Denon DVD-2900 - Manual

Shame it lacks the metallic
finish of the top-end model
64 March 2004 ■ WHAT VIDEO AND WIDESCREEN TV
Resting in the middle of
Denon’s new universal
DVD range, between the
excellent entry-level £400 DVD-1400
and the simply gobsmacking £850
DVD-2900, the heritage of Denon’s
DVD-2200 speaks for itself.
On the other hand, mid-range
products can sometimes prove
the hardest sell, appealing neither
to the budget-conscious nor to
well-heeled folk who simply must
have the best of everything at any
cost. So can the DVD-2200 really
manage to inspire those notoriously
hard-to-motivate middle-grounders
into money-splashing action?
DESCRIPTION
Perhaps inevitably, the DVD-2200
doesn’t employ anything like the
same stunning heavy-duty build
quality that the 2900 did. It’s much
lighter and doesn’t boast the 2900’s
sensational metallic finish, regardless
of whether you plump for the silver,
black or gold versions.
We shouldn’t judge a book by its
cover, of course, but it’s hard not to
be concerned that such an obvious
step-down in build quality could
have a severe negative impact on the
2200’s performance. Let’s just hope
that this impact isn’t ultimately
worse than you’d reasonably expect
for your £250 saving over the 2900.
The 2200’s connections are very
satisfactory. There are two main
highlights: component video outputs
which enable you to enjoy the
deck’s Progressive Scan talents on
a suitably capable screen; and 5.1
RCA line outs so you can enjoy the
full-range benefits of the 2200’s
DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD
playback talents.
There are also the customary
RGB-capable Scart, composite video
and S-video alternatives, together
with both coaxial and optical
digital audio options and a pair of
dedicated stereo RCA outputs.
The 2200’s list of standout
features isn’t restricted to its
DVD-Audio/Super Audio CD and
progressive scan capabilities.
Enhancing its Universal credentials,
for instance, are MP3, WMA and
Photo CD playback.
Also useful are ‘Darker’ and
‘Lighter’ settings for adjusting
the black level according to your
screen’s capabilities. However, we
recommend you take care with this
setting, since choosing ‘darker’ on
a low contrast screen can result in
the loss of quite a bit of background
detail during dark scenes.
We also availed ourselves of handy
facilities for tweaking the brightness,
contrast, sharpness, gamma and hue
components of the picture.
Similarly impressive levels of
flexibility are found on the audio
side, too. Particular highlights
include a bass enhancer and an
extremely comprehensive suite of
speaker configuration facilities
for surround sound music that make
the 2200 a friend to just about any
DENON-DVD2200 Universal DVD player
type of speaker/amp system we
could think of.
Some of the DVD-2200’s internal
specs warrant our attention, too.
For starters, video circuits are
mounted on separate boards in
isolation from each other, and the
power supply is a discrete design
with separate power for the audio,
video and digital blocks.
When it comes to video
processing, at the 2200’s heart
are 12-bit/108MHz video DACs,
while the progressive scanning is
provided by the highly regarded
Silicon Image Sil504 chipset.
On the audio front, the
2200 boasts three Burr-Brown
24-bit/192-kHz DSD1791 DACs
for decoding PCM and SACD/DSD
signals discretely, with no down-
conversion of the DSD stream.
Furthermore, there’s a Pure Direct
mode that switches off all video
Talent show
Handling is easy enough – no
thanks to the manual, though
The handset is a beefy,
clearly labelled job
✪✪✪✪✪
John Archer takes a
look at Denon’s new
universal DVD player
and wonders if it has
enough sparkle to make
it stand out from the
middle ground
WHAT’S GOOD
Top-end performance from a
mid-range deck
WHAT’S BAD
CD playback only average
PICTURE . . . . . . . . ✪✪✪✪✪
SOUND . . . . . . . . ✪✪✪✪✪
FEATURES . . . . . . ✪✪✪✪✪
EASE OF USE . . . . ✪✪✪✪ ✪
VALUE . . . . . . . . . ✪✪✪✪✪
VERDICT
Rounds out Denon’s latest Universal
DVD range in style
£600 ON TEST:
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