In the Lab
DVD-VIDEO PERFORMANCE
Maximum-white level error.............. -2 IRE
Setup level............... +7.5/0 IRE (switchable)
Horizontal luminance response3/4/5 MHz....................... -0.35/-0.72/-1.1 dB
6/6.5 MHz (DVD limit)................. -1.9/-2.6 dB
Onscreen horizontal resolution..... 540 lines
In-player letterboxing......................... good
AUDIO PERFORMANCEFrequency response (20 Hz to . . .)
Dolby Digital.............. 20 kHz +0.19, -0.02 dB
SACD......................... 61.6 kHz +0.36, -3 dB
CD.......................... 20 kHz +0.16, -0.026 dB
Noise levelDolby Digital (16-bit signal)............... -70.5 dB
SACD/CD (stereo)............. -85.1 dB/-75.4 dB
BASS MANAGEMENTMain-channel high-pass filter responseDolby Digital/CD: 12-dB/octave rolloff below 120 Hz
SACD: 15-dB/octave rolloff below 120 Hz
Subwoofer output low-pass filter responseDolby Digital/CD: 12-dB/octave rolloff above 130 Hz
SACD: 12-dB/octave rolloff above 120 Hz
Subwoofer maximum output level3.4 volts, 0.09% THD+N
Compared with the component- and S-video outputs, the HDMI measured more than 25% low in the green on the Avia color-decoder-error chart. With some TVs you may be able to correct for this problem by selecting a standard- rather than high-def color setting for the digital input, or by using the advanced color adjustments in its setup menu.
Except for the slight rolloff in luminance response, the player's analog video outputs were pretty much dead on. And the component output provided excellent progressive-scan playback, with fewer jagged diagonal edges on moving objects with a Silicon Optix test disc and slight-ly less "noise" than with many other players.
In audio terms, the player was substantially quieter with SACDs than with CDs, which should be the case but often is not, and it also applies speaker-distance compensation to SACDs, an extremely rare and valuable feature. The slight measured differences in bass-management behavior for different disc types are insignificant.
- A.G. and David Ranada
