- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 39 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
Full user review
-
10 out of 10 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Great HDTV picture"
Pros: Plays everything
Cons: No DTS decoder
Summary: The rumor that the new Philips DVP5960 has corrected the bugs that plagued DVP5900 appears to be true! I've had the DVP5960 for 2 weeks now and have found no problems. Also, the DVP5960 produces a much better picture than the Philips DVP5900 or DVP642. The DVP5960 is "DivX Ultra" certified. I highly recommend this unit!
The DVP5960 uses a 12 bit/108 MHz video system instead of the 10 bit/54 MHz system used in the DVP5900 and DVP642. The 12 bit/108 MHz video system produces visibly sharper images and natural colors. HDMI can carry both video and audio, which cuts down on cables. The picture is equally great whether you use the HDMI or Component Video connection. The quality of the picture on my 42 inch Plasma HDTV is very impressive.
The DVP5960 has a USB connection on the front panel that can accommodate a thumb drive or a flash card reader for viewing digital camera images. You can produce a slide show in SD or HD format. The SD slide show image quality is very good. The HD slide show image quality is excellent but image display is very slow.
Using the "display" button on the remote, you can view the bit rate and other interesting information about the disc being played.
The DVP5960 seems to have replaced the DVP5900 which is no longer listed on the official Philips website. The DVP5960 chipset is MediaTek MT1389. The DVP5900 chipset is Zoran Vaddis 778.
The DVP5960 does not have a decoder for Digital Theater Sound (DTS). If DTS is the default audio format on the disc you are playing, you will need to select a different format. The "audio" button on the remote control can do this selection. DTS is not very common in DVD's.
HDMI might be beneficial on some larger fixed pixel HD displays (50 inch or larger).
HDMI sends the video to your HDTV in digital format. This eliminates the digital to analog video conversion in the DVD player and subsequent conversion back to digital for fixed pixel displays. The benefits of eliminating the analog video stage might be nominally discernable on some larger fixed pixel HD displays (50 inch or larger). Although manufacturers claim otherwise, experts say there's very little difference in image quality using an digital interface as opposed to an analog connection.
HDMI also supports video upscaling. The objective in scaling is to make something out of nothing. Nearly all projectors, flat screen LCD's, plasmas and projection TV's have upscaling video processors. The issue here is quality. Scalers built into HDTV's should perform better than those built into most upscaling DVD players. Scalers built into HDTV's are designed to work with that equipment's native display resolution. 576p scaling should only be used with PAL systems.
Due to legal requirements, it is possible that with certain copy protected PCM audio qualities, your HDTV digital audio output signal will be muted when using HDMI.
- 1 reply to this review
-
Having spent the last 2 weeks on the phone to Philips - I have changed my HDMI TV and my DVD DVP5960 twice and my HDMI lead twice - finally Philips admit today.... they have.... an issue..... Upscalling DOES NOPT CURRENTLY WORK IN THE UK WITH THE DVD PLAYER!!!!!! - apparantly a software update should? fix in several months time!!!
Can't wait that long!!!
Philips DVP5960/37:
