What DVD player gives BEST quality on VCD.

[Xitanium]

i currently have an Apex 660 macropatched (no need for reigon patch as all my dvds are reigon 1)i have heard that its quality of vcd is mid-grade (and i agree, i have seen a standalone vcd player play the same vcd and have it look better, and i have seen a sony look worse on the same dvd) so what dvd player to buy, i heard some pioneers have hardware smoothers, any info on those is helpful.

[next]

Are you using S-video into your TV with your 660? If so have you replaced the S-video cable that came in the box? Most DVD players come with really cheap cables. The ones with the Apex look almost plastic to me. Replace it with a higher quality cable and you will notice a difference.

You said the Sony does not look as good but the VCD player looks better. There are many many many variables when trying to compare quality. Were all the players outputting to the same TV? Were they all using S-video? Or were they all using composite? You will notice a difference if one was using S-video, the other composite, and if one had better quality cables than the others....etc....etc. The quality of the TV matters as well. If you are comparing three different entertainment setups then it may be the setup that has produced the difference and not simply the players.

I always thought that my Apex 660 looked better than my 703. Then I noticed that the cable on the 703 was inferior. I replaced it and the difference was remarkable. Now I can't tell the difference between the two. So there may be more going on here than just the players.

[hitechjunkie]

another thing to consider when using s-video is that because the video is enhanced, imperfections in a (lower bitrate) VCD might appear more evident, in which case you may need to tweak the sharpness setting on your t.v. down a bit more...

[Greg12]

what is "macropatched"


where i get it?

[SatStorm]

Lately, I saw many DVDs, which I tested them with a couple of VCDs, xVCDs and Svcds.
Amoisonic, Cyberhome and older pioneer players, seems to be the best solution.
Amoisonic and Cyberhome are macrovision and region code free by the factory (he he he he....)
Pioneer needs crack
Most of Sony standalone DVDs plays awfull VCDs, Panasonic too... With Hitachi it is not easy to found a VCD/ CD-R compatible player, so with Philips
Encore, Yakamawa and those Napa players works but the picture suck. Apex too (Is like encore, to blocky...)
I don't know if any of all those players I mention are on US stores, in Europe we are full of those...
Best solution I thing is pioneer... An old one, from ebay (look also at the DVD list for reports)

About S-Video, Composive, SCART (RGB) and Cables....
A typical cable less than 1,5m, it's OK...
A very expensive one and a very cheap one, got 15% difference, so with a typical one, you have only 5% difference...
Beyond 1.5m, you need good cables.
Composite video, is good for a long distance: 5-10m.
S-Video is only for 3-4m. (Ok, mine is 15m for my projector and I see no difference, but that is happening because my projector is low end).
We don't talk for Scart cables: Beyond 2 meters, you need AAAAA class cables for good results (and they are too expensive...)

A tip for S-video: If you have a VCR with S-video in, plug dvd's cable there, and watch from VCR...
Sometimes that smooths the picture (for various reasons)

[sracer]

If you play a lot of VCDs, I'd recommend replacing the Apex. It isn't a very good VCD player.

One thing that I've discovered is that VCDs look better on TV if I use the composite video connector instead of the S-Video or Component Video. I have a Pioneer DV-434 DVD player connected to a Toshiba 20" flatscreen, via both the composite and component video cables. I watch DVDs via the component connection (Sweet!) and VCDs via the composite (extremely nice).

The lower quality of the composite connector softens the compression artifacts that are present and gives an overall more visually appealing presentation.