Progressive issues with a Sony changer

[applesandrice]

Two years ago I purchased a Sony DVP-CX875p changer in order to replace my old single disc Toshiba player. For most of that time I've been running it through my Toshiba MT2U projector, via S-Video, but have recently switched to a component breakout cable, in order to take advantage of the Progressive Scan feature. Upon hooking it up, however, I found that, when in "progressive" mode, the picture will occasionally flicker, change shape, and/or just generally go crazy. I've been doing a lot of research lately -- specifically on the "Secrets of Home Theater" website -- and have been learning about the flagging issues on certain DVDs, and how certain players respond to these problem discs. The trouble I'm running into is that I have yet to find a single review of my player, so all I can do is just assume it's at fault. Could someone please help me out? I'd like to know if this is a problem that can be repaired, or if I'll just have to replace the player with something like a Panasonic DVD-RP82, which would suck as I don't want to give up the whole changer thing . . .
Thanks,

-E

[I 8 Piglet]

First, I doubt your going to replace it with the RP82. Its been discontinued for more than a year. It and its progency (xp30, xp50) are nearly impossible to find. I have heard, over at AVS, very good things about the last generation Sony changers (the 300 disc models), but supposedly the new ones are not nearly as good.

As for your problem I dont really know what to tell you. I dont suppose you have another TV that will accept prog in, so you can just make sure the problem isnt at the PJ end...or that the problem is not the break out cable, do you? That would be the first thing I could recomend. Second would be if you have cable or sat box that will allow you to output at 480p, try hooking that up to the PJ via the same breakout cable. This way you can at least isolate the problem to the progressive function of the DVD player.

Short of that there is not much I can tell you. I would say give Sony's customer support a call and see if they can be of any help. As well, there are entire forums out there devoted to Sony products and their owners' problems that may be worth looking into.

[Sycho]

sounds like a sync issue. if you can try the proscan on another TV, with the same material, see how it goes.

[applesandrice]

Thanks!

The reason I don't think the problem is with the breakout cable is that about a third of the discs I've tried haven't had a single problem. When a disc does give me problems I switch the player to interlace mode using the same cable and it works perfectly. What's really weird to me, though, is that even when I'm looking at the player's "folder" screen, it will sometimes give me the same problem, including some jagged horizontal lines across the top 1/8th of the display -- only when it's in progressive mode, though. I'd like to believe that the problem isn't with the projector -- if only for the fact that it would be the most expensive piece to replace. Given that so many discs work without any problems, though, I just don't know what to think!

I've been trying to think of people I know who might have another progressive set, or another progressive player. I wanted to first try another player -- hook it up to the projector using the same cable -- and play some of the fussy discs. If that yields the same results I figure I can probably pretty easily take the player to someone else's house (as I don't have another 480p set) and try it there. I do know a guy who I think can hook me up with another cable to try, too, which -- I suppose if I have to replace anything, would be the thing to replace.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to respond! I didn't realize the RP82 was discontinued. It sounded like a really high quality player -- especially for the price! I will do some searches to see about finding some more info on a Sony forum, and maybe give them a call, too.

Thanks for your help,

-E

[chlngr1970]

I'd recomend you find a local retailer that has a liberal return policy, pick up a progressive scan player ( they can be had for under $100 now) and test it. Then if you are satisfied with the performance of the other equipment, return the player. Is the Sony still under warranty? if so, it may need a firmware update. That would be the ideal situation.

j

[applesandrice]

That's a good idea, too -- thanks! If it turns out that none of my friends have progressive players, I may have to sort of "rent" one from the local Walmart or something.

I'm pretty sure the warranty on the Sony has expired, but I will have to double check. I had also wondered about a possible firmware upgrade, but I suppose if the player is no longer under warranty, it's probably gonna cost me.

Thanks again,

-E

[chlngr1970]

well, Firmware upgrades shouldn't be that expensive. It is essencially like a BIOS update on a Computer...

j

[tomdkat]

The Panasonic DVD-CP72 is a 5-disc CD/DVD changer you might want to find on eBay or something. It's a cousin to the DVD-RP82/DVD-XP30 and should offer you great progressive scan video performance. This unit has also been discontinued so you might have difficulty finding one.

Peace...

[applesandrice]

Thanks!

-E

[applesandrice]

Today I had the opportunity to take my player over to a friend's house and hook it up to his Sony HDTV set via regular old component cables, and, voila! No progressive picture problems! (say that three times fast!) So, now I'm thinking it's gotta be either the cable or the projector . . .

Actually, the other day I even called the folks at Sony and they suggested that breakout cables in general are really troublesome, and not terribly reliable. Of course, that's just the sort of thing I DIDN'T want to hear, as a 15-pin RGB port is the only progressive input on a Toshiba MT2U. What are ya gonna do?

-E

[chlngr1970]

Here is you solution. It is the Audio Authority component to VGA tannscoder.

Hope this helps...

j

[applesandrice]

AH HA!! After months of frustration, I believe I've discovered the true culprit behind my progressive woes, and its name is MACROVISION. After exhaustive research (trust me -- I'm exhausted), I've found that every single disc which has given me problems has been encoded with copy protection. When my player is hooked up to my projector via RGB breakout cables (which, you'll remember, is the ONLY progressive hookup my projector offers), it apparently believes itself to be attached to some sort of piracy device, and, therefore, causes the picture to -- for lack of a more technical term -- go all funny. It seems to me that I read somewhere else about someone having similar difficulties, but I hadn't paid it much attention because they were using a different hookup. Anyway, their solution was to COPY each affected DVD, burning each new disc sans the scurilous Macrovision (which is, in fact, a pox on humanity), and simply watching their pirated version. The irony is incredible. Anyway, this seems to me like a rather expensive solution, not to mention the image degradation inherent to reducing a dual layer movie file in order to fit it onto a single layer DVD-R. I'd rather just find a way to disable the stupid Macrovision. Is there a safe way to do that with my player?

Thanks to everyone so far for all of your suggestions!

-E

PS -- In researching this issue, I seem to have discovered that ALL DISCS by Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Disney/Buena Vista/Miramax, Universal and Dreamworks are apparently encoded with the Macrovision "disease". A good deal of Warner and New Line titles, however, are not: specifically, most of their releases from the past 2-4 years (with the occasional exception, such as "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", and the theatrical release of "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring" -- "HP and the Sorceror's Stone" was clean, as were ALL of the subsequent LOTR releases, including the Extended Versions). Various titles by Columbia TriStar "Spider-Man", "MIIB", "Desperado" (Superbit) -- forget it. "Big Fish, and the special editions of "Panic Room", and "Black Hawk Down" all work fine, however. The big winner, though, is MGM, who apparently utilizes no copy protection whatsoever on any of their discs, which have given me no trouble whatsoever in "progressive" mode. Thank you, MGM -- your movies look fabulous.

[Sycho]

maybe if some body in this forum did a google search "macrovision remover", there may be DIY solution's available, not that anyone here would do that.