Denon DVD-1910 review, follow up

October 18, 2004

dvd1910I’ve been living happily with my Denon DVD-1910 for a little over a month now and wanted to follow up with a few observations. Like I stated in the original review, there are better DVD players on the market, but as they are likely to be at least double the price, I’m more than happy to live with this one, until HD-DVD comes out. The few annoyances I have discovered still wouldn’t preclude me from recommending the Denon DVD-1910 to friends.

I’ve read some reports of folks having 4×3 stretch problems in 720p or 1080i. The simple fact is many televisions and projectors automatically assume any material in 720p or 1080i is 16:9, so the set displays it accordingly resulting in picture stretch. This doesn’t necessarily fault the DVD player itself.

Macroblocking seems to be an issue for some, but others (myself included) don’t seem to notice it. Possibly because I’ve seen really extreme cases of macroblocking, so I don’t notice it on the DVD-1910 as much because it’s very slight. Overall, even up-scaling to 720p, I’ve noticed very little of this malady.

One tweak I can wholeheartedly recommend trying is to turn off the players black level control. This setting basically changes the players default black level, making “black” parts of the image lighter or darker. Further, a setting of “0” still affects the image adversely. I obtained the best image by actually turning it completely “off” by hitting the enter button while in “mode”.



Posted by B.Greenway | | Filed Under DVD Player Reviews


Comments

  • dvd replication
    I also face this 4×3 stretch problems in my DVD player. Thanks for telling me the mystery behind this. Now I will check this,
    Thanks Chap....
  • Adeel
    Hi,

    Thanks for replying. I am not using hdmi, but component video. These cables are connected to my Pioneer VSX 1015 which in turn is connected to my Hitachi PJ TX 100. With component video it is not possible to upscale. It is always displayed in the native 480p or 576p (PAL or NTSC). The player has 5 built in progressive scan settings and I have tried them all. The moire patterns all always visible. Today I noticed them while watching the Hitcher.
    Anyone know the awnser???
  • B.Greenway
    Hi Adeel, first thing that comes to mind is what output resolution do you have selected? If its 720p try 1080i (this would force your display to de-interlace) and if you already had it on 1080i, try 720p and then view the same scene.
  • Adeel
    Hi,

    First off, Great Site. Very usefull info!!!
    I have just bought a denon dvd 1920. Its great with black levels en colors. I had one issue when watching MI 3 yesterday. When Ethan Hunt goes into the Vatican to capture Davian, he jumps of the vaticanwall en dresses into preacherclothing. He then walks away from the wall, with a bible in hand. The walls of the vatican displayed moiré patterns. It was really annoying. Could this be because of a wrong progressive scan setting, i.e. Video instead of film or something?

    Thnx in advance
  • B.Greenway
    Yikes, I should have mentioned I was using DVI, that would explain the discrepancy
  • Mark
    Thanks for the update.

    Using DVE Pluge pattern (Chapter 12,2), I am unable to see the blacker than black portions when using component video out (480p). Turning "Black Level" to "On" allows me to see this information.

    I do see below black information with "Black Level" set to "off" using DVI (any resolution) and S-Video (480i).

    Any ideas?

    Thanks,
    Mark
  • B.Greenway
    With the black level set to off, I still pass blacker than black on the DVE pluge test pattern, it's my understanding that this is a positive boost or a negative gain type of thing, so turning it off shouldn’t stop blacker than black passing. Not sure if were seeing the same thing.

    And as to the "0" setting I was speaking of the brightness setting. Although I'm not entirely sure the black level control doesn’t override any brightness functions.
  • Mark
    You mention setting the black level control on the Denon 1910 to "off". I am curious as it appears setting this to off clips black at 7.5 IRE. Unless I am mistaken, wouldn't you want to clip black at 0 IRE to take advantage of the below black information when calibrating your display?

    Also, you mention setting setting it to "0". I have only been able to find controls for "on" and "off" in the "mode" menu of the player. Where exactly can you adjust this beyond "0".

    Thanks,
    Mark
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