Info and forum posts by 'Spinalize'

RE: DTS -Digital 5.1

I have a setup that does both Dolby Digital and DTS. I choose DTS whenever I can. Basically DTS uses less compression than DD and hence has a higher bit rate and provides better sound.

If you can afford it get a decoder which supports both. DTS also usually produces more LFE/Bass. So if you dont have a sub the difference will be less noticable.

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RE: On the subject of advice....What`s the best DVD player

Check out homecinemachoice.com for more reviews. Toshiba and Sony are also said to be very good.

Make sure you get RGB output on the scart.
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RE: Multi Region Player

techtronics.com is a very good place to start. THere are lots of explanations about region free and RCE disks. £200, Panasonic, Sony Toshiba, Pioneer. All seem to be a good place to start.

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RE: Playing MPeg-2 CDRoms

Check out www.vcdhelp.com for a whole load of info. I think they are called SuperVCD SVCD. It depends on your player I suppose.
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RE: ***HELP*** How can i make my SONY DVP-NS400 Multi region? ***HELP***

Chris go here www.techtronics.com and read all about it. They do a kit or a service. Cheaper to buy it modified up front though.

All my mates are now bored with me telling them this. But if you dont ask you dont get to know.

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RE: Multi-region....asking a retailer!

Ascom dog your mate is a salesmans gift. Unless he has an amp with various DSP surround modes or the superior Dolby Pro Logic 2 he wont get any surround out of a standard CD or DVD player.

BTW if you connect a DVD or CD player to a surround amp and switch on the surround DSP features it sounds so crap you usually switch it right off.

£600 on a DVD player and he has no clue. Bloke in Comet/Dixons etc must have laughed all the way to the pub.

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This item was edited on Friday, 25th January 2002, 17:40

RE: How can i get any kind of dolby with this set-up?

Gillsfan, if you use the anlogue outputs from your TV and DVD player they will pass Dolby Pro logic information to your amp. As long as the amp is pro logic compatible it will produce DPL surround.

However my suggestion would be to wait and save up for an amp with DD5.1 decoder (if your DVD will send DTS get an amp with a DTS encoder as well). THen you connect your DVD via the digital output (optical or coax) to the amp and the TV via Phonos.

This will make the DVD sound 1000% better.

If you go for the amp with no decoder you will upgrade sooner or later anyway so best to get it first time round.
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RE: Sony DV-P735 & Pearl Harbour

Take the disk back it sounds knackered
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RE: How do I connect a DVD player to a scartless TV?

Lebus, DVDs have a thing called Macrovision that stops you videoing them. This sounds like your problem.

Do you have any inputs under the front flap on the TV? If so a scart to composite or S-Video lead may work.

Is there someway of using the STB like you use the video??


Otherwise you are sh%gged.

Plenty of second hand TVs in the rental shops with scart cables. Or just rent one whilst you save up.

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RE: Buying DVD`s abroad.....

Andypandy you are missing a couple of points.

If you use a site like Play 247 you can often see the R1 disk for a couple of quid cheaper than R2. OK a couple of quid is not a lot.

But historically R1 disks are months in front of R2. If you are alergic to sitting in Cinemas with loads popcorn crunching morons this is good news.

Secondly the R1 disks nearly always have a better spec than R2. More extras and most importantly to Home Cinema fans DTS sound.

I realise if you dont have the full setup this is irrelevant. But for those of us that do. R1 is a must whilst we are still discriminated against.

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RE: RCE COMPATIBLE?

Paul, RCE seems to be spreading. Two titles I have are Knights Tale R1 and 6th Day R1. I also think the Patriot R1 is RCE.

If you look at Play 247 it clearly states which R1 discs are RCE.


I recomend a look at www.techtronics.com as it has a good description of RCE and what it does. They also modify players.

As far as I recall you need to be able to set your player to R1. This may be manual or automatic dependant on the model. My Sony 735 came from Hi Spek but luckily has a techtronics mod. I discovered this when I bought back the 6th day from the US and it wouldnt play. SO I searched techtronics (with jet lag) and found their pdf manual for the mod. Keyed in the commands and away it went (result!).

So if the software upgrade is free, do it. Otherwise dont waste your cash.

Rumours are that AI R1 will be RCE.

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RE: How can I view MPG & AVI files with my sampo player ?

Check out www.vcdhelp.com, loads of tools and walk throughs on how to use AVI and MPG to VCD tools.
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RE: PC DVD Player Software recommendation?

Check out www.vcdhelp.com. Look at the sidebar and look for tools, somewhere in there it lists Software DVD players. Some of them are Freeware.

Or check out www.tucows.com.

However I have an 800Mhz P3 with DVD drive and you still get the odd stutter with Software decoding. Only good way is to get a hardware decoder card for the PC.
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RE: widescreen TV selection dilemma

Ged component Vide is supposed to be the best. Better than RGB. However I dont reckon you will see the difference. ONly Toshiba do TVs with Component in as far as I can see.

Flay screen is good. make sure at least one scart is RGB capable.

100Hz is good on larger screens as it stops 50Hz flicker. Dont get a TV with Fancy sound, NIcam will do. Just use your amp and speakers for a much better sound quality.
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RE: Need help looking for a DVD/HiFi and 32

I agree with RichardH, going for a combo will severly limit the future proofing.

Prologic 2 is great I have it. Would recomend it highly.

The Nicam VCR will connect to a prologic 1 or 2 amp and provide surround sound. DVD connected to teh amp will give full 5.1 surround.
Tv broadcasts mainly use Nicam and Prologic 1 but will be enhanced by Prologic 2.

You need Sky + to get full 5.1 off air. Unfortunately this is only for Sky film channels currently.

Make the system modular then you can upgrade bit by bit. Denon make cracking surround amps. Partner with a good multiregion DVD and get a TV with the best picture and dont worry about its sound capability as your new amp will handle that.
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RE: Advice on what DVD player to get

Tosh has had some great reviews all over the place, long term a better bet. Do you need region free? Tosh will require modification to do that. Not sure about the Goodmans.
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RE: Own Region 1 Panasonic DVD RV31PX-S; want to convert to Multiregion

Check out www.techtronics.com they have great range of modifications on offer.
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RE: Considering buying a widescreen TV - recommendations needed please !

I was in the same position earlier last year, luckily with a little more savings. TV sound was not an issue. After looking carefully at Toshiba, Panasonic, Phillips and Sony the Sony TV was ahead for picture quality.

The other thing to think about is 50Hz vs 100Hz TVs. Most 50Hz tvs are really very good all round as this is a well grounded piece of technology. 100Hz sets seem to vary a lot as they do extra "processing" to the picture.

Why do you want 100Hz? Well on larger screens there is flicker at 50Hz (basically scan is longer and can be seen) which can wear you down a bit after some prolonged viewing. 100Hz fixes this but at a price and with varying results.

In my mind (and Eye) Sony has the best 100Hz processing. If you find a case full of cash check out their sets with DRC-MF which increases screen resolution and is brilliant for DVDs.
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RE: Barking mad?

Paul most DVD players and amps with Onboard decoders will allow you to set the speaker size to large or small. Large means LFE is fed to the speakers which you designate as large , (left and right typically). If you set the speakers to small it sends LFE to the .1 output.

So you need to check the DVD players setup screens or the manual to see if this option is available. It is on my Sony.

Good thing about this is if you later add the Sub (which you should as it makes a massive difference) you just reset the DVD player speaker settings to small and away you go.

Remember when looking at DVDs Region free is always the way to go. But ensure that the region can be manually set (rather than automatic) so you can play region 1 RCE disks. See www.techtronics.com for RCE explanation.
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RE: scart leads

Steve best way is if your DVD has two scart sockets. Configure DVD, TV and digibox to use RGB. Connect DVD to TV and Digibox to DVD.

Then all can use RGB to the TV.
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RE: surround sound..HELLLLP

Hi it is better to get a Amp and speakers with Decoder on board rather than the DVD player. You defo need optical or Coax digital connection to the AMP. Have a look at www.techtronics.com for good multiregion dvd players

RE: please advise on solid multi region all round dvd

Hi Dayers, I recomend looking at www.techtronics.com if nothing else they have very detailed descriptions of region hacking DVD players and info on RCE (region Code enhanced). I have a mate who did some research and bought a multi region DVD player only to find out it wouldnt play RCE titles.

Prices arent bad at Techtronics either. Pioneer, Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony is all good stuff.
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