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oliverstoned View Drop Down
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    Posted: June 13 2007 at 05:08

Sources:


-VHS decks

VHS decks from JVC remain excellent, especially the high end models. The colours are more natural than numeric and the sound explodes any DVD deck, because of analog superiority.






-DVD players


Pioneer:

Good news! the first models from Pioneer (90€, very cheap) already features an excellent picture quality. The sound is (just) decent.





Arcam:

If you're looking for a DVD player featuring a good sound, Arcam is recommended. Their audio circuits are the same than their CD players, so expect the same musicality. The picture quality is not as good as the Pionner however.





Denon:

In top high end, Denon is the king, fighting with Pioneer.






Peritel:In a basic/budget setup, one can use a good peritel cable for enhanced picture and/or sound quality.

Monster cable and QED are recommended.



Optimization: The receipts in audio apply in video:
power filtering, quality power cable, vib cancelling will enhance any video source and so the picture/sound quality as a result. One can also glue bitume plates inside the DVD player and add a granite plate on it, especially because DVD mechanics often vibrate much.






Edited by oliverstoned - June 13 2007 at 05:25
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Points: 2664 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 15 2007 at 18:50
Remember the old Betamax!!

My family converted to VHS in 1989.
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Points: 11979 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 16 2007 at 16:44
The Arcam DVD player is far superior to that Pioneer you've listed Oliver. I think you are mistaken..

I have a Pioneer DVD 696, the one that playes SACD and DVD-A. excellent picture but not as good as the Arcam base model.
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Points: 6308 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 16 2007 at 17:09
Sorry i didn't expressed well myself. It's a matter of price range. I don't pretend that the first Pioneer (90€) smokes the first Arcam (several times more expensive), but in term of image the last Pioneer in the same price range as the base Arcam may be more precise.
Unless Arcam made big progress on on picture recently.
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Points: 6308 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 16 2007 at 17:19
...but if you say true, i'm about to get the fisrt Arcam!

For sure the Arcam is musical and that's a great strenght to watch music DVDs.
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Points: 21199 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 17 2007 at 03:54


Add a high quality audio card (SB Audigy/X-Fi) and a good graphics card, and you have superior image quality over any standalone DVD player. Unfortunately it doesn't play SACD though, but DVD Audio.Smile
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oliverstoned View Drop Down
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Points: 6308 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 17 2007 at 14:40
Don't dream!

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Points: 32995 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 17 2007 at 15:04
Originally posted by MikeEnRegalia MikeEnRegalia wrote:



Add a high quality audio card (SB Audigy/X-Fi) and a good graphics card, and you have superior image quality over any standalone DVD player. Unfortunately it doesn't play SACD though, but DVD Audio.Smile
#
And it looks so pretty too!!Heart
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Points: 4252 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 18 2007 at 02:19
i have a vcr/dvd combo - a Daewoo
 
 
you can transfer old vcr tapes onto dvd using this machine, the sound and picture quality is excellent. i have transferred a lot of tapes over using this, including some rare TV rock shows from the 80's. the old tapes were covered in white dust, presumably mould, so they are now on dvd - amazingly this process improved the snowy picture quality of the videos, something that had always been a problem, but not any more. Smile
 


Edited by mystic fred - June 18 2007 at 02:26
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Points: 21199 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 18 2007 at 02:46
Originally posted by oliverstoned oliverstoned wrote:

Don't dream!



It's you who is dreaming here, Olivier ... you can't beat my knowledge in the digital domain. Do you think I won my degree in the lottery?

Computers with decent graphics cards have simply much, much more computational power than the simply standalone DVD players - and that power is put to good use to beautify the signal. Especially when you use a LCD TV connected digitally (via DVI or HDMI) to the TV the quality of the image can be outstanding. Of course it only works if the native resolution of the LCD can be used - most LG displays are capable of that, for example. And I'm also aware of the fact that currently LCDs have some inherent weaknesses in terms of contrast and color space, but they're catching up on the CRTs pretty fast ... and they're already superior in many areas: power consumption, sharpness, resolution (HDTV), reliability, geometry etc.


Edited by MikeEnRegalia - June 18 2007 at 02:47
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Points: 4252 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 18 2007 at 04:59
Cambridge Audio DVD 89..
 
 
it plays DVD, DVD-Audio 5.1, SACD5.1, stereo CD - everything! though it doesn't make the tea, and i once tried to play a beer mat in it but didn't work - oh well, you can't have everything! Wink
 
 
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Points: 32995 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 18 2007 at 05:09
My Toshiba...
 


Edited by Snow Dog - June 18 2007 at 05:11
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Points: 4252 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 18 2007 at 05:14
Originally posted by Snow Dog Snow Dog wrote:

My Toshiba...
 
 
'ello Tosh.....LOL
 
 
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Points: 6308 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 19 2007 at 03:06
Originally posted by MikeEnRegalia MikeEnRegalia wrote:



Originally posted by oliverstoned oliverstoned wrote:

Don't dream!

It's you who is dreaming here, Olivier ... you can't beat my knowledge in the digital domain. Do you think I won my degree in the lottery?Computers with decent graphics cards have simply much, much more computational power than the simply standalone DVD players - and that power is put to good use to beautify the signal. Especially when you use a LCD TV connected digitally (via DVI or HDMI) to the TV the quality of the image can be outstanding. Of course it only works if the native resolution of the LCD can be used - most LG displays are capable of that, for example. And I'm also aware of the fact that currently LCDs have some inherent weaknesses in terms of contrast and color space, but they're catching up on the CRTs pretty fast ... and they're already superior in many areas: power consumption, sharpness, resolution (HDTV), reliability, geometry etc.


So which DVD players did you try and on which kind of screen? (LCD and Plasma are crap BTW).



Edited by oliverstoned - June 19 2007 at 03:06
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MikeEnRegalia View Drop Down
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Points: 21199 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 19 2007 at 03:08
^ and which LCDs/Plasmas did you try ... and which software DVD players for that matter?Wink

What I don't understand about your position on DVDs is that from a technical standpoint DVDs are for video what MP3 is for audio - but you like it!
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Neil View Drop Down
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Points: 1497 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 19 2007 at 03:25
Originally posted by oliverstoned oliverstoned wrote:


Sources:


-VHS decks

VHS decks from JVC remain excellent, especially the high end models. The colours are more natural than numeric and the sound explodes any DVD deck, because of analog superiority.


 
The colour signal on a VHS tape has less than 10% of the resolution of the original camera image, that is the only way that that quantity of information can be wedged onto the tape.  The base audio track is a very poor linear mono recording and the "hi-fi" sound works by modulating the stereo sound onto a carrier frequency in a similar way to FM radio.  Neither the video nor the sound could ever be described as superior to a DVD system.  In a "blind" test (that's a funny concept, how do you blind test video?) even the best VHS machine would fall down to a reasonable DVD.
 
Don't simply assume that analogue is superior; it very much depends on the accuracy of the analogy.


Edited by Heavyfreight - June 19 2007 at 03:26
When people get lost in thought it's often because it's unfamiliar territory.
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Points: 38 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 19 2007 at 04:43
Originally posted by MikeEnRegalia MikeEnRegalia wrote:



Add a high quality audio card (SB Audigy/X-Fi) and a good graphics card, and you have superior image quality over any standalone DVD player. .Smile
 
That needs qualifying. Which DVD players are you comparing this to with this statement. Specifically, which standalone DVD players have you tried in your system?
And which top models by the top manufacturers have you compared it to? Because if you make a statement like that you have to have tested it against the very best available. For example, did you put it up against this? http://www.meridian-audio.com/p_800V4.htm 
 
You need to give proof of comparative tests - citing models and other equipment used.
Also which DVDs did you use to do the comparison test?


Edited by Archer - June 19 2007 at 05:01
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Points: 21199 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 19 2007 at 05:02
^ I haven't conducted any tests myself ... I don't have the money to buy various DVD players and displays and compare them. My statement is based on various reviews that I read in magazines, and my computer setup seems to be very nice, as attested by people who I invited to watch DVDs. Of course this is entirely subjective ...

BTW: Maybe my statement was a little over the top - I should have used "most" rather than "any". I guess that current top of the line DVD players have the processing power to compete with current computers (with the use of DSPs), but not those from several years ago.
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Points: 38 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 19 2007 at 05:14
Originally posted by MikeEnRegalia MikeEnRegalia wrote:

^ I haven't conducted any tests myself ...
 
Strewth mate, that was a bit of an admission. No conducted tests yourself? Wouldn't that have been a good idea before stating so vehemently that your setup could outperform any stand-alone?
 
And you don't need to buy into gear to test, you can often borrow items for home testing, at least if you go to indie dealers who know what they are talking about and who also stock the better gear. It might be a good idea to go along to your local store to see where things are at now. But don't waste your time testing the mass-produced Japanese stuff. You obviously are more discerning than that. See some decent makes.
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Points: 32995 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 19 2007 at 05:20
Originally posted by Archer Archer wrote:

Originally posted by MikeEnRegalia MikeEnRegalia wrote:

^ I haven't conducted any tests myself ...
 
Strewth mate, that was a bit of an admission. No conducted tests yourself? Wouldn't that have been a good idea before stating so vehemently that your setup could outperform any stand-alone?
 
 
 
Her didn't say that he said that PCs have....
 
"much more computational power than the simply standalone DVD players "
 
....and he has already admitted that he went a bit over the top.
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