Denon DVM-4800 DVD Audio/Video Changer

The Denon DVM-4800 is a 5-disc DVD Video/Audio changer with progressive scan, 12-bit 54MHz Analog Devices DAC and 2:3 pulldown. The changer also plays HDCD discs, CD-R and CD-RW discs. The MP3 playback is also present.

The player also has built-in Dolby Digital and DTS decoders with 5.1 out, which is also used during a DVD-Audio playback.

Front Panel

The front panel looks upscale and features 5 buttons for direct selection of a desired disc, a button for skipping a disc, playback control buttons, open/close button, power button, progressive/interlaced scan button, “audio only” button and a bass enhancement button. The large display shows current function and disc.

Rear Panel

The rear panel has 2 composite video outs, 2 S-Video outs, a component video out (can be switched between interlaced and progressive scan), 5.1 analog audio out, separate stereo audio out, coaxial and optical digital audio outs and “remote control” in and out.

Performance

The player features state-of-the-art hardware. The player has a 4 Mb buffer for eliminating delays during layer changes, features a 12-bit 54 MHz video DAC (other players usually use 10-bit DACs and non-progressive players usually have 27 MHz DACs).

The progressive scan with 2:3 pulldown processing for film-based material produces smooth, film-like images and there is no combing artifacts. The sound is excellent in all modes. The player employs 192 KHz 24-bit DACs for each of the front channels, the centerm subwoofer and surrounds features 96 KHz 24-bit DACs.

The player decodes 20-bit HDCD discs as well as DVD-Audio, DTS and Dolby Digital. The player has a couple of virtual surround sound modes.

There are a lot of settings that can be adjusted: brightness, contrast, color, sharpness, gamma, black level, there are four picture modes, you can select among four noise reduction modes, choose the monitor type (projection TV, direct view, CRT projector or LCD projector)

You can also select aspect ratio, speaker setup, speaker size, vertical sharpness, horizontal sharpness, edge sharpness. The player has five bookmarks and remembers custom settings for 200 discs. The changer holds 5 discs and the disc change time is somewhat slow, but in any case this adds flexibility and requires less trips from the couch to the player.

Picture Quality

The most important feature of a DVD player is the ability to deliver excellent picture and sound. The DVM-4800 produces excellent progressive scan picture with no artifacts and great color reproduction. The audio in all modes, including DVD Audio is equally great.

Remote Control

The supplied remote control is large and buttons are located intuitively. There are even numbered buttons for selecting tracks. The buttons have different colors according to the function.

Bottom Line

The DVM-4800 is a great DVD Video/Audio changer with excellent picture quality and flexibility. Although it is not cheap, people who need great picture, sound and feature set will appreciate it.