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What We Think
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What’s more, each of the three players tested here employs special processing that “upscales” regular 480i DVD video to an HDTV signal format (720p or 1080i) and uses the HDMI connector to send it to your HDTV. The goal, of course, is to get the best possible picture quality — an image that, while not as detailed as true HDTV, is as smooth and clear as DVD can be. So does upscaling plus HDMI equal a better picture? At least with these players, it largely depends on how well your HDTV converts analog component video to digital. If your set does this well and has good upscaling, you probably won’t see much difference between a player’s component and HDMI outputs. That was my experience with the high-end DLP front projector I used. On TVs with less than perfect processing, though, you might see a cleaner image using HDMI, just as our TV reviewers sometimes report.
It turns out, though, that the determining factor in picture quality was how these players handled the initial conversion from 480i to progressive-scan 480p, which occurs before upscaling to an HDTV format and affects images carried by both the component-video and HDMI outputs. As you’ll see, some players definitely do this better than others.
Full lab results on these DVD players.
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HDMI on a budget
Aside from its HDMI output and attractive $150 price, the Toshiba SD-5980 has two unusually versatile features going for it — the two media-card slots on the front panel. Between them they support an impressive array of flash-memory formats, including SD/MMC, xD, and CompactFlash cards as well as Memory Sticks. Not only will the player display slideshows using pictures stored on the cards, but it will also play music stored as MP3 or WMA files. Beyond this, the SD-5980 is pretty much standard-issue and includes such common features as zoom and multiple bookmarks but little else. The remote control was easy to use thanks to its nice, spacious layout.
MUSIC PERFORMANCE The SD-5980 has only analog stereo outputs, so you’ll need to use one of its digital audio outputs or the HDMI output to play multichannel Dolby Digital or DTS soundtracks. You’ll also want to use a digital connection when playing CDs, since I found the analog output to be noisy. For example, music with a very wide dynamic range — such as practically any Telarc classical or jazz CD — revealed unusually high background hiss.
MOVIE PERFORMANCE Video performance was okay when watching standard interlaced video from the component- and S-video outputs, but when I switched the component-video output to progressive-scan mode, I was disappointed with the results. The resolution of test patterns was obviously softened in the vertical direction, a trait of the Samsung player, too.
To be fair, while this softening was distinct on test patterns, it was tough to see on most of the movies I tried. The eye is amazingly tolerant of loss of detail when a superior picture is not available for side-by-side comparison. But “hard to see” doesn’t mean “invisible.” In the opening text crawl of Star Wars II: The Attack of the Clones, the tiniest stars in the background either disappeared or were not as bright as they should be. (The Panasonic was the only player in this group to nail that scene.)
Far more common were jagged diagonal edges, a distortion that often occurs when material shot as video has been poorly converted to progressive-scan. These “jaggies” were easily seen on Bruce Springsteen’s Live in New York City DVD, on close-ups of the silver metal drum rims and on diagonally slanted mike booms.
With all three players, signals fed to the HDMI output is created in two steps: First the standard-definition interlaced video on the DVD (480i) is converted to standard-def progressive-scan (480p). Then that signal is scaled from 480p to the 720p or 1080i HDTV format.
Viewed over my high-end 720p front projector, images delivered by the Toshiba’s 720p HDMI output looked essentially the same as those from its progressive-scan component-video output, jaggies and all. The picture actually improved when I sent 480i component-video signals to the projector, which had a superior progressive-scan conversion circuit.
BOTTOM LINE The card slots are cool, and depending on your TV, the SD-5980’s HDMI output might provide modest benefit. But its progressive-scan conversion is less than stellar and affects even the HDMI output. If you’re looking to wring every last drop of performance from your DVDs, consider looking elsewhere.
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A bargain universal player
The Samsung DVD-HD950 bears a strong resemblance to the DVD-HD841 tested in January. Along with the HD950’s HDMI output, which replaces the DVI output on the older model, the new player and its remote are essentially identical in layout and features to the HD841, right down to the ability to play both DVD-Audio discs and Super Audio CDs, a great perk for a $200 player. Undoubtedly the most handsome of these three players, the HD950 sports a black front panel that’s a distinct improvement over the earlier silver one and nicely sets off the spectacular white display.
Samsung’s remote control in nicely laid out and could have been the most versatile of the three, thanks to its jog dial (for frame stepping) and surrounding shuttle ring (for various slow-motion and scan speeds). Unfortunately, frame stepping and slow motion operate only in the forward direction (even the $150 Toshiba will do reverse slow motion).
SETUP Unlike the more spartan Toshiba, the Samsung’s DVD-Audio and SACD capabilities bring with it a full set of multichannel analog outputs and their accompanying setup routines. But like the HD841, the DVD-HD950 provides only for speaker “size” selection and level balancing. There’s no speaker-distance compensation, which I’d have thought was required even for Dolby Digital and DTS playback. This means that sonic imaging and front/surround balance may not be optimal when using the multichannel analog outputs, depending on your speakers and how they are arranged.
As with the Toshiba, you should use a digital output for the best sound. The Samsung has both coax and optical audio outs for Dolby Digital, DTS, MP3/WMA, and CD signals, as well as the HDMI output, which can also carry multichannel DVD-Audio signals. The player won’t deliver SACD signals in digital form (this is true of almost all SACD players).
MUSIC PERFORMANCE Unfortunately, when I used the multichannel analog audio outputs to play some SACD and DVD-Audio discs, the music was marred by a surprisingly high level of background noise. Put in technical terms, the Samsung delivers only 15 bits or so of dynamic range from its 24-bit converters. For example, the added hiss squelched the explosive dynamics of Paavo Jarvi’s reading of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring (Telarc SACD) and slackened the musical tension of the soft passages before the violence of the Sacrificial Dance erupts.
MOVIE PERFORMANCE All of my comments for the Toshiba player’s video performance apply here, too. The two players looked about the same onscreen and measured almost identically on the test bench. Using the progressive-scan component-video and HDMI outputs, I observed the same falloff in vertical resolution on movies (producing the same muted star fields in Star Wars) and the same trouble with jagged diagonals on concert DVDs and other programs that originated on video. In the end, the HDMI output failed to provide a superior picture on my projector, even compared with its component output switched to interlaced mode.
Although its video quality is average, the main appeal of the DVD-HD950 is the surround sound music capabilities you get for $200. And having the HDMI output to convey DVD-Audio signals digitally is a definite plus.
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A superior performer
With Panasonic’s DVD-S77 we reach the big time, not only in features but also in performance. For $100 more than the Toshiba you’d expect quite a few more capabilities, and the DVD-S77 won’t disappoint you. It will play DVD-Audio discs as well as DVD-RW discs recorded in the editable VR mode and even DVD-RAM discs, which the other two can’t play. The only obvious omission is SACD playback, which keeps the Panasonic shy of being a true universal player — too bad considering what it does right. The remote, while lacking the Samsung’s jog/shuttle dials, does allow frame stepping, slow motion, and fast scanning in either direction, making precision cueing very easy.
SETUP The Panasonic has full bass-management facilities for its multichannel analog outputs, which give you all the tools you need for optimum sound quality, including speaker-distance compensation. It also has a raft of video adjustments and processing options not available on the other players, including presets for image “enhancement,” basic picture controls (including gamma), video noise reduction, and even a choice of HDMI “color space.” Most of these can be left in their default settings or played with at your leisure.
MUSIC PERFORMANCE For once, a relatively inexpensive player can actually produce sound quality from a DVD-Audio disc that’s better than a CD’s (aside from one being multichannel and the other only stereo). While its measured background noise levels aren’t the lowest I’ve seen, the DVD-S77 was quieter with DVD-Audio discs than even theoretically perfect CD playback — as it should be, given the lower noise floor of the DVD-Audio format.
MOVIE PERFORMANCE Panasonic has long held an edge over the competition in its processing to convert interlaced to progressive-scan video. Unlike the Toshiba and Samsung, the DVD-S77 retains full vertical resolution for its progressive-scan output and doesn’t generate jaggies on diagonal edges (an all-too-common problem among the many DVD players I’ve tested). The player passes this superior performance to its HDMI output. As with the other players, the Panasonic’s HDMI and progressive-scan outputs yielded identical-looking images from my front projector. Yet both produced better-looking video than the Toshiba or the Samsung players. The DVD-S77’s video prowess came through vividly in the Monsters, Inc. DVD. Sulley’s fuzzy hair had the kind of lifelike detail (both horizontally and vertically) that’s supposed to be the hallmark of progressive-scan reproduction, but is all too rare.
BOTTOM LINE I can’t say whether you’d get this same video quality from Panasonic’s lower-priced players, since good progressive-scan conversion is a costly feature to build into in an inexpensive component. But I’m really glad that the company made the effort here. Sure, Panasonic’s DVD-S77 costs two-thirds more than the Toshiba and a quarter more than the Samsung. But that buys you some great features and versatility as well as truly superior audio and video performance. The DVD-S77 can even hold its own against many of the high-end DVD players I’ve tested, and in comparison with them it’s a genuine bargain.
VIDEO PERFORMANCE
All results are for the component-video output set for progressive-scan format. Test patterns were widescreen (16:9) except for onscreen resolution and in-player letterboxing.
Vertical luminance response (re level at 100 lines)
200/300/400 lines: –4.4/–14/–40 dB
Horizontal luminance response (re level at 2 MHz)
4/6/8/ MHz: –0.45/–1.3/–1.9 dB
10/12/13.5 MHz: –1.9/–1.9/–1.5 dB
Onscreen resolution: 540 lines (4:3 image)
In-player letterboxing: good
AUDIO PERFORMANCE (CD)
Noise level (re –20-dBFS output, A-wtd): –67.3 dB
Frequency response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz +0.13, –0.3 dB
Aside from a drastic rolloff in vertical resolution from its progressive-component and HDMI outputs, the Toshiba player’s video behavior was typical. The progressive and HDMI outputs had the usual jagged diagonals when playing material derived from video sources but not with DVD movies. Its stereo audio performance when playing CDs was also, unfortunately, typical of low-cost DVD players. The background noise level was audible and some 9 dB higher than theoretically perfect CD playback, a performance benchmark approached much more closely by other players. Use the digital output instead.
Samsung DVD-HD950 DVD/SACD player
VIDEO PERFORMANCE
All results are for the component-video output set for progressive-scan format. Test patterns were widescreen (16:9) except for onscreen resolution and in-player letterboxing.
Vertical luminance response (re level at 100 lines)
200/300/400 lines: –4.4/–14/–40 dB
Horizontal luminance response (re level at 2 MHz)
4/6/8 MHz: –0.72/–1.6/–2.5 dB
10/12/13.5 MHz: –3.3/–5.2/–6.0 dB
Onscreen resolution: 540 lines (4:3 image)
In-player letterboxing: good
AUDIO PERFORMANCE
Frequency response (from 20 Hz to ...)
Dolby Digital: 20 kHz +0.1, –0.35 dB
CD: 20 kHz +0, –0.38 dB
DVD-Audio (96-kHz sampling rate): 46 kHz +0, –2.47 dB
SACD: N/A*
Noise level (re –20-dBFS signal, A-wtd)
Dolby Digital: –64.8 dB
CD: –69.6 dB
DVD-Audio: –68.6 dB
SACD: N/A*
* would not play multichannel test SACD
BASS-MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE
Measured results obtained with Dolby Digital test signals.
Subwoofer-output frequency response: 12 dB/octave rolloff above –3-dB point of 100 Hz
High-pass-filter frequency response: 12 dB/octave rolloff above –3-dB point of 100 Hz
Maximum unclipped subwoofer output (trim at 0): 1.82 volts
Subwoofer distortion (from 6-channel, 30-Hz, 0-dBFS signal): 0.08%
Crossover consistency: bass crossover frequency and slope same for Dolby Digital and DVD-Audio; SACD behavior N/A.
Signal-format consistency: no bass management applied to CD
Speaker size selection: all channels can be set to “small”
Speaker-distance compensation: none!
Channel-balance controls: none!!
The Samsung player’s progressive-component and HDMI outputs suffered from severely rolled-off vertical resolution performance. Otherwise, progressive and HDMI behavior had the typical jagged diagonals when playing material originating from video sources. DVD movies looked better in this regard. The audio performance was hampered by excessively high noise levels detectable even in CD playback. DVD-Audio had 1 dB worse noise performance than CD, when in theory it should be some 48 dB better. The player’s puzzling inability to play our multichannel test SACD prevented any measurements for this format. Regular music SACDs played with no problem, but with noise levels comparable to DVD-Audio playback.
The player’s bass management needs work. Besides the astounding omission of both speaker-distance and speaker-balance controls — which will prevent proper channel-balancing and imaging in many home setups — there was no bass management at all for CD playback. The subwoofer output overloaded about 3 dB short of the ideal maximum output when playing worst-case DVD-Audio signals. For all except SACD playback, you can get around these limitations by using the HDMI output to carry the audio digitally and letting your receiver do the decoding and bass management.
Panasonic DVD-S77 DVD-Audio/Video player
VIDEO PERFORMANCE
All results are for the component-video output set for progressive-scan format. Test patterns were widescreen (16:9) except for onscreen resolution and in-player letterboxing.
Vertical luminance response (re level at 100 lines)
200/300/400 lines: ±0/–0.18/–0.45 dB
Horizontal luminance response (re level at 2 MHz)
2/6/8 MHz: ±0/+0.34/+0.42 dB
10/12/13.5 MHz: ±0/–0.10/–1.9 dB
Onscreen resolution: 540 lines (4:3 image)
In-player letterboxing: good
AUDIO PERFORMANCE
Frequency response (from 20 Hz to ...)
Dolby Digital: 20 kHz +0.016, –0.44 dB
CD: 20 kHz +0.018, –0.22 dB
DVD-Audio (96-kHz sampling rate): 46 kHz +0, –2.5 dB
Noise level (re –20-dBFS signal, A-wtd)
Dolby Digital: –76.0 dB
CD: –76.2 dB
DVD-Audio: –82.3 dB
BASS-MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE
Measured results obtained with Dolby Digital test signals.
Subwoofer-output frequency response: 12 dB/octave rolloff above –3-dB point of 100 Hz
High-pass-filter frequency response: 6 dB/octave rolloff below –3-dB point of 100 Hz
Maximum unclipped subwoofer output (trim at 0): 3.5 volts
Subwoofer distortion (from 6-channel, 30-Hz, 0-dBFS signal): 0.035%
Crossover consistency: bass crossover frequency and slope same for CD, Dolby Digital, and DVD-Audio
Signal-format consistency: bass management applied to all formats
Speaker-size selection: all channels can be set to “small”
Speaker-distance compensation: 0.1-ms steps
Channel-balance controls: 1-dB steps
The Panasonic’s progressive-component and HDMI outputs behaved properly in the vertical resolution test, producing nearly “flat” output at full vertical resolution. The slight “midband” boost of the horizontal luminance response made the player seem very slightly sharper on test patterns than the others, but the effect was difficult to see on movies. Both the progressive and HDMI outputs gave nearly perfect performance in the very tough progressive-conversion tests on the Silicon Optix HQV test DVD as well as on the moving test patterns on the new Avia Pro disc. This means no jagged diagonals and an overall clarity and smoothness to the image.
For once in a relatively inexpensive DVD-Audio player, the DVD-Audio noise levels fell substantially below those for CD playback, which itself was right at the theoretical performance limit.