A very nice DVD player
Pros:
Compact, great video, simple operation.
Cons:
Limited video choices in HDMI setup, no eject button on remote.
The Bottom Line:
This is an excellent DVD player for the money. I've had no complaints within the limits of its designed abilities.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
The Overview
Because of its compact size, price, brand compatibility, and good ratings, I bought this DVD player to go with a recently-purchased 19” Philips LCD widescreen HDTV.
The Philips DVP3960 is small single-disc upscaling progressive-scan DVD player. It measures 14.17 inches wide, 9.25 inches deep, and 1.46 inches top to bottom. Its case has a combination of chrome and brushed metal finishes, though the case is constructed of plastic. It comes with an equally small remote control. This player features outputs for HDMI, component video (Y, Pb, Pr) with analog R & L sound, composite video with analog sound, and coaxial digital sound.
The Details
We use this player in our bedroom with the LCD. It plays DVDs beautifully on the LCD. Depending on which set of outputs you choose, you then navigate to that set of inputs on the TV, and bingo, you’re ready to go. Upscaling of DVDs only works with HDMI, so if you’re set on seeing everything in 720p or 1080i, assuming your TV displays in those resolutions, you must use HDMI.
Component video, on the other hand, provides the broadest range of display options. HDMI, at least on my LCD, translates all DVDs to widescreen format, even full screen DVDs. Component, however, provides the full range of the TV’s resolution options. In my case, that means I can choose from 4:3 (full screen), 14:9, 16:9, 16:9 subtitle, widescreen, super zoom, and automatic. The downside of component input is that the DVD player only displays in either 480i (interlaced) or 480p (progressive). At several feet from the TV though it’s hard to tell the difference between 480p and 720p on a 19” TV. With component, sound is analog, whereas HDMI carries digital sound. This probably only matters if you’re running the DVD player through a separate tuner, and then to multiple speakers. With our LCD, the DVD sound is coming out of the HDTV’s two speakers, so I doubt that there’s much difference in quality between analog and HDMI.
The third option for connecting is standard composite video (yellow cable) with right (red) and left (white) audio. In this mode, only 480i output is available, but that’s not a bad-looking image on an HDTV.
The remote is small but provides just about everything you need to operate the player from a distance. The setup button takes you to the on-screen controls for sound and video and several other options. Of course, play, stop, FF, FR, OK, and all the typical buttons are on this remote.
A feature I miss that I’ve found on other DVD players I own is a button on the remote to open and close the DVD tray. That’s not a feature on this basic player. That’s a minor inconvenience as there’s no button on any DVD player that will float the DVD over to the tray; in other words, we still have to walk over to any player and insert or remove the DVD, so a button to open and close is hardly essential.
This player has a nice bright digital display window on the front and on-screen controls for setting the level of brightness. Like most if not all DVD players, it will play CDs. According to Philips, this set will play video formats as CD, CD-R/CD-RW, Video CD/SVCD, DVD, DivX, DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW, and DVD-Video. I played a CD-R of pictures from one my daughters’ wedding, and the DVP3960 played a nice slide show of all the photos on that disc. In addition, this set will play the following sound formats: CD , MP3-CD , MP3-DVD , CD-R/RW , WMA-CD , and Audio CD.
The owner’s manual is typical of those found on most electronic devices these days. It uses pictures to illustrate hookups, and the verbiage is somewhat cryptic. It’s adequate for someone who’s accustomed to hooking up home theater components, but for a first-timer it might be a little scant on information. To their credit Philips put right on the front cover in three languages, “Need Help Fast?” followed by a web address and a toll-free phone number. In that past I’ve found Philips customer service to be very good.
The Bottom Line
This is a great little player that does what it advertises with style. Don’t expect it to do everything that a higher end model will do, but for or occasionally or even frequently watching a DVD it’s a fine player. It definitely could work as a main player, though I think it’s best suited for smaller room settings.
