How's the Philips DVP-642 for (S)VCDs?

[absinthecarolinas]

Well, I've been thinking of picking up another low-end-to-mid-range player for (S)VCD purposes, and I thought I might check out one of these newfangled gadgets that play DivX files as well. From what I've been reading around here, apparently the Philips DVP-642 is about the hottest thing going.

So the database here reports that it plays SVCD and VCD. Can anyone confirm that it does this particularly well? How strict is it about compliancy? Anyone tried, for instance, KVCD?

And how about playback of MPG4 encoded with the XviD codec (that's all I use).

-abs

[gll99]

I tested vcd, svcd and a couple of kvcd's on the dvp-642 and they all played fine. The quality was on par with my Apex players.
Xvid will play but as you already have probably read don't use Qpel or GMC. Video resolution (framesize) is not an issue either. It plays them all.
The player also plays mpeg1 and mpeg2 and (vob with ac3 audio) without authoring but don't expect chapters. If you press display on the remote you can enter a time to jump to in all types of video's.

[absinthecarolinas]

Thanks! I think I'll be adding this to my "gonna-get-it-as-soon-as-I-get-a-extra-few-bucks" list

-abs

[oldfart13]

I can't get it to play back some of my stuff, namely VROs burned to either DVD-RW or +RW, Mepg-2 ISOs with AC-3 sound (I get no sound). That means that 46 discs I have will not play back on this machine. Awaiting word from Philips as to what I do now but it's looking more and more like I should take this back and get something else...

[absinthecarolinas]

Hi oldfart (and I mean that in the nicest possible way ),

What is a "VRO?" And why would you have an MPG-2 with AC3 sound? Do you mean like un-authored DVD material? Are they multiplexed?

I don't think either of these would be an issue for me, but I'm just curious.

-abs

[jman98]

I've done some testing on a lot of discs. Here's what I found
VCD - no problem with commercial discs. Some of my older VCDEasy authored discs won't play correctly. They speed up and are totally unwatchable. A VCD created recently with the latest VCDEasy played without any problems.
KVCD - no problems, but I only have one disc to test with. I'm not a big fan of the format. Looked fine to me.
SVCD - the player really shines here. Played all the SVCDs I tested. However, it does not support multiple audio tracks on SVCD. It will only play the first one. If it finds SVCD subtitles, it will only play the first subtitle stream and it CANNOT be turned off CVD subtitles won't play at all. To repeat, if it finds a SVCD subtitle stream, by default it will play it and you cannot turn it off. You cannot select other subtitle streams on the disc. Some of my SVCDs were truly compliant, some were not (but close). I had no problems. I even tried a SVCD burned to a 90 minute CD-R and it played it correctly.
miniDVD - if the bit rate is below 4500 Kbps or so, it has no problems at all with the video, but there is no sound. I saw a post in another section of the forums about a possible remote control fix for this, but I'll have to try it later. I tried miniDVD with both MPEG audio and AC3 and got no sound on either format. Others have reported the same.
Divx - I only have some old 3.11 Divx rips to test with, but they played fine. If you use anything other than MP3 for your Divx audio, it may not work, though. I can't test this, but it's just a warning about a possible problem.
Multiregion - no problems playing DVDs from other regions once you use the remote control to enter the right code (look it up under DVD Players at this web site - I think the code is 789 enter 0, but you should verify that by looking it up).
MP3 - no problems.

[jman98]

I tested last night and miniDVD will play with audio, but not directly. If the player sees a miniDVD (DVD format on CD media), it will try to play it as a DVD, but there is no audio. The trick is to stop the player and press the Menu button on the left side of the remote control. This puts the player in file play mode like the disc was JPG or MP3. Select the VOB on the right side of the screen and press play. When it starts playing, quickly press the Audio button at the bottom right of the remote control and cycle through until your audio file is found. Your audio is probably at C0. If you have the old DVD Ripper program, it can tell you what code is associated with your audio file. I also tried to put the player in file play mode to see if I could access the 2nd audio track on a SVCD and it didn't work. The player will not go into file play mode for VCD or SVCD discs.

Although I have not tested it, I suspect that the player can play raw VOB or MPEG files that haven't been authored to DVD or (S)VCD. The bit rate on miniDVDs needs to be at 4500 or less or the audio won't play correctly. This is because the firmware doesn't spin the drive fast enough for miniDVD to play at higher bit rates. I'm amazed that the player supports the format at all. This is the only DVD player by a big name manufacturer that I know of that can play miniDVD. The only other players I know that will play them were by Sampo, Apex, etc.

[absinthecarolinas]

jman98,

Thanks very much for your extensive feedback! Just a question: surely the player will play AVI's with Ac3 audio, correct? That's how I make all my XviDs.

Funny thing. I just now received a check in the mail from State Farm regarding a policy I canceled a couple of years ago. It's an escrow refund for a little over $100.

I'll give you three guesses where it's going (and the first two don't count).

-abs

[jman98]

I don't mess with Divx (or wink wink - AVI if you prefer) much. The few I have use MP3. This is player Divx Networks certified and on their web site, they say that only MP3 is guaranteed to work at this time on certified players. If you are using AC3, my gut feeling is that it will not work, but I have nothing to test it with. Sorry it took a while to respond to your question.

[lifeisfun]

AC3 is working just fine.....

[absinthecarolinas]

I bought the player last Friday. Found one at my local Target. It does of course play Ac3, and for that matter everything else I've put in it. I couldn't be more pleased

I even tried out a file I knew had GMC as I had encoded it myself. It started to play, and I couldn't believe it! But then it just went back to the file menu and said "codec not supported."

Dern.

Very nice machine for only $70.

-abs