DVD player want with ......

[DuncanSWardle]

ZERO layer change,
Multi-region auto playback
Pro Scan Component out for PAL and NTSC
Ability to skip FBI warnings and the like
Fantastic Picture and top notch sound

Which player ?

[FlangeMonkey]

The Sampo-cloned Compacks DVD5000 (details here) (http://www.area450.com/thesampozone/players/dvd5000.htm) that Safeway were (perhaps still are) selling is a superb machine.

I own one, and it does all of the above except perhaps the FBI warning thingy. Bizarrely I've never tried to skip them, but it may well work, will have to give that a try.

Best part of all is that I picked mine up in-store for £45 or so last Summer.

Plays any disc (bar DivX) I've tried with it: CD-R/RW, DVD±R/RW, VCD/SVCD/MiniDVD/MP3/JPG, raw MPEGs without the need to convert to VCD/SVCD...raw VOBs etc. the list goes on.

Zero layer-change on almost every disc I've tried (the only ones I've ever noticed it on were <¼ sec).

Auto-resume, even after changing discs. :thumbs:

Whisper-quiet loader which is extremely fast. (The quickest I've seen on any player I've used) - DVD Menu navigations are super-speedy.

Smooth picture search up to x20 speed with standard DVDs and also VCD/SVCD and even the raw MPEGs/VOBs.

RGB/S-Vid/Composite SCART and component PAL/NTSC Prog Scan out. - Rock solid pic via RGB, bright and extremely detailed. Not tried the PS output, but others have commented on it's goodness.

Built in DD 5.1 and Pro-Logic II decoder (with 6-ch analog outputs).

Coax + Toslink (Optical) DD/DTS/PCM out.

(phew)

Can you tell that I like it? :D

The only (minor) problem it has concerns "seamless" branching discs. At the end of each branch point, the player does a <¼ sec. pause before re-joining the main stream. Bizarelly, it doesn't seem to affect the beginning of the branch points...

This is the only "fault" on this player that I've experienced, and for the price, wealth of media it plays and general excellency of the PQ etc. it's a definite must-buy (if you can get hold of one).

[DuncanSWardle]

Where can one be gotten from - local store never heard of it :(

[clayts]

Originally posted by FlangeMonkey


Whisper-quiet loader

Darn, I knew I should have copyrighted that expression, FM :D

There may well be some stores left with stock, Duncan, but it has been superceded by (firstly) the Compacks DVD4000 and, more recently, the Compacks DVD800.

The '5000 is the only one of the three with any Sampo influence and, seamless branching cock up aside, is an absolute belter if you can find one - may be worth ringing around a few local stores.

[FlangeMonkey]

It really is quiet though, isn't it? What else can I say :D

Duncan, Safeway stores are the place to look...it will definitely be touch and go whether you get one or not, though.

Lidl had a nice prog-scan machine a few weeks ago, but they're probably also out of stock.

If you don't mind passing on the prog-scan aspect, Amazon are doing a bargainous £35 Yakumo XL2 player at present which looks to have the same or similar chipset to the Compacks. See the bargain forum thread for mine and others' observations on the machine. From what I could tell of the one we bought for the in-laws, the firmware/software seems to operate almost identically to the Compacks and other Mediatek-based Chinese players. As an aside, there was a menu entry where you could choose between "Hi-Res" or "Flicker-Free" or similar. I assumed that this was some reference to prog scan, but since the player has no componont outs, then I've no idea what it might mean! I tried both and could spot no difference to the picture via RGB.

Whichever way, for what it's capable of, it's a real snip at £35.

[Bonzo Banana]

The Compacks DVD5000 also has a ghosting problem especially obvious on progressive scan. There is a work around solution to the problem but its still annoying.

The Lidls £37.99 ebench player does have a better progressive image than the Compacks DVD5000 which is why I kept the ebench and took my Compacks back but one thing is for sure the Compacks DVD5000 dvd loader is certainly the best loader I've ever come across. It reads everything at high speed and no noticable noise. In comparision the Ebench player's loader is very poor and slow in comparsion (although it is very quiet). I had a problem with 'The Fifth Element' in the ebench player. The layer change was really slow at about 10 seconds. Just played it again on the Ebench and it was instant with no problems at all. I've not cleaned the disc or laser but suddenly its better. Its obviously a bit temperamental as loaders go.

Its my experience that chinese designed dvd loaders are generally better than japanese ones and sadly the ebench player has a japanese designed sanyo unit.

When it comes to skipping fbi warnings etc that was a feature common on many electronic dvd player mods especially by techtronics a year or two back. Nowadays it seems all companies do including techtronics is either firmware flash the players or use a special manufacturers remote to set all region. This seems to reduce the chance of being able to get a dvd player that can skip fbi warnings etc.

[DuncanSWardle]

Ok then - so whats the best machine other than these - dont mind paying £100 or more

[phelings]

How can a mchine be recommended when it pauses at seamless branching points-seamless-thats the key word.
The FBI skipping is part of a mod called "user prohibition disable",and used to be a fringe benefit on multiregion mods for Sony machines-but not anymore.UPD also allows you to remove subtitles on foreign discs where you would not normally be allowed,and you can use your audio and subtitle buttons to change them on some discs where a return to the main menu is normally required-Disney for example.
I had some French discs with non removeable subs,but found that this mod is not carried out anymore.There were a couple of real bargain basement brands,at around £150,but in the end I paid £200 for a Toshiba from a company in Switzerland which has every mod known to man.Multiregion,UPD,Macro and CGMS off,and others that did not interest me.And as it was Toshiba,I knew it would be excellent quality rather than a supermarket cheapie.
Apart from layer changes,which I believe are present,albeit very brief on all players,the Swiss company should be able to sort it-but they are not cheap.And do not take credit cards-real pain that was

[Bonzo Banana]

Many of the chinese players simply don't have a layer change pause at all.

When i had my Compacks DVD5000 I didn't seem to suffer from the seamless branching problem or if I did it was so minimal you would miss it. Like a slight miniscule gap in the audio track that lasts for about 1/50 second.

I honestly believe the Compacks is a great little dvd player. Its not perfect but has great functionality. I really miss not being able to scan through mp3s which I used to do on the Compacks. i also miss its excellent picture search facilities. One other thing was how well it coped with low bit rate dvds. It didn't seem to matter how poor the dvd was it could still create a film like image in progressive scan. Contrast this with the Toshiba 330 that doesn't seem to handle low bit rate dvds that well at all.

[clayts]

Originally posted by phelings
The FBI skipping is part of a mod called "user prohibition disable"

Yes, but User Operations Prohibited (UOP) was also siphoned out of some ESS firmware by some clever folks in the hacking underground, so my old Encore DV450 (Sampo DVE560) still has no issues on that front, even today - it wasn't just restricted to Sony Multimods.

I'm pretty sure there are still some players around that allow this feature to be switched off, thank goodness :)

[clayts]

Originally posted by Bonzo Banana
I honestly believe the Compacks is a great little dvd player. Its not perfect but has great functionality

My point entirely - it was, after all £50 upon release and it does things players with lower specs that cost twice as much struggle with (as Bonzo says, like the non-Progressive Scan Toshiba SD330 that is so beloved of brand snobs) - hence the reason why Far Eastern players should never be pooh-poohed :D

[Squirrel God]

Originally posted by DuncanSWardle
ZERO layer change,
Multi-region auto playback
Pro Scan Component out for PAL and NTSC
Ability to skip FBI warnings and the like
Fantastic Picture and top notch sound

Which player ?
Ignoring the user prohibitions disabling (which would give you the ability to skip FBI warnings, switch subtitles, etc, but which you won't find on DVD players these days unfortunately) and assuming that you really do want a zero-delay layer change (since you emphasised it so much), then your only option really is one of the Denons that come with the 8MB buffer. Something like the 2900 at around £600-£700 new. Woudl give you PAL and NTSC PS as well as superb PQ and SQ.