Features:
- Sleek DVD player with Direct Digital Progressive-Scan output for seamless, flicker-free display on HD or HD-ready TVs
- Plays DVD-Video, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, VCD, SVCD, JPEG, and MP3 formats
- Top Menu zips past previews and other barriers to movie watching
- Slide show feature scrolls through all images on a disc (up to 150 images per group or folder; up to 99 groups)
- Component-video, composite-video, and S-video outputs for compatibility with a range of TVs
Description:
In the old days, only bottom-of-the-barrel DVD players came this cheap. DVD players have come a long way in a short time, though, and so have features. The slim, silvery XV-S502SL doesn't use much shelf space, but its benefits are huge: premium progressive-scan video outputs (for use with HD and HD-ready TVs), MP3 and JPEG disc compatibility, and a range of audio hookup and playback options. We found the XV-S502SL's slide-show feature one of its coolest. Be warned, though, that higher-resolution images take longer to load--up to 10 seconds on shots from a one-megapixel camera. But then, higher-resolution pics offer greater rewards when zooming: the unit takes you beyond 4x and 16x all the way to a blurry but amazing 1,024x. It also lets you reduce the image size to .125x. A handy top-menu button zips you past the FBI warnings, previews, and other pre-menu annoyances written into many commercial DVDs. We were happy to be able to switch the audio format while playing (as from Dolby Digital to uncompressed PCM on a music video), an option some affordable players don't offer. The sound is great from the unit's 1-bit P.E.M. D.D. converter, which boasts 192 kHz/24-bit audio resolution. When playing an MP3 disc, the player displays the artists and song titles onscreen, simplifying navigation. You get two digital-audio inputs (optical and coaxial), a stereo RCA analog output, and one each composite-video and S-video output. A set of component-video outputs feeds a DVD signal to a compatible TV. The unit comes with a remote control, two AA batteries, a user's manual, a component-video cable, a composite-video cable, and a stereo analog interconnect. --Michael Mikesell Pros:
- Easy setup
- Fast disc operations (start-up, chapter advance, etc.)
- Pristine, progressive-scan video output
- Top Menu function a real time saver
- JPEG slide shows a nice option
- Remote control sits nicely in hand
Cons:
- Will not scan within MP3 tracks
- Cannot switch to/from progressive-scan from the remote
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