I recently purchased a Panasonic DVD-S97 DVD player. I did so to take advantage of its HDMI upconversion feature. I have a Pioneer plasma display with an HDMI input which successfully displays HD content from my Dish satellite receiver. However, when I display DVD content via the S97's HDMI output, the picture is less than sharp, considerably less so than through the component output, and the colors are uneven. It does not matter if the HDMI output is set for 480p, 720p or 1080i. Has anyone had this problem and, if so, found a fix for it?
If it behaves well with 480i, it may be the Faroudjia processor not liking your Pioneer display. They are a great DVD player but they have been known to have problems with some displays.
The S97 works very well in 480i. However, when I set it for 480p, 720p or 1080i, the picture degrades, as I described in my original posting. I must say that in 480i, the picture is quite good which causes me to wonder if I am getting the benefit of the upconversion in 480i. That does not seem likely, but I cannot complain about the picture quality in 480i. I will call Panasonic's tech support and see what they have to say. If it is helpful, I will supplement this posting with their input.
" The S77 uses a new chip from Genesis called the FLI-2310-LF. I had heard rumors that Genesis and Faroudja had figured out the dreaded "macroblocking" issue that has been so rampant with the latest Genesis chip. Since this chip seemed to be a new iteration of the 2300, I thought for sure this player would not have macroblocking. Unfortunately, that is not the case. In fact, it is worse in this regard than its big brother the S97. Using my tried and true reference scene, Chapter 22 of A Bug's Life, macroblocking was clearly evident through almost the entire scene. I don't know why we haven't seen this problem fixed yet, but it has become more and more frustrating for everyone. As with all FLI-2310 based players, I don't recommend the S77 if you have a display that shows the issue. Unfortunately we don't have a list of what displays those are, but we do know that Panasonic plasmas are one of the worst offenders. On a positive note, none of the Sony Cineza (HS-20, HS-50, HS-51) based projectors show the macroblocking bug at all. I cannot comment on the rest of the Sony line."
Good Luck and I hope this helps.
P.S. I have been looking for a new DVD player. If you can not return yours, I might be interested in taking it off your hands.
I have not experienced any of the problems mentioned. I do find on many DVDs that 720p appears more detailed than 1080i. However, in my experience, either setting is noticeably more detailed than 480i.