Marantz DV 4001 - DVD player - upscaling

The Marantz heritage of building only the finest CD & DVD players is evident throughout the DV4001. This DivX DVD player is capable to handle not only DVD, but also CD, CD-Rs/RWs with music in MP3, WMA, but also JPEG for a nice slight show of your homemade pictures. The DV4001 is an exceptional DVD player for the ideal home theater system, bringing DVD movies to life with stunning digital video and surround sound capabilities. The strict hand-selection of parts, for example, allows for the amazing sound and image quality. A dedicated remote control compliments the versatility of the DV4001.



Technical Details :
* Plays DVD-Video, DVD-R/RW, CD, CD-R/CD-RW, VCD 2.0,MP-3, WMA, DivX ULTRA and JPEG HD discs.
* HDMI Output with scaling (1080i, 720p and 480p).
* Progressive scan with 3:2 pull-down film detection.
* 192 kHz/24-bit audio D/A converters, 108 MHz/12-bit video D/A converter.
* Low Profile Aluminum Front Panel.

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK :
Video - superb! I have only used it on component video @ 480p, on my 65" Mitsubishi HDTV, but it completely blows away any other DVD player I have used. With good source material, it looks practically high def, and the color and shadow detail are awesome - very faithful to the original material. I am sure that when upconverted over HDMI it is even better, but I have not personally tried that yet.

Audio - superb! Every single 'bit' of digital audio comes through perfectly. I thought all digital-out players should sound identical, but now I am not so sure... IMO, Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks are significantly more "immersive" and dialogue is easier to hear at low volume. Keep in mind, though, this unit does not have optical (toslink) audio out, only digital coax. No big deal, but you should know this.

Build quality is awesome - you will not be disappointed here! The brushed aluminum face is very classy and makes a statement that you are serious about home theatre. Another nice feature - no annoying bright blue light on the front to distract your viewing experience! I hate it when that happens! The "power" light only glows red with the unit is in standby mode.

However, there are few "perfect" things in this world, including this wonderful item. My niggles are:

#1: I wish it would remember where you left off if you remove a disc, like several Sony's I have owned. This is a terrific feature, and I cannot understand why all players don't do this.

#2: For some reason mine has the color and tint controls backwards in the picture setup menu. Marantz did offer to repair it under warranty, but I usually leave the picture settings at default anyway, so I can live with it as-is. It must be a bug in the firmware, but Marantz had never heard of this problem on the DV4001, so don't let this discourage you from purchasing this fine machine.

#3: I'd like to have a choice between optical and coax for digital audio.

Denon DVD 1940CI - DVD player - upscaling

DENON has become a world leader in the manufacture of high quality audio and audio/video equipment and software products for the entertainment and information industries. Its professional-use and consumer-use equipment and software products are recognized internationally for their originality and standards of quality, durability and innovation. DENON is recognized internationally as Japan's leading manufacturer of high-quality audio and audio-visual products, and is the only company in the industry involved in the development and production of both hardware and software.



Technical Details :

* Plays DVD audio and superaudio CD.
* HDMI scalable output to 1080p resolution.
* DiVX Ultra v6.0 playback support.
* DDVC video circuitry for improved performance.
* Separate video D/As for interlaced and progressive mode.

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK : High dollar player for low dollar price !!

I spent some time researching upconverting DVD players and found that the Denon DVD 1940CI was favored by other reviewers on several other sites - and they were right. This player's upconverting technology may not match Blue Ray's clarity and rich detail, but it makes an amazing impact on my 1080p LCD. For a hundred dollar DVD player you feel like you stole a production quality unit. This DVD player has a very nice loading tray and pickup head allowing for stable playback and tremendously good error correction. I have a two year old who likes to "help" with the DVDs and the pickup head reads the discs through her finger-prints and scratches. If you're on a budget and not interested in Blue Ray I would recommend this DVD player to you.