Originally posted by V5-APS
Also, i think the scaler on the 868Ai only works when using HDMI connection.

That's correct, those features are 'greyed out' in the menus using analogue connections.
From a sound quality perspective, the 868 has Hi-Bit upsampling and Legato Link, which the 668 does not. These only work on the Front L&R channels though and are of questionable use anyway.
On the video side, the 868 has a 14 bit video DAC, the 668 has 12 bit. The 868 uses some higher quality components, such as capacitors and power supply.

 

[KraGorn]

Originally posted by Argento
How good is the scaling anyway?

It's pretty good to 1280x720p, combined with pretty good de-interlacing .. to my eyes anyway .. it's sufficient to replace my HTPC, the first DVD player I've been able to say that of without reservations .. the other one which came close was a cheap and cheerful Momitsu V880 but that didn't have a great de-interlacer.