Sony's DVP-NS700P DVD player adds progressive-scan capability to the company's new line of entry-level DVD players. Sony has built the 700P on the same low-profile, lightweight chassis they use for their three other entry-level players, the DVP-NS300B, DVP-NS300S, and DVP-NS400D.
Alternatives to the 700P
Like most Sony products, the 700P, with a street price of $350, is a bit expensive for its level of features. You can get a progressive-scan player with similar audio playback modes (CD-R and CD-RW, as well as the standard CD-Audio), the JVC-XVS65GD, for $250. In fact, several manufacturers, such as Toshiba and Panasonic, now have progressive-scan DVD players available with street prices in the $200 to $300 range.
Progressive-Scan Not Compatible with Standard TV's
Even though progressive-scan DVD players have dropped a great deal in price in the last couple of years, it will be a waste of money to have this feature if you have a regular NTSC-standard analog TV. The regular TV's, and most DVD players, use what's called interlaced scanning. With interlaced scanning, each of the video frames (30 per second) is divided into two 1/60th-of-a-second fields, with the first containing the frame's odd-numbered lines and the second containing the frame's even-numbered lines. The advantage of interlaced scanning, and the reason it was implemented with the NTSC color broadcast standard in the early 1950's, is that it allows a given resolution with half the bandwidth of a progressive-scan signal (i.e., 15.75 kHz versus 31.5 kHz).
The output of a regular, interlaced-scan DVD player will be at the 480-interlaced (480i) resolution. This takes advantage of the full display resolution of a typical, NTSC-standard analog TV, such as the TV which is probably sitting in your livingroom as we speak. The newer, high-def TV's, ready to work with the output from an HDTV set-top box digital tuner (receives the digital high-def broadcast and puts it out as either a high-def or standard-def analog signal), will accept input at one of the new higher-definition (ATSC resolution) levels such as 1080i or, in the case of the output from a progressive-scan DVD player such as the 700P, 480-progressive (480p). With the 480p progessive-scan DVD player output, a full 480-line frame is projected each 1/60th of a second.
Even if you own an EDTV or HDTV, or plan to purchase one in the near future, you do not need a progressive-scan DVD player to get high-resolution DVD images. Almost all EDTV or higher sets have integral line-doublers which will bring the 480i output up to the 480p level. However, there are certain image-quality advantages to feeding a genuine 480p DVD signal to the TV and directly displaying that at the set's native 480p resolution ("native" simply means that the analog 480p signal is input to the set and displayed at 480p resolution, without any line-doubling of the signal). For a complete discussion of the various issues surrounding 480i and 480p DVD images, see my review of the Pioneer DVD434 DVD player:
http://www.epinions.com/content_8202784388/tk_~CB003.1.218
The bottom line is that the progressive-scan output from the 700P will not play back on a regular TV. The 700P also has interlaced-scan output for use with an NTSC-standard TV. If you plan to purchase an EDTV or higher TV (having 480p or higher display resolution) within the next couple of years, it might still make sense for you to purchase a 700P. If you are sticking with your NTSC-standard TV, you would be better off to save the $100 and go with the NS300B/S.
I have also reviewed the NS300B and NS300S, if you would like to evaluate information on one of those players:
http://www.epinions.com/content_25635688068/tk_~CB003.1.84
http://www.epinions.com/content_25513070212/tk_~CB003.1.88
If you have an A/V receiver with the six surround-sound analog audio inputs, but no integral Dolby Digital or Digital Theater Sound decoder (these are usually called "5.1-ready" or "surround-ready"), the NS400D would be a good model for you:
http://www.epinions.com/content_29334867588/tk_~CB003.1.8
Problems with Interlaced Scanning
Interlaced scanning has several disadvantages. At a given interlaced resolution, such as the 480i output of a standard DVD player, only half the horizontal lines are on the screen at any given moment. Although persistence of vision tends to blur the interlaced fields of a 480i image into a solid frame, there are certain situations where interlaced scanning causes problems. If you look at a solid horizontal edge with a DVD picture on a standard TV, you will see that it appears to flicker. This is a result of the interlaced scanning.
You will also see problems with a 480i DVD image when the camera pans over a finely detailed part of the frame. For example, if you look at the lines of an actor's forehead when the camera pans over it, that part of the image will appear to roll and churn.
The other interlaced-scan resolutions typically encountered with an NTSC-standard TV are even lower than that of a DVD player -- 330i for broadcast and cable TV and 240i for a VHS VCR (an S-VHS VCR has a horizontal resolution of 400i, as does the output from a laserdisc player). If you look at the edge of the box around sports scores on a news TV program, you will see even worse flicker.
Progressive-Scan Issues
Most viewers describe progressive-scan images as looking much more solid and stable than interlaced-scan images, but progressive-scanning can cause problems of its own. While the progressive image will avoid most of the flicker inherent in the interlaced-scan image, problems can come about because of the varying frame rates of film and video (24 fps for the former and 30 fps for the latter). This can result in motion artifacts. To mitigate the problems with the 480p resolution level, the 700P has reverse 3:2 pulldown, which Sony calls CinemaScan.
Playback Features
Like just about all DVD players, the 700P has forward and reverse scan in both high speed and slow-motion. Ready to handle progresssive-scan output, the player has a 54Mhz/12-bit video digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The player handles DVD-Videos, CD-Audio, CD-R, and CD-RW.
Outputs
There's a headphone jack on the front panel of the 700P. The rear panel has the following types of video outputs, in order of ascending quality (you should use the highest-quality corresponding input on your TV; i.e., if the best input on your TV is S-Video you would run an S-Video cable from the 700P to the TV): composite, S-Video, component. There are two each of the composite and S-Video outputs, allowing you to simultaneously feed your DVD output to two monitors, if so desired. There are also two sets of analog L/R outputs to go with the video outputs. The single component output is a set of three RCA jacks labeled Y-Pb-Pr. To feed the digital surround-sound datastream to a properly-equipped A/V receiver (one with an integral Dolby Digital (DD) or Digital Theater Sound (DTS) decoder), the 700P has both a coaxial and an optical output jack. Both output the same datastream, so your choice of which one to use will depend on the available jacks on your receiver, the type of cable you choose (optical cables tend to be a bit more expensive than the coaxial cables), and peripheral factors of this nature.
Options for Owners of TV's with RF-Input Only
Please note that, in most cases, it will not work to connect the 700P to your TV through the composite or S-Video inputs of a VCR. This is because the copy-protection used on most DVD-Video discs will cause severe signal distortion when run through a VCR. Most people consider running DVD output through a VCR because they do not have any video (i.e. composite) input on their TV. If your TV only has an RF input, you could try to connect a DVD player to the video (composite) input on your VCR while in turn connecting the RF output of the VCR to the RF input on the TV. In a few cases, this will work (depending on the model of VCR in question) but usually it will not. The most reliable solution, if your TV only has an RF input, is to use an RF adaptor which has a composite video/analog L/R audio input and an RF output. You can get a Radio Shack brand adaptor or, at any chain store such as K-Mart, an RCA or Recoton model, for about $30.00. If your TV only has an RF input and you are considering purchase of a DVD player, it might be worthwhile for you to also upgrade to a new TV. Just make sure the new TV at least has a composite-video input jack (almost all the new sets do).
Remote
The remote included with the 700P is a glow-in-the-dark unit. After you have left it under a bright light, the keys will continue to give off light for a time. This multibrand remote will control video gear (VCR, TV, cable box) from Sony and other manufacturers.
Style, Warranty
The 700P comes in a silver case, allowing it to match the Sony Wega TV's. The silver color has now become fairly popular with TV's and you will also find this color on some models from Panasonic and JVC. The player is covered by a one-year warranty.
Conclusion
If you want a relatively-economical Sony DVD player with progressive-scan capability, the 700P is a good candidate. Like the other entry-level Sony models, the 700P is very lightly built. This doesn't mean it's a low-quality product. There's really no need for a DVD player to weigh much. Some of the more expensive players are heftier, because they use larger power-supply transformers and various other components which are heavier. This might provide a slight performance advantage, but a DVD player, which is basically an optical disc player (like the CD-ROM drive in your PC) and the associated circuitry which decodes the digital video and audio datastreams, does not really require a high current flow or anything else which would make oversized components necessary.
The lightweight 700P is not a high-end product like Sony's DVP-S9000ES player. Also, it does not include either of the two current contenders for high-resolution, multi-channel audio, DVD-Audio and SACD. The S9000ES does have SACD capability. You can find DVD-Audio on less-expensive players, such as JVC's XV-S75GD, which sells for $300. The DVD-Audio standard is supported by several manufacturers, while SACD is proprietary to Sony and Philips products (and products of their subsidiary companies). The DVD-Audio discs are almost as expensive as the SACD's, but there a few more titles out now on DVD-Audio (the total number of recordings on both formats probably totals less than 400 right now).
Consumer Alert:
When you buy your DVD player, many retailers will attempt to sell you
premium-brand connection cables and an
extended warranty. Avoid buying either of these. Standard-quality connection cables (the most economical models available from reputable manufacturers such as Recoton, Radio Shack, or RCA) will work exactly as well as the most-expensive premium brand cables. The extended warranties are highly overpriced for the amount of coverage they provide and they only make sense for people who could not afford to replace a piece of electronics equipment which breaks down. Anything you buy that works perfectly during the 30-day money-back return period is very likely to continue to work perfectly for the next several years.
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