JVC XV-511BK DVD Player

Perhaps what impressed us most about the XV-511BK, however, is the fact that it shined with every format we played. Images looked good in composite, component, and S-video, and the optical digital output delivered great sound in PCM stereo, as well as multichannel Dolby Digital and DTS.

Listening to well-engineered acoustic music, including some great steel-drum jazz by Andy Narell and some folky new stuff by Neil Young, we couldn't help but notice the extra detail, sweetness, and sense of "air" around the instruments.

Although not quite as obvious, we also felt that the Pro-Logic Surround soundtrack playback (via these same analog outs) displayed a refined quality, with excellent channel separation and dynamic range.

Player ergonomics are pleasing with the XV-511BK. The button lay out on the remote is less cluttered and more logically arranged than on other players we've reviewed of late. The tracking information is easy to read thanks to the player's larger-than-normal, front-panel fluorescent display (though we could do without the constantly spinning disc icon.)

What really grabbed us with this JVC model, however, was its onscreen operating guide. When you access the guide midway through a disc, a picture-in-picture-like display shrinks the still-moving and still-audible program down to quarter-screen size so that it occupies just the upper left quadrant. The operating guide fills the rest of the screen with a menu of player-control functions and disc-tracking information. The latter includes not only chapter and time, but also fluctuating bar graphs that show the current position of the disc program (between beginning and end) and the current video data rate. For CDs, there's a nice sampling mode that plays just the first nine seconds of each track, then moves on.

JVC has also built in a great "digest" feature. On cue, the digest mode quickly samples a frame from the beginning of the first nine film chapters, and shows them sequentially on screen in a nine-panel layout. Select your choice with the cursor and press Enter to immediately access that chapter. Or move past the bottom-right panel and into the next screen of nine stills.

We also loved the clean, multispeed fast scan and slow-motion visual play options, accessible from the remote. With the variable-speed jog shuttle dial on the front of the player, you can study the credits in slow motion or whisk through scenes with amazingly sharp, noise-free pictures. The variable-speed, fast-scan mode works surprisingly well on audio CDs, too.

If you're thinking about replacing your current CD player with a more versatile DVD spinner, we recommend you consider JVC's XV-511BK, which offers superb ergonomics and excellent build quality.

Pros:

• Fine performance from both digital and analog outputs
• Excellent special effects (still, slow motion, fast scan)
• Attractive and intuitive styling

Cons:

• No coaxial digital output
• Remote control isn't backlit

Other features include a multibrand remote control, optical digital-audio output for PCM, Dolby Digital, DTS compatibility, and easy screen control with digest, strobe, angle, list, and zoom functions. The XV511BK includes two forward and reverse speeds, a trilingual graphical onscreen display, and a special theater position. It comes with a warranty of a year on parts, 90 days on labor.