original title: Stereo uses 5.1 analog, DVD uses digital out
I want to get a new DVD player as mine is dying and I want one with a usb hook up. But all the best DVD players only have a digital out for sound…and my living room 5.1 stereo setup needs 6 analog (errr RCA?) cables. Is there some sort of converter I can get? Or do I have to settle for stereo?
Some DVD players do come with 6 channel analogue output.
Else you’ll need a receiver with a dolby digital (and preferably DTS, it is better) decoder. They cost from about NT$20K
I think you’ll be preferring the first option, they certainly do exist.
[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”]Some DVD players do come with 6 channel analogue output.
Else you’ll need a receiver with a dolby digital (and preferably DTS, it is better) decoder. They cost from about NT$20K
I think you’ll be preferring the first option, they certainly do exist.[/quote]
The only ones I found with analog were cheap no name crap. Sony and LG only had digital.
shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 0B&ROWNO=1
That one does it all and then some
So does this one, although it’s a tad expensive
shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 0J&ROWNO=3
There are D/A converters, but only to stereo afaik shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 28&ROWNO=1
Also have a look here videohelp.com for region free information if that’s something you need
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]http://shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item&func=exhibit&IT_NO=AFAD0B-A43704750&SR_NO=AFAD0B&ROWNO=1
That one does it all and then some
So does this one, although it’s a tad expensive
shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 0J&ROWNO=3
There are D/A converters, but only to stereo afaik shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 28&ROWNO=1
Also have a look here videohelp.com for region free information if that’s something you need[/quote]
Thanks man. Awesome.
Any idea why the Panasonic is so much more expensive? Generally when it comes to electronics I buy the best I can afford. And although I can afford the Panasonic…is it that much better than the Phillips?
And with regards to the converter. Why does it only have 2 analog outs? Someone once told me there is no such thing as 5.1 in one wire…is that correct?
Started searching on my own…found this: reviews.cnet.com/dvd-players/?fi … &tag=mncol
You mean the Pioneer?
It seems like it’s also a SACD player which would increase the price and it can be used for recording CD’s onto a USB device, although the Philips seem to be able to do that as well…
pioneer.eu/uk/products/42/84 … index.html (that’s the European model with Scart which the one here doesn’t have)
Philips details (PDF)
p4c.philips.com/files/d/dvp5 … ss_aen.pdf
Both seem to do 1080p up scaling and both support DivX Ultra (and all other DivX formats) so I can’t see any real reason to go for the Pioneer unless you want SACD playback.
I’m sure LG has some models with analogue audio output as well, I just can’t seem to figure out which models as the ones sold here have very spotty details in English.
The only way to get 5.1-audio over one cable is in digital format. The converter has two analogue outs as one is left (white) and one is right (red). You need one cable per channel (two wires inside each cable) for analogue audio. Hence why you need a shed load of cables in 5.1-channel setups. I guess it’s the trade-off you have to do for surround sound.
This might be something for you monday.com.tw/gdsale/gdsale.asp?gdid=1232432 
It does apparently come recommended trustedreviews.com/home-cine … -Player/p1
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]This might be something for you monday.com.tw/gdsale/gdsale.asp?gdid=1232432 
It does apparently come recommended trustedreviews.com/home-cine … -Player/p1[/quote]
I think I’d rather not have my wife kill me…but thanks for that anyway 
.
With regards to the converter. Still a bit confused. The digital cable carries a 5.1 signal, but the coverter only puts out stereo analog. So you are still losing out on 5.1, correct?
Correct
I did manage to find what you wanted in the first place though, but I don’t think you’re going to like the price
gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=8202
Alright I looked around at the shops. And I found a few no-name or lesser known name brands that had everything I wanted. But the only name brand I found was this: consumer.philips.com/c/blura … 94/prd/in/
But I am worried that 4,000nt was too much. I found other’s like Teco and Philo? that had the same features for less than half the price. Also Philips isn’t really well known for their DVD players.
I’d appreciate if you could take a moment TheLostSwede to check it out and see if I got ripped off or not. It’s still in the box so I can return it. I’ve looked at its specs, but they are greek to me.
Philips isn’t a bad brand for DVD players and they’re very common in Europe.
I think you might’ve overpaid a bit, at least compared to this model shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 0B&ROWNO=1 that does as far as I can tell, offer the same functions.
The one you got doesn’t seem to be widely available and it looks like a slightly older model, not that it’s a bad thing as such.
The only advantage of the cheaper one is karaoke, but that might not be a feature you want.
The one you got plays most PC formats from a USB stick, so you should’t have any problems with downloaded content.
The only downside is that there doesn’t seem to be a region free software mod/hack for your player which means that you might not be able to play imported discs on it.
I’ve looked at the cheap local brands and most of them not only look like crap (LED lights all over the place, ugly design etc.) but the build quality also seem to be utter crap. Sure, you should get similar functionality, but one thing many of the cheaper players don’t do is upscale DVD’s well, the player you got should have a good scaling processor which means that the picture will still look ok when you upscale it. What this means is that there won’t be so many jaggies/artefacts in the picture of you go from DVD (which is standard definition) to 720 or 1080 (HD).
Also found this Kolin player that seems to do what you want monday.com.tw/gdsale/gdsale.asp?gdid=1203650
Did you check out any of the AV stores near the camera street? They might have a better selection of players available.
I’m not in Taipei. I’ve got a Nova and a few 3Cs. And that’s about it. Carrefour and RT Mart only carry cheap stuff.
But my wife likes the kareoke and it came with a free HDMI cable…which you normally have to purchase. So 700nt more than the one you linked to seems ok. And makes me feel a bit better.
I used to spend money as quickly as I earned it. But since having a son buying anything makes me feel almost physically ill.
And now…I have to buy a HDTV…I hope I survive the experience.
At present my top choice is a Chimei. As its picture just looks ten times better than ever other TV on the shelves.
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]Philips isn’t a bad brand for DVD players and they’re very common in Europe.
I think you might’ve overpaid a bit, at least compared to this model shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 0B&ROWNO=1 that does as far as I can tell, offer the same functions. [/quote]
Looking at that phillips. I thought you meant that the cheaper one doesn’t have KTV. But it does…so does the more expensive one. Looking at them both I can’t see any differance. I think I might take it back and ask them.
Ah, well, I can only check stuff online so…
Taoyuan does have limited options, although if you go to the Carrefour near the big hospital you’ll be glad to know that it’s the best Carrefour I’ve been to in Taiwan, not that it helps when you’re after a DVD player 
And yeah, I can’t tell the two apart with the exception of the model number and some slight cosmetic changes.
With regards to the TV, just a word of warning, a friend of mine that works in the IT industry here as well as my GF have had major problems with Chimei TV’s that their companies have used at exhibitions with brand new units failing within days. That said, this has been limited to their 52-inch models and according to my GF, their smaller models are fine. Have you had a look at the new models from Vizio or BenQ? Vizio are meant to be really good and they have some cracking deal coming up at Costco where you get NT$3000 off their 240Hz 42-inch model, but that’s not until the 22nd of January… (and this is a fairly expensive cutting edge model to start with).
We got a Heran 42-incher recently, but the first one had a broken speaker and the replacement has a really annoying stuck red pixel (which isn’t covered by the warranty). The neat thing with it is that it has a USB port that you can use with a USB stick to watch movies straight off.
What’s your budget anyhow? Also, when demoing TV’s make sure they’re all connected to a good source (as in HD) via HDMI when you compare them, or the picture will look vastly different. Standard Definition content will look unsharp, slightly fuzzy and pixellated no matter what compared to HD content. Upscaling a DVD will look ok, but not like a Blu-ray disc. Just want to make sure you compare apples to apples and not apples to lemons 
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]Ah, well, I can only check stuff online so…
Taoyuan does have limited options, although if you go to the Carrefour near the big hospital you’ll be glad to know that it’s the best Carrefour I’ve been to in Taiwan, not that it helps when you’re after a DVD player
And yeah, I can’t tell the two apart with the exception of the model number and some slight cosmetic changes.
With regards to the TV, just a word of warning, a friend of mine that works in the IT industry here as well as my GF have had major problems with Chimei TV’s that their companies have used at exhibitions with brand new units failing within days. That said, this has been limited to their 52-inch models and according to my GF, their smaller models are fine. Have you had a look at the new models from Vizio or BenQ? Vizio are meant to be really good and they have some cracking deal coming up at Costco where you get NT$3000 off their 240Hz 42-inch model, but that’s not until the 22nd of January… (and this is a fairly expensive cutting edge model to start with).
We got a Heran 42-incher recently, but the first one had a broken speaker and the replacement has a really annoying stuck red pixel (which isn’t covered by the warranty). The neat thing with it is that it has a USB port that you can use with a USB stick to watch movies straight off.
What’s your budget anyhow? Also, when demoing TV’s make sure they’re all connected to a good source (as in HD) via HDMI when you compare them, or the picture will look vastly different. Standard Definition content will look unsharp, slightly fuzzy and pixellated no matter what compared to HD content. Upscaling a DVD will look ok, but not like a Blu-ray disc. Just want to make sure you compare apples to apples and not apples to lemons [/quote]
Thanks for your help. I truly appreciate it.
TVs…I’m was looking at the 42inch Chemei 120hz. It’s picture just blows away all other TVs on display. And they are all running from the same HDMI box. I think I already said this, but at two different stores while walking towards the TVs the Chemei just stands out. the whites are twice as bright as any other TV…and the blacks are black. And the 120hz does away with choppiness.
The 42inch costs 37,000nt. The 47 inch costs 56,000nt…and they throw in a 10,000nt 22inch LCD for free. And then there’s the 55inch, which costs 75,000nt and they throw in the 22inch as well.
I originally wanted the 42inch. But I currently have a 32inch (CRT) and I’m worried that if we mount the LCD on the wall which is a foot or two further back…then the size upgrade won’t be as noticeable. So now it’s either the 47 or the 55, but since the 47 is only 5 inches larger the next step down…and the 55 is a whole 8 inches large than the next step down…I’m now leaning towards the 55 inch.
Thoughts? Opinions? Alternatives?
Hmmm, found a website that said that this 55inch is the 2nd best LCD in the world according to a collection of reviews…etc: nextag.com/Samsung-UN55B6000 … rices-html And as you can see it’s only 2 grand usd…which is roughly 65,000nt.
So…I look for it in Taiwan and find it on that site you’ve been linking to: shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 7652&c=A20
It’s almost triple what it should be. Guess Taiwan made Chemei is the only way to go when imports are having their prices tripled on us.
Yeah, Samsung is charging an arm and a leg for their TV’s here, but those LED backlit units are gorgeous.
55-inch huh? I didn’t check the price on those in Costco but I think the Vizio is priced similar to the Chimei units.
Vizio has got a lot of really good reviews in the US and seem to be very popular here too.
As I said, the 55-inch Chimei models have a huge failure rate, a part of the screen dies and starts to flash and flicker. This is not an isolated problem but has happened on multiple units.
Can’t argue about the price or the deal though.
With regards to your DVD player, saw the same model in TK3C today for NT$3,500… So you got had for at least NT$500, or so it seems.
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]Yeah, Samsung is charging an arm and a leg for their TV’s here, but those LED backlit units are gorgeous.
55-inch huh? I didn’t check the price on those in Costco but I think the Vizio is priced similar to the Chimei units.
Vizio has got a lot of really good reviews in the US and seem to be very popular here too.
As I said, the 55-inch Chimei models have a huge failure rate, a part of the screen dies and starts to flash and flicker. This is not an isolated problem but has happened on multiple units.
Can’t argue about the price or the deal though.
With regards to your DVD player, saw the same model in TK3C today for NT$3,500… So you got had for at least NT$500, or so it seems.[/quote]
Perhaps the one you saw didn’t have the HDMI cord in the box?
The Chimei comes with a 3 year warranty…so…but these sets are supposed to last 20 years…and if the 55 inchers have a design flaw maybe I’ll have to repair mine every 4 years or something. Hmmm.
Well, I dunno about the DVI cable, but they’re not that expensive here, depending on length of course.
And with regards to the TV, I can’t say one way or another, just reporting what I’ve heard. It might be that this is a newer model that doesn’t have that problem.
If you have a PS3, you can use that as a DVD upscaling player.
Just wondering, when you want a DVD player with USB, are you trying to playback files from a flash drive? I’m not aware of many good ones with USB as they tend to be cheap gimmicks.
Good luck on your search and love your videos!