Features:
- Plays DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, CD-R, CD-RW, JPEG, and MP3/WMA CDs
- Progressive-scan video output for seamless, flicker-free picture on high-definition and HD-ready televisions
- Cinema Mode diminishes glare and improves the visibility of details in dark scenes; Depth Enhancer reduces image background noise
- Digital re-mastering enhances CD playback
- Dialogue Enhancer boosts center-channel volume during Dolby Digital 5.1-channel presentations
Description:
Proving that big performance doesn't necessarily mean "big ticket," Panasonic's DVD-S55S DVD player offers nearly unparalleled format handling, from standard DVD-Video to audiophile-quality multichannel DVD-Audio, DVD-R, and DVD-RAM, CD-R and CD-RW, and even support for MP3, WMA, and JPEG CDs. You also get high-tech features like digital re-mastering, which infuses CD music playback with interpolated high-frequency harmonics that wouldn't otherwise be present, and HighMAT (High-Performance Media Access Technology), a technology developed by Panasonic and Microsoft to ensure digital media compatibility between PCs and consumer electronics. The deck features a progressive-scan video processor that doubles the scan lines of an interlaced signal (from 480i to 480p) by scanning all 525 lines in 1/60 of a second for each pass. The higher-density video signal (designed for high-definition and HD-ready TVs) brings a film-like quality to DVD images. Other video enhancements include Cinema Mode (which diminishes glare and improves the visibility of details in dark scenes by automatically adjusting picture contrast), Depth Enhancer (which reduces image background noise), and Hi-Speed Smooth-Motion Scan (which enables fast-forward/reverse at up to 200 times normal speed, offering a quick way to access desired scenes). DVD-Audio offers super high-fidelity (192 kHz/24-bit) sound. Because the DVD-Audio signal is too high-resolution for the digital-to-analog converters in current surround receivers (and also as an anti-piracy measure), the DVD-S55S performs its own decoding of DVD-Audio signals, passing high-resolution analog, not digital, audio to a surround receiver for these special discs. But you'll need an audio/video receiver with multichannel analog-audio inputs to appreciate this feature. The DVD-S55S also boasts audio features like Dialogue Enhancer (which boosts the volume of the center channel during Dolby Digital 5.1-channel presentations), and an optical digital-audio output for channeling DTS and Dolby Digital surround sound to a surround-decoding audio/video receiver (in case you aren't using the player's onboard decoder).
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