Philips DVD724AT Progressive-Scan DVD Player
a possible option for fans of international cinema
This review is limited to the PAL playback capabilities of the player on an American NTSC TV set.<br />This is generally a pretty good player, but for a \\"regular\\" user, who buys his/her DVD's in the US only, there are many other options in its class.<br />What sets this unit apart from many others is that it has a built-in PAL<->NTSC converter, and can also output NTSC as NTSC and PAL as PAL in case you have a stand-alone PAL to NTSC converter or a multisystem TV. Also, for region-coded DVD's bought outside the US or Canada, this player has some not-mentioned-in-the-manual built-in features that allow it to be fully internationalized in the privacy of your home (Google away for more info...), with your remote control as the only tool needed, saving you the extra cost of going to specialized vendors to play foreign DVD's.<br />I first tested the player with several NTSC DVD's on an regular NTSC TV set, and the player performed without problems. Testing with the PAL DVD's, I found that the picture quality upon conversion quality from PAL to NTSC was quite good, but there was an issue with converting anamorphic formats. Some movies got somewhat stretched vertically and probably clipped on the sides as well. I've since learned that not all PAL to NTSC converters can preserve the anamorphic format with full fidelity.<br />Despite this shortcoming, I am very pleased with the player as a low-cost and quite functional option for playing international DVD's.<br />I've since reasearched such players some more, and it turns out that a popular JVC XV-S500BK model comes with a built-in PAL to NTSC converter that preserves the aspect ratio of anamorphic formats. However, there is no \\"trick\\" for region-locked DVD's for this player, so one has to buy a modified version at a premium from a specialized vendor, unless all the PAL movies in one's collection are region-free.