NeuNeo HVD2085 1080p Upconverting DVD Player Review
Lately, Upconverting DVD players seem to be all the rage. HomeTheaterMag.com has a review of the NeuNeo HVD2085 1080p Upconverting DVD Player (nope, I never heard of this brand either) which sounds pretty awesome:
Lets put all the amazing stuff up front. First up, the HVD2085 outputs 1080p. As far as I know, this is the only DVD player to currently do this. It outputs 1080p from the HDMI and component outputs. That brings us to cool factor number two. The HVD2085 will scale DVD to HD resolutions with the HDMI and analog component outputs—not just some DVDs, but all DVDs. Good luck finding a "name brand" DVD player that does that. It is region free (cool factor number three), and, perhaps the biggest selling point for some people, its HDMI output doesn't pass HDCP. As if all that weren't enough, it only costs $245. On specs alone, this is the coolest DVD player we've seen since Pioneer's DV-47A universal disc player. Oh, and it starts the movie as soon as you put the disc in there's no menus, no trailers, nothing. The disc goes in; the movie starts.
While there are a few things that the Home Theater Mag. didn't like about the HVD2085, overall they state:
I wouldn't be surprised if Hollywood or some other malicious body tries to block the sale of the HVD2085. It is simply too cool, too useful, and too good a DVD player to last in this litigious and paranoid world. The lack of 3:2 pulldown effectively limits this player to those with 1080i displays, but that's a pretty big market since you don't need HDCP or DVI to use the scaling. I can only hope the next version has 3:2 pulldown, then I'd recommend it to everyone.
At HomeTheaterMag.com
Buy the NeuNeo HVD2085 Direct at NeoDigits.com
If you want to know a little more about Upconverting DVD players, be sure to read:
Upconverting DVD Players - Are They Worth It? at HighDefinitionBlog.com
Read More in: DVD Players/Recorders
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Posted by William Hungerford at January 31, 2006 1:20 PM
review title: HVD2085 Player Skips & Stutters Its Way Into the Garbage Bin!
I've purchased the subject player and have viewed it on the following sets at 720p and 1080i ( 1080p never worked ) over component video:
toshiba 50HX70, rear projection CRT
toshiba 72MX195, DLP
I've set up the subject player using the THX optimizer test patterns for contrast and grey scale. I've observed the following serious problems, or deficiencies:
- on source video that is dark like; room interiors, caves, night the video this player produces is an unwatchable mass of black with very little visible detail ( observed in
several movies but very noticeable in Raiders of the Lost Arc opening scenes, etc ).
- player will not display 1080p on my 1080p capable toshiba 72MX195. No help on this problem ever arrived from the socalled Neodigit technical support. They blamed the toshiba 72MX195, DLP TV and just had no clue as to what to do.
- player "skipped" a minute of the arrival in venice in Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade. It did this repeatedly. I was not able to watch that minute of the movie. Then, through out venice, and after, the movie would stutter over seconds of video. It would also lose
video and audio sync ( voice and mouth movement would not match ). Update: Skipping and stuttering is a very serious problem with this machine. The move FARGO was unwatchable. Whole sections of this movie were skipped over by this machine. I call it the players undocumented DVD random scene editing feature.
I am astonished at how badly the HVD2085 player performs on video that is dark. Of the several DVD players I've had ranging from $25 to $600, i.e.: several toshibas, an apex, a koch, and the panasonic RP-91, this NeuNeo player is by far the worst I've ever seen when it comes to reproducing blacks and dark scenes in general. The remote is weak, difficult to use, and generally the worst remote I've ever tried to use.
Conclusion: Avoid this player and this company.
Contacting Neodigits technical support was equally frustrating. I sent them an email, waited for two weeks, and recieved no reply. I finally recieved a reply to an email the seller of this player sent on my behalf.
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