Philips DVP5982 1080p Upscaling DVD Player
by Philips
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List Price: Our Price: $39.00 You Save: $50.99 (57%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Home Theater See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Philips DVP5982 1080p Upscaling DVD Player
Customer Review: Great player 4.5 stars
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased a DVP5960 3 months ago, then purchased the DVP5982 1 month ago in hopes of the DVP5982's new USB2 would allow faster transfer rates from an external disk connected to it's USB2 port. The DVP5982's USB2 transfer rate is minutely faster than my DVP5960's USB1. I have not found any practical difference between the two units or their USB ports (besides the case color). The DVP5982 is almost identical performance to the DVP5960. The DVP5982 is advertised with USB2 and the older DVP5960 is advertised with USB1 but they work almost identical in performance. I am reposting a review that I had made for my DVP5960, with the slightest of alterations for the DVP5982, (mainly substituted model names and changed the TIVO Best recording bitrate lag time from .5 sec to .2 seconds.) This DVP5982 still cannot play my TIVO "Best" recording "Best=5.8 Mbps" without pausing every 3 seconds. I was hoping the DVP5982 would be better than the DVP5960 to meet my needs to play my .mpg-2 TIVO recordings and DVD backups directly from an external disk and bypassing the need to burn them to a DVD but the DVP5982 USB transfer rate is not fast enough yet. If you save money and purchase a DVP5960, I would do that before buying the DVP5982. If not, then purchase the DVP5982, both are excellent DVD players.
This DVP5982 player plays everything I have thrown at it on a DVD. Backup movie DVDs, mpeg files of various vibrates, jpg, mp3, DVDMP3. I have other DVD players that play "most" everything but for the money, this player is great. Plays back-up copies of DVDs on all brand DVD (&RW) media so far. Perfectly plays grandson's scratched DVDs that other players stopped playing. Picture is great, same as other posts, standard Composite & Component give a great picture and upscale 1080 does work for even a better picture. Hey, it is not a Blu-Ray player but for a sub-$70 unit, this player is well worth the money.
I can use this DVP5982 for my TIVO backed up files. I use Direct Show Utility to change my .tivo files to .mpg files. I found that an external "My Book" western digital 400 gig disk is pre-formatted in Fat32 (plug and play). I copy files from my computer to the "My Book" disk and then I just plug the "My Book" disk into the 5982 USB port and it reads the complete 400 gig. You can move through folders with the remote and select any .mpg or mp3 and play it. (Both DVPmodels filename 8 character length limit can be a challenge when viewing on the TV screen) Video plays exactly as the original recording looked from my Tivo. The only problem is that Tivo can record in 4 different quality settings, Basic. Medium, High and Best. Both DVP players cannot play the BEST recordings from their USB port because the USB ports transfer rate cannot keep up with the higher Bitrate (more data per second)
According to info from
TIVO video is recorded at 2/3 D1 (480x480) resolution at 29.97 frames per second with constant-bitrate MPEG-2 at one of four bitrates:
Setting Bitrate
Best 5.8 Mbps
High 3.5 Mbps
Medium 2.6 Mbps
Basic 1.47 Mbps
I found that the "My Book" disk connected to the 5982 USB will play all Tivo recorded settings EXCEPT the "BEST" quality. The "Best" recordings play jerky because the 5982 USB cannot keep up with the higher transfer rate. It Plays 3 seconds then pauses .2 seconds while the 5982 buffer catches up to the transfer rate then plays 3 sec, then pauses .2 sec, and so on, not viewable. The 5982 also plays jerky like this if you try to play DVD files directly from the My Book disk. (but the same BEST quality .mpg files play fine if copied to a DVD or DVD RW, then play the DVD in the 5982)
For me, the quality between TIVO's Best and High quality is negligible so I will now set all my future Tivo recordings to High and just put them on the "My Disk" external disk, then move the usb connector to the front usb port on the 5982 to play them on the TV)
I can buy a $1000 HD/BluRay player and I can still find something to grip about but for less than $70, the DVP5982 is well worth it.
Ok, the remote is a little stubborn and you have to slowly-deliberately press the buttons but it works ok.
AND FYI;
I formatted a different external disk but with multiple FAT32 partitions due to XP's maximum 32gig "Fat32" format size limit, the DVP5982 will only recognize one of the partitions. You can format any disk with larger FAT32 partitions with an old Win98 PC or a 3rd party format software (or just use a "My Book" external USB disk)
Customer Review: Great player for the price
Summary: 4 Stars
To go along with my HDTV, I decided that I needed to upgrade my DVD player. While my Insignia DVD Recorder/VCR didn't look awful, it certainly didn't look good. And while the quality of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are definitely impressive, the on-going format war combined with the cost made those players inviable options.
Enter the market of upconverting DVD players. These players, which take your standard 480i DVDs and scale them to high-definition resolutions are as common as regular DVD players these days. Places like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City, are full of them. I've actually owned two of them.
I started with the highly-touted Sony DVP-NS75H which is truly a great machine. It has a great design and a super picture quality. Sadly, it only upconverted to 720p or 1080i, not 1080p as my set is capable of. While I'd like to think that I'm not a total videophile, I noticed some of the ghosting and artifacts that interlaced video can expose when put on a big screen. Despite the claim of my HD monitor to do de-interlacing, I was finding that it didn't do an especially good job.
Enter the Philips DVP5982. Based on Philips well-received 5960 the 5982 adds support for 1080p output as well as improved USB compatibility. I returned the Sony, picked this one up, and set it up. Here are some of my observations:
The basics:
The DVP5982 is a basic upconverting player that you can get for around $70. It includes an HDMI output for upconverting along with coaxial digital audio outputs, plus the standard analog outputs (component, s-video, composite, and stereo audio). There is no upconverting over the component outputs however. It supports DivX file playback (as long as they're standard resolution and not too large) over USB from a FAT32 formatted device. The menu system on the 5982 is a bit archaic and hard to read, but it's manageable.
What I Like:
- True 1080p output. I was suspect of whether the 1080p output would make any visible difference over the 1080i of the Sony. I was wrong, the 1080p output made a huge difference in certain troublesome scenes from movies. I had noticed with the Sony that whenever there was a light or white background (such as a white wall or the sky) and there was motion in front of it, there were artifacts left all over the screen. In the same way, motion scenes would blur and leaving ghostly lines on the screen. Those problems are largely gone with the Philips.
- DivX playback. I have a 160GB hard drive attached to the USB and loaded onto their I have various movies that I've captured onto my computer from my cable dvr. Rather than burning all of these onto DVD or having to hook my computer up to the TV to watch them, I can just transfer them onto this hard drive and hook them up to my DVD player and they play. Pretty much every file I've thrown at it has played no problem (but I don't have any DivX HD files). The only exception was some movies that were encoded at incredibly high data rates. Even then, for the occasional really large or really high data rate file you can put it onto a DVD in DivX format and play it from the player.
- Image Quality - although its not as good as the Sony with some adjustment to my tv settings the image quality is still very good. There is some minor pinching
What I don't like
- Audio Output - this machine will either output over the HDMI cable OR the digital coaxial out - but not both at the same time. This really is only a minor problem, but it can make things more complicated than they need to be
- The Disc Tray - The tray feels kind of floppy and cheap
- The Menu System - Simply put, it's awful. Once you figure out the fonts and how it works, it makes sense, but the visual appearance really leaves something to be desired.
- The Image Quality - As I said above, it's not quite on par with the Sony, although the elimination of the ghosting and artifacts make it a worthwhile trade off.
The Summary:
Well, seldom am I so glad I spent $70 on something. Some minor inconveniences aside, for the price you cannot beat this player if you're looking for 1080p (or want to future-proof you DVD player). I feel very comfortable waiting out the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray battle with this player attached to my HDTV - DVDs look fantastic. The DivX playback, while somewhat limited by what USB devices can be attached, is a really nice added feature. But for me it was the combination of price and 1080p playback that convinced me - and I haven't been disappointed.
Customer Review: Almost a perfect DVD player...
Summary: 5 Stars
==I previously owned a Philips DVD player before (DVP642) so I decided to buy this one as an upgrade because its Ultra DivX certified (DivX version 6) as opposed to DivX version 5 on my DVP642 plus the upscaling HDMI playback.
==One of the best things about this DVD player is that it will play just about anything you throw into it. The first thing I noticed right away was that my XviD files looked amazingly better (clearer, sharper, better resolution) during playback than on my DVP642 player and so far it's playing all the avi files I burned on DVD/CD. Second thing I absolutely loved was the 32X forward/backward speeds. The DVP642 only had 16X or lower speeds. Regular DVD playback is also excellent. The audio is perfect. This model color is black which fits well with my other electronic components which are also black.
==The menus are robust with features. My 2 favorite features are "Lip Sync" and the ability to do a firmware updating. If you have a DVD disc that plays audio out of sync with the video, there's an adjustment for that in the menu to offset the delay in milliseconds. The other feature I love is firmware updating. You can get these updates from the Philips webite.
==The display on the front is nice but simple. There is a USB port on the front that allows you to plug in a thumb drive or a whole external hard drive for playback of your favorite audio/video material. If you format an external hard drive in FAT32, it will play back whatever you have on it (pics, movies, MP3's, etc.) through that USB port. Pretty nifty, eh?
==Playback is quite extensive. It does 2X,4X,8X,16X,32X forward or backward. It does slow motion, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 forward or backward. It also does Angle and you can pause or freeze the picture. It plays DVD, SVCD, VCD, DivX 3.11 to 6X, WMA and MP3 audio files.
==Ahh. Now my dislikes about the DVP5982. Nothing is perfect, of course. It's hard to take out the DVD/CD from the tray. You cannot grab it from the sides and lift it out like you could with the DVP642 model. Why they did this is beyond me. It's a pain. Just gotta remember, "Easy going in, clumsy getting out." This may be a small nuisance but I really hate the wallpaper. It looks like a 1970's bright-blue nightmare. The DVP642 had really nice wallpaper. BAH!!! The screensaver, conversly, wasn't bad though. The remote control is feather light in your hands and not ergonomically designed at all unlike the DVP642 remote was. Again, why the downscale change? It's rather plain looking and the buttons are rather simplistically layed out. No component video cables are included in the box just the cheap RCA cables for Video and R+L audio hookups. My biggest pet pieve is the file names are too darn short. What's up with this? On the menu, there is plenty of space at the bottom for 22 to 24 characters but why only 11 or 12? That's nuts. They need to do something about this with their next DVD player release.
==Aside from the nitpicking, I love this DVD player for what it does. The DVD642 was no longer playing some of my files probably do to the newer DivX version 6. So I had to buy this to keep playing my newer files.
I highly recommend this DVD player to anyone. You can't beat the price.
Customer Review: Wow, amazing picture... goofy on-screen menu, oddly-shaped remote.
Summary: 5 Stars
The set-up: This DVD player is hooked up to a Syntax Olevia LT32HVM 32" HD-Ready Flat-Panel LCD TV by an HDMI-to-DVI cable and coax (for digital audio to my Sony 5.1) It is controlled by a Logitech Harmony 688 Universal Remote Control (Black).
I was a little worried that up-conversion would not work being that my TV does not have HDMI and that converting it to DVI would negate the conversion. Well, if it does, I don't notice. The picture I see -- after fiddling with the "setup" menu for the DVD player -- is amazing. This unit replaced my Philips DVP642, and I can really see the difference in the video. I am running my up-conversion at 1080i, with the color settings at "standard."
The remote is a bit on the odd side. I know that all the remotes look the same and maybe Philips wanted to be different, but what's with the white top and wedge-like feel? It looks as though it belongs with a different unit altogether. The buttons are a bit slower to respond than my DVP642, but not by much.
Using this with my Logitech Harmony 688: I noticed that the new DVD player plugged in and worked in place of my old one without any changes having to be made to the 688. Sweet! One less hassle.
It plays Taiyo Yuden DVD-R (8x) and Verbatim DVD+R DL discs just fine. It also remembers where you left off from the last movie. I put in a disc, played it, took it out, played another and then put the first disc back in and it remembered where I left off. You also have the on-screen option (about 3 seconds) to start from the begining.
The on-screen menu for 'setup' is huge, blocky and reminds me of old, old Windows programs. Plus, the color management option is completely useless since you cannot see the screen while you change the options becuase the menu blocks the whole screen. You have to make changes on your TV or keep going back and forth between the screen and menu. Lame. But you do get lots of options on the menu, if you are into fine-tuning the DVD player's video and audio and TV setup.
Hooked up the HDMI-to-DVI cable and coax audio and both audio and video worked right out of the box -- didn't need to play with the setup menu. Some DVD players seem to need a bit of setup menu fiddling for certain configurations.
I did notice that if I chose the wrong resolution (i.e. 1080p) for my TV, it turned the screen blue and basically locked me out of seeing anything. I had to turn the unit off and back on in order for it to reset.
My player came with firmware 37.07.32.40, and when I updated it to 37.07.32.43 it fixed the "set losing resolution setting upon standby." See Philips website for details on upgrading your player. You'll need a CD-R to get the 2 files to the DVD player.
Overall, it is an amazing DVD player. Hero and LoTR look amazing. Now I just need an HDMI TV.
Customer Review: Excellent Value, Hard to Beat
Summary: 5 Stars
I got this DVD player about a week ago mostly based on positive reviews and my experience for Phillips products. This player replaced my work-horse Phillips progressive scan DVD player that worked flawlessly for over 5 years. As much of the reviewers here, I was waiting for the Blu-Ray vs HD affair to show a clear winner to replace it, but my old Phillips just decided it cannot take it any longer and one day stopped working altogether. I was very happy with this player, so my first choice for a replacement was Phillips
I can say I'm not disappointed at all. I cannot talk about reliability of this player after just a week (although I hope it goes as far as its older brother), but the image quality I'm getting from this DVD is superb. I have a 1080i Sony Bravia, and the up-conversion really goes to 1080i, and you can clearly notice the difference between 480p and 1080i, although not that much with 720p. In any case, this is a completely different experience that watching movies on my old player. The audio is also great and the set-up couldn't be easier using the HDMI connection. Also, I was satisfied to find that the way to work through the menu and the remote is the same as my old Phillips, so no learning here. It's good to see Phillips keep its standards and don't go changing the way to operate its products every time, as many other makers do
About the complains on being slow, well, compared to my older player this guy is a Ferrari. My older player used to take well over 30 seconds to load, while this player usually makes it in about 10-15 seconds. Still, I fail to see people complaining for a 10-15 seconds wait, but it's a matter of personal sentiment, I guess
One thing I must agree with some reviewers is on the remote: it looks and feel cheap and functions are very limited (for example, no up-conversion button) but to my satisfaction the remote of my old Phillips works on this player too, and it has much more functions than this one, and it looks much better.
Another bad issue is the audio HDMI or Coaxial Digital output, not both. Not sure why Phillips this did as it shouldn't be a problem or be more costly to allow the two outputs to work together. For those of us with a receiver without HDMI inputs, it can be annoying as you have to go through the menu and make about 5 to 6 clicks to disable the HDMI and allow the audio output through the digital coaxial so the audio goes through the receiver. I guess a sophisticated universal remote can do this with one click, but it shouldn't be this way
But overall, you cannot beat this player for the price (I got it for 65 bucks), and if you are also waiting to see which one will be the DVD high definition standard winner in about two years, this player is a great option. Some people here have said the Oppo is a better up-conversion player -and I must agree-, but you will have to invest close to 250 dollars to get one. For that amount of money, you might as well go for a truly high definition player, either HD or BR.