| Author |
Thread: Jaton PSD7611K Region Free Progressive Scan DVD Player Review |
    
Brian Mitchell |
| Posted on Friday, January 31, 2003 - 03:59 am: |
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Jaton PSD7611K Region Free Progressive Scan DVD Player
Ever heard of Jaton before? You are probably not alone. Their name may sound strange, but they are based out of Silicon Valley in California, even though they were started in Taiwan. Other than their unique name they also make a hard to find region free DVD player. Now do I have your attention?
What is Region Free?
You may not be aware, but a DVD purchased in the US will not play on a regular DVD player in Europe or Asia and vice versa. So are you wondering why there is not one DVD standard? There are two main reasons. The television system used in America and Canada is called NTSC. Western Europe and Australia use a system called PAL, and Eastern Europe and France use SECAM. Second, the Hollywood Film Industry uses region encoding to control when DVDs are released to each market, which in-turn increases profits from DVD sales. More information on DVD regions and code free DVD players.
Should I want a region free DVD player?
If you only plan to watch DVDs from one region, then there is no need to purchase this product. There are many lower priced, brand name models of equal or better quality to choose from. Those who might find use for this product should read on.
NTSC and PAL are converted
At this time I don't know of a manufacturer that actively promotes a region free DVD player. Although, there are many hacks available online which can convert certain DVD players to be region free. The Jaton PSD7611K does not ship in region free mode. You must enter a button sequence from the remote to enable the region free feature. It will also only play NTSC and PAL formats.
Not a fancy DVD player
The Jaton unit is basic looking black, single-disc home DVD player. It has large buttons on the front of the unit for power, eject, play, fast forward and reverse, plus front jacks for a microphone and headphone. The front panel also has a LED digital display which shows disc type, track information, video format, and audio format. All of these readouts were too small to be read from a distance making them useless from afar.
Connectivity Good
The backside of the box has all the connections you need, including component video, s-video, composite video, coaxial and optical digital audio outputs, regular analog audio outs, and a six channel analog output.
Remote Control Bad
The remote control left more to be desired. It looks like a cheap remote with many tiny buttons grouped too close together. Unfortunately I had problems advancing chapters and activating the play and pause buttons. I was very careful not to fat-finger the remote.
Very basic menu system
The on-screen menu consists only of a text based interface. This is where you set the audio, video and TV options, as well as choose NTSC/PAL and Progressive/Interlaced Scan. The menu system is geared towards the more advanced user. I was able to complete the basic setup for my widescreen HDTV in a few minutes. Unfortunately, if you select the wrong option you can lose the picture all-together. When I mistakenly selected PAL format, the screen went black and the menu disappeared. The only way to get the picture back was to reset the box by pressing the Power - Clear - Power buttons sequentially on the remote.
Progressive improvements
The Jaton unit is capable of progressive scan (480p) video output when used with a HDTV-compatible display. The PSD7611K uses the National Semi-conductor chip which handles the progressive scan processing. It did slightly improve picture quality on my TV when I ran through various test patterns. However, since my TV has a built-in line doubler, I could not notice a dramatic difference viewing movies in progressive mode.
Cool Extras
The PSD7611K does have some nice features. It will also play VCD, SVCD, CD, CD-R and MP3 discs. The unit has built-in Dolby Digital (AC-3) 5.1 and DTS 5.1 processors. There is a Karaoke function which allows you to connect a microphone (not included) to practice your singing for the next American Idol auditions.
Problems persist
When playing movies I would occasionally get an internal DVD error message on the screen for no apparent reason. The error even occurred on a brand new disc. The hard to activate remote control became another annoyance when the button pressed would not work, even with new batteries installed. As expected, it did perform region free encoding when I played a Region 2 PAL disc bought from the UK.
Not worth it
The Jaton PSD7611K is geared towards the DVD user who knows what they are doing and doesn't need advanced features. Unless you really need a region free DVD player I cannot recommend this unit, due to its many usability problems. At its list price of $399 it isn't much of a bargain either. Although I have seen some prices online for under $250, making it more attractive.
Picture and Specs
More Reviews
http://www.jaton.com
Remember I am just one man with one opinion. If you own this product, or have a comment or question feel free to add your thoughts below.
Brian Mitchell
Founder & CEO
eCoustics.com |
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Anonymous |
| Posted on Monday, March 24, 2003 - 07:13 pm: |
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I bought Progressive DVD Player, Jaton. I doesn ot work any more after one month and a half, just 3 movies. Jaton's services for Canada are not good, it seems there is no warranty policies for Canada. So, it is very good to be able to watch mvies from all other the world bur paying $379.oo for 3 movies is too expensive. |
Anonymous |
| Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2003 - 07:07 pm: |
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I have had a Jaton PSD7611K for about 3 weeks now and aside from having to get used to a few quirks unique to it, mainly the display(which by is flourescent not led) only displays chapter time or chapter number but not both like most dvd players. The actual performance is very good, quite probally the best interlaced picture I've seen on a dvd player. I did'nt have any problems with the remote either, probally because I have average size hands. No problems with internal error messages popping up at all. I love the x-y scaling feature. All in all I would have to disagree with the on site review by Mr.Michell. Another thing is I only paid $239.99 including shipping so i think I got a very good price consdering most ebay sites sell it for $403.00. Anyway i give the Jaton PSD7611K 9 stars out of 10. |
Anonymous |
| Posted on Monday, July 14, 2003 - 08:40 am: |
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Do you mean that having a TV like the Sony with its technology DRC-MF which doubles the horizontal lines, progressive scann will not make a big difference? |
Anonymous |
| Posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2003 - 11:08 am: |
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Anyone have experience with the Malata DVD-520? |
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| Posted on Wednesday, November 26, 2003 - 08:06 pm: |
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Having sold hundreds of the Jaton 7611K units
at our website www.dvdshippers.com we can say
uneqivacally this is the best quality all region unit we've ever had to sell and it has the lowest return rate we've seen even as compared to Pioneer, JVC, and Malata. Current price is
only $199.95 including s&h. Features like x,y scaling are a bonus. Any problems with Remote means it should be replaced as they work flawlessly unless there's a problem. Their warranty is good as the unit is actually made in CA whereas most everything else is made in China with more recognized names. The biggest flaw we see in this unit is the Owners Manual that doesn't fully explain the units capabilities and the fact that the 7611K has a rather large profile. Look for a new slimmer unit to arrive early in 2004. |
Paul Kazee Unregistered guest |
| Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 10:18 am: |
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Two friends of mine - one a professional DVD reviewer - bought Jaton's in September 2002. Both of them raved about it. As a consequence, I bought one in October 2002, and being happy with my purchase, I recommended the unit to two of my business partners (we run a film festival in NYC), who each bought one in November 2002. To date, none of us has had any problem with our units. |
New member Username: Nadeama
Post Number: 1
Registered: 02-2004
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| Posted on Friday, February 06, 2004 - 12:47 am: |
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Steve,
Any news on that upcoming Jaton? Do they still plan to release it soon?
Thanks. |
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| Posted on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 02:25 pm: |
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For those of you who have the Jaton player can you post a bit more about its usability. I'm thinking about purchasing one for a classroom where a lot of multimedia and film courses are taught. Some folks who use the room (myself included) aren't always the most technologically savvy. Is the player easy to figure out? If we are running PAL DVDs will we easily be able to make adjustments using the remote? In short, on the scale of idiot to rocket scientist where do we need to fall? Thanks. |
Unregistered guest |
| Posted on Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 02:44 am: |
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Hi dm,
the Jaton PSD7611K is very easy to use. If you intend to watch PAL DVDs on it, you may have to make the player region-free, which takes all but 10 seconds: I watch lots of European DVDs that fall in the region 2 of the DVD regioning system, and therefore, the player has to be made region-free to read these discs, otherwise, it will be "stuck" in region 1, which is the region used by most DVDs in the US and Canada, and the default region of the player. I say most because some discs do not fall into any particular region(region 0) and can be read by any player. For example, some concerts, documentaries, etc.
All this to say that the fact the player has an internal NTSC/PAL converter does not mean it will display the correct picture on your NTSC TV. If you set it to convert a NTSC picture into PAL but the DVD you are reading is zone 2, you won't see much of a picture unless the player is made region-free beforehand. So, just to be sure, all you have to do is:
1. Make sure the player converts PAL discs to NTSC. In the player's menu, select NTSC as your TV system. Your player will always output NTSC as far as video is concerned.
2. Make it region-free: while the player is off, just press clear on the remote, then press 0. The player is now "region 0" which means it will read any DVD from any country next time you turn it on!
Email me directly if you have additional questions.
Nicolas. |
New member Username: Randallp
Post Number: 1
Registered: Mar-04
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| Posted on Friday, March 26, 2004 - 12:21 pm: |
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Help!
I am having trouble getting PAL region 2 Widescreen (1.85:1) movies to fill the screen of my WS TV.
I have set the TV system as NTSC.
The picture displays in the correct format but there is a black border all around it.
Any ideas anyone?
I'm going to contact the supplier and will post when I resolve.
It plays Region 1 discs fine.
Patrick
Port Charlotte FL |
Call me Bob Unregistered guest |
| Posted on Monday, May 17, 2004 - 02:18 pm: |
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I just set up my Jaton 7611K and have picture but no sound. I have tried both the coax and optical digital outputs to my JVC receiver. The old DVD worked fine on the coax port. Am I missing something that has to be done in the setup? The manual is very vague (to me) on audio setup. Thanks. |
Unregistered guest |
| Posted on Monday, June 14, 2004 - 06:31 pm: |
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Dear Bob,
Maybe the digital limit of your JVC receiver
can not handle over 48kHz. So please get into
the audio section of OSD and set the digital limit
to 48 instead fo none. The problem should be solved. |
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| Posted on Monday, September 06, 2004 - 02:27 am: |
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yes
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