Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony DVPNS725P Progressive-Scan DVD/CD Player

Stay away from this horrible offering from Sony. I purchased this based on the performance of my older sony dvd player (which is still working like a charm),but their quality has come way down. I once belonged to the cult of followers that outfitted their entire home theater components with Sony, but after my last a/v receiver and this dvd player, I have been set free.

This unit dazzled me at first with its high contrast picture and vibrant detail. Within days of constant use(mp3 playback, music dvds, movies, and tv shows on dvd), the image became highly grainy and noisy. Flesh tones took on a disturbing painted look and no matter what I did to my 42" rear projection Sony TV as far as adjustments, I could not get it to look right. DVD layer changes led to 2-3sec jumps ahead cutting out parts of the movie. Inexcusable! DVDs from my home collection of over 200(all in pristine condition) started to show problems with skipping, freezing, block artifacts, etc. Theses same DVDs put in my old player, which I still have in another room, worked flawlessly. I was shocked and maddened by this outcome. I had this unit for 17 days and really wanted it to be "the one". Sadly, it is not! In all fairness, I do not own an HDTV, so the image quality in progressive mode may be better, but disc performance will be the same.

Fortunately, I did alot of research before I bought this unit and went to get my 2nd choice yesterday(the Pioneer dv-563a) and I am totally blown away by its performance. Layer changes are not even noticable and the image is so film-like, it makes me smile just thinking about it. I gave it the 12hr workout and it was flawless. Unlike this unit, it can play jpeg cd-r, zoom the image of moving or static sources, random play mp3 files, the front display can be turned off, AND it can play SACD and dvd-a discs. At $150, you will not be disaapointed.*image/picture quality based on interlaced mode, not progressive, which is also part of both of these units.

The picture quality of Sony DVPNS725P is better then SONY DVP-NS425P in 480i & 480p mode. No distortion or blurring is found even w/o the progressive scan, just a little gritty. Once you turn on progression scan the picture clears up. Sony DVPNS725P has only a 10% difference in sharpness/clarity/color/hue/contrast between 480p progressive scan & 480i non-progressive scan mode. However, I believe that the unit's 12 Bit Video DAC with 108Mhz processor, regardless of 480i to 480p mode is why you see such little difference. The vertical lines simply double using the same picture quality in 480i mode improving video clarity overall.

Equipment:
TV: Sony Grand WEGA 42" KF42WE610
Video Monster 3 Cable: 1-Meter Coax Cable, 1 Meter Monster Video 3 component Cable

WARNING, WARNING, WARNING!
Component/Coax wires do affect the quality of your home video experience. The best DVD player connected to the best Plasma/LCD/DLP/LCOS TV will have negative effects on picture quality if you are not using the best grade of Component/DVI/Coax cable. Yes, you will have to shell out more money for theses accessories (in my opinion Monster Cable has proven itself in my house). However, this is the only way to achieve your large screen TV's maximum video performance. It appears that it's not only necessary but simply required! I get mad every time I read negative reviews on this DVD player or my TV when they never invested in high-grade video cables or, their TV is only 480i compatible & not 480p compatible (they can't properly use the DVD player's progressive scan feature). Please check your manual to verify 480p compatibility for your TV, as some are only 480i compatible while others are only 780p to 1080i compatible!!!

Here is a tip to improve picture quality for analog cable/antenna viewers:
Use a A/C powered, 2 port, coaxial, Electroline Drop Amp to improve analog cable
reception. The 18 gauged Satellite coax cable runs from the cable co. to the Electroline Drop Amp in my house. The 1 Meter Monster Video 3 coax cable (gray colored wire) will run from the Electroline Drop Amp to the TV thus improving picture quality.

Summary:
If you own a 32" to a 19" TV the SONY DVP-NS425P is more then adequate. However if you have a TV larger then 32" you need this DVD player along with high-grade component/dvi/coax cable to produce the clarity/color/contrast/hue necessary for a great theater quality picture.

While this player looks good physically, has a nice remote, and some nice features like the DVD jacket display during stop mode - I found it has terrible 3:2 pulldown for film mode. I checked it using several movies: Monsters Inc. (which looked incredible), but films like Forrest Gump, Sweet Home Alabama, The Matrix, and Fellowship of the Ring looked so bad compared to my Toshiba SD-4700, I had to take the Sony back. The picture looked overprocessed with noticeable artifacts to the point I couldn't even watch it. Especially tried the lobby scene in the Matrix - all the marble made a dizzying effect of inaccuracies on the screen. I really liked the player overall, and the video mode looked great, but film mode was just too bad to bear. I'm going to try the Toshiba SD-3900 next, which should be comparable to my 4700. Wouldn't recommend this for a serious home theater lover.

Two years ago, I got a DVD Player. One of the super cheap ones that you used to read about people being trampled whenever put on sale. I loved it, primarily because it was not a VCR. Soon after that, I invested in a DVD ROM for my computer. The quality of the DVD on a computer was drastically better both in audio and video. But a 21" monitor just doesn't compare to a television - plus, after watching a movie at night and just wanting to get to sleep, turning off a computer is just too much. Might sound silly but actually try it a couple times. You'll agree.

Each had their benifits, but this Sony DVD player bests both.

It's sharpness and color was as good as the computer out of the box. However, there are four settings to tweak the color - so all of the sudden, the movie has the same tints, brightness, etc, as in a theatre. Furthermore, there is a setting to improve image quality: it's off by default, but can be adjusted to smooth the picture or increase sharpness, just like the gausian blur or edge enhance filters in photo editing software.

I have not noticed a delay during layer switching - something that was painful on the old settop player.

The audio out of the box is equivalant to the old settop box, and inferior to the computer just because of the computer's better speakers. However, this Sony player offers a number of virtual atmosphers. It features the normal 2 channel unedited mode as well as type Sony calls "TVS Wide", which simulates multiple channels just like at a theatre. It still lacks huge bass (I don't have a subwoofer connected so your results may vary) but it is better. Also, there is a nighttime version of each method - it keeps things like dialoug at normal volume, but reduces the volume of loud events, like explosions. TVSWide Night is a delight to use.

This Sony player actually lets you go frame-by-frame. This is possible with nearly every player, but with both the computer and the old DVD player, it was too difficult. WinDVD (software I used on my computer) didn't have a button I could find to do it, and the old player did, but it showed the distracting interlacing lines. Because of this player's picture smoothing, they disappear.

Also, if you eject or turn off this player whilest playing, it automatically saves the position in the movie. It saves up to 6 movies, if I remember correctly. EG, put on a movie, eject it part way through, watch 6 more, the original movie's position is forgotten. But watch part of it, 4 more, and then return, it remembers. This was possible with the computer but wasn't automatic - and didn't exist on the old player at all.

Even the extraneous details of the player as a player have settings. For instance, the front panel lights and display - the brightness of them is settable. So at night, you can have the movie playing with no LEDs at all.

The remote is fairly nice. The most commonly used buttons - play, pause and stop, lie directly under your thumb. The navigation buttons are below, so you can simply roll your thumb down. The chapter controls, fast forward and reverse, and frame-by-frame controls are all an upward twist of the thumb away. But the subtitle, audio, angle buttons are all out of reach without repostioning your hand, as are are the menu buttons and the player's setting buttons. Its usable, and better than most remotes, but isn't going to win any awards.

I don't have a Dolby stereo so I can't speak towards the multi-channel quality of sound.

The one negative I've found is that I tried playing a video CD and it wasn't recognized. The manual does say it will play Video CDs.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this player. It has replaced DVD player and relieved my computer of DVD playing responsibilities. It's not the cheapest DVD player (nor the most expensive by a _long_ shot) but it's very feature-filled, and the fine-tuned picture and audio settings alone make this worthwhile.

I bought this over a year ago for $125 bucks from a local retailer. Obviously you can get it for less today. I chose it because I needed a second player for my bedroom TV. I decided on this model mainly because I liked the superior 12 bit/108MHz Video DAC, that it had both optical & coaxial digital outs, and of course progressive scan. I also really liked the design, how small/thin this is. It features 6 disc resume, CD-R/RW, MP3, and DVD -/+ playback. I would've rather had black over silver and I wish it had a digital clock but that's a minor issue. This model has always played my movies flawlessly and I've never had any problem w/ it. Set up was a breeze. The picture is crisp and the on-screen menu is easy to set up & adjust. One minor complaint, the front display has a mirror tint to it which kind of darkens the display a bit- the disc tray has the same, guess sony was going for a stealth look. The remote is good and well laid out, but I know it could be made smaller, ie: not as long. It fits my hand well though w/ the back finger groove. Overall, this is a great little DVD player at an affordable price. I'd recommend it.