Pioneer DV-383S Multi-Volt DVD Player
Plays everything my Phillips 642 wouldn't
I had the Phillips 642 for 2 weeks, and was somewhat disappointed at the compatibility of some Divx and Xvids I had, and the remote stinks. With the 642, many of the Xvids were VERY blocky unless you pressed stop, then menu, then play again. Works, but gets old fast. Also audio would get out of synch. Had a whole season of TV episodes in Divx, encoded EXACTLY the same, yet some of them would randomly have inverted colors. And the displayed file names were too short. <br />The dv-383 plays everything great. Regular DVDs, DVD rips on dvd-r, +r, +rw and -rw, SVCD, CD audio, MP3, WMA, etc... Picture quality is excellent. I don't have a high-end audio system, so I can't say if it is better than the 642, but it sounds very good. Out of the box it does not display long file names, BUT you can easily upgrade the firmware for one that does, and enable a lot of other features. The remote has excellent distance and angle reception, and I really like the controls on the front panel of the player, so you can use them instead of the remote (you are right there putting in the movie anyway, why not just push the buttons there instead of hunting for a lost remote?) <br />Check this forum for modified firmware <br />[...] <br /> <br />Here are some of the improvements- <br />- fixed filename/directory displaying in filebrowser (many thx to cHiEsA) <br />- displaying first 50 chars of filenames/directories in filebrowser <br />- CP1250 chars displayed correctly in filebrowser and on OSD after pressing \\"Display\\" button <br />- fully working volume under '1' and '4' keys on RC (hold these keys longer to change volume level) + displaying volume indicator on screen + saving volume level on turn off <br />- MUTE under '7' key on RC (hold this key longer to on/off MUTE) + displaying indicator on screen <br />- picture format switching (Letter box, Pan&Scan, 16:9) with '5' key on RC (hold this key longer to switch the picture format; works even during movie playback) <br />- VFD dimmer under'0' key on RC (hold this key longer to change VFD brightness) <br />- shortened key delays on RC (for 2nd functions and repeatable keys - arrow left/right/up/down) <br />- new features in \\"Audio\\" menu: <br />* Treble Boost <br />* Bass Boost <br />* Super Bass <br />- reorganized \\"Initial settings\\" menu <br />- new option in \\"Initial setting\\" -> \\"Video Output\\": \\"TV Type\\" (Multisync, PAL, NTSC) [restart your player to accept the new setting] <br />- new submenu in \\"Initial settings\\": \\"Subtitles\\", and new options in it: <br />* Font - changes the font codepage of MPEG4 subtitles; available codepages: <br />CP1250 - EASTERN EUROPE: <br />Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Croato-Serbian (Latin), Slovak, Swedish, Slovenian <br />CP1251 - CYRILLIC: <br />Bulgarian, Russian, Albanian, Ukrainian, Byelorussian, Macedonian, Malaysian <br />CP1255 - Hebrew <br />CP1254 - Turkish, Portuguese <br />* Subtitle colors - changes colors and background of MPEG4 subtitles <br />* Subtitle position - changes the position of MPEG4 subtitles [Reload the disc (eject it and load again) to accept the changes] <br />* IFO/VOB palette - changes the interpretation of VOBSUB (.sub+.idx) subtitles palette. - new feature in \\"Initial settings\\" -> \\"Options\\": \\"DVD Fast Start\\" - turned on causes that DVD-Video movies will be played without showing the FBI screens, ads, menus, etc. Player will jump directly to the main movie.  <br />- changed icons and some colors in the filebrowser <br />- actual folder name displayed in white color <br />