DVD Player Reviews
Dear Gary: I have been reading Widescreen Review for the past year and to my best recollection, not a single DVD player review has made any mention of the chroma upsampling bug inherent within the vast majority of the current crop of players. The bug exists in the MPEG decoder used inside of the DVD player and can result in unsightly “streaks” in scenes with brightly colored objects. For a detailed explanation of what this bug is about and its effects, please visit the following Web site: www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_8_2/dvd-benchmark-special-report-chroma-bug-4-2001.html. Additionally, I also fail to recall any DVD player review make any mention of how capable (i.e. how fast) a player is when handling layer changes as well as the responsiveness of players when making chapter searches. My guess is that until recently most players perform very closely in this regard, however, with the advent of DVD-ROM players such as the Denon 2800, the situation has changed. I am not faulting your reviews, just that I believe other readers like myself who religiously read WSR will want to know all about a player’s strengths and quirks so as to make an informed purchase decision. On another issue, I was wondering if you or your reviewers have encountered any instance of “laser rot” on DVDs. I experienced my first case about two weeks ago and have always thought that this is a problem encountered by LDs, not DVDs. Well, I was wrong. Again, you can find out more at www.mindspring.com/~yerington/.
Jack H. Goh
Video Technical Editor Greg Rogers Comments:
The chroma upsampling problem was discussed in the Denon DVD-2800 DVD player review in Issue 50. We applaud the fine detective work done by Don Munsil and Stacey Spears, who to our knowledge were the first persons to identify and publish an explanation for this anomaly. However, as Bill Cruce wrote in his review, “The error is, frankly, not blatantly obvious unless you go looking for it. It doesn’t bother me.” Nonetheless, since this is correctable in future MPEG decoder ICs, and we will continue to check for it in our DVD player reviews. We do report on both transport responsiveness and layer change responsiveness when we find players that are significantly better, or worse, than the norm. In my Sony DVP-S9000ES review in Issue 45, I wrote: “The speed and agility of a DVD player to navigate a disc is sometimes an overlooked feature. But I highly value the ability of a player to swiftly load discs, rapidly jump between tracks, and quickly scan with a smooth and clear display of the picture. From the beginning, Sony has set the standard for navigational response with its top players. The quick and nimble responsiveness of the DVP-S9000ES is like driving a Porsche compared to some truck-like DVD players, which makes it a pleasure to operate…Its navigational responsiveness is even quicker than its nimble predecessor.” In the Denon DVD-2800 review, Bill Cruce wrote about layer changes: “This gives it fast access times, a 4 MB buffer, and what is said to be the ‘industry’s fastest layer change.’... At the 30 second point, where the words ‘Warner Bros. CVC’ scroll up to center screen, there is a layer change that causes barely a hiccup in the Denon’s performance.” I have not heard of any laser rot problems with DVDs until now. We appreciate your letter and suggestions and will endeavor to provide even more information in our reviews about a product’s “strengths and quirks” to help everyone make informed purchase decisions.
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