Pixelation with Malata DVP-520...Help!

[jspacemunkey]

I just purchased a Malata DVP-520 after a couple weeks of research. While researching I kept reading great things about this player, and by and large I've found these things to be true.

However, after having tried several region-1 NTSC discs in the player, I am a tad disappointed. Don't get me wrong, the picture is phenomenal, but I keep encountering scrambled images. Every once in a while (usually no more than three or four times in the course of a movie) blocks of pixels will become scrambled or appear as tv "snow". The effect usually lasts seconds or less. This infrequent and brief pixelation can really ruin my film-viewing experience. The question is, what the heck is causing it?

I contacted the people from whom I bought the player, and the upshot of our discourse has been that either the player needs to be replaced or this interference is to be expected when outputting in interlace using a player with the mediamatics chipset. I do not have or have access to (in order to test and see if the interference disappears) a progressive scan tv, nor do I have plans to buy one. I wanted to see if I could find any information about this mediamatics interlace interference so that I could determine whether the chipset and output mode are the cause of the problem, but I had no luck. One other thing that came up is that I should try switching the video mode on the player (it has four video modes...still, movie, etc.). Supposedly there's a chance that using one of these filters will fix the problem. I will test this, but I doubt this is going to help.

I did come upon several articles which suggested that Malata players seem to have interference issues all around. None of these articles mentioned the interference having to do with the mediamatics chipset. I've also read that the Jaton PSD7611K, a player essentially comparable to the Malata DVP-520, does not experience this interference, so I'm trying to determine if I should simply return the Malata and get the Jaton.

Can anyone offer some help here? Feedback on either player in regard to interference issues would be of great assistance. More importantly, does anyone else using a player with the mediamatics chipset output in interlace, and if so do you ever experience even mild interference?

Thanks in advance,

jc

[jspacemunkey]

just posting a response to myself in case someone else encounters the same problem i've had and runs a search for Malata players here. i'm pretty sure i've honed in on the actual problem, but i've learned some stuff which could be of benefit to potential malata owners. (as it has been a while since my original post, and as i am only attempting to record additional information, i don't think this will violate the forum rules regarding bumping topics...if i'm wrong, i sincerely apologize)

to begin, i want to say that i'm not impressed with Malata's customer service. the person i managed to get in contact with there regarding the pixelation issues i was having seemed to lack any knowledge of the DVP-520, period. thankfully, the people i ordered the player from were on top of things. based on a mediamatics chipset faq they sent me i began to believe the problem i was seeing was really, really severe combing. i know now that i was most probably wrong. however, i think it's worthwhile to explain combing in regard to the mediamatics chipset in case there's a future malata customer out there searching this forum.

combing is when, especially during a sequence where there is movement, a film (or what have you) exhibits fine "teeth" along the edges of objects and people. i had this happen a great deal with my apple powerbook when playing dvds. these teeth look exactly like the teeth of a comb, hence the term.

now, if you read the description i gave of the interference i was experiencing, you'll realize that combing is not the issue for me. i believed it was because combing can become severe enough to cause images to break up. however, considering the nature of the mediamatics chipset and my particular case, such is not likely. in regard to mediamatics, the mediamatics chipset works (supposedly) in a fashion different than normal progressive scan dvd players. the player starts by outputting the image in progressive scan. if an interlace image is needed, the player then "downgrades" the progressive image (usually progressive scan players "upgrade" the image from interlace, or so i hear...haven't read anything to confirm that beyond what's in the mediamatics faq). because of this, PAL dvds tend to experience a lot of combing when outputting in interlace (combing with the mediamatics chipset really only occurs with PAL dvds). NTSC dvds outputting in interlace should exhibit combing rarely if ever.

i've played a lot of NTSC dvds in my DVP-520 since my original post, some of them brand new, some of them old. no matter the condition of the dvd playing, two things are true: the random, brief image break up still occurs, and i have only seen very slight combing occur a couple times. combined with the fact that i've talked to two other malata owners, i am fairly convinced that the player simply needs a thorough cleaning. in other words, it makes more sense given the nature of combing with the dvp-520 and the nature of the problem i've experienced there's dust on the laser lens of the player. when i originally approached the problem, i automatically assumed that the player either needed cleaning or my dvds needed cleaning. i was told that such was not the case, and that set me off on the wrong course. there is still a chance that cleaning the player won't fix the problem, but i am hopeful that it will.

one last thing about combing...i don't have access to a progressive scan compatible tv (working on it though), but supposedly when outputting in progressive mode the player will exhibit no combing problems with PAL or NTSC dvds.

jc

[Creyton]

Just found this post, and realize it's old, but I have the JATON PSD-7611 and it's a great player, completely trouble-free... plays all regions. The incremental zoom alone is worth the price. In fact, all the video adjustments (listed below) are great.

Format Conversion
Chroma Filter
Horizontal Filter
Vertical Filter
Y Delay
Vertical Interpolation
Deinterlace Mode
Widescreen Conversion

I'm kind of surprised that this player gets so little mention in sites like these.