Panasonic DVD-S47S Progressive Scan DVD Player
From Panasonic
It's a digital world. A world where sound surrounds you and pictures dazzle the imagination. It's a world where the excitement of the movies is captured and brought to life on a simple five-inch disc - the size of a CD. Welcome to the incredible world of DVD.The product is a progressive scan DVD-Audio/Video player with Multi-Format Playback.
- Amazon Sales Rank: #40329 in Consumer Electronics
- Brand: Panasonic
- Model: DVD-S47S
- Dimensions: 2.30" h x 16.90" w x 11.10" l, 5.20 pounds
Break into the world of DVD entertainment with the stylish, powerful--yet affordable--Panasonic DVD-S47S single-disc progressive-scan DVD player. It offers multiformat disc compatibility, enhanced virtual surround sound, as well as built-in decoding for Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound, and a slim profile of just over 2 inches high.
The DVD-S47S plays a variety of audio and video disc formats, including DVD-Audio (two-channel), DVD-Video, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, video CD, audio CD, and CD-R/RW. DVD-Audio discs, the new standard for super high-fidelity sound, provide multiple channel stereo, incredible storage capacity, and unique bonus materials not available on regular audio CDs. This player is also compatible with MP3 and WMA audio files and JPEG image files.
The HighMAT (High-Performance Media Access Technology) feature, codeveloped with Microsoft, is a digital-media standard that provides a dramatically improved method of storing, arranging, and playing back personal digital photo, music, and video collections on recordable discs such as CD-RW media.
Panasonic's Depth Enhancer noise reduction feature only processes an image's background, helping to leave the delicate details of the main subject intact and providing sharp images with incredible depth. The DVD-F87K uses a 54 MHz/10-bit video digital-to-analog converter, which helps to reduce digital artifacts to give you a better picture.
When you play DVD movies encoded with DTS or Dolby Digital soundtracks, the built-in decoder processes all six channels of audio information (left front, right front, center, left-surround, right-surround, and low-frequency effects) without the need for an external decoder, and with the right audio components, lets you enjoy the amazing fidelity of discrete 5.1-channel surround sound. The decoder also allows you to control speaker configuration.
Tech Talk Progressive scan: Progressive scanning, otherwise known as 480p ("p" for "progressive"), creates a picture signal with double the scan lines of a conventional interlaced picture, 480i ("i" for "interlaced"), to create a noticeably sharper image. Standard DVD players use interlaced scanning to produce a picture. Interlaced scanning combines two fields to generate a picture of 525 scan lines (480 of which are displayed). Your television projects an interlaced image by first scanning the 240 odd-numbered lines of one field (in 1/60th of a second), followed by the 240 even-numbered lines of the other field (in 1/60th of a second). A progressive video processor enables all 525 lines (480 of which are displayed) to be scanned at the exact same time. A television with 480p component inputs completely scans the entire image in 1/60th of a second, so it only takes one field to build one frame of video.
What's in the Box
Panasonic DVD-S47S DVD player, remote control, 2 AA batteries, AC power cord, composite A/V (RCA) cable, and printed operating instructions.
High Quality - Low Cost !
Only two years ago a player like this would cost $300. Especially with features like DVD Audio & Progressive scan. Now it sells for less than $100.00. For the price you can not beat this player. It has more features and better overall quality than most players in this price range. Believe it or not, at $100, this DVD Player is currently the PANASONIC "top of the line" single disc player. That alone says it all about how far DVD players have come!
The new Panasonic DVD S47s features Advanced Progressive Scan. With a compatible TV, this really makes the video quality much better. I really like the sleek slim profile ,and the clear display. It gives a choice of time elapsed , or time remaining. The DVD players on screen display gives all the information needed for sound and picture settings. For those who don't like letterboxing ,the Panasonic S47 has several zoom features to eliminate the black bars. It worked very well. But it is not a feature I like to use. I tested the S47 on a big screen TV. I compared it to the new $200 JVC 510 DVD player. I tried several different types of dvd movies.The Panasonic had clearly the best quality picture and best features.
The S47 had a very sharp , clear picture using the 'dynamic" picture setting. If you are the type who likes to "tweak" your picture and sound. The S-47 has many choices to choose from. There are individual picture settings for color, sharpness, gamma ,brightness and contrast,noise reduction. They all work well. Once you have the patience to see what settings work best for each DVD. There also also several automatic presets for the picture quality. The one that worked best for me is the Dynamic setting. This setting automatically gives just the right amount of boost to the brightness,contrast,& sharpness.I found that setting worked best with my 35" RCA Television using the S-VIDEO output. Some picture and sounds settings work better than the others. It really depends how you have the DVD Player connected. If you are not the type to play with the advanced features. You could just set the player to the Dynamic setting and sit back and enjoy. Based on Quality and features, this is by far the best DVD player available at this price.
In the back, the DVD-S47S has optical and coaxial digital outputs for Dolby Digital/DTS/PCM ,One set of A/V outputs (composite video, S-video, and 480i/480p component video).
The Advanced Virtual surround sound for enhanced 2-speaker sound worked well using just the televisons speakers.There are also audio remaster settings that really make audio CD's sound better.
Disk compatibility was perfect.It played DVD-Rs,-RWs,+Rs,+RWs, DVD-RAM, DVD-Audio ,CD-R/RWs. It is only one of two DVD players available that plays DVD-RAM disks. It also has the HiMat file compatibility feature, which makes reading digital photo and music files easier. The Panasonic worked fine with all of my digital image files and cd music disks. There's even a very convenient thumbnail browser for viewing JPEG images. The Panasonic DVD S 47 is totally compatible with nearly every recordable disk format and media type. If you want a high quality,low priced player that can play any type of disc.
Then the PANASONIC DVD-S47S is your best choice!
Superior Player
For under $100 you cannot beat this player. It is superior to the models available at the store for the same price such as the S27 but it also has S video and optical inputs. I tested the S25 on my Panasonic LCD TV after viewing DVDs on my non progressive scan Sony player. I saw differences in all three. The S47 had the clearest picture. You must change the setting to 480P from the defaul 480I. Also you can set the DVD to cinema mode, adjust what type of TV (LCD widescreen for example) and I got a perfect picture. Check it out.
setting the record straight
Currently, I own a couple Sony DVD players, but I also respect the Panasonic brand a lot. I've owned a lot of electronics by Panasonic and I've been very satisfied. The reviewers that like to use scare tactics in order to get ppl away from buying Panasonic are complete idiots. The fact is, as far as DVD players are concerned Sony & Panasonic are the 2 top brands for fewest repair history according to consumer reports. Panasonic's are generally the better value cuz Sony often likes to overprice their gear. This model was even just rated the #1 overall single disc model (see Dec. 04 issue pg.25). It achieved an overall score in the "excellent" range and their top marks in tests for picture quality & ease of use. It's an incredible value and ppl looking for a quality inexpensive player should definitely consider it.
