Panasonic DVD-LS55 Portable DVD Player with 7-Inch Widescreen

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The Panasonic DVD-LS55 portable DVD player's slender, 1.1-inch chassis hides a built-in rechargeable battery good for 10 hours between charges--that's right, just about time enough to take in all of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. The player offers a 7-inch widescreen (16:9 aspect-ratio) display whose adjustable freestyle design broadens the range of available viewing angles, making the player perfect for suddenly bright/suddenly dark airplane cabins or desktop use in an office. The player handles DVD-Video, high-resolution DVD-Audio, DVD-R, and DVD-RAM playback--as well as standard and recordable audio CDs, including MP3- and WMA-encoded discs.

Designed to take full advantage of both audio and traditional video DVD formats, the DVD-LS55 delivers super high-fidelity (192 kHz/24-bit) sound of DVD-Audio. DVD-Audio software titles offer classic music titles in both multichannel and stereo, though be aware that this model plays discs in stereo only. Most DVD-A discs have compressed Dolby Digital or DTS 5.1 surround tracks, however; these can be passed through the unit's digital-audio output to a compatible surround receiver and speaker system.

Audio features also include DTS and Dolby Digital 2-channel decoding and multichannel passthrough, built-in stereo speakers, and Panasonic's Dialogue Enhancer for DVD movie viewing. Advanced Surround Sound (VSS) simulates surround effects from any two speakers or from headphones.

Cinema Mode reduces the detrimental effects of screen glare from ambient light, rendering cinematic colors in pictures that are gentle on the eyes. Further, Cinema Mode improves the visibility of details in dark scenes by automatically adjusting picture contrast. High-speed, five-step Smooth Motion Scan provides crystal-clear forward and reverse scan. At the highest setting, the unit scans at an incredible 200 times normal speed.

Panasonic's Dialogue Enhancer boosts the center channel volume--where most of the principal dialogue emanates when playing a Dolby Digital 5.1 disc--by 6 dB. Cinema Mode lessens glare, providing colors that are more cinema-like, and picture resolution that is gentler to the eyes. It also improves the visibility of details in dark scenes by automatically adjusting picture contrast, and helps to suppress color smearing as well.

This player is HighMAT compatible. High-Performance Media Access Technology is a standard co-developed by Panasonic and Microsoft to improve interoperability for digital media programming between PCs and electronics devices. HighMAT provides an efficient method for arranging digital photo, music, and video collections on recordable media.

What's in the Box
DVD player, a remote control, a remote battery, an AC/DC power adapter, audio/video cables, a rechargeable battery pack, a user's manual, and warranty information.

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review

(21 customer reviews)

75 of 77 people found the following review helpful

This is THE portable DVD Player to own..., November 27, 2004

Radio Man "yarns13" (NY, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Panasonic DVD-LS55 Portable DVD Player with 7-Inch Widescreen LCD (Electronics)

I did a lot of research on portable Dvd players before deciding on this one.

This one somehow has been skipped over and most people know it's brother the DVD-LS50. In short I believe the key differences between the LS50 and this the LS55 are the battery life and the fm modulator on this unit. But the battery life is INCREDIBLE compared to any other similar player I've seen. Panasonic says it gets TEN hours of battery life. Most players barely get 2 or 2.5 hours.

From what I've seen so far the battery life is indeed great. I haven't run it a full 10 hours yet so I can't say it really gets a full 10 hours of play on the battery. But I've used it a lot and the battery meter has yet to drop in level. Even if Panasonic is not telling complete truth..imagine even getting 6-7 hour battery life. I did try the fm modulator in my car with Alpine radio. It was very good to so so. I guess it will depend on where you have the Panasonic vs your car stereo and antenna. But it...Read more

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful

Love it, but ..., January 18, 2005

Gz B (Kailua, HI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic DVD-LS55 Portable DVD Player with 7-Inch Widescreen LCD (Electronics)

This is my first portable DVD player. After reading reviews on many different players, looking at the actual players at different stores, and reading descriptions on manufacturer's websites, I finally decided on this one. At that time it was difficult to find many reviews on the LS55 and it isn't readily available in most stores around where I live. I was taking a chance on this one as I did not have much to compare it to other than the LS50, which is very similar in size and shape. I am very much a Sony enthusiast, but found that this Panasonic player has many features to compete with. Here's what I like and dislike about the player.

The picture quality on this player is very nice and I haven't had any problems with dead pixels. The picture is a little dark, but easy to correct with the brightness or cinema control which enables you to sharpen darker scenes or enhance the scene's a/v quality. One of the most convenient qualities about this player is that it can...Read more

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

Some nice features, March 23, 2005

hiendtime "Andy F." (Northeast USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic DVD-LS55 Portable DVD Player with 7-Inch Widescreen LCD (Electronics)

Did a lot of research before buying the LS55. Considered players from Samsung and Toshiba, both of which offer more bells and whistles like progressive scan and video inputs, and personally I believe sharper pictures (likely the by-product of progressive scan). Gave up the sharper picture and video input for longer battery life, compact size and the flexibility of screen positioning. Battery life was a huge consideration as players that cannot last 6 hrs are of no use to me. 2hrs of viewing on a 6hr plane ride is a waste. Haven't had the opportunity to drain the battery yet but will bet it goes at least 6 hrs under normal conditions (mfg claims 10 with brightness all the way down). The screen flexibility is really cool. When on the train I move the bottom edge of the screen to the front of the unit and put the thing right up against my stomach rather than having to hold it out on my knees, which is where is see other commuters holding their conventional portables. This will come in...Read more

Panasonic DVD-LS55 Portable DVD Player with 7-Inch Widescreen LCD

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