Pioneer JDV-578A or Panasonic S97 DVD...

[audiobill]

Any opinions on which of these two DVD players would be best-suited to project onto 122" screen, through my Sanyo PLV-Z1 front projector.??

Your opinions are much appreciated.

Thanks-a-ton,
Bill

[edtyct]

Bill,
Fat load o' good this will do, but the player that has fewer visible artifacts would be the better choice for your big screen. On a smaller display, the differences might be negligible for many people. I've heard that the Pioneer drops a couple of pixels here and there and shows some chroma delay and CUE. But as an entry-level player, it appears to be a solid performer, both sonically and visually. I don''t know how good it would look magnified through your Sanyo. If the Sanyo had a DVI or HDMI input, I'd probably opt for the Panasonic, since its HDMI output would, theoretically, have the advantage of eliminating at least the major share of D/A conversion noise. However, with the Sanyo limited to VGA and component inputs, you might end up paying for an important feature on the Panasonic that is wasted on you. Restricted to component use, I might still lean toward the Panasonic for scaling and de-interlacing, but not so strongly, especially since the Pioneer gets good press and has both DVD-A and SACD onboard (right?), whereas the Panasonic has only DVD-A. If I recall correctly, the Panasonic had macroblocking problems out of the chute, but new firmware has apparently minimized them. Check out the AVS forum on both players for a deeper look at what people have to say. The size of your screen is the wildcard. You may find that stepping up to better chips for MPEG and deinterlacing/scaling might make you happier, though holding to budget would sure make the choice a lot easier and less stressful.

Ed