My Zenith DVB318 Extensive Review

[hurtz777]

Well like many others I decided to try the Zenith DVB318 out even though I own the Panasonic RP82 which is a reference 480P DVD player. I have been extremely happy with the RP82 with all types of DVDs and transfers, but I wanted to try a good upconverting player with the Faroudja deinterlacer in it. I remember being the first person on the forum to open up and verify that the Panasonic CP72 had the same chipset as the RP82/XP30/XP50. I also found that the XP50 had a noticably softer PQ then the RP82/XP30 and the only explanation for it was probably a firmware change. That is why I decided to stay with the RP82 the whole time. I will give you my opinion on all the features of the Zenith's features as they looked played back on my good old Toshiba 57H81 RP HDTV.

1080i Picture Quality
Once I got the Zenith hooked up I definitely needed to calibrate my HDTV with AVIA. I had to lower the contrast 10% or so and that was about all I remember changing. I found the Zenith DVD logo to have razor sharp edges and it had a big 3D look to it. The colors also jumped out of the screen in 1080i on the DVD logo. I tried LOTR:FOTR dvd first and it was so clear that you could see film grain specs. The colors looked very natural and objects and people looked more 3D then my RP82. The PQ is definitely sharper then my RP82 and at this point I am starting to be impressed. I have noticed no over saturation of green in the darker areas either. I don't think LOTR dvds are the sharpest PQ DVDs but they are definitely very smooth and film like. Next dvd I tried was Finding Nemo. I did notice some slight pixelation in darker areas that the RP82 never displayed. I would call it neck and neck on most scenes with the RP82. There might have been some scenes that were slightly sharper on the Zenith, but they were nothing to write home about. Next I tried Ice Age dvd and I was blown away by the PQ on it. The Zenith had much shaprer edges then the RP82, and it was much more 3D looking then the RP82 on this dvd. I then tried Super Troops which I have found to be one of the sharpest PQ film dvds, and the Zenith had a much sharper and life-like PQ compared to the RP82 at 480P. I could see every pore in the guy's faces when they were first getting busted by the cops for weed on the side of the highway. Then I tried The Fifth Element Superbit dvd out and once again the Zenith had a sharper and more 3D PQ then the RP82. Finally I tried my home videos that I made with my Sony TRV22 MiniDv camcorder and encoded at a constant 8Mbs bitrate with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound. I found the PQ to be much more desirable at 480P obviously because the player locks you in at widescreen aspect only at 1080i thus stretching the 4:3 native video and causing artifacts etc. At 480P my home videos looked just as good as they did on the RP82 and I am very happy for that. Overall I feel the Zenith has about a 30% sharper and more HD like PQ then the RP82 on most high quality transfer dvd material. I wouldn't dare say it is HBO-HD quality but it is within 10% of the PQ on better dvd transfers such as Ice Age, Super Troopers, and The Fifth Element that I tried.

480P Picture Quality
The Zenith DVD logo screen had slight ghosting around the edges of objects, but nothing to frown about. I tried LOTR:FOTR dvd it looked slightly softer then the RP82 in 480P, but the colors looked good and the detail was still there. The difference was similar to what I found between the XP50 and being slightly softer then the RP82. I noticed no artifacts or color smearing in the picture at 480P like some users report on their displays. I also tried The Fifth Element Superbit, Ice Age, and Super Troopers(One of the sharpest PQ movies I have seen) and I found them all to display a slightly softer PQ compared to the RP82, but still above par 480P PQ.

Audio Quality
Just like everyone else I found the 5.1DD and DTS, 6.1 DTS sound to be very spacious and accurate through the optical and coaxial connection. The dvd sound is definitely richer and more spacious then my RP82 and the difference was very noticable on all content including my home videos. Even the sound from my MP3's encoded with LAME at 192kbps Stereo were even closer to CD sound then my RP82 played them.

Menu Navigation And Auto Play
I found the menu navigation to be adequate and fairly well laid out. Not too many options to burden the user with and a nice looking UI. I did find the remote to be a little less repsonsive then others, but if you press the buttons harder it seemed to respond better. I absolutely love the Auto play feature that skips all the BS messages at the beginning of dvds and goes straight to the movie feature. It has worked fine for me on all dvds and I highly recommend using it unless you are loading diagnostic dvds such as AVIA and then it will lock up.

MP3, JPG, And DVD-R Playback
The Zenith has an awesome MP3 and JPG playback user interface. It is very windows like and you can setup playlists with MP3 and shuffle them etc. It also displays the full MP3 file name at the bottom of the screen which is awesome. As far as JPG playback it is also A+. Has the the same great user interface and it allows you to do a playlist of JPGs and run a slideshow with different speeds of playback. Ihis player loads raw JPGS or Kodak Photo CD and when it does it displays PIC on the display which is cool. It loaded my 160KB JPGs in 1 second, 600KB JPGs in 2-3 seconds, and my 2MB JPGS in around 7-10 seconds which is outstanding loading times compared to other players I have auditioned such as the JVCs that took up to 1 minute to load the bigger JPGs. This player loves all brands of DVD-R media types that are burnt at any speed between 1X-8X.

I would like to mention that my Panasonic RP82 has been retired to the bedroom, because the Zenith matches or trumps it in every area, and also adds cool bonus features when it comes to MP3 and JPG playback. I found the looks of the player to be decent and not too cheap looking. The LCD display is very easy to read from 10 feet away and the icons on screen are decent also. I also noticed no types of ghosting on on my Toshiba 57H81 in 1080i mode from this player as I did in 480P mode on both this player and the Panasonic RP82. The reason for that is these Toshibas were known to ghost with 480i/480P content because of the upscaling the TV does to all 480 content to bring it up to 540P. That would be another reason to buy this player if you owned a RP HDTv that has that flaw like the Toshibas. The Zenith at 1080i will bypass the upscaling that your TV does and it will therefore get rid of your ghosting on dvds! I would highly recommend the Zenith DVB318 if you have a RP HDTV and want to see an awesome upconverted DVD picture!

[Gray Davis]

Nice review, hurtz!

[Q of BanditZ]

NICE!!!!

[steviec]

Excellent review! Interesting someone has 33 of them on ebay right now for $199.Do you think these will still send 1080i thru the component connection?

[aboom]

Cool review man, what kind of TV you got?

[Darrel McBane]

Nice write up hurtz777.

I've had my Zenith for about two months now. And use it with a Sony HS20 PJ. Considering the $199 I paid for it. I consider it a steal.

[DodgeV83]

WHy pay $200 for them on Ebay (then have to add shipping)

When its $160 (free shipping I THINK) at www.gochnauers.com ?

[robertc88]

Given all the posts for this unit on this forum, I suppose I best look into this player as I'm currently trying a Samsung HD841 for $199.

I would only be utilizing a component connection and running 480p with my Tosh 50" RPTV.

I thought the picture quality to be quite good on most every DVD I have tried since I bought the HD841 two weeks ago. I had been looking for alternatives in the $200 price range which is really all I want to spend.

The HD941 and Panny S87 are coming and they are both $299 I believe and might be overkill for the connection I'd be utilizing at the present time.

[flyersfan]

Thanks for the review - were you running DVI or component when displaying 1080i ?

[Rob Tomlin]

Ditto flyersfan's question.

DVI or Component?

[poler]

>As far as JPG playback it is also A+. Has the the same great user interface and it allows you to do a playlist of JPGs and run a slideshow with different speeds of playback.

I only wish they had made a way to turn off display of the pic labels which obscures
part of the jpeg during slide shows. That's my only gripe.

[Franchot]

Originally posted by flyersfan
Thanks for the review - were you running DVI or component when displaying 1080i ?

I think I can answer this question...

I'm running my Zenith through my 61H Toshiba with component connections. (The Toshiba H series is a bit older and does not have a DVI connection.) Like hurtz I switched from a Panasonic RP82 to the Zenith DB318 and his review is "right-on." (I also own a Pansonic XP 30 and a 50 which I use on different TVs in the house.) But I won't award the upconverting crown to the Zenith until I've had a chance to test it against the new Pansonic 97.

[HoustonGuy]

Good review. I really like my 318 playing commercial anamorphic WS DVDs ,component on my Sony direct view display. I would like to add that on burned DVD-R's my Panny XP-30( which is identical to the 82 on Secrets vid test) definitely beats the 318. The only way to play these is at 480P on the 318 and XP-30. Playing them at 1080i or 720p on the 318 distorts the picture.

[hurtz777]

Houstonguy I don't know what kind of problems you are having with your DVD-R PQ, but I have played my backup DVD-Rs in 1080i on the DVB318 and they look just like their commercial counterpart. I use only Ritek G04 media and have never had an issue with them. By the way everyone I am running the DVB318 via component out to my Toshiba 57H81 HDTV. I am just using a cheap pair of Acoustic Research component cables and the PQ is superb!

[HoustonGuy]

hurtz- Maybe it could be my display needs to be adjusted back to 4:3. I have it at 16:9. I'll try that but I think I already did .

[Michael Whan]

I would really like to get this player but I have a delimna.

I have a Mitsubishi WS-65819 television which has no DVI input and several
component inputs.

The problem is that only one of the component inputs is capable of 1080i
and I have my HD DirecTV connected to that one.

Is there any kind of switching device that I could run the DVD and DSS through? Crawling behind the set and plugging and unplugging these is not a reasonable option.

[stevemilleresq]

Take a look at this from JVC

http://www.jvc.com/product.jsp?pathId=93&productId=PRD0600004

Street price is about $100.00.

[BK EH]

Originally posted by Michael Whan
I would really like to get this player but I have a delimna.

I have a Mitsubishi WS-65819 television which has no DVI input and several
component inputs.

The problem is that only one of the component inputs is capable of 1080i
and I have my HD DirecTV connected to that one.

Is there any kind of switching device that I could run the DVD and DSS through? Crawling behind the set and plugging and unplugging these is not a reasonable option.
At the risk of starting yet another series of flamed responses, I use this with no ill effects whatsoever, and have tested it w/ Avia and DVDs on my Mits 46807.

A Radio Shack Audio-video Selector (A-B switch). Simply plug RBG into Red-White-Yellow and you are off. You have to get up to put in a DVD so it's easy to punch the button. Get short interconnects of the same quality as your 1080i cable. 15 bucks! There are no bandwidth issues because it's simply a mechanical switch. I have had personal feedback from many who have done this and love it too! ;)

[stevemilleresq]

Originally posted by BK EH
At the risk of starting yet another series of flamed responses, I use this with no ill effects whatsoever, and have tested it w/ Avia and DVDs on my Mits 46807.

A Radio Shack Audio-video Selector (A-B switch). Simply plug RBG into Red-White-Yellow and you are off. You have to get up to put in a DVD so it's easy to punch the button. Get short interconnects of the same quality as your 1080i cable. 15 bucks! There are no bandwidth issues because it's simply a mechanical switch. I have had personal feedback from many who have done this and love it too! ;)

I would have thought that wouldn't work. Great inexpensive solution!!

[hurtz777]

I have also used the Radio Shack Audio-Video selector to switch between component inputs and I found no loss of PQ either. Heck of a deal for $15.

[Steve S]

That RS AV selector is in fact a mechanical switch and as such should not have any bandwidth problems. The Denon receivers' 100mhz component switching are also mechanical, operated by a solenoid. They click everytime you switch component inputs.

[Joxer]

Can you post the model # of that RS AV selector that costs $15?

[EMahn]

Is this it?

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=15-1952

[BK EH]

Originally posted by EMahn
Is this it?
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=15-1952
YUP! That's it... enjoy~! :)

[bungy500]

Question: With your new Zenith, you used componet cables. Any cables in particular? you think it's worth spending the $59.99 for the monster cables? Also, is this a real 1080i picture without the DVI cable?

[Gray Davis]

With Monster, you are just paying more for a brand name. Like buying designer jeans. Don't buy Monster, find something cheaper.

[bruman]

im with BK EH and hurtz777. one day I figured I would try out my A/V selector (RCA- Mechanical) and I paid only $5 for mine and it works perfect as a switch. after figuring this out im glad I never bought the switch I was thinking about. Im glad I tried it before buying a switch. makes sense that it could work and im sure many people have figured this out.

dont waste your money! Mechanical A/V selectors work perfect!

[bruman]

also, guys looking for component cables. comcast gives them for free if you ask and they are of decent quality.

[hroeder]

For those who haven't yet purchased the Zenith 318, it comes with every cable imaginable. Including a DVI-D and a set of Component cables. If you consider the cost of the cables you get with the player, reduce the effective cost by at least $40.

As to quality: I received mine Saturday morning from PA. ($160 delivered free via FedEx.) Unplugged my Panasonic 30 and plugged it in. Pushed upconvert twice.

My Hitachi 50v500a immediately told me it was getting a 1080i signal. Changed the audio output from 48 to 96. . .it's going into my receiver (HK 525) so I figured I might as well have the higher bandwidth sound. Turned DCP off. Popped in the last DVD I'd watched:

It's not an HD picture, but it's so damn close you can hardly tell. Beautiful. I'd just seen this DVD the night before so the image was distinctly different.

Now for the caveat: if the quality of the DVD is not great, it's going to look only so good. Garbage in garbage out. . .and you're aware even more that it's garbage, because you now see good. Put in a DVD of an independent film that looked like crap. . .because that was the quality of the recording.

Sound: seemed crisper. But then I had turned compression off, so it should sound crisper. I was much more aware of small sounds. I'm not sure I had seen any info before on this ability to choose sound.

Nice that the backup screen has a built in screensaver.

The remote: Actually I kind of like it, but I'm going from a Panasonic 30 remote, so almost anything is an upgrade. The menu button is in a strange place. Arrow keys work fine. Like having the jog shuttle. Also like having the ability to zoom in again. Not sure if I'll use the angle feature. . .I haven't seen a lot of DVDs with that included, but it's nice to have.

End summary: I don't feel like I'm downgrading watching a DVD anymore. The picture isn't HDNet, but it's damn close. And on things that were filmed in HD, such as The Company, it gorgeous.

If you've got a good set, for $160 this thing is a steal.

[phenolite]

I went from a sony playstation2, to the DVB318 and i was blown away. The colors are amazing with ZERO tweaking of color. I'll do tweaking with AVIA later, but overall, I am very pleased with this player, nice and heavy too - i've picked up some cheapo players that don't weigh anything...

one thing that generally pisses me off is the remote - you have to aim the remote DEAD ON it seems - then again, i really need to get an all-in-one remote - but i have a good amount of debt as it is...lol

just my 2 cents :)

[mallu2u]

All folks who report amazing display...are you connecting via component or DVI? Just curious.

[hroeder]

I'm connecting via component cables.
My Motorola Cable box is fed in through DVI. I prefer the Motorola DVI picture to the Motorola component picture.
Assume the 318 would be just a touch better DVI.
Build date on my 318 was Mar04.

[phenolite]

connected via monster components. i tried DVI, but didn't notice much of an improvement - may try again tonite

[mallu2u]

So these reviews are in line with the fact that Zenith's superiority lies in its upconversion over component cables (and not DVI).

[Trent]

Originally posted by mallu2u
All folks who report amazing display...are you connecting via component or DVI? Just curious.

This poll (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=404830) shows what people are using.

[Alex solomon]

Would I notice any difference in PQ in my Sony analog 27" TV through s-video connection with this player vs my Toshiba SD-4800 dvd player? My TV is not progressive. Thanks.

[phenolite]

I'd say just stick w/what you have, Alex. No point in upgrading really if you don't have a digital TV

[Alex solomon]

I will be getting a plasma TV when the price of Panny EDTV commercial hits around $2000-$2200 street which I figure will be in less than a year. I am afraid this player might become an endangered spices just like panny RP82. If I get a better sound out of this player for both DD, DTS & CD playback and better or same PQ as the Toshiba SD 4800 player I would buy it. Any thoughts on the sound quality of the Zenith 318?

[hurtz777]

Alex I doubt you would notice any difference in 480i from the DVB318 over your Toshiba but the PQ should at least be comparable. I and many others have found the sound quality from the DVB318 via digital output to be very spacious and rich. It sounds a lot better and more life-like then any DVD player I have had including the Panasonic RP82. The player has awesome MP3 and WMA playback and loads jpegs off of CDs faster then any player I have seen. I would say if you are going to get a plasma down the road that it wouldn't hurt to get this player now before they start disabling the upconversion via component output via firmware. I am sure there will be a way to go back to the old firmware though so it might not be an issue anyways.

[Alex solomon]

Thanks hurtz777. I overlooked the upconversion via component feature, which is the main appeal of this player. Last question, does this player has any issues with DVD-R dics playback?

[steph280]

I have mine hooked up to a Panny 42PWD6UY and the improvement is there, just not as dramatic as others have claimed. I think this is partly due to the Panny deinterlacer doing a good job already.

Have played lots of Ritek DVD-R without any issues. Did encounter occasional a/V out of sync problem, but not disc related.

[Alex solomon]

Thank you steph280, all my back ups are on Ritek G04 discs. Thank you all for your input. I have decided to get this unit.

[hurtz777]

I have also played Ritek G04 DVD-R with 100% success. I have also played cheap Lead Data 1X DVD-Rs that were burned at 2X and they play perfect also. This player is very versatile with media and different burn speeds. I burn my Ritek G04's at 6X-8X with the hacked 1.07 firmware for the NEC 2500A DVD burner and have had no quality problems on playback. Alex where are you located? I ordered two of these players and I am going to sell the one I just got in today. I will test it first to make sure it is not defective from factory and then I will put it back in it's factory sealed box. If anyone is interested msg me. I am in the Oklahoma area.

[bruman]

Ritek is so good cause it is actually used alot in the industry. Ritek was the only disc I found that always burned perfect and played perfect.

[Alex solomon]

Originally posted by hurtz777
I have also played Ritek G04 DVD-R with 100% success. I have also played cheap Lead Data 1X DVD-Rs that were burned at 2X and they play perfect also. This player is very versatile with media and different burn speeds. I burn my Ritek G04's at 6X-8X with the hacked 1.07 firmware for the NEC 2500A DVD burner and have had no quality problems on playback. Alex where are you located? I ordered two of these players and I am going to sell the one I just got in today. I will test it first to make sure it is not defective from factory and then I will put it back in it's factory sealed box. If anyone is interested msg me. I am in the Oklahoma area.

I too burn my ritek G04's at 6X-8X with the hacked 1.07 firmware with NEC 2500A DVD burner. No coaster so far. Best blank DVD media, period.
hurtz777,I am located in D.C. But unfortunately I have already placed my order with Gochnauer's Home Appliance Center At 3 PM this afternoon. Actually I called and gave them payment info but haven't received any communication from them as of yet. I hope they are legit authorized Zenith retailers. BTW, does sound quality improves for this player through coaxial or optical, or both connection provides same sound quality?

[hurtz777]

I noticed no difference in sound quality between the coaxial and optical digital output. They both sound marvelous!

[stevemilleresq]

Originally posted by Alex solomon
I too burn my ritek G04's at 6X-8X with the hacked 1.07 firmware with NEC 2500A DVD burner. No coaster so far. Best blank DVD media, period.
hurtz777,I am located in D.C. But unfortunately I have already placed my order with Gochnauer's Home Appliance Center At 3 PM this afternoon. Actually I called and gave them payment info but haven't received any communication from them as of yet. I hope they are legit authorized Zenith retailers. BTW, does sound quality improves for this player through coaxial or optical, or both connection provides same sound quality?

My only purchase from them was the dvd player and they don't fool around. It was sent the day I ordered it and I received it by fed ex 3 days later. I don't think you have anything to worry about. They got a lot of sales from this forum and I don't think they would screw around.

[bruman]

ok im buying th Zentih. I will be bummed if I dont buy it and have the star wars trilogy. close to HD star wars will rock!

[sixpackd]

Hurtz777

can you verify something for me? Hopefully you have Star Wars Attack Of the Clones. can you watch the second scene where the jedi are in the Chancellors office? Please do so in 480p mode. The Jedi all have a red background behind them. is there a wierd red smearing problem in this scene on your dvb318? I noticed it dramatically on my DVB318 but not on my rp82.

checkout http://briefcase.yahoo.com/davisfeng in the pho directory, there is file a.jpg, b.jpg and c.jpg.

a = rp82, 480p
b = dvb318 1080i
c = dvb319 480p

thx
Davis

[Huey]

In component output, there is severe Y-C delay issues which can cause fuzzy edges, color bleeding and smearing (apparent with yellow introduction screen of player before any disc is inserted) with Zenith DVB-318 in 480p and less so in 720p. 1080i has negligible delays and therefore has the best PQ. So please don't bother with 480p as it will NEVER beat RP82, XP30, or most other decent progressive DVD players. In 1080i mode however, it is the best bang for your buck as it should supercede 480p and Sigma based 1080i component which has higher frequency roll off causing less sharp image (my LiteON LVD-2001, which is Sigma 8500 based, is no match for my Zenith DVB-318). Momitsu (also Sigma based for $100 more than Zenith) may have better analog DAC than LiteON and may do better in 1080i component than LiteON (one member claims equalling or even better than Zenith component). Zenith has Faroudja deinterlacing/scaling chip which is very good. Not too many sub-$200 can claim this.

[bruman]

the rp82 pic is close in comparison to the zenith 1080i pic. not bad. wish I kept my XP50 long enough to try on my projector but on my 36" Sony Wega XBR800 it was a bit noticeable than my Pioneer 563A ut not enough to keep it. tubes is a different breed and I really had to look from 11ft away.

I will say the rp82 480p pic looks much better than the zentih 480p. again I wish I still had my XP50 to do comparisons to the Zenith when it gets here on the X1.

how do you think the Zenith will hold up on the Sony 36" ? think a difference can be noticed ?

[Huey]

Hard to say as it depends on your Sony which has already a good builtin scaler which may make 480p look as good as 1080i. Size wise 36" should be big enough to notice as Q-bandit has 32" Zenith HDTV and he noticed an improvement going from 480p to 1080i. Of course Zenith HDTV likely has worse scaler than Sony. Only way to tell is to try both resolutions and both DVD players to compare for yourself on your setup. You may prefer the sharper but more jagged 480p over the slightly softer but smoother 1080i.

[jessicarose]

I am planning on a panny 500u and A yamaha RX V1400 receiver. It would be nice if I could run the DVD through the receiver. (Even less expensive DVI cables are expensive at 3 meters) The specs on the receiver say that the "wide range compnent video bandwidth is 5Hz-60MHz -3dB" Will I get the full 1080i if I run it through the yammy?

[aydu]

Originally posted by Huey
In component output, there is severe Y-C delay issues which can cause fuzzy edges, color bleeding and smearing (apparent with yellow introduction screen of player before any disc is inserted) with Zenith DVB-318 in 480p and less so in 720p. 1080i has negligible delays and therefore has the best PQ. So please don't bother with 480p as it will NEVER beat RP82, XP30, or most other decent progressive DVD players. In 1080i mode however, it is the best bang for your buck as it should supercede 480p and Sigma based 1080i component which has higher frequency roll off causing less sharp image (my LiteON LVD-2001, which is Sigma 8500 based, is no match for my Zenith DVB-318). Momitsu (also Sigma based for $100 more than Zenith) may have better analog DAC than LiteON and may do better in 1080i component than LiteON (one member claims equalling or even better than Zenith component). Zenith has Faroudja deinterlacing/scaling chip which is very good. Not too many sub-$200 can claim this.

I'd argue that even 1080i can have some fuzzy edges and color bleeding after a night of heavy drinking.

I never thought of a hangover as Y-C delay, but it sounds much better!!

[hurtz777]

sixpackd,

I am sorry I dont have that DVD to test with. Does anyone else notice this problem?

[BajaFishin]

This would be my first time post on the 318 thread, and I've got one thing to say about this player:

God Dang!! This player is SOOO HOT right now, everyday I'm reading someone saying somthing good thing about this player. It is on my list now.

Baja

[mallu2u]

BajaFishin: Add the Denon 1910 on your list as well. I know you are I are on the same boat with regards to a new DVD player. I am too waiting for the updated versions of Momitsu, Zenith along with 941 and S97 before I make the decision.

[hpm123]

Looking at this unit as well. What chipset does this unit use for scaling? I have a 720p native dlp unit, and see where this unit will upconvert to 720p across component out. Curious the chip this unit uses for this process - thanks

[hurtz777]

It uses the Faroudja FLi2310 chip to do the deinterlacing and upscaling duties. It has an Omega MPEG Decoder which seems to be more then adequate for mostmaterial.

[hpm123]

Originally posted by hurtz777
It uses the Faroudja FLi2310 chip to do the deinterlacing and upscaling duties. It has an Omega MPEG Decoder which seems to be more then adequate for mostmaterial.

Thanks Hurtz - I did read where the Faroudja chip was used for de-interlacing on these units, but could not find any reference to the chip being used for the scaling process. Appreciate -

[BajaFishin]

Originally posted by mallu2u
BajaFishin: Add the Denon 1910 on your list as well. I know you are I are on the same boat with regards to a new DVD player. I am too waiting for the updated versions of Momitsu, Zenith along with 941 and S97 before I make the decision.

Thank you Sir, 1910 is on my list too.

What's on your list?

[Beaker1024]

Baja and mallu2u, all three of us (along with a multitude of others) are in the same exact boat on picking up a new DVD player. Baja I remember reading your posts on your V880 impressions and they, along with other reviews and it's feature set, had made the V880N the player I am waiting on. Let's hope it really is out Aug 15th. Recently I had put the S97 up top also but the current word is a November release which is likely too late for me. I have not completely ruled out the Zenith but would only do that at a local B&M for a decent price.

Baja, can you comment on your impressions of the V880 again now that you are hunting for another player?

[mallu2u]

Baja and Beaker & others looking to compare players: Lets start a new thread that lists our choices and are current setup. Since all of us are looking for the same thing, we can all report our findinds/impressions there. I just created this thread for people lin the same boat as us: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=4066795#post4066795

[skfields01]

Is this unit also compatible with HDCP which my Mitsubishi WS-55813 uses?

[Alex solomon]

Got my Zenith 318 today from Gochnauer's Home Appliance Center. So far I tried to play at least 5 DVD-R disks (Ritek G04) burned with NEC 2500A drive. I experienced frame freeze in all disks, in almost in every chapters. I have never experienced this kind of problem with my Toshiba SD-4800 even once. Anybody have any idea why?

[angle123]

My Toshiba 51H84 deso 1080i and 540p conversion. Can I still benefit by buying a Zenith 318?

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

Yes, because the Zenith does the upconversion cleaner than the TOshiba.

Regards

[hurtz777]

I have also observed that the Zentith does the upconversion much cleaner then my Toshiba 57H81 HDTV. I know that in my model the Toshiba's 540P upconversion from 480P would cause noticable ghosting on images. Now that I have the Zenith running in 1080i mode the ghosting is gone and I get an amazing DVD PQ that surpasses even my Panasonic RP82 in 480P by at least 30% cleaner and more detailed and 3D-like PQ.

[angle123]

My Toshiba is the 2004 model. Maybe they made improvement to the 1080i upconversion?

[tbb73]

Nope... same as it was!

Upconversion done by the Zenith (or LG) is WAAAAAYYYYY better.

I'm using it with a 51H84 using components

Ciao

[jamautosound]

I just bought myself another Christmas present.

Picked the Zenith off E-bay for $154.

Going to pick up one of those video signal selector's from Radio Shack as well.

Can't wait to try this out.

Thanks again.

[Mark Hoy]

So what's everyone's opinion on this venerable old work horse. I've a need (for my front projector) for upscaled component output and this is one of the few available.

[Taiser]

It's still up there, mine is the LG version and except for the long ass wait to eject a disc, it's been flawless, and now it's cheaper to boot!!

How can you go wrong?

[Mark Hoy]

Taiser: Is the LG part number DV7832NXC (just in case it's easier to find)?

[Chris Gerhard]

Originally posted by Mark Hoy
So what's everyone's opinion on this venerable old work horse. I've a need (for my front projector) for upscaled component output and this is one of the few available.

I am using one with a 720p LCD front projector and like it. Unfortunately it doesn't do a good job of upconversion to 720p so I use it at 1080i. The projector is used mostly for D-VHS and mostly at 1080i and the few 720p D-VHS tapes I have don't look significantly different so I doubt I would see much improvement if it did upconvert to 720p better. Overall I am happy and with some DVDs, it works great.

For upconversion to 1080i over component, I still think it is the best I have seen but I haven't seen the Momitsu which some feel is better.

Chris

[siblime746]

So i have a few questions
First im thinking of buying a plasma tv.
Im either gonna buy the Panasonic th-42PD25U/P or th-37PD25U/P depedning on what size tv i want.
Both of these have an HDMI input and both are EDTV. I want to buy this zenith dvd player to use with the tv.
I have a few questions
1. Is there a way to put dvi to hdmi so i can hookup the zenith to the TV?
2. Does the zenith player do a good job of upconverting to an EDTV?
3. Is it worth getting this dvd player with an EDTV?
4. Whats the best way to connect all of this because im probably going to use the Cablecard feature of the TV to view HDTV.

Thanks