The Silicon Image chip set, build quality, audio

Serious software (maybe hardware) flaw(s)

This player clearly has problems (as many of the posts below attest to). It arrived with firmware #5208 even though I was assured this was a "new" model". I got an upgrade CDRom FedEx'd to me and flashed the new firmware to #5248. The player performs flawlessly with one great exception-there is an image "shudder" which is "every now and then". If I turn the unit off and re-set it and back on - sometimes this quirky behavior goes away and the player performs fine. I talked to a Denon tech and he assured me that Denon is aware of the problem and that the engineers in Japan are working on it. He also assured me it is a software and not a hardware problem (which will be fixed with yet another firmware upgrade). I really had high hopes for this player even though it just took another hit in Sound and Vision for it's red chroma bug problem (which all the player's have-with the exception of the Camelot Roundtable). To al who are still considering this player I would recommend giving Denon a chance to sort this out. They seem eager to fix it and otherwise this is a stellar player. Looks 3D when it works! I don't know if I'll wait or send the unit back and look elsewhere. There are new chips sets now coming on the scene-the Sage-Faroudja being among them-so maybe there is a better alternative. Very frustrating! I will rate they player 4 stars even though it has this serious flaw-if fixed then 5 stars-certainly!

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba SD9100, Sony DVP 7700

Hello all,

I check back here often hoping for more information on what exactly went wrong with the 2800 and what is going on (in anything) to save it. I have two posts (below) that recount my trials and tribulations with the 2800 and my other Denon equipment.

I've been spending quite a bit of time with my local HT dealer regarding the 2800. A couple days ago I got the scoop on what's really wrong with them and what to do to get it fixed. I'd like to share that with you now.

First, there's a power supply problem that causes pulsing bands to move up the screen in progressive mode. Denon says 20-30% of units shipped so far have had this problem. Affected units must be repaired by Denon. If this effects you I would recommend talking to your retailer and see if they can take care of this for you. Sounds Deluxe has sold me three separate defective Denon pieces in the last three months but has really bent over backwards to take care of it. Very frustrating and certainly eroding my opinion of Denon. How this 2800 saga works out will determine if I ever buy Denon again, or if I even keep what I have.. I've been considering starting completely over..

Second, there's an incorrectly programed EEPROM that causes some 'tearing' of the interlaced output. I THINK this effected every single unit shipped (at least in the beginning..) It's very noticeable when there's text on the screen such as credits rolling by. It's also occuring when there's no text on the screen, it's just less noticeable. I can now verify that this problem can be fixed by a CD from Denon (it's actually a CD-R). Sounds Deluxe badgered Denon into sending the CD directly to my house, I received it last night. The existance of this CD was mentioned in an earlier post but I wanted to confirm that this mystical CD exists. You just put it in the DVD plaer, wait 30 sec while it automatically updates the firmware and shuts itself off. You then hit the open/close button, remove the CD-R and you're done. It did fix the tearing problem and it also added a menu to my Video Setup screen... it's to turn 3:2 pulldown on ('film' setting), off ('video' setting) and off.

I should have a completely functional unit within a few days (or so I've been told). If this isn't over by the end of this week I definitely bailing out on the 2800 and perhaps on all my Denon equipment top to bottom.

Hope this is useful information.

Regards,

-Dave

PS-I HAVE to rate the 2800.. so I'm gining it a 2.0 based solely on the fact that the average rating right now is 2.97 and I"m so uninpressed with this unit that I don't want to RAISE the average at all. I truly feel that this is a one star unit (so far) but I've posted three times and and trying to minimize my own personal skewing of the results. So don't FLAME me about it, I thought this info was worth it.

Great interlaced picture

Progressive mode has major problems to be resolved. Several units at store were tried and ALL had problems.

Overall nice unit, however, major problems in progressive mode and remote not user friendly (especially since newly remodeled. Exchanged for a Toshiba. Great unit and GREAT remote.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba

Beautiful progressive output

Disc draw is slow to close

I waited for quite some time before purchasing this player. I had to search for a dealer who had one, then had to make sure it was the "black dot" model. This player took some hard hits from early purchasers who were surprised to discover the scan line problem in there new players. Fortunately, the DV-2800 I have is in perfect working order and I am very pleased with it's progressive output quality. I have hooked the player up to both my Philips 30PW9815 HD television and my Pioneer Elite Pro510HD set. On both monitors the picture was vibrant, perfectly stable, no sign of jaggies, and took on a film like quality I had not seen from my Pioneer Elite DV-05 player. The progressive picture on the direct view Philips is almost liquid in quality, very clean, well saturated colors, and a joy to watch. On the rear projection Pro510 the progressive picture is spectacular. I am re-watching everything and having a blast. At less than 700 dollars, this DVD player is the one to beat. I'm happy I waited, and even happier I wasn't desuaded to purchase something else. DVDO progressive processing is the way to go. Just remember, "state of the art" really means expermental. Sometimes adjustments are necessary to get the intended results. This play is awinner now!

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer DV-05

Solid build and characteristics, media versatility, display quality, quiet. I got a good deal on mine so the price is good also. At least in my case.

The remote perhaps, as well that bright blue "progressive mode" indicator light. (Not even close to an excuse not to be very satisfied with this product)

I hooked this to my Mitsubishi 65" HDTV and I must say that Words don't describe the clarity of the picture I'm now looking at. I puchased an upgraded unit after demoing the unit at the dealership on a 45" Mits HDTV. It seems to me the picture is even better on my bigger screen. The chroma problem is evident but not evident enough so far to discourage my movie viewing experience. It's really just a very occasional glitch. I have only barely seen it once so far. The benefits here far outweigh this small problem. From a "setting up" point of view, the remote I think is no more difficult than any other remote I've played with however from a "movie watching" point of view they could have isolated the play,ff,rew,pause,stop buttons a little better as well as making them a little bigger. Again, not a real big problem.
This unit did make me very much aware of the transfer quality of movies to DVD though. The first thing I looked at was Gladiator which totally blew me away as to the quality of the hardware I had just purchased. The same on Disneys Tarzan. The original Lethal Weapon however displayed very little enhancements. There are a lot of other factors here though. Titanic was incredible also.
Another reason I got one of these was so I could transfer home movies to CD (VCD)which my current Sony DVD cannot play. The Denon 2800 has no problem here given it's wide range of disc playing capabilities.
Until someone puts out a a DVD player that fixes the Chroma problem, this is the player of choice from what I can see.

Very clear, smooth, detailed picture. Super-smooth layer changes. Terrific sound.

Chroma bug, skips easily, menus and remote are not very user friendly

I had high expectations for this player, but I was ultimately disappointed. After using it for about two weeks, I gave up and returned it. This player had so much potential, I hated to let it go, but the problems were too annoying to ignore. First, I should say that mine was one of the "black dot" players, and I had the guys at the shop run the CD-R to reprogram the EPROM. So this player was about as bug-free as Denon can make it. It has a substantial feel to it, like a high quality piece of gear. I connected it to my Mitsubishi 46" widescreen, Rotel six channel amp, Denon decoder, and B&W DM602 speakers. I used Monster component video cable and Monster Toslink to connect the player to the A/V components.

In general, the Denon has a great picture, with a smooth, film-like look and very natural colors. The detail is amazing on a good-quality transfer. Watching "Lawrence of Arabia" I could see the legs of camels even in the extreme long shots. There are no noticeable artifacts in progressive mode. The sound was also excellent, with lots of detail and imaging. However, the player's Achilles heel is the chroma bug that other people have already mentioned. When there are bright red colors in a scene, the player has a hard time reproducing them and creates jagged lines around the edges of the red objects. In some movies this is worse than others. In "Shaft" (2000) and "Unbearable Lightness of Being", there were moments when red objects became so unstable that they would shimmer and seem to jump back and forth on the screen. This effect was very noticeable and distracting. My wife noticed it on "Shaft", and she is not very demanding. You can also see the same problem to a lesser degree on "Toy Story". What makes this problem even more annoying is that my previous player, a relatively cheap Panasonic A120, does not have any problem reproducing reds. I felt like I paid more than twice as much to take a step backward in video quality. The player is also fairly sensitive to scratches on a disc, and sometimes locks up and refuses to play at all. This is a problem for me, since I rent lots of movies. However, it does perform the layer changes on most discs seamlessly. The menus and remote are not terribly easy to use, and you have to go through several menu screens to switch between interlaced and progressive modes. Still, I could overlook most of these problems if it weren't for the chroma bug. I took the Denon back to the store today and replaced it with the JVC 723GD. Look Ma, no chroma bug! The picture and sound seem to be fine, too, although I haven't had enough time to really put the new player to the test.

Overall, I'd have to say that the Denon is on the verge of greatness, but it needs a new MPEG chip to eliminate the chroma bug. If it had a new chip, and was less sensitive to scratches, it would be close to perfection. As it is, it's just a disappointment.

Similar Products Used:

JVC 723GD, Panasonic A120

Potential not realized

I have the black dot unit. When the 2800 is happy the picture and sound are marvelous. For instance playing U-571 over the 2800 is a treat, but I am noticing more and more movies do not play w/o "glitching" etc. ( the Mummy seems really bad to me). I substituted my Toshiba back in the chain and replayed movies that exhibited problems on the 2800, never an issue over the Toshiba.. The video selections on the 2800 consist of "auto","video", and "film" .I have experimented with them- no improvement. I am not bashing this unit but I am not going to find out if it is faulty or not, I am just going to return it. I am going to wait for some next gen. models from Panasonic and Philips to arrive this summer. The 2800 is a mis-fire for me.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba, JVC etc..

Chroma upsampling error

To answer someone's question below, hometheaterhifi.com has now come out with a list of a few DVD players that do and do not have the chroma problem mentioned in their progressive scan DVD review.

Unfortunately, this unit has the chroma sampling bug. Although, it appears that only the JVC and the Camelot Roundtable are the only progressive DVD players without the bug at this time. Since the JVC has had several other problems, and I don't have $3500 to spend on a DVD player, I will wait until the manufacturers fix the problem.

For your info only, and I hope it helps. I will rate a 3 to not change the overall rating of this player.

Kinda tall, semi-difficult layout of the remote, menu are simple (ugly) text, doesn't respond to any universal remote codes that I have.

I had it on order for a few weeks until it finally came in, and luckily it did have the black dot next to the serial number, as mentioned a couple of posts below.

The picture is outstanding. I have had a Mitsubishi widescreen TV (55805) for over a year now, and can't believe I lived with interlaced DVD output for so long. You're just not viewing the best picture possible unless you're seeing it in progressive, and it makes a big difference. It's not even close to the realism of 1080i HDTV, but it is certainly as clean of a picture as being at the theater.

I read the Shootout article also, and tried the Galaxy Quest and Toy Story tests. I couldn't see any combing or chroma bugs. My eye is untrained, but knowing what to look for I didn't see it. Take that for what you will, I'd love to see the Shootout article amended to include this player for verification.

Similar Products Used:

Plain RCA DVD player.

Lot's of set-up navigating w/remote.

Ok all, here is the deal (pulsing problem). I bought my 2800 a couple days ago and it had the pulsing problem. I called and talked to David Birch-Jones (Marketing Manager at Denon North America). He told me to look at the box my unit came in. He said "if it has a black "dot" (from a felt-tip pen) beside the serial number, it has been "QC'd" and the unit is working correctly". Hard to believe that in this day and age we have to depend on "felt-tip dot" technology, but he was right! I went back to the dealer and asked to trade my 2800 for one with a "felt-tip black dot" beside the serial number on the OUTSIDE OF THE SHIPPING BOX and I can honestly say that all the waiting and aggrivation has been worth it.

Takes a few minutes (30?) to get it all set-up (the set-up menu is quite intensive...), but two things are nothing short of spectacular.

1. Picture Quality. Artifact free and as close to HD as I have ever seen. The picture quality is almost 3-D. Such depth and definition.....heavenly!

2. Sound Quality. I have a complete HT set-up including Denon AVR-5800 w/DTS ES 6.1 decoding, Definitive Technology BP3000 series C/L/R, Eosone RF 600 surround R/L, and 2-JBL floor standing rear centers, 1-Sunfire True Sub-Woofer. I tell you all this only to emphisize the fact that I have watched (listened) to the movie "Gladiator" several times on a Pioneer Progressive scan unit ($300). The sound difference is very obvious. The sound from this 2800 unit is very defined and "crisp". Kinda spookey.....at one point during one of the gladiator fights a guy swings a chain. The sound was so real coming from my rear speakers that my refleses caused me to immediately look to the right side of my chair because I thought something metal had crashed to the floor from my table!

Unbelievable is probably the best way to describe this unit! Far beyond my expectations!!! Before you buy, be sure to look at the box the unit comes in and don't buy unless you see the "black felt-tip" dot beside the serial number! ENJOY!!!!

Similar Products Used:

$300 Pioneer Progressive Scan DVD (sucks!)
RCA DVD