I'm currently having problems with this player. It won't play VCDs correctly, the picture keeps rolling up. It's also in black and white. This only happens when I'm playing VCDs.
(I am not in front of my DVD player so I am attempting to recall the menu's from memory) From the DVD setup menu, the Video setup, there is an option to pick the video output. Multi/NTSC/PAL .. I am assuming you have the output selected for your region (aka in North America, NTSC is recommended). Sounds like the player is outputing PAL to a NTSC TV... the "Black and White" and rolls -- sounds familar. I fortunately have a multi-scan NTSC/PAL Projector (LCD) -- but my TV is NTSC only. Perhaps I am completely wrong -- but it sounds like it is the wrong output (PAL signal into NTSC device, for example). --Doug
Can anyone tell me if there is a portable player that plays Divx? I could get a harddrive player or PVP, but I think I want to have a couple of options.... Thanks! J
I don't that's the problem, it works fine on my TV with another DVD player. I also selected MULTI for the regions.
Just select NTCS as your output. The 642 has a built in converter that will process PAL to NTCS is set. MULTI just lets the player shoot the video out in either format without converting. I have a DVD with PAL on one side and NTSC on the other. With my DVP642/17 set to NTSC, I can play either side fine. There <i>may</i> be a slight drop in quality if you are watching a commercial DVD, set to progressive, on a large plasma or DLP tv, but for most of us in the reall world, you won;t notice the difference. You definitely won't notice a difference playing a PAL VCD!
The Multi is not how you change the region (region 1-8, or zero for all) To change the region, open the tray (can press stop button for 2 seconds from remote) and press 7-8-9-[ok]-(region code, or Zero) and you will see the number of the region appear in the lower left. That "Multi-" option is you telling your DVD player that your TV can handle *BOTH* NTSC and PAL.. My Sony widescreen projector can handle NTSC and PAL, and I can set it up for MULTI. If I output the 642 to my (Tube,CRT) TV. I have to pick NTSC as it only accepts that format. Hope this helps you avoid any confusing. If you pick (assuming your have a NTSC TV).. NTSC in that option under video options.... It should solve your problem. The 642 will "Scan convert" a PAL source (25frames / 50 fields) into NTSC (30 frames / 60 fields, actually 29.97 and 59.94 but 30/60 is close enough to those that understand). If you want to permanently change your region and default output mode (aka change a 642/37 / NTSC Region 1) into something else 630/xx (I don't know the numbers or sufixes for other regions)... Follow the instructions list on Phillips website for updating the firmware . 5-6-9-[ok] then up/down to pick the model you want, then [ok] a second time... **WARNING** this will not only (possibly) change your region, but your default output (from NTSC to PAL or the other way) and you might not have a TV that can handle/display it. That plus it regenerates a random "Divx VOD" registration number. And if you never use Divx VOD, this isn't an issue. Hope this helps! --Doug P.S.> The only displays black and white (and the rolling) is symptomatic of somebody playing PAL into NTSC... the Rolling sometimes happens, the gray (no color) thing always happens. The way PAL and NTSC encodes the color (phase) information is incompatible, but the basic single intensity (lumens) is somewhat compatible except the sync (25 versus 30 frames/sec) is waaaay off and can also product the rolling you describe.
I just bought a dvp642 and I love it. I was reading in several reviews on the net that said you could play mp3 and view jpg files at the same time. Does anyone know how to do this or if it is possible? I would really like to have a slide show with background music. Right now I have start the slide show and tell my stereo to play a CD. Would be more convient the other way.
I finally gave up on the DVP642 when I noticed the video card in my computer had an svhs output, now I'm happily watching everything on a 27" tv. End of problem!!
Givver -- not sure, I will give it a try (about pics and audio at the same time), but the look-n-feel looks almost identical to a AudioVox player (portable 10.2" widescreen) that I have and the AudioVox does play MP3's and show JPEGs at the same time. It also has a "spectrum" graph during playback of the MP3 which is kind of nice. I suspect the 642 will do it to, but I cannot confirm this yet -- I am not at home at the moment so I cannot test until a few days. --Doug
zrdb -- I am not trying to pick on you... But I think you mean to say your PC has S-Video (SVHS is a TAPE format). What problems have you had in particular? I must admitt that my 642/37 is not perfect, but it works reasonably well and the price is decent. --Doug
Thanks Dx9s, I hope you can figure it out. I tried but can only manage to get jpg or mp3 to play, not both at the same time...
Zrdb... i dunno about you, but even if my video card has a tv-out, it doesnt have an audio out. So, unless you like having three long black snakes of wiring going from your PC to your TV, the DVP is still the way to go, IMO. For 70$, i really don't know what the problem is. So what if it doesn't wash the dishes as well, you know?
Right now, Im playing with the latest firmware update, taking it apart and seeing how it updates the player. I started out trying to fix the shortened mp3 file names, but I cant seem to fix that. I believe I can fix the limited number of files in a directory/subdirectory problem. It looks like they have underestimated the capacity of the buffer. So far I've been able to make it scroll down 40 files in the main directory. Once Im able to ensure that its not messing up anything else, I'll post the link to an "unofficial" firmware update.
My computer has an S-Video out as well and an audio out. As mentioned though, all the cables are a total pain in the ass. And unless I want top hear my computer humming near the TV, those cables have to be LONG. I tried the setup once. Buying the player was a way better option in my opinion. The other bonus is I can take the player and my movies with me to other people's houses and stuff. It was well worth the money.
I meant svhs which is also the name of the enhanced vhs format-that's where the tape format gets it's name. Any way I have problems with Qpel and global motion compensation-both of which the DVDP642 doesn't support And another problem is that there are so many ways to encode mpeg4, you never know if or when the Philips will play it. I think having to convert from one format to another just so you can watch your download is a hassle. I don't mind using one of the the several software players to watch my download. The cables (all 2 of them) going from the video and audio cards to the tv are no problem. I did a little research on the subject and found out they can be called both svideo and svhs connections but I'll just call them svideo from now on. _X_X_X_X_X_[small]If Life Is Wonderful-How Come Mine Sucks?[/small]
hi guys.... i am newbie, even i heard first time about Divx... it look like intresting technology, could any body put some light about what is Divx, and what are the benefits of it. can i change my original DVD Movies in Divx, and how many movies i can copy on one DVD media. And when i convert some movies in Divx format, is it for forever use or for just limited time...? thanks
I've been encoding some stuff to DivX using autoGK for playback on my dvp642. Since I'm no expert I've been using the auto width setting. The results have been generally very good. However... some of the files created from "widescreen" sources have the edges "chopped off" during playback. No distortion (squishing/stretching) just the edges going "offscreen" on the TV set. The full image is there in the files (aspect ratios look correct on the PC using DivX player). Can anybody tell me what pixel widths this player displays correctly, er... "likes"? Any help would be much appreciated.
As for Qpel and a GMC (Global Motion Compensation), no -- there is no "hardware" that I know of except a hacked Xbox and some new (only in Japan) "High Def DVD" player that just came out -- I don't know the details on that unit. I agree GMC would be nice and can save many bits (smaller file size, lower bit rate)... My experience with QPel on the other hand only yeilds marginal improvements -- Both would be nice if the 642 supported it -- but it clearly states in the manual that it doesn't. As for the "SVHS connector/cable", no... High8, BetaMax and DV cameras also have a "S-Video" connector... and it doesn't make those video cameras SVHS... VHS is a tape format as is SVHS a tape format. SVHS is backwards compatible but preserves better color and luminescence information. For SVHS an S-Video connector is needed to truely take advantage of such a tape format just like High-8, BetaMax or DV. However, a good SVHS VCR can still convert (on the fly) a composite signal into isolated lumens / chroma information. You can also pick up passive at RadioShack, (passive no batteries) composite to S-Video converters for about $20 or less... They don't call it composite to SVHS converter! On the flip side, DV really needs a digital connection (IEEE1394 "Firewire") connection to take full advantage of that tape format. It doesn't make the cable or connection a "DV" connection, tho some folks refer to that connection as such. The connection/cable are "Firewire/IEE1394" cables and connectors (the standard developed originally by Apple). I was trying to politely give you a heads up, but I am sorry... The round connector with 4-pins, that is called a S-Video connector. I have seen ONE poor video card manual (translated from whatever into English, see "www.Engrish.com") where that type of connector was accidentally called "SVHS". I have come across this confusion before in forums like this -- please don't get offended, I am only trying to politely explain the difference between SVHS and S-Video. --Doug
GrayArea -- The 642 unit assumes (there is no way to over ride it) that the pixel size is "perfectly" square. NTSC 4:3 has a pixel width to height ratio of 0.9:1.0 (or 0.9, dropping the second halve) NTSC 16:9 has a pixel width to height ratio of 1.2:1.0 (1.2) A industry standard digital frame size (in pixels) for NTSC is always 720x480 -- only the pixel size changes. As MPEG4 has matured so far -- it has it's history from PC's which generally have a pixel ratio of 1:1 (square pixel). 640x480, 1024x768 (on a 4:3 monitor)... some resolutions such as 1280x1024 are not perfectly square on a typical 4:3 VGA (PC) monitor however it is close. Now assuming the source is a 4:3 picture and no cropping, you can scale (resize) the 720x480 to 640x480 and it will playback in the 642 fine. If you don't want to loose any horizontal (left to right) resolution, you would need to stretch the source from 720x480 up to 720x540 (which is within the MPEG4 resolution standard that the 642 SHOULD support, haven't tested it). However it the source is interlaced, you would have field scaling problems... (Resizing to) 640x480 is recommended if you are going to preserve field information instead of de-interlacing or perform a "3:2 pulldown" (convert back into a near 24fps [23.976 for NTSC telecine process] source assuming it was from film). If you are going to crop a signal... A WHOLE mess of math and things needs to be taken into account. Some source materals are hard matted to 16:9 or wider. Some material is formatted for 16:9 but matted for wider (2.35:1 source saved on DVD at 1.85:1, contains some matting). This math is isolated from what happens inside the MPEG4 decoding (642 or the "DivX player"). Ignore everything until you understand this... If the "format" of a MPEG4 stream is ... say 640x360.. it will be matted (padded with black) during decoded to a 640x480 signal. I have cropped a 2.35:1 source into a "Square" pixel format with 720x400 in the MPEG4 stream... But the player will matte this to (effectively) 720x540 (720/4*3) and output as an NTSC signal... It doesn't look correct on a 4:3 TV, but plays back correct with a widescreen TV (or projector which is what I have). I will put together some numbers, or show how to calculate them (using something like VirtualDub). --Doug
I can't get the progressive scan to work. I bought a Monster component video cable, but it's labeled as CB,CR,Y. Did I buy the wrong cable? Edit: OK I got it to work by switching to another video channel. But now there's no sound. Do I need to buy another cable or something?
