Keohi HDTV - Video Devices - DVD Player - Skyworth 1050P

[VIDEO DEVICES][DVD PLAYER]

Skyworth 1050P

Initial Impressions

With the dvd power plug conversion done, I connected the coaxial audio out to the receiver and the progressive component outs and the svideo out to my TW65x81.

I turned on the skyworth and tuned the TV to my DVD TV setting (HD2). Audio is fine but no video. Hmmmm...... I then remembered that initial setup is done in the interlaced mode. So I switched to Video 1 where svideo feeds the TV. There's the image. I then cycled through the menu setting the interlaced out to CVBS. YUV sets the interlaced image to B/W.

On the last page (page 3) of the menu, is the selection for Progressive Output. I selected YprPb for the component out. The other progressive out option is via the VGA out terminal.

For the VGA out, one would have to choose RGB in the Progressive Output selection option. For those who'd want to use the VGA out to feed their component input only sets, a transcoder would help accomplish this. Why do this? To eliminate the possibility of Y/C delay.

After setting the Progressive Out on page 3 of the menu, the image on HD2 came right up.

Okay, now on with what I bought this for, playing DVDs. I loaded Matrix, Fifth Element, Titan AE, Gladiator, MI2, Stargate, and a few others. No problems whatsover.

It Works as Advertised

Deinterlacer Performance - Awesome! I didn't see any combing at all. Images are solid.

RGB Y/C Delay - Error is minimal via an Audio Authority transcoder.

Blue = 0

Red = -.07

Green = 0

Chroma bug - I didn't see any.

DVD Audio - Audio was very good in both DD and DTS. No skipping or any hiccups.

CD Audio - I popped in a few CDs and they all worked just fine. I haven't tried the Karaoke features yet. I need to get some K-disks.

Now for some Negatives...

Component Y/C Delay - Error is very noticeable especially when I was watching Cast Away.

Blue = 0

Red = -.22

Green = -.15

Numbers for component y/c delay will vary with each home theater setup since each will be unique, e.g., lengths of cable runs, devices the signals traverse from the player to the tv. I will try various length cables to help reduce the error.

Scaling - It lacks the auto-scale between 4:3, letterbox, and anamorphic movies like that in the Panasonic RP91. Although I can set my set to TW2, which zooms in on non-anamorphic letterboxed movies, it softens the image a bit and gaps between scan lines become more visible.

Build Quality - For under $300, I guess you can't expect it to rival that of the more expensive ones. Aesthetically, the design isn't bad. It has all the necessary controls and lots of them actually on the front panel. How the pieces are put together, however, makes it feel like it is a prototype unit. With the top cover removed, the front panel is a bit loose. Even the screws are puny and don't fit very well.

But for the abuse it took from the shipment, it's surprisingly durable.

The remote works but the buttons have a very rubbery/mushy feel to it. A good universal remote should "fix" that.

Front panel LEDs - The blue lights are very distracting. Even if you cover them, the lights bleed through the buttons on the front panel. Unplugging the connectors to the lights is an easy fix for this. Pictures of where to unplug them are in pictures section.

Color - Finally, the brushed aluminum finish is nice but not on a player that is supposed to disappear in the darkness of a home theater. It would be nice to have it in black.

Summary

From my preliminary use, it appears to be a very good progressive player that could give the name brand players a run for their money. The skyworth's biggest asset of course is its use of the Faroudja based deinterlacer which really helps eliminate those annoying jaggies. It is multiregion, macrovision-free, plays PAL or NTSC discs, and plays just about anything and everything you can throw at it without any hiccups.

If you are in the market for a progressive player, please check out the review of this player along with other contenders in the August 2001 hometheaterhifi.com Progressive Player Shootout.