Features:
- Progressive-scan component-video output
- Dolby Digital and DTS compatible
- Antivibration shock-resistant chassis
- Onscreen display with video bit-rate meter
- Coaxial and optical digital-audio outputs
Description:
Toshiba's flagship SD-9100 DVD player effectively turns the 14-karat DVD-video medium into pure, 24-karat gold. Both the picture and sound quality of this player are top of the class, and the unit's elegant styling and battleship build quality show a dedication to the spare-no-expense manufacturing standard from Toshiba--co-inventor of the Digital Versatile Disc format. This pricey though cutting-edge player works its most obvious alchemy on the picture-scanning information that comes off of DVDs--it serves images in pure progressive-scan form. When you connect it to an HDTV monitor with progressive (Y, PR, PB) video inputs, the SD-9100 doubles the number of lines showing up on the screen by refreshing once every 1/60 of a second instead of once every 1/30 of a second, as is the case with interlaced video. Using our high-definition display device, the picture quality was truly amazing. Resolution is radically better, with intensified image detail, so that sharply focused film characters just about pop out of the screen. It's easy to feel trampled and skinned alive by some of today's cinematic sci-fi special effects. Normal (interlaced NTSC) TV technology distractions--such as visible scanning lines and flicker--are virtually eliminated by progressive scanning. So the picture seems more real--or at least darn close to the high-resolution reality of a first-run movie theater presentation. We also plugged this no-compromise player into a traditional analog TV (via S-video and composite-video plugs) and found the picture performance to be delightful as well. Toshiba elected to use the highest-grade components in the SD-9100; its circuits are carefully isolated and suspended on a heavy-duty, antiresonance/antivibration chassis. All of this added value serves to tweak the performance in finite but appreciable ways, including the smoother, less grainy look this player lends to night scenes. It also provides riveting surround sound on Digital Theater Sound (DTS) concert DVDs. Toshiba supplies both optical and coaxial digital bit-stream outputs with the SD-9100, along with a set of six-channel Dolby Digital signal jacks for an internal decoder, plus conventional stereo (with Dolby Pro Logic mix). The SD-9100 sports a clean front-panel metal façade and puts all the menu accessing and special effects on the excellently laid-out remote. In fact, the remote control capabilities are the best we've ever enjoyed with a DVD player. Especially useful (and hard to find in DVD players), is a jog-shuttle dial for controlling slow motion and still and fast scanning in forward and reverse. The remote control works like a charm, which seems fitting, because this DVD player is definitely a charmer. Pros:
- 24-karat gold picture quality
- Superb remote control
- Highest quality construction
Cons:
- Backlighting on the remote is too dim
- Does not decode HDCD like other, less expensive Toshiba players
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