Hello everyone. I've replied in a couple of threads about the 975v that I have gotten, but now that I have some time I'd like to sit down and write out a review for ya'll. I have just written a review on my xbr960 TV, and if you would like to read about the TV, my viewing conditions, and some other details, then please head over to this thread first.
http://www.agoraquest.com/viewtopic.php?topic=17434&forum=35
(I'm sorry if you have to cut and paste, I'm not to good with getting html to show up in my posts).
Now that we have some of the back reading out of the way, lets get started on how I feel about the 975v.
*Out of the box*
My player was deliverd by FedEX, it came in a brown box and the player was in its packaging as it would be at a store. I pulled the player out of the box, and it is very nicely made. It is silverish, with a metallic (maybe aluminum) faceplate with little touches of glass where the display is. The buttons on the unit glow a bright blue, but not too bright in a dark room. Id also say the player weighs about 7 pounds. There is already a thread comparing the 775 and the 975 which has pics of both of those payers insides so you can check on that if you'd like as I'm not about to rip apart this player. The player fits very well with the xbr960 and the matching tv stand. It looks like it belongs there. A very nice visual representation, but who cares how it looks, I'd buy a dvd player that looked like a rock if it gave me the best picture.
*Setup and initial viewing*
The setup is much like any other Sony DVD player I've used. There is a quick setup that just has you set time and all that, otherwise everything is set at default. Now I have my player connected with an HDMI cable so the setting was automatically (sorry, spelling) set to 1080i (the player with upconvert to the highest setting yout TV can accept unless you change it manually, so mine went to 1080i). The first dvd I popped in was none other then Finding Nemo. Initially, I was not a very happy camper. Nemo looked a little blurry, and the fast movement speeds blurred up for me. The picture did look close to high def out of the box, but a little tweaking was going to be needed. It was time to get into the setup and see if I couldn't clear this up.
* SIDE NOTE*
As I get more in to this review, I feel like I need to point something out first. Newer movies DO look better on this TV. But anything I've tested that was pre 99ish or lower budget movies did not look good in anything but 480p. I don't know if this is because technology has come a long way since then, and since now more movies are done at least partially digitally I think that causes this player to shine. As you will see, anything that is digital or has been remasted looks amazing, while older movies that were shot with basic cameras and not edited digitally don't look very good. This could just be me, but I have about 100ish DVD's and its pretty much been the same across the board.
*Using the upconversion and fiddling with settings*
I set the player to 720p for Nemo and played with color settings and what not. Also, something kind of funny, there is a button on the front of the player that is labeled "progressive". This is defaulted to something other then progressive and once I had the button set to progressive all my ghosting and flickering went away, even at 1080i. Don't ask me why it helped, in fact I don't even know if it did since my picture was going to the TV as 720p, but it did make a bit of an imporvement. Now back to Nemo. Once progressive was on and the screen was at 720p, I was not prepared for what I was going to see. It was amazing. No ghosting, flickering, etc WHATSOEVER. Now I know people say these CRT TV's aren't really going to benefit from an upconverting player, but this did make DVD's look very very good. I flipped the setting back to 1080i and all the problems I had before were gone. No scan lines or anything, just a perfect, bright, vibrant picture. Same thing with Shrek 2, I was blown away. The colors are just so bright it's amazing, the best way I can describe it is that the picture feels totally uncompressed, like it can just play whats on the DVD verbatium. Again, the player and the TV didn't even really break a sweat which I found amazing too. Fast loading times for the dvd, no distortion, no slow down, just a crisp, clean picture.
*Watching older movies*
And here we come to the downside of this player. I have a good collection of older movies (mid 90's) so I wanted to see what happend with this player as they looked ok on my old 4:3 tube (the movies are all widescreen however). Some of the movies I watched: Snatch, Suicide Kings, The Godfather (remasterd) and Dazed and Confused. Here's the problem. The player seems to have an issue with deep reds, almost browns. For instance, in Suicide Kings, most of the movie is spent in an expensive house, with mostly wood walls and flooring. The lighting in the movie is kind of dark and I think this is a very good test for these upconverting units. What happens is, when these rich wood tones are displayed, they will pixalize. Not small pixels, I'm talking maybe a half inch sq. Each. It looks almost like the DVD's have dust or scratches on them, but I know this isint the case as I had bought the movie and was watching it for the first time. This problem was also reinforced in the Godfather's opening scene where the man comes in for a favor. The walls will pixalize and just look all around bad. Not so bad you can't watch it, but it doesn't make the buyer happy. This is really the only artifacting I have seen on this player, its just the deep rich wood tones. Maybe its just the player or my settings, but this doesn't happen on deep green or blue tones like fields of grass or the ocean. Maybe because the lighting is better outside. Other then the pixel problem though, playback on these older movies is great. Not wonderful, just great. The picture doesn't look upconverted, the older graniess in old movies is still there, but the picture does seem to move a bit more fluidly. Take this how you will, it could just be my set, but if you have a majority of older DVD's, maybe this is not the player for you as I have seen no benefit over a regular progressive player.
*Watching Newer Movies with digital effects*
Ahhhhh here we go. Here is where the 300 bucks went. Here is what I waited for. How do the newer, digitally edited films look? Amazing. Almost HD quality. Almost. Some that I watched were Shrek, Shrek 2, Finding Nemo, Star Wars: Episode 2, and The Matrix reloaded. The best visualization I can give to you is this. The opening scene of Reloaded where Trinity launches that bike into the security office. Her outfit is HOT, its deep black, but you can see the reflections and wrinkles in the outfit with clarity I didn't even see in the IMAX theatre. The explosion when the bike hit was beautiful. Were talking the darkest black you can produce on a TV then lit up by a massive fireball. My jaw literally dropped. There was no ghosting, no artifacting, no scan lines, nothing but the darkness of night being ripped apart by one of the brightest fireballs I've ever seen. This is in the middle of the day with all of my windows open. It was something that words cannot do justice. You have to see it to understand where the extra money went on this unit. Same thing with Shrek 2, beautiful picture. But Shrek 2 brings me to something ineteresting. For those who have seen it, when Shrek is eating dinner with Fiona's parents in that room thats almost totally wood. There was no flickering, no pixels, just a perfect reprensation of the dark wooden walls. I stopped the movie (another great thing about this unit is it has a 40 disk resume memory, so if your watching something and it gets ejected for something else, the old movie can go back in and be started from where it was left off, very very cool sony) and popped in Suicide Kings again. There the pixels were. Shrek 2 goes back in, nothing. This is why I'm led to beleive that this unit is meant for movies of today and the future, not yesterdays movies. Well not unless you want to watch it in 480p which is just fine. Shrek 1 looked a little worse then 2, but nothing notable. Star Wars? Awesome, the lightsaber fights at the end were really what I was watching. When there fighting in the arena, you can see the dust kicked up by the sand, and a nice little touch Lucas put in that I'd never noticed before is when a Jedi swings his saber, the dust will move. Maybe its real dust or digital, regardless it was a little touch I'd never seen before. Also, when Yoda is fighting Duku in the darker room, there was no visual problems at all, everything looked as it should, and it was immersive as hell. An absolutley beautiful picture. This is the case I found for all of my remasterd movies such as the Star Wars Trilogy, Indiana Jones Trilogy, and some others. Those that are digitally remasterd well will look outstanding on this palyer.
*Watching Today's normal movies*
I didn't know where to drop this in, but I covered newer digital films and older films. What about today's films? The films I watched were Black Hawk Down, Saving Private Ryan, Kill Bill 1 and 2, and 8 Mile. The picture was better then average. In BHD, you could see the tracer fire ripping through the darkness at night, you could see little pebbles and specks of dust on the actors. It looked real, and added to the immersivness. Ryan looked good, it had a grittiness to the film that I remember from the theatre and again I was totally immersed. Kill Bill. My goodness. How do I describe how the sword shined as it was swung through the air, how to describe the beauty of the women in the movie. Sorry guys, this is one of those things you'll have to experience for yourself, but I will say I had about as much fun watching The Kill Bills as I did watching the Shreks. The details are really brought out and I think that's a good representation of what this player can do. It wont make the movie HD, but it will show you little effects of things, it's almost like watching HD for the first time, I was that amazed with the player.
*Sound*
I really can't comment on the sound as I do not have any surround sound setup. I just have the player connected to the TV through HDMI and the sound is dead on. No lag or anything, and if there is, there is a setting in the player so you can fix the snycing if it's a problem. Sound on the xbr960 is amazing, but I'm sorry I can't comment on the optical or analog out's on this player.
*Conclusion*
So is it worth it? the 975 is 300usd and the 775 is 130ish usd (i could be wrong, Best Buy had it at $130 this weekend), also, the 975 doesn't come with an HDMI cable or components, so were already looking at a hidden cost. Also, general consensus is that upconverting players are pretty much useless on CRT based TV's. I wouldn't go so far as to call the unit worthless, it does clean up a lot of the pictures. Does it look HD? Yes and no. What you see on the screen is only going to be as good as whats on the disk. What I mean by that is Nemo is going to kill Black Hawk Down visually, and BHD is going to kill Suicide Kings visually. So I guess a good starting point is do you own older movies? The only acceptable way for me to watch them is 480p, but that's OK for me because maybe a quarter of my movies are pre 99ish. Honeslty, I can only find the one fault with the player, and thats the wood tones in dark rooms. This is an issue for me because I'm talking about Scarface, Goodfellas, Casino, Godfater, etc. But if I can get at least 480p out of it then I'm happy, and from what I've seen my 480p is right on par with the 775. Otherwise I'm happy with this purchase. Not extatic, but I think that this player would have to give me HD quality for me to be out of my mind. The player does what its supposed to, it gives me a good picture regardless of which disk it is, and if you give it a movie it can work with then watch out. Now my TV may be doing some work too with the upconversion, but like I said this player is doing what I need from it. I can't really give anyone a yes or no on this unit though, if you have a plasma or lcd then yes, get the hdmi cable and get it. If you own a 960xbr or something along those lines, it is a very good player, but you could buy the 775 and components and still have money to take you S/O out to a nice dinner. I think that those that own CRT based TV's will be happy with this purchase, but at the same time I feel that they would be just as happy with the 775. Like I said, take this how you will, I'm happy with the purchase and I know that I'd always have wondered how much better the 975 would have looked while I was watching my 775. If you all have any questions for me I'll do my best to answer. I hope you all enjoyed reading this, thanks for your time!
Maxxwire Moderator Premium Member Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25772
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
Posted: 2004-11-21 14:55
sondogg- You have done a very professional job on this review. Thank you so much for spending all of the time you did to write such a detailed review so that we could all have an accurate idea of how the 975v performs.
_Maxx
----------------- A Satisfied Sony Fan Since 1974!
Joined: May 06, 2004
Posts: 95
From: West Coast, USA
Posted: 2004-11-21 22:04
sondogg:
Very detailed review. Thank-you.
Have you compared the movies using the upconverting HDMI with the same movies on the player in 480p through the component connection? (I assume that 480p is the best you get on the component.)
Great review sondogg. It' really refreshing to read a well written review from a real world guy in a normal setting. Sometimes I find them more valuable than reveiws in the AV media.
I can't believe how hard it is for DVD players to get respect on internet review and forum sites. They get disected. Yet a lot of these same sites will have people talking about $300 receivers that are the most unbelievable devises known to man. The XYZ receiver is even better than $4000 separates etc. etc.
Most people just want to know how something performs in a real world setting. For people that like Sony DVD players the 975V is something to get excited about. The '9' series players have always been special. As well as great video they've always included sound quality that was above average in their class and the 975V is no exception. The cool thing is this type of performance is now affordable to the masses.
Your review probably puts this player in prospective for a lot of people that were considering getting one of these machines.
----------------- rb
I listen to music in StereO
[ This message was edited by: rb on 2004-11-22 03:14 ]
Have you compared the movies using the upconverting HDMI with the same movies on the player in 480p through the component connection? (I assume that 480p is the best you get on the component.)
Any lag on layer changes?
Thnx,
The Doob
Doobiewah - I have not tried the 975 with components yet. The only player I have used with components so far has been that old Pioneer player I talked about in the TV review. It seems there is an interest in seeing how the player looks with components so I'll stop by Wal-Mart and pick up some cheap ones. Also, if anyone would like me to check out some monster cables with the player I can do that as well, I know how to get around Best Buy's return BS. It may be about a week though, I'm going home for Thanksgiving, but I'll be sure to post my results in this thread.
Also, no, I have not seen any layer changing lag, but to tell you the truth I've never noticed any lag on any player I've watched so I don't exactly know what to look for. But if it means anyting, I'm pretty picky about picture and playback so I think I would have noticed something like that. Besides the pixel problem I have, the player is just about perfect and being priced at $300usd I think that this player is a steal right up there with the 960xbr.
rb - Awesome links, I can't wait to check those out and read up more on the player. Thank you for contributing to this thread.
Joined: Jun 07, 2003
Posts: 10
From: Wisconsin, USA
Posted: 2004-11-23 09:35
Awesome review sondogg,
Thanks for taking the time. After reading that review on Cnet, I was hesitant in getting this player, but you eased my mind. Does anyone know when Circuit City will be carrying this. Besides being a fanboy of CC, I have some giftcards I want to use and I also like the convenience of returning in there. I know Crutchfield has it in stock, but don't know if I should wait.
How is Crutchfield on returns and any ideas on when CC will be carrying it? Everytime I call, they don't have it in their computers.
I was thinking about buying this dvd player over the 775v. However, after researching this, I decided on the 775v. Why? Because the 960/955 sony sets UPCONVERTS the incoming picture by itself. Why have a dvd player do it when the tv can?
I have heard there is a certain CHIP that would actually upconvert it better then the sony tv set. The 975 dvd player does not use it though, so I find the upconvert feature is not worth it for the extra $180.
Joined: Dec 31, 2002
Posts: 760
From: Phoenix, Arizona
Posted: 2004-11-23 13:17
Great Review, Sondogg!
But you neglected to mention that all-important 40-disc resume play memory feature of this player. This is the ability of the player to remember the last places you paused the last 40 movies you watched! A mission-critical feature to be sure.
Just kidding. I'm glad you're happy with your new player and that it gives you many happy hours of viewing pleasure.
I have the DVP-NS775V and am equally pleased with its performance.
----------------- SONY KDF-55XS955
SONY STR-DA5300ES Receiver
SONY BDP-S550 Blu-Ray Player
Scientific Atlanta Explorer HD Cable Box
Sub: Velodyne SPL-1500R
Center: JAMO
Fronts: B&W 805
Surround L & R: Def Tech BP2X
Surround Back: Def Tech Ceiling
Joined: Dec 08, 2004
Posts: 2
From: Yorktown, Virginia
Posted: 2004-12-08 22:43
Thanks for the detialed review. I have both the XBR960 and the 975V dvd player on order. The XBR960 should arrive tomorrow and the DVD player by Monday. Looking forward to both units.
Thanks again,
J
I think I paid $13 shipped... It works Great!!! don't piss your money away...
Maxxwire Moderator Premium Member Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25772
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
Posted: 2004-12-23 03:20
blackvette- The HDMI Digital interface is subject to the same parameters as any other Digital transmission in that there are bandwidth requirements that must be met in order to insure the highest quality Digital signal transfer and the minimum amount of signal jitter otherwise the transmission will not be as good as it could be.
If you are happy with your $13 HDMI cable then fine, but please don't try to convince us that an ultra high bandwidth Digital Video signal with a low jitter requirement of a few trillionths of a second doesn't need a quality cable to carry it perfectly in tact to its destination.
_Maxx
----------------- A Satisfied Sony Fan Since 1974!
On 2004-12-23 03:20, Maxxwire wrote: blackvette- The HDMI Digital interface is subject to the same parameters as any other Digital transmission in that there are bandwidth requirements that must be met in order to insure the highest quality Digital signal transfer and the minimum amount of signal jitter otherwise the transmission will not be as good as it could be.
If you are happy with your $13 HDMI cable then fine, but please don't try to convince us that an ultra high bandwidth Digital Video signal with a low jitter requirement of a few trillionths of a second doesn't need a quality cable to carry it perfectly in tact to its destination.
_Maxx
You may be correct.. That my cheap wire is not a good quality as an expensive one..
But the difference in the price RARELY if ever makes a difference in the PERCEIVABLE results...
People piss money away on all kinds of wire upgrades.. Unless it was improperly manufactured I'd bet you could not see the difference.
It's like people who blow $300 for a set of fancy spark plug wires looking for more HP.. Wire don't INCREASE anything... They merely used for routing an electronic signal from one point to another without degradation..
I use a 3' HDMI cable I paid $13 bucks for it.. My picture looks great. I look at it this way. I spent $250 for my 975...Why would I want to spend almost 1/3 of the price of that unit on 3' of copper wire.. Get real..
The Wire Companies are getting rich off of ultimate search for perfection... So if you feel more comfortable watching TV on a $100 cable that's cool..
Oh and one more thing.. I see people all the time hesitating to spend the extra $100 more for the 975 over the 775.. Well in my opinion there is MUCH more of a visual benefit buying the 975.. More on some movies and less on other but the benefit is still visable by most..
I doubt one of them could see the difference between a $13 wire and a $100 wire.. So.. Buy the 975 and bag the expensive copper...
[ This message was edited by: blackvette on 2004-12-23 22:25 ]
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Posted: 2004-11-21 14:29
I'm glad you're happy with your new player and that it gives you many happy hours of viewing pleasure.
Posted: 2004-12-17 19:40
