JVC XVN412S Progressive-Scan DVD Player , Silver
Blue-light special
Sub-$100 progressive scan DVD-players are a dime dozen, so the question is about the built and video qualities they produce.  This set is replacing my old Toshiba SD-K740 so it is the fourth DVD-player I own.<br /><br />The specks on this unit are comparable to Toshiba.  Both are bare bone units that has zoom, slow, etc., but what the JVC lack is a bookmarker for scene.  The exterior of the JVC is way better then the bored design of Toshiba.  There is a cool illumining blue light on a clean looking front panel that can be turn off for the JVC.<br /><br />Built quality both are about the same.  There is no internal fan on either unit so I doubt they will last forever if you leave it on for more then 2 hours.  So they will start to skip a little like the old PlayStation and the replaced Toshiba.  I over used the Toshiba, in 11 months it placed over 400 DVDs and I left it on in the background sometime for over 4 hours when I do my work.  Other DVD-players I have, the Panasonic DVD-recorder DMR-E65 and Playstation2 are more solidly built and both have an internal fan.<br /><br />Image quality is too close to call and I do have a HDTV ready set from Panasonic for progressive scan to work.  I think Toshiba is one point smoother and has better color saturation so the image jumps at you more. The JVC will get one point more for better detail or sharpness, but I slightly prefer Toshiba's image.  The Panasonic DMR-E65 with progressive scan produced inferior images on all levels, but is still great to most eyes.  The original Playstation2 has the worst DVD image quality I have seen.  Without progressive scan it look only good on a regular analog TV set, but grainy on a HDTV set.  Audio quality is normal; I use a digital out to a Sony ES receiver.  Denon's DVD players have cleaner sound circuit, but cost more.<br /><br />This unit can play DVD-r, DVD+R, jpg and mp3.  If you want to play SACD or DivX, step up to the next model.  This is a great product overall on value and qualities.