Archos AV700 video quality poor - any suggestions or time to return?

[NG]

I just picked this up and am seriously considering returning it since I was surprised to see the *very* poor playback of video files. Lots of pixilation. Seems to be really bad handling black in particular.

I've uploaded divx/xvid files to the unit as well as tried to record from tv using the "optimal" as well as "VGA" recording settings as well as bumped the bitrate up to the max of 2500 in the prefs however still can't seem to get a "dvd quality" picture out of the unit. I've tried using RCA cables as well as S-Video to no avail.

Honestly the quality seems poorer than my anchient RCA 2780.

Any suggestions on what I might be able to try or is this unit just not that good dispite it's huge screen?

[jagabo]

The Archos AV700 has a 480x234 display. It will never be able to display DVD quality (720x480). The display is only capable of 18 bit color, not the 24 bit of DVD. Most LCDs have problems with deep blacks, even if they claim to deliver 24 bit color.

http://reviews.cnet.com/Archos_AV700_Mobile_DVR_100GB/4505-6499_7-31392977-3.html?tag=nav