Pioneer DV-434 DVD Player

I purchased this player after having seen the picture from a similar Toshiba unit, switching progressive scan output on and off to compare the difference. The progressive scan output (only available when using the component video outputs) provides a much more filmlike picture; smoother and virtually free of horizontal scan lines. The setup, when using Expert mode, allows you to tailor the display and features to your liking. There is also a "standard" setup for novice users. I compared the picture with this Pioneer to my Panasonic A-310 and I must say the Pioneer unit, even when not using progressive scan out, provided a cleared picture with better overall quality, especially when displaying dimly lit scenes. A fantactic bargain at the Amazon price (I paid $349 on sale!).

For less than $300 with the DV-434 Pioneer packs a lot of features that I couldn't find in any other brand name DVD player in this price range. It has coaxial and optical digital outputs and component video outputs. Also, it plays CD-R and CD-RW, so you can play your own home made music CD, even your home made movies, considerring that it plays VCD and SVCD formats. Another nice feature is the progressive scan, which may allow you to take advantage of your (future) HDTV, even if it is limited to the 16:9 format. Adding to this that it is a very reliable player, no skips, no freezes, I consider that this is DVD player is a very good value for the money.

I bought this DVD player to replace a panasonic DVD player that was about a year old. My old one could not decompress full screen video when it was taxed. Scenes like water where the entire screen is changing was just to much so it would look like satelite TV when it is raining really, really hard.

I also considered some other cheaper players but found this one with progressive scan to be an amazing value. Progressive scan basically means the video is sampled twice as fast. I beleive to take adavatage of this you have to have and RGB input on your TV which my $1500 Sony 61 inch cheapo big screen did.

The picture is MUCH better that with my old DVD player.

Progressive Scan is worth the extra money is the bottom line if your TV can handle it.