Sony's DVP-NS975V is a must for videophiles. The player up-scales standard MPEG-2 DVD-Video signals to full high-definition 720p or 1080i, a feature anyone with an HDMI-compatible TV can appreciate. Still watching analog TV? The player also handles your standard-definition (480i/480p) DVD-Video, audio CD, and Super Audio CD (SACD) entertainment--including playback of recordable CDs filled with MP3 music or JPEG image files. HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a lossless, uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface to link any AV source with an audio and/or video monitor, such as a digital television (DTV). HDMI supports standard-definition (SD), enhanced definition (ED), or high-definition (HD) video, plus multi-channel digital audio--all using a single cable.
The DVP-NS975V plays just about any disc out there, from DVD-Video to DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, and DVD+RW, and its onboard processing technologies, like Sony's Precision Cinema Progressive de-interlacer and 3:2 pulldown reversal, make all of them shine. Progressive scanning, referred to as 480p or 720p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines (at 480p) of a conventional DVD picture, giving you higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts.
Precision Cinema Progressive technology uses a 12-bit video DAC (digital-to-analog converter) with high-bandwidth, 108 MHz processing to detect image changes at the pixel level, rather than at the level of whole scan lines. That makes this player's picture more faithful to the source--whether film or video--because it uses separate, optimized algorithms to handle different pixel behaviors. Separate algorithms are also used to process the moving and still parts of an image, resulting in sharp backgrounds with moving objects that are free from motion artifacts.
DVD mastering introduces a common distortion when adjusting 24 frames-per-second movies to 30 fps video; 3:2 reverse pulldown digitally corrects this distortion, removing the redundant information to display a film-frame-accurate picture. Composite- and S-video outputs bring compatibility with nearly any television.
Depending on the disc, SACD music releases provide super high-fidelity multichannel and/or stereo sound. As an anti-piracy measure, the DVP-NS975V performs its own decoding of SACD signals, passing high-resolution analog, not digital, audio to your integrated amplifier or surround receiver. This means you'll need an audio/video receiver with multichannel analog-audio inputs to appreciate multichannel SACD releases. Built-in SACD bass management helps you tailor the output level of the ".1" LFE (low-frequency effects) channel to your system, as an appropriate level may differ from the output level appropriate for Dolby Digital and DTS surround mixes.
If you're not planning to use the SACD capability for multichannel programming, both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel surround-sound signals can also be routed through the player's digital-audio outputs (1 each RCA coaxial and Toslink optical) for simpler connection to a compatible receiver (multichannel analog and digital-audio interconnects are not supplied).
Precision Drive 3 provides a mechanism for reading DVDs that are in less than perfect condition, eliminating errors in playback due to imperfect, scratched, or warped discs.
DVD resume memory kicks in whenever you stop a DVD. Later, when you come back to it, the player will pick up right where you left off before. The player holds resume points for an impressive 40 discs. Other playback features include 10-second instant replay, DVD/CD Text display (with applicable discs), a digital video enhancer, digital video EQ (equalization), custom parental control memory for 40 discs, as well as Advanced SmoothScan and SmoothSlow Modes.
What's in the Box
DVD player, remote control, 2 AA remote batteries, a stereo analog audio/composite-video interconnect, a user's manual, and warranty information.
