DVD Players

The Pioneer Elite DV-59AVi's luminance frequency response was down 0.9dB and 1.5dB at 5MHz and 5.5MHz, respectively, in progressive component mode (–0.35 and –0.9dB in interlaced mode at the same frequencies). The response in interlaced, progressive, and HDMI modes is still usable at DVD's limit of 6.75MHz. The blue and red component responses began rolling off at about 2.5MHz and were essentially AWOL by 3.38MHz, DVD's color limit. The color response held up well to the limit from the HDMI output.

It took just over 2 seconds for the Pioneer to perform a layer change. From its progressive and HDMI outputs, there was a three-frame processing lag (about 100ms) in the video. The chroma bug was not visible.

Auto 2 was the best all-purpose Pure-Cinema mode, but there were instances—more often with test patterns than with real video material—when this mode produced jagged edges that were reduced or eliminated by switching PureCinema On (film) or Off (video).

In both progressive component and HDMI mode, the Pioneer's performance was good on the Faroudja test DVD's pendulum test, with just a few slight jagged edges when the pendulum changed direction. It was also good on mixed content: film overlaid on video and video overlaid on film. Fast sports action showed a few minor artifacts, and the player was just a little slow to capture the unflagged 3:2 pulldown sequence. On the waving American flag, it performed better than any other onboard DVD player deinterlacer I've tested apart from those using Faroudja's DCDi.—TJN