Been following a few posts about the re-testing of this player, here is a post from one of the AVS forum members (Robert Whitehead), which is very interesting:



Ritesh

Ritesh, can you please explain what does the gamma and chroma level settings do? Also, when would you use the IRE setting? What are all these settings for? All I have done so far with my 969 is I have up the chroma 1 level and gamma 2 level. I find this setting to show especially good detail especially in dark scene like that in LOTR Mines of Moria scene.

Cheers.

Has anyone seen a 969 in-store in Brisbane recently? I need one ... 'now'!

I believe I saw one on display at JB Hi-Fi, Kessels Road, Macgregor a few days ago when I was buying DVDs. If memory is correct, there was a matching combo of gold Pioneer dvd player & receiver on display near projection display area.

Let me know if I was right / wrong.

robokopp

If you can't source one locally Trevor Lees in Melbourne has them for $1100 plus Shipping (approx $30). See:

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/aus.dv...d659a6479644cc8

oh yeah I get moist watching my dvd and plasma combo too hehehe !

alebonau,

Yeah whatever floats your boat.

I did think about fixing Trevor's Typo, but thought it would give everyone a laugh here as it did on the news group.

I am getting lots of PMs regarding my settings..... here are mine.

For information, my corresponding display settings are in this thread here....

Please note that the player is mated with a 42'' Hitachi Plasma (42PD5000).....on your display you may have slightly different ones....Majority of my changes are via the display settings; however a few settings, the ones in bold below, gave me an opportunity to get the best by changing even the ones on the DVD Player.

For HDMI, mine are saved as "Memory2", here are the "detailed settings".

As you can see there are quite a few settings available on this player.....

VIDEO SETTINGS

• Progressive Motion = Middle
• Pure Cinema = Auto2 (as per Secret's recommendation, this is the best deinterlacing mode)
• YNR = Off
• CNR = Off
• Sharpness High = Middle
• Sharpness Mid = Middle
• Detail = 0 (i.e. Off)
• Whiteness = 0 (i.e. Min)
• Black Level = Middle + 1 (NOTE: for my display, +1 is required for the below black pluge to be shown; this is one of the very few DVD Players that finally showed me, with this setting, the third darkest most black bar on the Pluge pattern)
• Black Setup = 0 IRE (Supposedly it shouldn't make any difference for HDMI output; but believe me it does)
• Gamma = Middle
• Hue = Middle
• Chroma = Middle
• Chroma Delay = Middle (the latest firmware available for a while now; mine is 506 has no Chroma delay; and thus I left it at default)
• HDMI Color Adjust = Standard (I think this is most likely the PC RGB or Video RGB; "standard" is the normal one; the "enhanced" might crush blacks unless you compensate by changing the black-level settting. My recommendation, keep it at Standard)
• HDMI Detail = Middle

INITIAL SETTINGS - Video Section[B]

• [U][B]Resolution/U] = 1920x1080i (I am using the scaler in the player, since my display is an ALIS display with 1024x1024, this results in the closest match for me; and during down-scaling there isn't much that the display has to do)
• [U]Aspect Ratio/U] = 16:9 Compressed (This setting will auto-detect the 4:3 material, even on a scene by scene basis and will output it in its original aspect ratio; with black bars on the side. This player is one of the very rare ones with this feature.....and if you like me, prefer to watch things in their original aspect ratios AND you have a 16:9 display; my recommendation is to use this setting)
• [U]Video memory/U] = Memory 2 (This is merely the memory I am using for my HDMI settings; as mentioned at the very begining of this post)

Hope this helps,

Ritesh

Hi,

Can someone tell me if this player is a region free player? The box suggests that it is region 4 only. I'm looking at buying some dvds from amazon, they seem to be cheaper than ezydvd.

Cheers
David

Yes, it's region free out of the box.

david,

just some advice. If your buying region 1 dvd, ytry www.dvdsoon.com. All prices are in canadian and equel to roughly same as Aus dollar and its free shipping

Hi all,

Got the 969 a week ago and cant say how happy im with it. So far ive only got it connected via component but the picture is really really nice. I had intially bought the 676a and while the picture was good i wasnt entirely happy with it but now am more than satisfied. Cant wait to connect via HDMI to my infocus 5700

Just one thing, im trying to program my yam's amp remote to the pioneer one but cant seem to get a proper match with the codes in the yam manual. Does anyone know the remote code for the pioneer 969?

Thanks

Congrats on your new purchase, yes this player is very good.....

Regarding the remote, I actually manuall programmed mine, but a similar question was asked earlier in this thread; perhaps that person got the codes; try PM'ing.....

cheers,

Ritesh

You'll probably have to learn it all in as they can't make codes for stuff that hasn't been made yet as I'm guessing the player is much newer than the reciever isn't it so that sorta makes sense.

Hi guys

I am contemplating getting 969 after reading the forums (many thanks to the tireless testers for the wealth of info). Originally I was dead set getting Denon 3910 but after reading about Macroblocking issue and knowing that my display WILL have a problem with macroblocking after testing both Samsungs HD747 and HD850 decided to stay away from the Faroudja chip-based players. I would go for Samsung HD950 that uses different chipset, but they are not avail in Aus.

I read somewhere here that there is no zoom function on the remote/player. Is there any way to strech 2.35:1 playback to get rid of the top and bottom bars and retaining proper aspect ratio? I am planning using HDMI interface and my plasma would not strech the display in HDMI mode? What about 4:3 as well?

If that is not possible then is it possible thru some hack to output HD over the component? The analogue display can be then manipulated by my plasma to some extent.

Also how is layer-change on 969, is it quite noticable?

Many thanks in advance

yep there is no zoom; and even if there was it probably won't work over HDMI anyway.....

You are also right that many displays don't allow zoom or size-changes over DVI/HDMI inputs.

My only suggestion would be to connect via component and then use the TV's zoom/picture-size control.

OR watch it in it's original aspect ratio.



Ok, there is a setting for 4:3 material to do one of the following:
- look on a frame-by-frame basis and preserve the original ratio by inserting black bars on the side
- don't bother just stretch the 4:3 material to 16:9 and thus fill the screen albeit loose the original aspect ratio

This flag works over HDMI; and thus is quite useful. Since I like watching materials in their original aspect ratios, I opted for the first option above (infact this is a very very good feature). But if you like things stretched and fill the screen more, I guess you should leave the setting to default.


Not that I am aware of !


I think it is around 0.5-1 second (varies with the movie).

Ritesh

Thanks Ritesh

When I tested both Samsungs HD747/HD850 both had a zoom feature that allowed HDMI playback 2.35:1 and 4:3 to be filled to 16:9 screen whilst preserving original ratios and from what I understood Oppo and Denons have HDMI zooming as well.

The reason I was after this feature is to minimize burn-in risk of those bars with my pasma

Unfortunatelly macroblocking problem prevents me from considering those Faroudja chip-based players and Denon 5910 is outside of my financial reach, thus I am considering this Pioneer player as PQ is paramount to me over SQ

In your research have you come across any other HDMI/DVI upscaling DVD players that don't use Faroudja?

Kind Regards

big a1 have a think about component as ritesh is suggesting - I know with my plasma I could not see a heap of difference if any between hdmi and component for PQ with DVD. But then again the denon 2900 I ended up getting probably has a pretty good component output.

I think hdmi vs component makes a bigger difference when you go bigger in screen size to say a large screen front projector.

with DVD player my experience was actually that the difference were more in SQ
than with PQ with even the $200 pioneer 667a doing a pretty good job.

Most definitelly will. My screen is a 50" JVC HD plasma and I did notice an improvement when I tried Samsungs using HDMI over component on my plasma. Also I read somewhere that with this Pioneer 969 specifically its HDMI 1080i output has an edge over component more so than a Denons.

I'll see if I can somehow test Denon 2900 and see how it pans out...

I can definitely tell the difference between the HDMI and Component outputs on my 969, though the Component may not be as sharp as the HDMI, it's still pretty damn good.

Its a tricky one foggy & big A1 as comes down to the implementation I guess. Perhaps the samsungs hdmi implementation is better than that over component.

Best thing is to try it out and do a comparison - its pretty easy to do as hook up both outputs from the player to your display.

What I'm saying is don't write off component purely on the basis that just because its hdmi its going to be better than component. Theres a lot of very good players that do a pretty good job over component.

From my experience, the best PQ I ever got was using RGB output on my older european DVD player in my older 42" SD Panasonic plasma, unfortunatelly my new 50" HD plasma doesn't support RGB so my choices are either HDMI or component.

thats an interesting one BigA1 because I've posted on this before but with my denon 2900 I too was suprised to find on some discs, RGB via scart to my plasma looked better than progressive scan via component - go figure !

I just do a quick switch between both inputs now when I start watching a disc and just watch whichever looks better.

If they are preserving original aspect ratio, as you have mentioned above, then there would be a significant picture off the screen !

Especially with 4:3, where the vertical part fills the screen; now if you try to enlarge/zoom it whilst preserving the original aspect ratio, you'd probably end up watching just the middle part !

I really don't know if the other DVD Player's have this feature, what I do know is that very few actually allow you to do this over HDMI, and thus if the feature is important I'd definately test it on the player's first.

Perhaps one of the Denon 3910 owners can pitch in here....




Nope there is no burn-in with the black bars on the top or the side !



yes there are a couple... from Integra and Sony

Integra is one player which doesn't have the Faroudja chip AND probably has both the SQ and PQ superior to both Pioneer and the Denons; it is the Integra DPS 10.5; it uses the SIL504 chip with a seperate scaler. It also has way superior audio circuitary and DACs.

The cost though is probably much superior as well.

I know in US there is a cheaper but very similar version from Onkyo, Onkyo 1000; I haven't seen it released in Australia yet; but you could ask around.

Regarding the Integra, I know the Klapp in Melbourne have them in stock; beautiful machine; unfortunately way over my budget ! For that price, I'd pick the Pioneer AND a dedicated scaler and still be under the price !

Apart from the Integra, probably the new Sony upscaling player. Sony player uses their propritary chip. You could check it out; it won't be in the same league, but might be OK for what you are looking for.

Rest of them, I'm afraid use the Faroudja chipset (the cheapest option, as it gives the deinterlacer and upscaler in one chip)

I'd definately look at the new Sony; the only downside it had was the HD/SD colorspace issue; but might not be a problem on your display; should retail for around $600 or so....here is the link...

Damn sony, still haven't released the details on their website.... quite surprised, this thing was supposed to be released in January... anyway, here the link from the US website.... Sony 975

But, if it is for fear of burn-in "only" that Zoom is important to you; I wouldn't bother, the black-bars on top and side shouldn't cause burn-in.....

Usually it is the bright material and that too for many many hours that can cause it.... here is a link from the panasonic's website (also read the section about 4:3 material at the end of the page).....

Here is a thread......

I'm sure if you google you might find more info.

Regarding Al's comment on Component vs HDMI; I think there is a difference but only in very critical viewing (and you are right it is more in Pioneer); but Pioneer's Component is also VERY good and in the same league as the Denon 2900. I CAN definately very very happiliy live with just it's component output !

And at normal watching distances (not the crazy ones of 1.7 meters or so for your 50'', but more reasonable one); in normal viewing; I agree with Al. Component is very good.....

Edit: Ofcourse there is also the Momitsu 880 or 880N

Ritesh

Thank you guys.

I will be in Melbourne in 2 weeks time and incidentally Trevor Lees at the Kew that has those Pioneers also have exactly the same JVC 50" HD plasma that I own and they told me that they would be happy to hook them up for me to audition the combination.

With burn ins what I notice on my old Plasma after a while 2 permanent thin faint lines appeared horizontally where black bars were bordering 2.35:1 image, thus my paranoia regarding my new panel.

My original requirement had DivX playback as a must since we have a lot of foreign DivX movies thus I was limited in my choices and was testing those Samsungs and if HD-950 was on offer in Australia would probably get it.

With this Pioneer I will just keep my current $130 LG DivX capable player as an add-on.

When you guys hooked up 5.1s connection between your Pioneers and your AVRs did you use premium cables like Monster or Krest or just regular RCA cables that come free with any DVD players? If so - did it make a lot of difference for your DVD-audio playback? I also read somewhere that to get the best out of HDMI hook-up is to use premium HDMI - HDMI cable rather than the standard one that comes with the DVD player. I would see the case for analogue hook-up using expensive cabling, but is it necessary for pure digital connection?

Well, can't wait to get to see 969 now....

I'm using the jaycar response interconnects. but other one to consider that foggy is using and which looks interesting

http://www.cinemacables.com.au/6ch_audio.htm

I'm thinking of giving it a go as pretty affordable, and convenient especially at the very short length I'd need of it.

Please see my "edit" in the previous post regarding the Momitsu; another contender with the non-faroudja chipset....



Either that or consider Momitsu....




I am just using normal Jaycar cables, never tried anything more expensive.....probably in future if I get a suitable AVR/prepro; am planning to go iLink....




Unless you have any problems; just use the one with that comes with the player; digital is digital.... with me though, the one that came with the player was a bit too thin and with all the cable-jungle behind my plasma; I observed the dreaded red/green dots; indication of the interference, I guess... and thus went for a thicker cable....

If you are not planning on having any large runs and if you don't find anything obviously wrong with the normal HDMI cable; I'd stick to that....

Definately consider the momitsu too; especially in its second generation, with a non-faroudja chipset...... if you can live with the remote and any minor quirks or usability issues....

For me though; I'm hoping Pioneer will serve as a great DVD player and also as a first class transport (for audio needs) for many years to come.....

Ritesh

This is the Pamela Anderson of cables al, thick, well-built, and yet it's somehow sexy. But strangely enough, the sounds that eminates from it are much nicer to listen to than our beloved Pamela.

thats it I've ordered one !

hehehe its pretty neat given you can get one 0.5m long as thats all need !

I know that it is probably irrational attitude, but after problems I had with Zensonic 300 (It was in repairs for 4 weeks, thus I became an LG divx player owner), I swore never sway away from major brands, so I would probably won't even consider Momitsu.

I also had a closer look at those sexy audio cables on

http://www.cinemacables.com.au

and noticed Y (mono - stereo)subwoofer cable there.

I use just a mono cable for my sub, would Y-cable make a difference?

BTW If I get 969 I will def get that 6 way cable at least for neatness, if not for sound improvement otherwise. Many thanks for the tip!

I was also thinking of a 0.5m length, but I got a 1 metre in the end, just in case I re-arranged things in my cabinet. You might want to consider the stiffness of the cable as it's almost an inch thick.

Just saw 969 on eBay new for $1045 with "BuyNow" price of $1078
Looks like a great price to me, still trying to find time to get out and audition it before the plunge....Any clues where would be a great place to buy one in Sydney?

Try Bankstown Hifi. I picked mine up from them for $1150 about 3 months ago.

Hi,

I got mine from Bankstown Hifi for $1050 2 weeks ago. Didnt think twice

Just a question. I have my player connected to my yam v1500 amp. I was wondering would i get any more improvement in sound if i connected the player to amp via the multi channel outputs (as it says to do so in the 969 manual). At the moment it is connected via digital. I guess does the amp or the player have a better audio DAC?

Try it and see, nothing to lose. You'll need to connect it via the anologues anyway if you want to play SACD to get the the full 5.1 mix

Yeah and let me know how you go - I seem to be having a problem with a fixed volume with mine

If you want to enjoy SACD or DVD-Audio in High Res you will need to use the Analog outputs on the Pioneer. SACD & DVD-Audio will not be sent in High Res through a Digital connection (Optical or Coax) unless it is iLink/Firewire or Denonlink.

Since your Yamaha RX-V1500 AV receiver doesn't have a iLink/Firewire you don't have a choice but to use the analog outputs on the Pioneer with the Multichannel input on the Yamaha for SACD & DVD-audio.

I would guess that the DAC's in the Pioneer would be better than those in the Yamaha. Try it and see.

I'm still not sure what is causing the problem you are having. I guess you have set the Pioneer to variable as detailed on page 58 of the DV-59AVi/DV-S969AVi Manual below.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pio/pe/i...%20DV-59AVi.pdf

I'm sure there is some config issue with your Denon 2105 Receiver using the Multichannel inputs which is causing your problem.

Yeah i think i will...i did figure i needed them for SACD....its just that i dont have any SACDs yet.

Anyone recommend any good cables reasonably priced...I was planning to them from jaycar. I saw the kordz ones on htcustomscables.com but am thinking 100 bucks for 1/2 m is pretty pricey. Or is it really worth it?

Just grab some cables from Jaycar or DSE. They are only a few dollars per cable. Get the shortest length that will do the job.

Check out this set on eBay http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

I bought the same set for myself in preparation - I think it works out to be less than $25 delivered to you and they seem to be of decent quality, I would have thought anything more would be an overkill unless you have really top-shelf equipment.

Just got 969 from Harvey Norman at Moore Park and must say what a fantastic picture it has when using 1080i over HDMI.

The only quirk is the audio over HDMI into my plasma's speakers has a distinctive hiss. I am pretty sure all my settings are fine, could it be a HDMI cable that came with it?

When I hooked it to my AVR via an optical cable, the sound is superb, it is just when we want to watch something without turning the amp on and just using plasma's speakers this annoying hiss comes on. There is no hiss when I use analogue connection on the plasma, so it is definitely HDMI audio issue. Had anyone a similar problem?

I am going to buy a decent HDMI-HDMI cable from Jaycar and if that does not solve it, then it is definitely 969's issue as I tried Samsung HDMI audio out with my plasma before with no problems.

Im thinking of getting a HDMI to DVI connect. But my projector to dvd player sits about 8 m away...will i get too much interference in the signal at such a distance?

Also ive notived that my dvi input to my projector is dvi-d, where as the cable is dvi-i. This shouldnt make a difference right since im not outputting any analog signals anyway?

DVI is not truly standardised at that lengths; however either running HDMI and using an adaptor or running HDMI->DVI cable should be fine; whilst I don't approve of Lindy's lower end stuff; I have heard on this forum good things about their SLD range.

Regarding the DVI-D vs DVI-I; in DVI-I there are 4 additional pins in the connectors; and thus you would need to physically break them to actually make it fit; I'd get DVI-D connector/s.

Ritesh

I'm running a Lindy 10mtr DVI-D cable and have had no problems with pq at all.

deleted

I have lived with the pioneer 969 now for 2 months and can honestly say that both the optical & coaxial digital o/p for music dvd’s & movies on this player does not even match my $200 sony, they lack 3d imaging, high freq detail & it’s like throwing a blanket over the speakers.
On the other hand the Analogue o/p is superb and this is where your hard earned money has been well spent, Imaging, dynamic’s, clarity, separation and steering effects go to a hole new level.
It’s unfortunate when connected to my VSX-AX10 multi channel input that I cannot access the sound effects, then I could sell my Sony.

Hope this helps
Suzzieq

I find that very highly unlikely; I went through a truck-loads of DVD Players and the SQ via optical/coax has less difference/s; having said that players like the Pioneer and the Denon 2900 etc. do offer much superior SQ even via these purely digital connections.

Perhaps your cable for the connections via Sony and/or Pioneer is different and for one it is getting much more interference than the other.

It is also more likely that the port on the receiver have difference/s.

regards,

Ritesh

What she's saying Ritesh is as everything is deferred to the amp with digital outs that her amp isn't much chop, so deferring to the amp DAC's is like a big downgrade in quality from what the 969 can offer, which makes sense.

you could be right there nobby

also perhaps hooked up via digital the pio 969 and her pio ht amp aren't as good a match as the $300 sony she refers to ...



maybe some clarification needed suzzie as to what your saying.

To get to the bottom of this one, I'd approach the dealer you bought the pio from suzzie and explain your issues. If theyre any good they should be more than willing to help.

maybe try another pio 969 to see if this is this related to the particualr model player or just a dodgy example you have.

alternatively I'd try and borrow another player in the league of the pio say a denon 3910 or marantz 9500 or something similar. Atleast then you can eliminate that the issue is either the 969 itself or the HT amp.

I'm not sure its an amp issue though as you say your sony is seems fine with the amp.

either way think you want to get to the bottom of this one. After all your main need for something like this player would be for playing music or movie dvds I imagine so crazy its not going well digital output wise.