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 | Title : Toshiba SD4700 Progressive-Scan DVD Player
Author : Toshiba
Release Date : 20011030
Binding : Electronics
Regular Price : $349.99
Amazon.com Price : $Sale
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Editorial Reviews :
Toshiba offers enhanced digital technology for a minimum price with its high-end SD4700 progressive-scan DVD player. Capable of DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, CD, MP3, CD-R/RW and DVD-R playback, this player is great for movies, music, and DVD transfers of your home movies.
A 10-bit, high-sampling 54 MHz video digital-to-analog converter quickly and accurately reproduces video for high-quality pictures, abetted by Toshiba's top-of-the-line Super ColorStream Pro progressive-scan component-video output with Cinema Mode (3:2 pulldown), not to mention the company's Super Anti-alias Filter and 8:8:8 processing. The player offers parallel video outputs (interlaced) for serving multiple rooms, and a distinguished 540 lines of horizontal resolution.
Likewise, a 24-bit, 192 kHz audio digital-to-analog converter runs at twice the frequency of conventional DVD player audio DACs to provide superior sound reproduction from DVD-Videos, DVD-Audio discs, and CDs. Optical and coaxial digital-audio outputs facilitate hookup with a surround receiver for either Dolby Digital or DTS decoding, while decoded Dolby Digital sound is also available through the 5.1-channel analog outputs required to appreciate the full resolution of decoded DVD-Audio programs.
Additional features include progressive-scan video, which displays non-interlaced video with compatible TVs for smoother pictures with reduced flicker. Toshiba's Spatializer N-2-2 Virtual Surround Sound system simulates a four-speaker surround system using only two.
The SD4700 offers plenty of playback options as well, including an onscreen menu, strobe display, preview, multiple angles, 4-power zoom, and four scan speeds (up to 100x playback).
Buyer Reviews :
I purchased the SD-4700 mainly for its progressive scan feature and I must say that it does make a big difference. I'm using this player with a Philips digital widescreen HDTV (32' tube) and, finally, I'm starting to see the full potential of the DVD format. Some people may argue that since a lot of new TVs (especially HDTVs) are equipped with high quality line doublers, you get all the benefits of progressive scanning directly from your TV, but at least in my case, the SD-4700 does a much better job than Philips' own 'Natural Motion' technology in presenting progressive output while still maintaining that 'film quality' of the... err... film :)
The remote control is a lot easier to use than previous Toshiba models and provides very easy access to all the features you may need during playback (e.g. subtitles, audio and angle selection). It also contains a rather large joystick that makes it very easy to navigate menus. Also worth mentioning is the fact that all the controls are also available on the player itself. Very useful for these times when you accidentally 'misplace' the remote.
As for the supported formats, I had no problems playing DVDs, VCDs, music CDs & CDRs and MP3 CDRs. The MP3 support is very basic and has some quirks. For example, I still can't really understand how the player determines the order of tracks. Seems a bit random to me but there must be a logical explanation here :). Anyway, the feature actually does work, the overall sound quality is good and that's what counts. I haven't tested the player with DVD Audio discs yet so I can neither confirm nor deny the problems reported in other reviews.
Now for the kinks, which are minor but still prevent this player from getting 5 stars:
1. Some widescreen HDTVs (my Philips among them) do not allow the user to manually set the aspect ratio for progressive signals. This means that you may get just a little bit frustrated when you play widescreen, NON-anamorphic DVDs ('letterboxed' -- where the 'black bars' are coded into the frame to make it display correctly on 4:3 TVs). Your options with these DVDs are to either watch them letterboxed in a rather small 4:3 viewing area (annoying!), have the SD-4700 stretch them to 16:9 (annoying because it will mess up the aspect ratio) or use the zoom feature of the player to try and get the optimal picture (frustrating but doable). What this player really needs is a smart zoom feature that removes the black bars and scales the picture to fit the screen (like most widescreen TVs have) but I guess you just can't get it all. That said, since most new DVDs are anamorphic (contain no black bars and therefore always displayed in the correct aspect ratio), this can be considered a minor inconvenience.
2. The player has some problems displaying menu items in 4:3 progressive mode: highlighted menu items sometimes get totally messed up. This doesn't happen with native 16:9 DVDs or when you set the player to stretch everything to 16:9, so it's not really that big of a deal.
3. Pixel cropping - I think this player crops almost half an inch off the bottom of your picture (I made sure this was not a problem with my TV not being properly aligned). According to the AVIA test signals I used, over 25 pixels were cropped out and that's considered a little too much. Still, I guess many people wouldn't notice this glitch because their TVs are probably cropping so much more... :).
All in all, I am very pleased with this player. You really do get a lot for your money here! Sure, there are a few kinks but they are not horrible (unless you are a non-compromising videophile). If you have an HDTV, you really owe it to yourself to get a progressive scan DVD player, and this is probably one of the better (and cheaper) ones out there.
(by Alon Yaffe)
Features/Technical Specs :
* Super ColorStream Pro progressive-scan component-video outputs (deliver stunning visuals on HD-ready TVs)
* DVD-Video/DVD-Audio/CD/video CD/CD-R/DVD-R compatible (also displays CD and DVD Text)
* 24-bit, 192 kHz high-resolution, multi-channel DVD-Audio decoding and playback (for unparalleled realism and immersive music mixes)
* Video black-level expansion and PLUGE (for optimizing theater-like conditions in your home)
* Aspect ratio control and NAVI menu simplify setup and picture adjustments
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