picture is great

ran through progressive inputs /played movie but got blue screen on menu specials

This is my first DVD, but the picture makes my Mit. ws-5508
look like a winner. Have not been able to get any menu special items to work (interviews and such). It is being looked at. Has anyone else had this problem? I really like this product even with the trouble I have had. What is the deal with the different widescreen formats on DVDs.
Some sizes fit my 16:9 screen some don't, since I am new to this DVD scene will someone explain it to me!!

Similar Products Used:

1st dvd owned

Twin Tray/HDCD/Progressive Scan/All outputs are hot at same time

Remote could be backlit(however if you have universal remote, who cares)

It seems like if you own a Toshiba HDTV you shouldn't buy this player. For some reason those are the only sets this player doesn't work with. However, if you own a Panasonic, Pioneer Elite, Mitsubishi, or Sony it is worth every penny! I auditioned the unit on all of those sets at Audio King in Mpls and it performed flawlessly. I own the 51" panasonic digital TV and it is awesome. Colors are bright, picture is smooth and imaging flows beautifully. I have no problems with artifacting and I've yet to try a DVD that doesn't work(as long as they're clean-come on Netflix veiwers you ever hear of a napkin). I like having the twin tray which wasn't a selling point at all when I purchased the unit, but it's nice to leave a good demo disc loaded for when guests are around. Including Video Essentials was a nice touch and the original reason I bought this over the Mitsubishi model that is priced the same. Remote control is fine for features and ease of use, backlighting would have been nice but not worth paying more for. If you're buying this player you're TV should have a remote that can do the job for you. It's nice that both Component video outs and S-video are all hot at the same time so you can pause and flip between all three and see the exact benefits of Progressive scan. If you're TV can play progressive scan then you've already laid out some cash for a great system, why not get the best picture? At $470 on e-cost.com or onecall.com it's an absolute bargain. Stop listening to people who don't have compatable televisions complain about this player. It's not the fault of the player that they're TV can't handle progressive scan. Value is worth 5 stars even at $700 retail tag.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic DVD L50 - Denon 2500

Outstanding picture in progressive scan.

Can't play burned cds

My condolences to those who have had problems. I have calibrated my TN61X81 to NTSC standard, set the colorstream input to DTV NOT DVD and set colour and tint with Video Essentials. The picture is outstanding in progressive scan and beats the pants off of interlaced. Brightness, colour and contrast could be set way down thus saving the colour guns. Even older videos like Dune are awesome when the set has been setup properly. The way most sets are from the factory or in the retail outles, it is impossible to tell how good they are. As for soft picture with Progressive scan that is untrue based on several manufacturers sets. They only look soft if the sharpness is set high and then you switch to PS. Take the sharpness and reduce it to 0. I should be called the noise increaser not sharpness.

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Sony V series, TN55X81

Let me add to the chorus and say OUTSTANDING PICTURE. Very nice zoom. The dual disk feature is actually pretty convenient.

Remote is pretty basic - but let's face it, if you're spending all this money on an HDTV and progressive DVD player, you should be spending $300 on a Phillips Pronto remote anyway

I recently bought the Sharp 64LFB4000 16x9 HDTV (one of the best deals in the world - it's exactly the same inside as last years Pioneer Elite 700D, which is one of the best RPT's ever made, but costs $2k less) and decided to try out a progressive scan DVD to see what all the fuss was about. I have the Sony 850D 200 DVD changer hooked up via component outs, and thought the picture was outstanding.

Now I regret buying the Toshiba, because I will never be able to watch DVD's on the Sony again, changer convenience or no. Anyone want a used 850D in good shape? :-)

The picture is just outstanding. I still can't get over the difference. If you have a TV with Colorstream Pro inputs (most new HDTV's) you simply have to get one of these. I found one locally for less than $500 on clearance (to make way for the model 6200 - but there doesn't seem to be much that's different or new between that and the 5109). Sound via optical cable is equally good - I have DD 5.1 and DTS DVD's, and both sound outstanding via my Sony ES 550.

I haven't really found any low points. The remote is very basic, but who cares? With gear in this price range, you really should just go and buy a Phillips Pronto remote anyway. I actually appreciate Toshiba providing a basic remote, because that means I didn't pay for something I'll never use (unlike the Sony ES series amps - great amps, but they come with this LCD remote that I just know adds $100 to the price that I don't use either). The aspect ratio control problem some other posters have mentioned doesn't bother me because I don't have it - the Sharp/Elite HDTV's let you adjust it on the TV. My favorite feature is the 5901's zoom - with 2:35 source material, even "widescreen enhanced" DVD's have black bars on the top and bottom (although they are much smaller than on non-16x9 TV's). With the 5901's first zoom level, I can get rid of even those without cropping the picture or distorting the quality.

All the problems I've read on this board seem to stem from imcompatibilities between the posters TV and the unit. I would just go to a big store like SoundTrack (not to buy from!) that has a lot of models on display, talk them into hooking the 5901 up to the same model TV you have (most of them wisely use the 5901 to demo with anyway) and try it that way before you buy it.

If you have an HDTV, you need a progressive player, it's that simple. Otherwise you wasted your money on the TV.

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Sony DVD-850R

picture quality

This was the last piece of equipment I purchased for my home theater. I hooked it up to my Hitachi 60 using the progressive scan outputs and the picture was fabulous! Also ran the audio out through an optical line to my Yamaha rx995 the the sound was impressive. We watched Independence Day and were blown away! We also watched the new Buzz Lightyear (for the kids) and had a good family night at the movies. Great first day. Then the trouble began. The next day, we got the dreaded "no disc" signal. On everything I tried; video, audio, etc., nothing worked. Had to take it into the repair shop and have to now wait up to two weeks. I did by this knowing it was a refurbished model and we have a one year warranty on the thing, but I didn't think it would work for only one day! I know you take chances buying from the web, especially refurbed items, so this is just a notice for others thinking about it. BUYER BEWARE.

I hope to get the unit back soon so I can write a complete review of it. It was great, for a day!

Got a special pricing based on matching another store's sale price. This is a great DVD player, but the real pleasure is spelled "Z-O-O-M on the fly."

None

I liked the fact that you can place a double feature pack into the disk and not have to worry. There were no skips or any artifacts anywhere with great picture resolution. Hooking this up to an Onkyo 989 7.1 is like being right in the picture. Highly recommend both.

INCREDIBLE Picture

Can't Play CDR's.

This machine is just incredible. I had originally bought a Pioneer DVD434 thinking that it was a cheap way to get into progressive scan for my Sony KP53HS10. The picture on proressive from the Pioneer seemed very jittery, I actually preferred the picture on the interlaced output coming from the Pioneer. When I called the store that I bought it from I was told that I may like the results from a Toshiba player more. He called the Toshiba "real" progressive scan. He got me a floor model SD5109 for just a little more than the DVD434 that I returned.
Now I see what the fuss is all about, the picture is rock solid with no color bleeding at all.
The remote left a little to be desired, but an overall total winner.
I would have bought the SD6200, but it was just a bit out of my budget range.

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DV434 Pioneer

Excellent picture quality with progressive scan, dual tray

Cannot play CD-Rs, average sound

The first player I got had to be returned due to pixelation problems. The second player was in good working order. Coupled to a Sony KP-53HS10, picture is crystal clear and color is rich and full. Sound is average whether with DVD movies or CD music. I bought this model because of it's progressive scan capability and from this perspective, I am happy with the purchase. However, there is quite a price premium for progressive scan players, so the expectation has to rise accordingly. From this perspective, I can't give it a 5 because, but for the progressive scan feature, it's pretty average.

Image quality via ColorStream Pro componant outputs, Progressive Scan 480P output, Dual Tray, HDCD built in Dolby Digital 5.1 channel decoder!

no, or limited playback of material recored on CD-R & CD-RW media.

I had reviewed this unit earlier (see above) and it is a great unit with all of the above listed strenghts, but I require a DVD player that will play back my custom mixed audio CDs as well as some one of a kind highschool choir records that I am going to preserve on CD-R.

I am therefore planning to upgrade and am putting it up for sale on EBay (http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=456325031). I have had the unit for just over three months and have retained all of the origional packing (manuals etc.).

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non-progressive Pioneer LD/CDV/DVD combo player