Sony DVP-NS700H/B 1080p Upscaling DVD Player, Black
by Sony
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List Price: Our Price: $49.99 You Save: $30.00 (38%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Home Theater See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sony DVP-NS700H/B 1080p Upscaling DVD Player, Black
Customer Review: Enjoy 1080p playback of your DVD collection!
Summary: 5 Stars
From the moment you turn the DVD player on and the brilliant blue LED lights up, you will know this is something special. The real joy is watching standard DVD's in 1080p up scaling. Yes, they really do look better and sound fantastic. I had another Sony DVD player with component video and progressive scan but the difference in quality on the same television is at least 25% in modern DVD movies. Additionally, the remote works flawlessly with my coworker's Sony Bravia W-Series KDL-52W4100 so you could expect similar results with your Sony television too. While the rest of this review is technical, read on and see why this cheap DVD player upgrade gets my enthusiastic two thumbs up rating!
I own a Sony NS77H HDMI dvd player and have told several friends and coworkers about its performance. To my surprise my boss, found the other DVD player review and purchased this model for himself. He then asked me to help him pick out a television and we settled on a Sony 52" LCD with 120Hz refresh rate. When the products came in, we drove over to his house and setup the new equipment. I was very nervous the entire time because my technical knowledge was on the line. Any wrong choice of product or cable would have meant a lengthy delay. Luckily, I ordered two extra HDMI cables and a fiber optic link cable in case we had any issues. I encourage you to do the same; the minimal investment will ensure a fast setup.
You need to know that any device sending an HDMI signal must have a compatible television in order to get the best video and sound quality. While using a standard analog television could give you a small increase in visual effects, only a true 1080p display can showcase the features discussed in this review. Several retailers are offering specials on high definition televisions for the 2008 holiday shopping season. If you do not have yet, I encourage you to get one so you will be ready for the HD transition in the year 2009.
Packaging And Setup
My coworker's DVP-NS700H/B came in a large rugged cardboard box. Foam padding protected the hardware inside from damage so you should have little worry about receiving a mistreated product. Out of the cardboard box came a utilitarian looking, black plastic and metal box measuring 17"W x 8.2"D x 2"H with a rounded dark blue faceplate on the front to give a modern look to the unit. I plugged in the unit to Monster brand 3,000 joule power strip and the player powered right up.
Next, I connected a male to male HDMI cable to the back of the DVD player and connected the other end to a HDMI jack on the back of his Sony STR-DG800 unit in the DVD in slot. The STR-DG800 has an HDMI output jack labeled display and this was used to make the link to his new Sony Bravia W-Series KDL-52W4100. All you would have to do now is switch inputs on the supplied remote until you find the blue Sony welcome screen. While purchasing this product from Amazon, we also picked up two 3ft HDMI cables for $6 a piece which was a great deal when compared to the same length Monster Cable sold at the local Sears for $100!
The only problem with the configuration was that the DVD audio was not coming through the HDMI cable for some reason. We had to use a set of stereo male to male RCA cables to transfer the sound between the DVD player and the STS-DG800 receiver.
Configuration
The DVD menu accessible through the DISPLAY button on the remote has a wide range of custom settings to tune your viewing experience. The Language setup section features the selection of OSD, menu, audio and subtitle settings in over 4 languages. Additionally, the menu language option will allow the selection of 16 languages. More importantly the DVD player has a built in parental control feature with a 4 digit password to help control who uses the DVD player. My favorite feature in the HDMI DVD player menu is the audio setup menu. Within the audio menu, you can adjust Audio AH, Audio DRC, Down Mix and Digital Out. For example you can set the PCM output between 96Khz/24bit and 48Khz/16 bit. For owners of high definition surround sound systems you should become familiar with this setting to get the most out your DVD experience.
Remote Control
The RMT-D175A, Sony DVD remote control is a powerful integrated unit. The remote is made of grey colored plastic and is 8 1/2"L x 2"W x 1"D. Using two AA batteries, you can expect at least one year of use from NiMH batteries. I was very lucky to find that the Sony Bravia W-Series KDL-52W4100 television can be controlled from this remote with no need for time consuming programming. The remote however was not able to control his home theater receiver, the Sony STR-DG800. We decided to put the remote away for storage and instead use the powerful Sony RM-AAP008 which controls the DVD player, TV and receiver without the need for reprogramming! If you can find the remote it will let you control all the features of this DVD player.
Video and Sound Quality
First, when comparing the video quality of any digital television signal you will hear people mention the term digital artifacts. Digital artifacts are visible defects in a video picture with are specifically caused by the digital encoding process. Several factors come into play in the setup discussed as part of this review: DVD itself, DVD output, HDMI cable quality and the televisions ability to display the signal real-time. Here in late 2008, the setup my coworker has is arguably the best available for standard DVD playback.
To test out the video performance of the newly configured entertainment system we decided to watch a few scenes of the animated movie Over The Hedge. The quality was so impressive on the 52 inch LCD television that we had to get to within a foot of the screen to see digital artifacts around the corners of the animated characters in the movie. My eyes still have near 20 20 vision without glasses, so you have to believe me that the picture is good.
The audio quality was very good over the Sony home theatre system and gave me the impression of surround sound even though I had to use the RCA outputs on the DVD player.
Power Consumption
Using a Kill-A-Watt power consumption meter, I analyzed the NS77H for two hours with the following results:
10 watts in HDMI mode with DVD playing
4 watts in HDMI mode with DVD paused
0 watts when power is switched off
Summary
Loaded down with output connections, the Sony DVP-NS700H/B is a wonderful bargain in this world of overpriced home video equipment. The best part of all is the minimal power consumption which results in a significant utility bill savings every month!
Customer Review: Perfect Step-up machine
Summary: 5 Stars
To dispell a misconceptions in a previous review: This machine does support 4:3 aspect ratio. You simply need to read the manual and find the right display menu. Also, if you have a wide screen TV, it may be that it is set up wrong.
As for my review, I will start by saying that I am not using an HD TV. I have a regular TV I bought in college and I am forced to use the regular outputs on the machine. That being said, I can tell a difference in picture quality. I know I am not getting the benefit of the upconvert but this machine makes my DVDs look better than my old Toshiba.
As for the gentleman who said that it made his older DVDs look worse, I can only speculate that either the output settings are incorrect or that upconverting old movies that have been transfered to the DVD format might make it easier to see imperfections from the original footage.
PROS: This machine has every hook up you could want on a player - including the digital optical audio output. Many players are ditching this output (including the next model of this player) because they think everyone has the money to drop cash on a HD TV and use the the HDMI cables. This forces you to buy two HDMI cables and route the signal through your reciever to get digital quality audio (this is true for all players. I don't think any of them allow you to use your optical out and HDMI out at the same time even when they do include these connections). Anyway, I have been using an optical out to my reciever for the best audio signal and simply haven't had the money to get an HD TV. This is one of the few players that allows you to have digital quality sound without the HD TV... bravo. Some other players have coaxil digital outputs, but hey, I bought the optical because it was better, faster signal and now most the companies are ditching it. Kind of annoying. Anyway, the versatility of the differnt hook ups allows buyers who are in the middle of converting all of your compenents to make this work with just about any set up. Other machines (including the next generation of this one) requires the buyer to pretty much upgrade your whole system at once in order to benefit from certain features - IE: I can't get digital quality sound unless I go out and buy an HD TV, too.)
Enough about that. This thing also supports DTS and 24-bit sound. I guess what I am saying is that the sound output is awesome on this machine.
As for the upconvert I can only speculate. All I know is that it did make my DVDs look better even at 480p with a tube television.
The machine is thin and sleek. Looks nice and doesn't take up a lot of space.
CONS: The menu interface is the antithesis of intuitive. Sony must've thought that using really tiny graphics that have nothing to do with what is in the submenu was a great way to organize things. You have to read the manual if for no other reason than to reference their graphics index to figure out which menu to select for the feature you want. What was wrong with just using words like - "display" and "audio"?
There are like three different display menus that all have different things in them. (Which is probably why the previous user thought there was no 4:3 support). Why they didn't put these all in one place and create more sub categories I will never know. Some of the set-up menus will not allow you to access them unless you stop the DVD you are watching. Also, the manual assumes a certain level of techinical knowledge which a regular user may not have if they do not keep up with all of the HD TV and digital lingo. Bottom line, the menus are confusing, but if you read the manual, you'll be fine if you have a reasonable amount of technical knowledge.
This is a small complaint, but neither the remote nor the buttons on the machine itself have a backlight. If you're like me, you watch your movies in the dark. On the machine, they didn't even paint the button icons on there. They are engraved in the button and left black. Even in a dimmly lit room I have to get a few inches from the machine to tell which button is which. Eventually, I'll memorize them... A small gripe for a great player.
Sometimes the remote is a little touchy. You really have to tap the buttons.
My rating would be a 4.5 out of 5 but I gave it a 5 to counter act the people who gave this bad reviews because they didn't read the manual carefully enough to set up their machine correctly.
The bottom line for me is that this was a perfect machine for my situation. I can't afford to drop $3000 on a new HD TV and a reciever that will accept HDMI to get all the features I want. I wanted to continue getting digital quality sound (via optical connection), replace my dead DVD player, and future proof my video capabilities by getting an upconverting player. This machine hit a home run on those particular points so I am willing to accept the other small issues.
Customer Review: Great DVD player - sharpens DVD images and enhances color for a great experience on HDTVs!
Summary: 5 Stars
The image quality is obviously not going to be as good as HD with this player, but it is much sharper than you'll be able to get out of a non-upscaling DVD player. I feel as if I'm back in the theater watching all of my favorites again for the first time! For example, with my old DVD player I could barely stand to watch Lord of the Rings for five minutes on my new HDTV because of how dull the colors were and how fuzzy the image seemed. With this upscaling player I am hooked once again and loving it! I think this is the same feeling that moviegoers experienced during the Wizard of Oz when they saw a film in color for the first time!
With intense scrutiny you will be able to see that the image is not up to HD standard but, seeing as you're getting such a sharp image out of your old DVDs for a fraction of the cost of a Blu-Ray player, it's well worth the money. At times you will realize that the faint patterns on someone's vest or the little wrinkles at the corners of someone's eyes are actually visible for the first time! This is pretty amazing compared to how dull the image was prior to this player.
Where I think this player really stands out is in the vibrancy of the colors it outputs onto an HDTV. I would compare the range of color to that which you will find on HD TV channels or Blu-Ray discs, which goes a long way to making your old DVDs look new again on fancy flat screen TV's. I would definitely recommend this player to those who want to continue to use their old DVDs on their new HDTV but who don't have the money or desire to buy a Blu-Ray player and discs for the next year or two. In my case, I found a deal on a 26 inch Samsung HDTV and was hoping for a cheap alternative to Blu-Ray. This totally fit the bill.
Installation was very easy with the HDMI cable (buy one online because retail outlets charge WAY too much...) and my only complaint is that the audio effects built in to the DVD player caused an odd echo effect and buzzing on my TV's built in speakers (were the TV not also trying to create audio effects out of the two side speakers built into it I think this would not have happened, but I can't be sure). Once I played with the settings on the DVD player to stop it from altering the sound everything worked just fine and sounds great. I can't say there's any improvement in the sound, though, when compared to my old DVD player. But be aware that you may have to fiddle with the settings, and if you're someone who likes to plug and play with no hassle then you might be a little bit annoyed with this, depending on your hardware. Generally there aren't that many settings you'll need to change, though, so it shouldn't be a reason for most people to stay away from this player.
I also am not a huge fan of the remote that comes with this player. It has extra buttons meant to allow you to control your TV with it as well, but they don't function with my TV and so they are more along the lines of useless clutter for me.
The actual look of the player is great. It goes so well with my Samsung HDTV that they almost look as if they were meant to be sold as a set. It also is smaller than many DVD players I've had before and I love that that frees up space on my entertainment system for other things. I didn't like that there was a sticker on the top of it, though, because that left a small mark in the DVD player after I took it off.
I really think this player is a great intermediate step for those who just bought an HDTV but who don't want to have to get into Blu-Ray yet. I own so many DVDs and love the fact that they're coming down even more in price thanks to Blu-Ray (I just bought eight more of my favorite movies on DVD from Amazon for under $70!!) that this is definitely the smartest choice for me and those who are in the same situation.
DVDs become extremely watchable thanks to this player and I'm really glad I bought it!
Edit: Another great feature of this DVD player that I've found as I use it is the fact that the buttons on the player itself are positioned on the top front of the player rather than on the face. With my old player it would move backwards slightly every time I ejected a disc and eventually I'd have to rearrange that entire shelf of my entertainment system, but having the buttons on the top makes it so that pressing buttons will not move the player around. It's a very smart design and once you get used to it you'll come to appreciate it as you use the player.
Customer Review: Your Last DVD player ?
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently reviewed the NS57 480p Sony, and its amazing they are nearly identical in function, making them easy to learn and use. All you need to do appreciate 1080p quality is to use the HDMI jack, and leave the rest to the player, automatically. With Blu-Ray now the higher level format, if this DVD player lasts 5 years, this could be the last DVD player you'll ever own as we await more Blu-Ray releases.
The upconversion is excellent; if you've seen Blu Ray quality or an equivalent 1080i to HD broadcast its clear this isn't it, but its far closer to it than than native 480p or 480p unscaled by my 1080p TV. In well made DVDs the difference is unnoticeable unless you have an equivalent HD movie to compare it against or regularly see 1080i and better, broadcasts. You can clear make out every hair on Tom Hanks beard in 'Saving Private Ryan' and about 80% of it with the NS700H.
The only major difference between this Sony and the NS57 are the buttons are laid more to the top of the player, and the extra output jacks. The unit thus, is 1/4" wider in width. Also, in burn-it yourself discs, the 700H will play supported music files as background music for images files found on disk; the NS57 did not.
Pros
Sony has no trouble playing problem disks that plagued my other players. But, it also doesn't play a few disks my other players struggle to play.
Sony menu functions are very well integrated compared to the hodge-podge look of lesser brands making it easier to use this player without reading a manual.
Installation is very easy. The power cable is not removable. Just plug the HDMI jack into your TV and play as always.
The case is all black, with 4 buttons difficult to see against the black case. The DVD tray opens slower, but is quieter when it runs. The ELD display is far clearer and more informative about the status of the disk or the chapter playing.
Images, sharpness and colors are superb on default settings! Sony includes manual or preset image adjustments to maximize its output; aspect ratio can be forced to 16:9 or 4:3 or taken as automatic.
When powered ON, the Sony will resume playback from whence you stopped for up to 6 separate disks.
It has has on/off and volume control for TVs in the DVD remote.
Variable play from 1.4x to 0.5x speed, but with sound.
Sony has sound function that takes the basic output of 2 speakers and tries to emulate surround sound.
Sony will create thumbnails of each DVD chapter independent of the DVD menus. This helps quite a bit in home made DVDs that have no menus.
Cons:
Remote is well laid out, with similar function buttons set near each other but in opposite directions for opposite functions, i.e., rewind left, forward, right. However, like many el-cheapo DVD players, the buttons are too small and one cannot differentiate functions purely by feel. You have to gaze at the buttons to read the function.
All advanced functions are controlled by the remote, so its indispensable.
Although Sony explicitly mentions it has support for copy protection schemes built right into the data [ e.g. the video file or image, not just the disk], I have not yet encountered data that would not play.
Customer Review: The Average Guy's Quest for HDTV
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not quite ready to step up to flat screen and blu-ray as that will probably cost a small fortune + the expensive DVDs + the redecoration my better half will likely impose on me....maybe in a year or two. But, I needed something to tidy me over and I found that in this great DVD player from Sony. I figured I would always have a use for a DVD player as I can always find a use for it in a spare bedroom or somewhere.
This player's biggest selling point is that it advertised that it upscales DVD signals up to 1080p. I'm a fairly technically competent person so connecting this DVD up to my relatively simple setup was a snap, aside from having to turn a 250lb television and deal with the myriad of cables from the receive box, the Bose, the TIVO, my little girls' computer, the XBOX, and an old VHS -- that can create quite the tangle. All in all it took me 15 minutes to plug in but since I don't have an HDMI output, I had to plug in via YPrPd. The results are FANTASTIC! My HDTV television has never looked so good - there is clarity in my DVD movies that was never visible before.
PROS
- Very Cheap DVD player (thanks to Blu-ray which is depressing DVD player prices)
- Great Sony Quality (everything works perfectly)
- Great Sony remote control (they pay attention to how people use remotes)
- Easy Setup (nice menus on screen and easy navigation)
- Easy plugging in to the TV
- Lots of connector options in the back (RCA Video, Component, HDMI, Optical, S-Video)
- Great Video Quality
- Its very thin
CONS of the Player
- Its not quite HDTV (good quality but not HDTV), can't blame the DVD player, you just don't have enough information stored in the disks to rev up to 1080i that I have on my TV
- Its upscaling is to the HDMI cable only so, if you plug in via any of the other analog connectors, you're going to get 480p or something like that in quality (which is what I think I have)
- Its thin and shallow so doesn't sit square on top of my Tivo...there should be some standard on making these things shaped in similar dimensions so that they look aesthetically pleasing.
- Doesn't have a coaxial input or output (I know the industry has moved on but sometimes that's nice)
- Doesn't come with an HDMI cable
- Doesn't come with Component cables
- Only comes with RCA cables
Overall for the Player
- This is a great DVD player (not Blu-ray quality - close but not quite)
- If you buy this DVD player and are looking for upscaling, consider if your TV has HDMI connector so that you can take full advantage of the upscaling (not quite to 1080p but good, if you can get to it) - most older HDTV sets don't have HDMI or don't have the right version of HDMI.
- I found the video quality to be very very good and far superior to my Bose 3-2-1 DVD player