Panasonic DMP-BD30 Chroma upsampling error

aarontmnt · 12-14-2007, 11:15 PM

I've been trying to find a DVD player that functions decently for the past few months. I've gone through at least 10 or more players and returned them all. So many of the players now have horrible progressive scanning problems where the image isn't even aligned properly. It's the player I know, because the images are displayed correctly on my Panasonic DMR-E30 DVD player/recorder. This is my only good player I have right now. It's a 2002 model, and I haven't been able to find one that matches it's performance since, at least as far as progressive scanning is concerened.

I'm looking for a Panasonic player that plays DVD-RAM discs, because that's what all my camcorder material is recorded on. The first 2 Panasonic Blu-ray players seemed like they would be a good choice, but unfortunately they both have one MAJOR problem, the Chroma Upsampling Error. There's got to be others out there that have noticed this problem I would think. All other Panasonic players haven't had this problem, so why now in their flagship most expensive players. Is this a problem that can be corrected with a firmware update? I'm in the process of informing Panasonic of this problem. If they are completely unaware of this problem I'd be shocked. Someone elese out there must care about picture quality.

I didn't know finding a decent DVD player would be so difficult until now. I've had nothing but a great one since 2002. I guess companies make poorer quality players as time goes on.

Ruined · 12-15-2007, 04:59 AM

I know my old Panasonic RP65 was hailed for its lack of the chroma bug. Stinks that it seeped into the BD models.

Re: your firmware question, the Toshiba HD DVD standalones also had the chroma bug on release with MPEG2 material, but after a year or so Toshiba released a firmware upgrade that eliminated the chroma bug on all of their HD DVD standalones (firmware 2.3 for gen1, firmware 2.0 for gen2). So I assume the same could be done with the Panasonic, but who knows if Panasonic will actually put the resources into making such an upgrade.

The best standard DVD players you can find are the Toshiba HD-XA2 / Onkyo DV-HD805 (both HD DVD players). They are both free of the chroma bug and employ the killer Reon video processor for scaling & perfect deinterlacing. Can't do much better than that. Unfortunately that doesn't help your DVD-RAM problem, though.

Frankie · 12-15-2007, 05:53 AM

Okay, okay I respect your knowledge around here Ruined I really do.....So do you sleep with Hi Def DVD deinterlacers under your pillow or what?

F

Ruined · 12-15-2007, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frankie

Okay, okay I respect your knowledge around here Ruined I really do.....So do you sleep with Hi Def DVD deinterlacers under your pillow or what?

F

He asked a question, I answered it to the best of my knowledge. The Reon is widely known as delivering amazing results upscaling & deinterlacing SD DVD. I don't know if BD players with the Reon have the chroma bug or not as that is not a spec manufacturers tout. So, I listed the players with the Reon that I know definitely don't have the chroma bug. Feel free to chime in if you have more info on BD.

aarontmnt · 12-15-2007, 06:35 PM

I tried the HD-XA2 from Toshiba, but wasn't impressed by it. There was a lot of combing artifacts in the progressive material I was watching. I could always see lines going across the whole screen so many times. I heard about it being good, but now have to try and sell it since it can't be returned.

I've read about the DVDO iScan HD Video Processor and may give that a try to see if it gets rid of the Chroma Bug on the DMP-BD30. It says it has Auto CUE detections and elimates that problem. It's about $860 to spend just for that, but if it solves that problem then I guess it's worth it.

Ruined · 12-15-2007, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aarontmnt

I tried the HD-XA2 from Toshiba, but wasn't impressed by it. There was a lot of combing artifacts in the progressive material I was watching. I could always see lines going across the whole screen so many times. I heard about it being good, but now have to try and sell it since it can't be returned.

Something wrong with your unit then. HD-XA2 has some of the best deinterlacing around. It passes all the problem tests on DVE and HQV discs (and problem DVDs as well). Perhaps you had it set at 1080i instead of 1080p, bypassing the Reon? That is the only thing I could think of. Give me some timecodes on the discs you saw this combing on, I bet it won't be there when I check

Quote:

I've read about the DVDO iScan HD Video Processor and may give that a try to see if it gets rid of the Chroma Bug on the DMP-BD30. It says it has Auto CUE detections and elimates that problem. It's about $860 to spend just for that, but if it solves that problem then I guess it's worth it.

For what its worth, the company that makes the DVDO iScan is the same one that makes the scaling chips in the cheaper Toshiba progressive players (HD-A20/HD-A30/HD-A35). While the chips in those units are good, they are not as good as the Reon for problem material (and I've verified this myself as I have access to both).

aarontmnt · 12-15-2007, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruined

Something wrong with your unit then. HD-XA2 has some of the best deinterlacing around. It passes all the problem tests on DVE and HQV discs (and problem DVDs as well). Perhaps you had it set at 1080i instead of 1080p, bypassing the Reon? That is the only thing I could think of. Give me some timecodes on the discs you saw this combing on, I bet it won't be there when I check

I had the unit set to 1080p. I tried all the different definition settings. It looked awful. This was on the TMNT 2K3 cartoon DVD's. It's Season 1 Part 1 and Part 2 I was checking it with. Constantly during the intro to the cartoon when the images are moving there's all that combing effect happening. Everytime a character moves it's arm fast or somthing you see the combing effect. It happens almost every 10 seconds at least.

Also, I had some DVD-R camcorder discs I checked and on the fireworks footage I had whenever there is flashing going on the brightness around that area you can see all those lines going across creating a comb like effect. I just can't stand seeing that stuff when I'm watching stuff.

12-14-2007, 11:15 PM	#1 (permalink)
aarontmnt Supporting Actor Join Date: Dec 2007	Panasonic DMP-BD30 Chroma upsampling error I've been trying to find a DVD player that functions decently for the past few months. I've gone through at least 10 or more players and returned them all. So many of the players now have horrible progressive scanning problems where the image isn't even aligned properly. It's the player I know, because the images are displayed correctly on my Panasonic DMR-E30 DVD player/recorder. This is my only good player I have right now. It's a 2002 model, and I haven't been able to find one that matches it's performance since, at least as far as progressive scanning is concerened. I'm looking for a Panasonic player that plays DVD-RAM discs, because that's what all my camcorder material is recorded on. The first 2 Panasonic Blu-ray players seemed like they would be a good choice, but unfortunately they both have one MAJOR problem, the Chroma Upsampling Error. There's got to be others out there that have noticed this problem I would think. All other Panasonic players haven't had this problem, so why now in their flagship most expensive players. Is this a problem that can be corrected with a firmware update? I'm in the process of informing Panasonic of this problem. If they are completely unaware of this problem I'd be shocked. Someone elese out there must care about picture quality. I didn't know finding a decent DVD player would be so difficult until now. I've had nothing but a great one since 2002. I guess companies make poorer quality players as time goes on.

12-15-2007, 04:59 AM	#2 (permalink)
Ruined It's Good to Play Together Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: NJ, USA	I know my old Panasonic RP65 was hailed for its lack of the chroma bug. Stinks that it seeped into the BD models. Re: your firmware question, the Toshiba HD DVD standalones also had the chroma bug on release with MPEG2 material, but after a year or so Toshiba released a firmware upgrade that eliminated the chroma bug on all of their HD DVD standalones (firmware 2.3 for gen1, firmware 2.0 for gen2). So I assume the same could be done with the Panasonic, but who knows if Panasonic will actually put the resources into making such an upgrade. The best standard DVD players you can find are the Toshiba HD-XA2 / Onkyo DV-HD805 (both HD DVD players). They are both free of the chroma bug and employ the killer Reon video processor for scaling & perfect deinterlacing. Can't do much better than that. Unfortunately that doesn't help your DVD-RAM problem, though. __________________ For every shadow, no matter how deep, is threatened by morning light.

12-15-2007, 05:53 AM	#3 (permalink)
Frankie DVDFile HT Award Winner Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Western Canada	Okay, okay I respect your knowledge around here Ruined I really do.....So do you sleep with Hi Def DVD deinterlacers under your pillow or what? F __________________ My DVD Collection Last edited by Frankie : 12-15-2007 at 06:02 AM.

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12-15-2007, 06:35 PM	#5 (permalink)
aarontmnt Supporting Actor Join Date: Dec 2007	I tried the HD-XA2 from Toshiba, but wasn't impressed by it. There was a lot of combing artifacts in the progressive material I was watching. I could always see lines going across the whole screen so many times. I heard about it being good, but now have to try and sell it since it can't be returned. I've read about the DVDO iScan HD Video Processor and may give that a try to see if it gets rid of the Chroma Bug on the DMP-BD30. It says it has Auto CUE detections and elimates that problem. It's about $860 to spend just for that, but if it solves that problem then I guess it's worth it.