Home > Consumer Reviews > Philips DVP5140 Multiformat DVD Player with DivX, MP3, Windows Media Support

I cannot fit all the good things I want to say about this product in only one review. I bought this due to the massive amounts of re-encoding required for converting DIVX and XVID movies to standalone-DVD format. It would take hours on end.

With this player you can copy the clips themselves to a blank CD-R or DVD-R and it works fine. I don't know why people report so many problems with this player - It's played every single disc I've thrown at it. Multi brands too, both -R, -RW, +R, and +RW. It also plays CD-R/RW discs with the DIVX/XVID/WM files burned to them.

This player is the last one I'll ever get. I've just purchased one for my parents too, since I've enjoyed mine so much. Try it - You won't be sorry.

The new Philips DVP5140 NTSC/PAL dvd player may be a worthwhile upgrade to the popular Philips DVP642. The Philips DVP5140 produces a better picture than the DVP642. The DVP5140 is "DivX Ultra" certified. The DVP5140 is an excellent example of Philips "plays it all" DVD players.

The DVP5140 uses a 12 bit/108 MHz video system instead of the 10 bit/54 MHz system used in the DVP642. The 12 bit/108 MHz video system produces visibly sharper images and natural colors. The quality of the picture on my 42 inch Plasma HDTV is very impressive.

One major complaint with DVD players concerns their inability to play damaged discs. The DVP5140 has successfully played imperfect discs that other players couldn't handle.

Using the "display" button on the remote, you can view the bit rate and other interesting information about the disc being played.

If the selected soundtrack on the disc you are playing is DTS (Digital Theater Sound), the analog audio output will be muted; consequently, you may need to use the "audio" button on the remote control to select a different soundtrack. DTS soundtracks are not very common in DVDs.

The DVP5140 shows a noticeable pause at the layer change point when playing dual layer DVDs; however, this is not unusual for DVD players.

The DVP5140 does not have an optical digital audio out or S-Video out connector.

The DVP5140 chipset is MediaTek MT1389. The DVP642 chipset is ESS Vibratto II (ES6698F).

The DVP5140 is similar to the new HDMI compliant Philips DVP5960. HDMI is about DRM (Digital Rights Management), a euphemism for copy protection. HDMI = DVI + HDCP. HDCP is the copy protection component of the HDMI standard. The other component of HDMI is the digital interface. Although manufacturers claim otherwise, many experts say there's very little difference in image quality using a digital interface as opposed to an analog connection.

The DVP5140 produces a brilliant picture, can play almost any disc, is housed in an attractive ultra-slim package and is inexpensive. Now, you've got to ask yourself a question: What do I want in a DVD player? The DVP5140 may be an offer you can't refuse!

*** Addendum

DTS (Digital Theater Sound) soundtracks are most often found in Superbit DVDs. Superbit and DTS technologies are especially beneficial with high end audio equipment and large screen high definition displays.

The availability of DTS encoded DVD movies is limited. DTS encoded DVDs often cost more than their Dolby Digital (AC-3) counterpart. Discernible differences in audio quality between DTS and Dolby Digital (AC-3) are highly dependent on the encoding technique and equipment as well as your decoding equipment.

The soundtrack for a DVD movie can contain Dolby Digital (AC-3), DTS, MP2, or PCM audio data. NTSC DVD players must support Dolby Digital (AC-3) and PCM soundtracks; consequently, all 525/60 (NTSC) discs must contain, at a minimum, Dolby Digital (AC-3) or PCM audio data. All other formats are optional.

A DTS soundtrack is almost 4 times as large as a comparable Dolby Digital (AC-3) soundtrack. This is because DTS audio is not compressed to the same degree as Dolby Digital (AC-3) audio. Both DTS and PCM together don't usually leave enough room for quality video encoding of a full length movie. Consequently, a disc with a DTS soundtrack will usually carry a Dolby Digital (AC-3) soundtrack. This means that all DTS discs will work in all DVD players, but a DTS compatible player and a DTS decoder are required to play the DTS soundtrack.

Most DVDs are encoded to optimize space for the feature plus added value and audio streams. Superbit utilizes the physical space devoted to added value to produce a disc with a higher bit rate video and both DTS and Dolby Digital (AC-3) soundtracks. Superbit titles have a Dolby Digital (AC-3) soundtrack (at the highest rate of 448 Kbps) and a DTS soundtrack (at the half rate of 768 Kbps). Superbit titles are recorded on dual layer discs (8.5GB storage capacity). There is usually a noticeable pause during the layer change as the player's laser adjusts to read the second layer. The length of the pause varies from disc to disc and player to player.

Yes, this unit really can play PAL DVDs from any region on an NTSC TV. I didn't think that was possible at this price point. And of course, it plays NTSC DVDs just fine as well. It has all of the features you'd expect to find on a DVD player, and has a fine picture.

Don't believe the other reviews complaining about how it doesn't do something it should, or does something it shouldn't. These people didn't read the manual. The functions on the remote are somewhat non-standard, and the means of accessing certain features isn't obvious. You MUST read the manual. For example, the fast-forward and chapter skip are on different buttons, unlike most DVD players I've used.

I'm not giving this player five stars because of the build quality. The player itself is of rather low quality, but the remote control sets new standards for "cheap Chinese junk." Without the batteries, it's a wonder it doesn't float out of your hand. So while the unit works well, I'm not sure that it's going to give me years of use.

This player has a lot of well-implemented features for a good price. This Machine is Ultimately a Region Free DVD Player. Yes it can Play Region 1,2,3,4,5,6 PAL or NTSC on any TV. Great Buy " Great Job " North Star Electronics". Just pop in your european disc and it will paly right there on your screen no codes to enter no nothing. :

1) This player CAN play DTS discs via a DTS-capable receiver on the COAX digital output.

2) Region Free DVD Player, Can Play PAL or NTSC Region 1,2,3,4,5,6 right on your TV!

3)1've only had the player a couple of weeks, but I really like it so far. I'm not a Audio/Video-phile, but the picture and sound quality is good on my 42" LCD HDTV once I turned on the Progressive Scan feature and hooked it up with a component cable. I also found start-up times and loading times to be good.

Good Luck

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For the price this really is a good deal, considering the variety of discs it plays. So far it has played all of my DVD-r and -rw discs, though the manual claims otherwise.

I have about 20 DivX discs most of them contain 10 plus titles on them, one title on one disc claimed improper codec so the audio was still heard but no video. The rest played flawlessly. There is even a title that freezes when I play it on my PC but NOT on this player. An on screen counter display shows time remaining and time in, and its small and suttle. Of course you can remove it just as easy. The manual claims it supports WMA but not WMV, I haven't tried either.

PAL/NTSC capable, your T.V. does not have to be a PAL T.V.(or vice versa) to work, all that is taken care of internally. I own two PAL/region 2 discs and again no problems playing either.(refer to H.A. Emet's review for directions to make region free)

Now for some reason it is very important that certain individuals have to have an eject button on their remote. As if some godly power is going to swap the disc for them as well. These individuals have given bad reviews based on their assumption that this player lacks such an option. As well as the lack of a fast forward or reverse. The remote is cheesy don't get me wrong, but if they had read their manuals it clearly states the existence of both options. If opening and closing the tray from your lazyboy is that important to you just hold the stop button for a few seconds and presto! Now you can get up and swap the disc, or have fido do it for you! As far as FFW and REV during playback, the left cursor (arrows surrounding the "OK" button) or right cursor perform these functions. Every press of the button changes the speed.

Another issue I've noticed, is people are confused when they get to the code entering portion of H.A.Emet's directions for making it region free. There is no PLACE to enter the digits, JUST DO IT! Some complain the tray opens too slow, or it takes to long to load a disc. There is a "lag" when you press open, but that only occurs when you first power up. And I'm only talking a few seconds if that. This seems to be a Philips "thing" since my other Philips player is just as slow.

I'm not going to address the picture quality or sound since numorous other reviews have already covered those. But I will say I own three players and a recorder, there isn't too much differences in sound and picture between them. Also this unit does not support s-video, only cheesy CVBS cables(yellow, red and white) or component video, I.E. Y Pb Pr (color stream for you Toshiba fans).

The unit measures 17 1/8" long by 9" deep by 1 1/2" tall(including the feet)

2/12/08
After trying other remotes I discovered it's the player that has issues with distance not the remote. Though the remote is still cheesy. A lot of people have had bad luck with play back after a short period of time. Luckly I have not. I also don't use this player as my primary one. Another thing I've noticed is some of my DVD-R's experince slight hesitation in the frame rate when the movement on screen is fast. But again this player doesn't claim to support DVD-R. I highly recommend you read P.Hooker's review before you purchase this player!