Philips DVP642 DivX-Certified Progressive-Scan DVD Player
It does everything, just nothing very well
For only $60, this player seems like an amazing bargain.  DivX playback, progressive scan, MP3, almost every kind of media support, and even PAL to NTSC conversion all built in.  And in truth, this player IS quite the bargain. <br /> <br />However, picture quality in any mode is pretty sub-standard.  There is no motion adaptive de-interlacing for video-sourced material.  DivX files will always playback as if you have a 4:3 TV, even if you've set your TV up as 16:9 in the setup menus.  Blacker than black (PLUGE) is not passed.  Even properly flagged film-based video looks soft compared to most other progressive scan players.  There is no scaling for 4:3 material (pillar-boxing).  Finally, this player routinely forgets that you have set it to progressive scan, and will drop back into interlaced mode whenever it feels like it. <br /> <br />As for DivX and mp3 support, that also leaves much to be desired.  The on-screen display only support 11 characters for the file names (DOS is alive and well, apparently).  QPEL, GMC, and bi-directional encoding are NOT supported.  Bitrates above 3000 cause this player to choke hard.  XviD files have inverted colors when you start playing them, which must be cleared each time by going in to and then out of the setup menu. <br /> <br />But this player's worst failing is in the PAL to NTSC conversion.  It looks horrible, even in progressive scan.  The image is so soft, it is almost VHS-like in appearance.  And there is terrible looking stair-stepping on anything diagonal in the picture.  If the PAL source is interlaced video, then be prepared for an image so riddled with combing that it is completely unwatchable (even over the interlaced outputs).  If you need a player for discs from overseas, this is NOT the player to buy. <br /> <br />Overall, a two star player with a two-star price.