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Hi all, maybe some of you have ready the odd post or two from me in Club Rotel (guilty as charged 1066 owner). I must admit I don't check in altogether too much except to keep track of firmware upgrade and a tad bit of HT gossip now and again. But this time I'm having a problem of major urgency concerning my DVD setup. Here goes:
First I'll explain my video setup. I use a 22" NEC Multisync Monitor (FP1375x) for viewing. You guessed it I also use this for my computer which is in my living room. This monitor has dual inputs so I use one for my HT and the other for PC, I can't toggle both b/c that confused the monitor (perhaps because I use a digital output from my computer), but as long as only one source is active I can view one or the other. Ok. So to get video into my monitor I currently use a little box called the XGA theater that will take an S-video signal and pass it thought to VGA at 1024 X 768 resolution.
My first DVD player on this setup was the Technics DVD-A10. A fine machine in all respects, save for the occasional layer change artifact. Colors were always true, if perhaps slightly dry, and image was always sharp. All and all it looked as excellent on this monitor as anything I've seen in the hi end shops.
Here is where the trouble begins. I had to send this player off for repair and decided to buy another in the mean time. I first got the Denon 2800 mkII. I noticed right away a wierd problem where the colors on the DVD were fluctuating from time to time with regard to brightness and saturation. A scene would start with one balance and then get darker and more saturated. I didn't generally notice it getting lighter again though. The next scene might start at the proper balance and then again I'd notice a change. It was quite obvious. DVDs I tested were Amelie R2 (it was pretty bad on this one) and Crouching Tiger Hidden Draggon R2 (much less obvious but still noticed once or twice). Also the color change was reproducible on the scenes I tested it against in Amelie, so it would do it in the same scenes everytime I played them.
I immediately denounced this player as crap or broken and returned it. I spent a couple ;-) more bucks and got the Arcam DV88+ which is widely acclaimed as a reference player, top notch quality at any price, best of the best. I played Amelie R2 and didn't have nearly the problems as with the Denon (for the record the Arcam shits all over the Denon for picture quality), however, I did notice a very subtle effect in a scene but was unable to reproduce consistently. I thought I was in the clear when I watched Snatch R2, and Silence of the Lambs R2, without a hitch. But then I watched Mulholland Drive R1 and there was the problem with the color, probably worse than it was on Amelie. I watched a few more movies, some had the problem (Pulp Fiction [a little], Something About Mary [moderate] both R2), some not at all (Training Day, Born Romantic both R2).
Can anyone tell me what is the problem here?! I never noticed this with the Technics DVD-A10 and the Arcam DV88+ should be as good a player as that, if not better. I also never have this problem with the DVDs when played back on my computer. I don't think it could be the XGA theater because I'd have this problem on every movie equally, so it must be the DVD player I guess. I just don't know. Both the Denon and the Arcam can't be defective! The guy at the store I ordered from says he has sold many of both of these player to very high praise from customers. He said that I'm choking the preformance of the unit by using S-video (fair enough) and that I should switch to component for better results. I don't think this makes a difference though. S video should be good enough, and there should not be such color fluctuation in any DVDs produced to high quality, such as many I have watched.
I have only had this player for 2 days now though, does it need "burning in" or something before it preforms consitently well on all DVDs? I'm at the end of my rope as I have spent a considerable amount of money on this player for quality, but I'm not satisfied. I can always return within a week but then I don't have a player and since both had the same problem I think maybe any player will be the same. Do you think it is the S video? I am in the process of obtaining a video sclar that does component video at even higher resolution than my current setup (AVT-3700) but I will be very sad if I buy this rather expensive component only to get the same result.
Any suggestions are appreciated.
Cheers,
John
First I'll explain my video setup. I use a 22" NEC Multisync Monitor (FP1375x) for viewing. You guessed it I also use this for my computer which is in my living room. This monitor has dual inputs so I use one for my HT and the other for PC, I can't toggle both b/c that confused the monitor (perhaps because I use a digital output from my computer), but as long as only one source is active I can view one or the other. Ok. So to get video into my monitor I currently use a little box called the XGA theater that will take an S-video signal and pass it thought to VGA at 1024 X 768 resolution.
My first DVD player on this setup was the Technics DVD-A10. A fine machine in all respects, save for the occasional layer change artifact. Colors were always true, if perhaps slightly dry, and image was always sharp. All and all it looked as excellent on this monitor as anything I've seen in the hi end shops.
Here is where the trouble begins. I had to send this player off for repair and decided to buy another in the mean time. I first got the Denon 2800 mkII. I noticed right away a wierd problem where the colors on the DVD were fluctuating from time to time with regard to brightness and saturation. A scene would start with one balance and then get darker and more saturated. I didn't generally notice it getting lighter again though. The next scene might start at the proper balance and then again I'd notice a change. It was quite obvious. DVDs I tested were Amelie R2 (it was pretty bad on this one) and Crouching Tiger Hidden Draggon R2 (much less obvious but still noticed once or twice). Also the color change was reproducible on the scenes I tested it against in Amelie, so it would do it in the same scenes everytime I played them.
I immediately denounced this player as crap or broken and returned it. I spent a couple ;-) more bucks and got the Arcam DV88+ which is widely acclaimed as a reference player, top notch quality at any price, best of the best. I played Amelie R2 and didn't have nearly the problems as with the Denon (for the record the Arcam shits all over the Denon for picture quality), however, I did notice a very subtle effect in a scene but was unable to reproduce consistently. I thought I was in the clear when I watched Snatch R2, and Silence of the Lambs R2, without a hitch. But then I watched Mulholland Drive R1 and there was the problem with the color, probably worse than it was on Amelie. I watched a few more movies, some had the problem (Pulp Fiction [a little], Something About Mary [moderate] both R2), some not at all (Training Day, Born Romantic both R2).
Can anyone tell me what is the problem here?! I never noticed this with the Technics DVD-A10 and the Arcam DV88+ should be as good a player as that, if not better. I also never have this problem with the DVDs when played back on my computer. I don't think it could be the XGA theater because I'd have this problem on every movie equally, so it must be the DVD player I guess. I just don't know. Both the Denon and the Arcam can't be defective! The guy at the store I ordered from says he has sold many of both of these player to very high praise from customers. He said that I'm choking the preformance of the unit by using S-video (fair enough) and that I should switch to component for better results. I don't think this makes a difference though. S video should be good enough, and there should not be such color fluctuation in any DVDs produced to high quality, such as many I have watched.
I have only had this player for 2 days now though, does it need "burning in" or something before it preforms consitently well on all DVDs? I'm at the end of my rope as I have spent a considerable amount of money on this player for quality, but I'm not satisfied. I can always return within a week but then I don't have a player and since both had the same problem I think maybe any player will be the same. Do you think it is the S video? I am in the process of obtaining a video sclar that does component video at even higher resolution than my current setup (AVT-3700) but I will be very sad if I buy this rather expensive component only to get the same result.
Any suggestions are appreciated.
Cheers,
John
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