Sony DVP-NC875V/S 5-Disc DVD/CD/SACD Changer (Silver)

change 4 discs while the 5th keeps playing * plays DVD-Video, DVD-R & DVD-RW, DVD+R & DVD+RW, and Video CD * plays SACD, CD, audio CD-R & CD-RW, and MP3 CD-R & CD-RW * plays picture CD (JPEG) * 108MHz/12-bit video D/A converter * selectable progressive-scan mode for smoother video with HD-compatible TVs (via the component video output) *

Video and audio buffs rejoice: Sony's 5-disc, DVP-NC875V/S changer handles all your DVD, CD, and Super Audio CD (SACD) needs--including playback of MP3 music and JPEG image CDs. The player gives you all the convenience of a carousel changer--continuous playback, play exchange--as well as progressive-scan video outputs with Precision Cinema Progressive technology and cool enhancements like Sony's Precision Drive 3 system for playing damaged discs.

The DVP-NC875V/S plays just about any disc out there, from DVD-Video to DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, and DVD+RW. And whether your living room is currently home to an HDTV or you're merely thinking of "someday," the DVP-NC875V/S stands ready to deliver the full potential of your DVDs through Sony's Precision Cinema Progressive de-interlacer (scanning) with 3:2 pulldown processing. Progressive scanning, referred to as 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines of a conventional DVD picture, giving you higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts.

Precision Cinema Progressive technology uses a 12-bit video DAC (digital-to-analog converter) with high-bandwidth, 108 MHz processing to detect image changes at the pixel level, rather than at the level of whole scan lines. That makes this player's picture more faithful to the source--whether film or video--because it uses separate, optimized algorithms to handle different pixel behaviors. Separate algorithms are also used to process the moving and still parts of an image, resulting in sharp backgrounds with moving objects that are free from motion artifacts.

DVD mastering introduces a common distortion when adjusting 24 frames-per-second movies to 30 fps video; 3:2 reverse pulldown digitally corrects this distortion, removing the redundant information to display a film-frame-accurate picture. Composite- and S-video outputs bring compatibility with nearly any television.

Depending on the disc, SACD music releases provide super high-fidelity multichannel and/or stereo sound. As an anti-piracy measure, the DVP-NC875V/S performs its own decoding of SACD signals, passing high-resolution analog, not digital, audio to your integrated amplifier or surround receiver. This means you'll need an audio/video receiver with multichannel analog-audio inputs to appreciate multichannel SACD releases. Built-in SACD bass management helps you tailor the output level of the ".1" LFE (low-frequency effects) channel to your system, as an appropriate level may differ from the output level appropriate for Dolby Digital and DTS surround mixes.

If you're not planning to use the SACD capability for multichannel programming, both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel surround-sound signals can also be routed through the player's digital-audio outputs (1 each RCA coaxial and Toslink optical) for simpler connection to a compatible receiver (multichannel analog and digital-audio interconnects are not supplied).

Precision Drive 3 provides a mechanism for reading DVDs that are in less than perfect condition, eliminating errors in playback due to imperfect, scratched, or warped discs.

As soon as you hook up the DVD player, a special Quick Setup screen appears ready to guide you through configuration, step by step, screen by screen. DVD resume memory kicks in whenever you stop a DVD. Later, when you come back to it, the player will pick up right where you left off before. The player holds resume points for an impressive 40 discs.

Other playback features include 10-second instant replay, DVD/CD Text display (with applicable discs), a digital video enhancer, digital video EQ (equalization), custom parental control memory for 40 discs, as well as Advanced SmoothScan and SmoothSlow Modes.

What's in the Box
DVD player, remote control, 2 AA remote batteries, a stereo analog audio/composite-video interconnect, a user's manual, and warranty information.

1 over-all , satisfied
the needs of individuals vary, my main concern is always the sound quaility, in this case I was very pleased. I also appreciate this units ability to deal with less than perfect conditioned dvds. Having said that, I did find the unit sluggish in response time and missed the title read-out. Yet over-all I was satisfied.

2 Good picture quality, but slow startup & pathetic mp3 usage
Though the quality of picture & sound are very good, device is very very slow in changing disks or while reading the disk first-time. The front panel has a very poor readability and you need to go close to the device to read the letters. The remote control is only a 2-device controller (DVD and TV) which is a limitation. My Onkyo receiver's remote recognized this DVD player, but the dvd changer functionality is not working. Contacting Sony didn't help on this - they just seem to be proprietary in the remote interface.

More than watching movies, I bought this mostly to listen to mp3 songs on my receiver and this was a bad purchase. The ID3 tag is not at all supported, moreover the song name doesn't appear either on the front-panel or on the television. The most irritating thing that I didn't like this system is because there is no "shuffle" for mp3 songs and the system doesn't remember the last position for mp3 disks. Hence everytime I put the CD back, I listen to the exact same sequence of the songs. What kind of a bad software from Sony. This is a piece of garbage if you have a requirement of listening to audio on this.

3 Still Playing Singles
Sony has here a fine product deserving of the praises from the previous reviewer. If instead of "shuffle", the spec's included "random play", Sony would have successfully swung one more dedicated, single disk player over to the carousel.

4 5-Disc changer plays DVDs, CDs, plus terrific new SACDs
This is a very good DVD player. But it has an additional feature which makes it very special: in addition to DVDs and regular CDs, it plays the new SACDs -- which are the finest sounding recordings currently available.

When conventional CDs became available they displaced LPs in the marketplace because of their small size and the fact that their sound did not degrade with the ticks and pops that even the best-maintained LPs eventually acquire. But, despite these advantages -- as well as significant improvements in CD sound over time with technological advances such as oversampling -- many connoisseurs maintained that CDs never achieved the warmth and high-frequency sweetness characteristic of top-grade audiophile LPs. Now that has changed. Super Audio CDs are superior in sound to the finest audiophile-quality LPs I've ever heard. Furthermore, even conventional CDs played on a SACD player sound better than they do on typical CD players. In fact, the best conventional CDs in my collection equal audiophile-quality LPs in sound when played on a SACD player and the new SACDs sound even better. If you're going to buy a DVD player, why not get one like which also plays not only regular CDs but the new terrific-sounding SACDs -- especially, when the price is so reasonable?