What's behind cost difference in DVD players?

[Eric Z]

I've noticed DVD players have a great variance in cost. Why is that?

I am in the market for a new DVD player. I currently have an older Sony one that I will now be used in my family room. My budget is $300 max and I know there is a huge price difference with DVD player. I would prefer to have a 5 disc player, but it's not a requirement. It would be hooked up to a Yamaha 5760 receiver and a basic 32" Sony TV (non-HD, non-flat screen)- 60% HT and 40% music.

What options should I be looking for?
*Progressive scan?
*SACD?
*Others?

Any players you recommend? Certain brands I should consider or avoid?

Thank you!
Eric

[woodman]

I've noticed DVD players have a great variance in cost. Why is that?

I am in the market for a new DVD player. I currently have an older Sony one that I will now be used in my family room. My budget is $300 max and I know there is a huge price difference with DVD player. I would prefer to have a 5 disc player, but it's not a requirement. It would be hooked up to a Yamaha 5760 receiver and a basic 32" Sony TV (non-HD, non-flat screen)- 60% HT and 40% music.

What options should I be looking for?
*Progressive scan?
*SACD?
*Others?

Any players you recommend? Certain brands I should consider or avoid?

Thank you!
Eric

What's behind it Eric is quite simply the marketing orientation of the mfg. In other words, what segment of the marketplace they choose to compete in. The so-called "mass market" segment is ultra competitive and populated by the big name mfgs. such as Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, Yamaha, Denon, etc. Those companies have the wherewithal to build products for considerable less than the smaller companies can, and can thus sell he product at much lower prices - but sell in big numbers which translates to commercial success. If a company lacks the financial clout to compete with the "big boys", their best chance for success lies in pursuing the "high end" where sales numbers are limited, but price is not the major factor that it is in the "mass market". This enables a company to exist when they only sell products in the hundreds rather than the HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS! The necessary by-product of this approach is that they must charge a higher price for each unit they sell.

All clear on that puzzlement?

As to your other question(s), DVD players have become what is known in the industry as "commodity" product - meaning that they're built at the lowest possible price while maintaining high performance capability. But, they are not built for long term reliability and service. On the other hand, buying a higher priced unit is certainly not a guaranteed ticket to long term service (or better performance) either. So, pick out a player from one of the major mfgs. that has the features that you want and hope for the best. With any luck at all, you should be able to get your "money's worth" and then some from it before it fails and you have to replace it with a new one.

Hope this helps you

[hershon]

On the DVD players that were say manufactured this year, would you say that there is any difference in sound quality both for DVD's and CD's for say example a top of the line player and a $40 cheapo player, an average priced player and a top of the line player, and an average player and a $40 cheapo player, if played through the same speakers and receivers?

[woodman]

On the DVD players that were say manufactured this year, would you say that there is any difference in sound quality both for DVD's and CD's for say example a top of the line player and a $40 cheapo player, an average priced player and a top of the line player, and an average player and a $40 cheapo player, if played through the same speakers and receivers?

There's a DVD player on the market for $40? Is it made of genuine cardboard, rubber bands and spit?

Let's not get carried away with ridiculous price comparisons, but ...

... of course, there can be and probably will be performance differences between products at different price levels. The question must be however, are the performance differences "worth" anywhere near the difference in price? IMO, the answer to that one would have to be a big, fat NO. For anyone contemplating spending 100% to 500% to 1000% more for a product in order to get a 1% gain in performance, I'd say they're in dire need of some lessons in "value evaluation".

[Woochifer]

The thing to keep in mind is that there are only a handful of companies that actually make DVD player components. Matsu****a (Panasonic), Pioneer, Sony, Toshiba, are among the few companies out there that make DVD transports. Only a few companies out there make the video processing chips, and audio processors. For most companies that market DVD players, it's an elaborate rebranding exercise or just cobbling together off-the-shelf components.

Yamaha and Denon both use Panasonic transports, high end player Arcam uses Sony transports in their DVD players. What you get with the more expensive players is typically a heavier chassis, more customized output components, and better internal isolation of the different functions. But, the basic components are not all that different than the mass produced players. What you're paying for is that extra incrementally higher specification for particular components, and more durable build quality. Whether or not that results in a bottomline improvement in the performance is up to you to decide.

[IsmaVA]

There's a DVD player on the market for $40? Is it made of genuine cardboard, rubber bands and spit?

Let's not get carried away with ridiculous price comparisons, but ...

... of course, there can be and probably will be performance differences between products at different price levels. The question must be however, are the performance differences "worth" anywhere near the difference in price? IMO, the answer to that one would have to be a big, fat NO. For anyone contemplating spending 100% to 500% to 1000% more for a product in order to get a 1% gain in performance, I'd say they're in dire need of some lessons in "value evaluation".
Wood, Best Buy have several major brand names DVD players for $80.00 or less, including a progressive scan model for $39.99 . . . .

[hershon]

In LA there's a huge store called Frys that sells $35 -$40 DVD players and I'm sure Best Buy has some close to that price as well. Funny thing is defectively made bootleg DVD's will actually play alot better in these cheapo systems then on a good solid DVD player.
There's a DVD player on the market for $40? Is it made of genuine cardboard, rubber bands and spit?

Let's not get carried away with ridiculous price comparisons, but ...

... of course, there can be and probably will be performance differences between products at different price levels. The question must be however, are the performance differences "worth" anywhere near the difference in price? IMO, the answer to that one would have to be a big, fat NO. For anyone contemplating spending 100% to 500% to 1000% more for a product in order to get a 1% gain in performance, I'd say they're in dire need of some lessons in "value evaluation".

[mtrycraft]

I've noticed DVD players have a great variance in cost. Why is that?

Eric

Because they get away with it? There are people out there who buys the expensive ones.
Even plain sugar doesn't sell for the same price :)

[grovenstein]

I am on my 4th DVD player; in order: Toshiba 2109, Sony ?, Denon 900 ($350), and now the Rotel RDV-1060 ($800.) The last two which are priced were blindly tested 2 days ago using the same Rotel 1056 receiver and B&W speakers. My testing audience consisted of a friend ,who is somewhat knowledgable, and my wife, who knows nothing about audio equipment.

My wife was the first to speak, "I've never heard that instrument in the song before." There was a blatantly obvious difference between the $350 player and the $800 player. It is obvious to all of us that the diminishing returns to audio don't stop before the $1000 mark.

Those of you saying a $30 DVD player is as good as a $300 one need to open your ears; then you'll be willing to open your wallet!


It's kind of hard to do a blind video test but we managed a video test and all found major differences. When a color changes across the screen, the Denon has some splotchy areas in the blended colors. These were gone when using the Rotel.

BTW, I didn't tell my wife how much the Rotel cost until after she was convinced it was superior; Brilliance!

[hershon]

You obviously have more money than me, more power to you! But to spend $800 on a plain DVD player is insanity. Surely there must be some between $100- $400 that can compare.
I am on my 4th DVD player; in order: Toshiba 2109, Sony ?, Denon 900 ($350), and now the Rotel RDV-1060 ($800.) The last two which are priced were blindly tested 2 days ago using the same Rotel 1056 receiver and B&W speakers. My testing audience consisted of a friend ,who is somewhat knowledgable, and my wife, who knows nothing about audio equipment.

My wife was the first to speak, "I've never heard that instrument in the song before." There was a blatantly obvious difference between the $350 player and the $800 player. It is obvious to all of us that the diminishing returns to audio don't stop before the $1000 mark.

Those of you saying a $30 DVD player is as good as a $300 one need to open your ears; then you'll be willing to open your wallet!


It's kind of hard to do a blind video test but we managed a video test and all found major differences. When a color changes across the screen, the Denon has some splotchy areas in the blended colors. These were gone when using the Rotel.

BTW, I didn't tell my wife how much the Rotel cost until after she was convinced it was superior; Brilliance!

[mtrycraft]

I am on my 4th DVD player; in order: Toshiba 2109, Sony ?, Denon 900 ($350), and now the Rotel RDV-1060 ($800.) The last two which are priced were blindly tested 2 days ago using the same Rotel 1056 receiver and B&W speakers. My testing audience consisted of a friend ,who is somewhat knowledgable, and my wife, who knows nothing about audio equipment.

My wife was the first to speak, "I've never heard that instrument in the song before." There was a blatantly obvious difference between the $350 player and the $800 player. It is obvious to all of us that the diminishing returns to audio don't stop before the $1000 mark.

Those of you saying a $30 DVD player is as good as a $300 one need to open your ears; then you'll be willing to open your wallet!


It's kind of hard to do a blind video test but we managed a video test and all found major differences. When a color changes across the screen, the Denon has some splotchy areas in the blended colors. These were gone when using the Rotel.

BTW, I didn't tell my wife how much the Rotel cost until after she was convinced it was superior; Brilliance!


I just love your testimonials. That is all they are, unreliable. I am sure you did the best you could though. Good try.

Yes, to do a DBT video you need to split signals to the same TV set so half sceen is one player, etc.

But, in reality, DBT audibility test have not supported your testimonials, yet.

[Woochifer]

I just love your testimonials. That is all they are, unreliable. I am sure you did the best you could though. Good try.

Yes, to do a DBT video you need to split signals to the same TV set so half sceen is one player, etc.

But, in reality, DBT audibility test have not supported your testimonials, yet.

Rather than just hang back and criticize other people's comparisons, why don't you come up with something useful that an average consumer can actually do at home? Split signal to the same TV and have half the screen showing one player and the other half showing the other player? How would you set up that test without having to insert additional equipment into the playback chain?

A quick comparison of DVD players can be accomplished with a calibration DVD that uses color filters like the DVE and Avia discs. If swapping out a DVD player requires an adjustment to the calibration levels in the video tests, then there's either a difference in the default output of the players or an actual difference in the video quality. And blotchy color areas like the poster described sounds an awful lot like the chroma bug, which is also easy to see on a HDTV without DBT. Either way, the differences are immediately identifiable without DBT.

[musicguy04]

From my limited experiences, my opinion on the whole DVD thing is that a more expensive player $300+ compared to $40 will be a little better in the video, but the average consumer on an average 27" to 32" NON-HD TV will not tell all that much difference. Video cables do make a difference, but don't go crazy with it. When I used a $30 monster video cable, I got noticeable noise reduction in the TV. THe TV used to have fuzzy, flickers and they were almost nonexistant after using the cable. I don't think a $100 cable would've made any most improvement.

But, if a person has a HDTV, especially a large screen HDTV, then the better DVD players will make a noticeable difference in video quality. In terms of sound quality, I think $40 DVD player will not be anything special. $300 DVD player should be as good as CD players in the past, and $1000 DVD player, it's probably better to add an external DAC instead of plutting that kind of dough in a DVD player.