DVP642 died. Do I want 3980 or 5990 for correct PAL to NTSC conversion?

[WinME]

...(and any other hidden options)? Quick knowledgeable response appreciated. Someone mentioned a problem with PAL being "square" on the 5990 so I wanted to check first; 642 played all my made discs; other players won't touch them. Freaking out. Don't be so strict with your forum rules. I'm holding a gun to my head here. Okay, I'm not. But please help! :) :) :)

[jagabo]

The 5990 is fine. I have a 5992 which is basically the same player in a slightly different case. It's a far better player than the 642. It plays a wider variety of files. PAL/NTSC conversion works well. Region free hack is easy. The remote controls is much better than the 642's. It's only so-so instead of a piece of crap! Get the hacked firmware from this thread:

https://forum.videohelp.com/topic355675.html

[WinME]

Running to store. Much thanks!

[jagabo]

By the way, what store are you running to? They are hard to find now.

[WinME]

BestBuy in the southwest has them (looked online), Tempe/Phoenix area. $65 They don't carry the 92 yet like amazon who's overcharging for both. I should have mentioned my main purpose was to play my youtube vids which I recorded as data cd-r's. Maybe I should try the iso format.

[WinME]

(If you meant the 3980 amazon $63 new or $45 refurbished.)

[jagabo]

Thanks, I see Best Buy has them again. And it's not Amazon that is overcharging -- it's some of their partners.

After you get your 5990 could you verify that that region free hack still works with the shipped firmware? I've seen some claims that newer versions don't respond to the hack.

Youtube vids? I hope you converted them to Xvid/Divx AVI. Philips palyers dosn't play FLV (VP6 or h.264).

[WinME]

Testing... and... 37.08.51.31 sub 08.03.03.03 8032 05.00.06.05 Hope this isn't my serial number... purchased and tested from BestBuy April 27 '09.
Hack worked; confirmed.
3 Region '2' discs, 2 saying PAL... Played!
DVD-R purchased from net... Played!
and... (drum roll...)
<anticipation>
YouTube CD-R... PLAYS!!! (I'm so relieved... Thank you again for your advice. Every thing I care about are on those little CD-R's...
UseNet downloads... PLAYS!!! (Wow!)
Website movie clips... PLAYS!!! Last two types could forward to next file and navigate at least one folder level as well.

Everything a boy could want! Thank you Thank you again for your recommendation! Very happy here. Yes, hack (and internet filetype playability) completely confirmed for this model. Now I get to play with a USB link; my computer is 1.1, I'll check it out. (Yes, I really am on a WinME

[WinME]

I convert to mpgs. Not too techie here. I'll have to try an .avi file (don't have too many) just to see if that works too. Oh, my movie clips were .wmv (looking at file types) so that is already confirmed too, with good sound. Okay, burned test disc with one folder with a file each of avi, mpg, mpeg, and wmv... ALL PLAYED! Goodie! Volume was better on avi but probably just the files. I can play all my stuff! Would using 'xvid/dvix' benefit me?

[jagabo]

Thanks for the reports! Xvid/Divx will let you make smaller files than MPEG 1 or MPEG 2 -- with similar quality.

[WinME]

Gotcha, Thanks!

[Number Six]

WinME - Did you say that this does play WMV video files - I just looked it up at BestBuy and do not see this listed under playable formats - it does say WMA, which is audio. I definitely would like a player that does play WMV.

[jagabo]

Yes, it plays WMV -- but there are some restrictions. I don't remember exactly what. Something about the audio maybe? Or only WMV1 not WMV3? It's mentioned in a thread around here somewhere. If you supply a short clip I'll try it out.

I found a few WMV files sitting around:

320x240 WMV2 + WMA2 did not play, "video codec not supported"
320x180 WMV1 + WMA2 played
640x480 WMV3 + WMA2 played

[Number Six]

Thanks jagabo - I have a lot of stuff encoded for my Zune - I will post a small clip tomorrow.

[WinME]

Yes, I had forgotten some files didn't play; showed the 'video codec not supported' message but played the audio normally. Most of my wmv's played. Since they were all batched the same on my end, the difference lies with the encoder before the .flv stage; that is, turning them to mpg's had no effect with respect to the wmv2 layer apparently. Glad jagabo knows about this stuff. My DVP642 *did* play these files. Wish the modern one did; shouldn't lose an ability by upgrading. Nevertheless, great machine, I'm enjoying it. I do like the performance of it and the remote *is* superior

[Number Six]

jagabo - I made 2 small test files for you to check for me. THANKS

320x240 500kbit/s 29.97fps video, 96kbit/s audio - wmv ver. 1 video and audio

vts_01_3.wmv

320x240 500kbit/s 29.97fps video, 96kbit/s audio - wmv ver. 2 video and audio

vts_01_4.wmv

[jagabo]

Bad news:

vts_01_3.wmv (320x240 WMV1, 96 Kbps WMA1) played but only displayed the video. There was no audio and no message about the audio.

vts_01_4.wmv (320x240 WMV2, 96 Kbps WMA2), did not play at all. I got was a "video codec not supported" message. I'm guessing that the player would have played the WMA2 audio if the video had been acceptable but I don't have the tools to mux/demux WMV files.

Combining these results with the ones I reported earlier seem to indicate the player doesn't like WMV2 and WMA1. But seems to be ok with WMV1, WMV3, and WMA2. Odd mix. Keep in mind I am using one of the mod firmwares from vb6rocod.

[Number Six]

Thanks jagabo - all my work was done in WMV2, and I thought it would not work based on your earlier post. I made a quick WMA1 file just to see what will happen. Well, I am NOT redoing all this - it would have been nice to play it on an actual DVD player.

[jagabo]

It seems odd that WMV1 and WMV3 work but WMV2 doesn't. Maybe someone with unmodified firmware (WinME?) can try them out...

Oh, I played all the files off of flash drive. I'll try a DVD later to see if there's any difference.

[WinME]

First of all, no DVD drive here altho I could use my roommate's computer. I'm using a CD-ROM which may be a Juliet as well. So media is being tested on CD-R discs (VCD), not DVD's.
First vts1-3: picture works, sound codec not supported.
Second vts1-4: video codec not supported, dosn't play at all video nor sound.

The only difference from j's results being that i did get the audio codec not supported on the first one.