Philips DVP5982 1080p Upscaling DVD Player Reviews

• Great player for the price

  
  By A36Q02X74E6RQ3 on 2007-06-02
  To go along with my HDTV, I decided that I needed to upgrade my DVD player. While my Insignia DVD Recorder/VCR didn't look awful, it certainly didn't look good. And while the quality of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are definitely impressive, the on-going format war combined with the cost made those players inviable options.
  
  Enter the market of upconverting DVD players. These players, which take your standard 480i DVDs and scale them to high-definition resolutions are as common as regular DVD players these days. Places like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City, are full of them. I've actually owned two of them.
  
  I started with the highly-touted Sony DVP-NS75H which is truly a great machine. It has a great design and a super picture quality. Sadly, it only upconverted to 720p or 1080i, not 1080p as my set is capable of. While I'd like to think that I'm not a total videophile, I noticed some of the ghosting and artifacts that interlaced video can expose when put on a big screen. Despite the claim of my HD monitor to do de-interlacing, I was finding that it didn't do an especially good job.
  
  Enter the Philips DVP5982. Based on Philips well-received 5960 the 5982 adds support for 1080p output as well as improved USB compatibility. I returned the Sony, picked this one up, and set it up. Here are some of my observations:
  
  The basics:
  
  The DVP5982 is a basic upconverting player that you can get for around $70. It includes an HDMI output for upconverting along with coaxial digital audio outputs, plus the standard analog outputs (component, s-video, composite, and stereo audio). There is no upconverting over the component outputs however. It supports DivX file playback (as long as they're standard resolution and not too large) over USB from a FAT32 formatted device. The menu system on the 5982 is a bit archaic and hard to read, but it's manageable.
  
  What I Like:
  
  - True 1080p output. I was suspect of whether the 1080p output would make any visible difference over the 1080i of the Sony. I was wrong, the 1080p output made a huge difference in certain troublesome scenes from movies. I had noticed with the Sony that whenever there was a light or white background (such as a white wall or the sky) and there was motion in front of it, there were artifacts left all over the screen. In the same way, motion scenes would blur and leaving ghostly lines on the screen. Those problems are largely gone with the Philips.
  - DivX playback. I have a 160GB hard drive attached to the USB and loaded onto their I have various movies that I've captured onto my computer from my cable dvr. Rather than burning all of these onto DVD or having to hook my computer up to the TV to watch them, I can just transfer them onto this hard drive and hook them up to my DVD player and they play. Pretty much every file I've thrown at it has played no problem (but I don't have any DivX HD files). The only exception was some movies that were encoded at incredibly high data rates. Even then, for the occasional really large or really high data rate file you can put it onto a DVD in DivX format and play it from the player.
  - Image Quality - although its not as good as the Sony with some adjustment to my tv settings the image quality is still very good. There is some minor pinching
  
  What I don't like
  
  - Audio Output - this machine will either output over the HDMI cable OR the digital coaxial out - but not both at the same time. This really is only a minor problem, but it can make things more complicated than they need to be
  - The Disc Tray - The tray feels kind of floppy and cheap
  - The Menu System - Simply put, it's awful. Once you figure out the fonts and how it works, it makes sense, but the visual appearance really leaves something to be desired.
  - The Image Quality - As I said above, it's not quite on par with the Sony, although the elimination of the ghosting and artifacts make it a worthwhile trade off.
  
  The Summary:
  
  Well, seldom am I so glad I spent $70 on something. Some minor inconveniences aside, for the price you cannot beat this player if you're looking for 1080p (or want to future-proof you DVD player). I feel very comfortable waiting out the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray battle with this player attached to my HDTV - DVDs look fantastic. The DivX playback, while somewhat limited by what USB devices can be attached, is a really nice added feature. But for me it was the combination of price and 1080p playback that convinced me - and I haven't been disappointed.
  
  

• You get way more than you pay for!

  
  By A3FQDU9WANNZZR on 2007-06-26
  I have been a happy user of Philips DVD players for some time, having at owned several models. Yes, I have had minor cosmetic issues in the past with the overly small and lightweight remotes, and the not-so-great on screen menu layouts and design, but overall they have delivered a quality image. I recently bought two Sony Bravia HDTVs and decided to go with this upconverting Philips model until I see how the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray war plays out. I have been astonished by the fidelity and quality of the image of regular DVDs played through this unit! Although my Bravia's only support 1080i (and not 1080p) I am still amazed by the detail this unit seems to tweak out of SD DVDs. Also, the footprint of this unit is tiny and matches the base of my Bravias in color and size, so it's a perfect design fit. I have not an issue with the on-screen menus. They are far better than previous Philips models. Also, the remote is the new-style design (where it looks like an actual product designer and not an engineer figured it out... but it's still small and a bit too light). My only complaint is that the upconverting happens only via the HDMI output. My Bravia's only have a single HDMI input, so I had to sacrifice that to the Philips DVD player, and use the component inputs for my DirecTV HD signal. I use quality cabling and could discern no difference to the DirecTV signal. I also used a quality HDMI cable and the DVDs I've played are pretty breathtaking with the upconversion. I watched Pan's Labyrinth recently and there was astonishing detail in the foliage especially. I plan to watch the (non HD-DVD versions) of the Planet Earth series and hope they are almost as spectacular as the Discovery HD Channel broadcasts. (Sorry, I just couldn't handle the Sigourney Weaver voice over on those, and had to get the original Attenborough versions!). Bottom line, if you want to wait out the HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray war, then buy this for $70 and enjoy what you've been missing in your SD DVD collection! Also, I receive and play a lot of commercially purchased DVDs from the UK. With a simple series of remote control commands, I was able to unlock this player and make it region-free. It even handles the PAL conversion flawlessly! Try doing that with many Sony and other models!
  
  

• Great player, marginal DVP5960 upgrade.

  
  By A3LYRF8UZ0W182 on 2007-05-10
  I already own the previous version of this player, the DVP5960, and decided to get the DVP5982 for another room where I have a 1080p capable TV. The only difference between the two versions is that this one has 1080p up-conversion and USB 2.0. It also looks a little cooler with black trim and new button layout.
  
  PROS
  Size - smaller than many DVD players
  Plays everything
  USB - connect USB stick or external hard drive, no need to burn
  Video quality is great
  
  CONS
  Remote control looks & feels cheap, lacks functions -- same as DVP5960
  Very basic & unintuitive interface with minor bugs -- same as DVP5960
  No long file name support
  
  If you already own DVP5960, I would stick with it as this is not a major upgrade. I would say USB 2.0 is the biggest improvement here, but a lot also depends on the speed of your media so you may only see marginal speed improvements.
  
  
  

• Excellent DVD player, excellent price.

  
  By A7VHN73Y5O6EO on 2007-12-11
  I purchased this DVD player so that I could play DVDs from other regions. When I put my first non-US DVD in the player, it wouldn't play which was fairly frustrating. However, after finding instructions to set the player to Region 0 (which plays everything) the problem was fixed. The DVD player itself produces a high quality picture, is easy to operate, reasonably priced, and as an added bonus is great looking. My one issue is with the DVD drawer, it appears the new thing in DVD players is to make the drawer as slim as possible, which makes it hard to get the DVD in the tray right the first few times. It's something that takes a little getting used to, but once you do, it's not an issue so I didn't take points off on my rating. I would recommended this product if you're looking for a DVD that can play more than one region.
  Below are the instructions posted by another Amazon reviewer for setting the DVD to Region 0.
  Power Up the unit with NO Disc in the tray.
  Open the tray
  Press the SETUP Button on the remote control
  Navigate to the PREFERENCES page using the Right Arrow Key
  Press the DOWN ARROW one time to select
  Press the 1 button on your remote control
  Press the 3 button on your remote control
  Press the 8 button on your remote control
  Press the 9 button on your remote control
  Press the 3 button on your remote control
  Press the 1 button on your remote control
  The current Region Code Setting will display
  Use the UP/DOWN Arrow Keys to select the region required or '0' for All Regions
  Press the PLAY Button on the remote control
  
  
  

• Very good up-1080p DVD Player - Very Affordable

  
  By A1LABRXZ8W8OTU on 2007-07-08
  This is very good DVD player. It can up-convert the video signal to 720p, 1080i, or 1080p. The picture is extremely clear and vivid on my Sony Bravia KDL 40V2500 at 1080p.
  
  Other great features are the regional codefree, USB, and DIVX (playing avi movies). Setup is pretty much close to nothing. Just plug and play. The player takes HDMI, component, and composite (no S-video). When using HDMI cable, the default setting is to output just the video to your HDTV. The audio is to output to your receiver. (This can be adjusted to output to your HDTV in the menu).
  
  Best of all is the price. It is very affordable relatively to other up-converted DVD players in the market, plus it has the top features you're looking for; namely 1080p up-conversion, and regional codefree!
  
  It would be very nice if this player has the optical output for audio. But for its price, I have no complaint.
  
  
• The "Other" Features Make This a Great Buy
  By A3K4FGJDRCJKTM on 2007-11-25
  Pros: Plays PAL DVDs (region hack needed), plays Divx/AVI and MPG, plays files from DVD media and USB port (using an USB flash or external HD drive), supports DVI TVs with 5.1 digital audio, can update firmware and fix known bugs by downloading files from website (then burning to a CD-R and loading), 1/3rd of the cost of an Oppo with similar features.
  
  Cons: Doesn't play WMV, somewhat "buggy" and unpredictable, takes more than 10 seconds to "power on", video file names are truncated to 8 characters (e.g., "mysummervacation07.avi" is displayed as "mysummer~"), no HDMI cable(s) included, no eject button (need to hold the stop button for 3 secs instead), no digital optical audio (has digital coax with no quality difference, but it would be more versatile if it had both), PAL DVDs only play at 480p setting
  
  This is an excellent buy as a secondary player, but I wouldn't recommend it as a primary player because of having to adjust picture settings for each movie.
  
  I needed a player that could play PAL DVDs, and the 5982 does the job. I just popped in an original, mail-ordered PAL DVD, and it played (BTW, it was region "0" which plays in all regions). :) However, it only plays PAL at the 480p resolution. If you try playing at 720p or 1080p, you'll get a blank screen (but audio will come through). Just keep pushing the HD Upscale button on the front of the 5982 until you see a picture. I noticed a very slight picture stutter due to the different NTSC/PAL frame rates every 30 minutes or so, but otherwise, the picture was clear. I was thinking of buying the Oppo 971H (discontinued) or Pioneer 400V, but then I came across this player in my online search for a PAL-to-NTSC player. There is no mention in any "expert" review, store specs (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.), or even on the box itself that the 5982 is PAL-capable, but it is listed in the detailed specs on the Philips website and mentioned in some user reviews. I took a gamble and picked one up at Best Buy this weekend.
  
  The 5982 is hooked up to my DVI HDTV using a HDMI-to-DVI cable to the TV and a digital coax output to my HT receiver (I just used a spare high-quality RCA composite cable, not a digital coax cable). The reviews here initially dissuaded me from picking up the 5982 because I read that you could not get 5.1 audio from a source other than the HDMI cable. In other words, no audio from digital coax if the HDMI output was being used (for me, through a HDMI-to-DVI adapter) instead of the component output. As you know, you can't upconvert through the component output on this player, and you cannot get 5.1 audio through RCA composite red/white cables (only through digital optical or digital coax). So how was I going to get a DVI picture (no audio through DVI) and 5.1 audio as well? Maybe the firmware in the latest 5982s fixed this issue, because I am getting 5.1 audio through the digital coax while viewing the picture using the TV's DVI port. The amber lights on my receiver tells me so. :) So if you bought an earlier model, try updating the firmware. (The firmware version out of the box ended in .40. I updated to the most recent version ending in .43 only recently.)
  
  As for upconverting, I initially wrote that it was only fair. My fault because I was only watching at 480p (a bug in the 5982 causes it to switch to a lower resolution randomly for the same DVD). When the upconvert is working properly at 1080i, I see a noticeable improvement in picture details in comparison to my standard-definition Sony. I see a big improvement on LoTR and X-Men. I didn't notice any pixelation when I watched LoTR/RotK, but I did notice slight pixelation in F4: Silver Surfer during the Human Torch chase scene. Still, it was minimal. I can't compare the picture quality to an Oppo (because I don't have one), but the 5982 met my expectations of what an upconverting DVD player should be in terms of picture quality.
  
  I played a few generic AVI (not necessarily Divx) and MPG files on an UDF-formatted (not standard ISO 9660) DVD-R. Not all of the assorted files played, but that most likely is because of the many different video codecs that people use when encoding. I read that the 5982 has problems playing very high bitrate files (it won't play HD AVIs). I played a few video files from a USB flash drive that I just plugged into the front USB port. No skipping as reported by other users. I read that the 5982 supports USB 2.0, but the actual USB speed is version 1.1. (Could this be why some users report playback stuttering? Does the picture stutter on all files or only on higher bitrate and larger files because the 5982 can't access it fast enough?)
  
  The bugs? It occasionally drops from 1080i/720p to 480p for no reason. It switches from widescreen to standard 4:3 for no reason. I find turning the TV and player off will fix it sometimes, but this is why I said the 5982 should not be used as your sole or primary player. ;) It takes alot of fiddling with the on-screen menus to get the correct aspect ratio, letterbox, and pillar box, and it seems I have to make adjustments for every DVD.
  
  The manual says the 5982 doesn't support HD drives because there's only 500mAh of power to the USB port, but external drives like Western Digital's MyBook has its own power supply. Users (from online comments)reported the player works with an external HDD without a power supply though.
  
  BTW, there's about 40 web pages of users discussing this particular player at the AVSFORUM website (Google it). Very informative. I visited the forum to confirm that I could play 5.1 audio over digital coax while using the HDMI/DVI port.
  
  
  
• Excellent all-region player!
  By A333636QFPT073 on 2007-09-20
  I was searching for a multi-region/region-free DVD player so that my wife could make use of some of her European DVD's and stumbled on this unit. Took a chance and it turned out to exceed my expectations. Very good instructions, lots of options for hooking it up and extremely easy to use and configure. It has worked flawlessly on European and Australian DVD's and claims to play all known regions. Again, definitely an outstanding unit and well worth the small price. I highly recommend this unit.
  
  
• AVOID -- HDCP required (its own definition)
  By A3F5EF2FKAH1YM on 2007-12-17
  This DVD player will not work with monitors it thinks are non-HDCP monitors. I connected the DVI cable to my 2006 Sceptre LCD monitor that is supposed to be HDCP compliant. The DVD plays a few seconds of the DVD in the background, and even gets to the menu screen, then says 'non-HDCP compliant device' and goes to white snow/fuzz. [HDCP is the movie version of DRM - only stupider. ONLY pirated DVDs will play with this type of 'protection'.]
  
  
• Great versatile player with a few caveats
  By A2ENSC4GVI8T9Z on 2007-06-28
  This is the best DVD player I've found for the media geek who needs a versatile player. It will play DVDs or DIVX movies or display photos from burned DVDs or USB jump drives. Upgrading the firmware is as easy as downloading it from the Philips website, burning it onto a CD-ROM, and inserting it into the player. And if you enter the unlock code 1,3,8,9,3,1 in the Preferences menu you can make it permanently region-free.
  
  This misses getting five stars for a few reasons. The filter they use to upscale seems to have a lot of "ringing" artifacts and might not be as good as your video device's native upscaling filter. When playing from a USB device the file browser doesn't show long file names. It plays divx/xvid/mpeg4 movies but it will not play h.264 video or anything high-res: 960x528 files fail with an "video resolution not supported" error. It also fails to handle ".srt" files correctly if you try to watch DIVX movies with subtitle files. No other player even attempts most of these features, so this is still the best and most versatile player I've found.
  
  
• Great Picture Quality, Feature-Packed and Dirt Cheap!!
  By AM3YLASJIEIZ3 on 2007-05-15
  I was about to buy an Oppo 970HD when I heard about this new Philips player. Found it for $69, so I took a chance. I'm glad I did.
  
  PROS: cheap, upconverts to 1080p, HDMI output, very good picture quality (Mediatek chipset), black finish, slim design, plays everything (including NTSC/PAL), USB 2.0 port (media must be formatted as FAT32/16), plays divx files, supports Dolby-Digital and DTS passthru (even though it isn't mentioned in the manual), adjustable audio sync, easily hackable to be region free, screen saver, firmware upgrades.
  
  CONS: doesn't support long file names, doesn't support HD divx files, no optical audio out (only coax/rca), remote is kind of cheap, menus are a little cludgy, doesn't seem to have an "upconversion-over-component" hack available yet (unlike the DVP5960).
  
  To sum up, if you don't need optical out and can get around the annoyance of short file names, this player is terrific! Who knows, maybe Philips will release a firmware to fix these minor issues (fingers crossed).
  
  BTW, if you add a FAT32 formatted HD, it becomes a pretty decent poor man's home theater PC. A BIG thumbs up from me!!
  
  
• Great player 4.5 stars
  By AD3BM6BESCQYJ on 2007-07-07
  I purchased a DVP5960 3 months ago, then purchased the DVP5982 1 month ago in hopes of the DVP5982's new USB2 would allow faster transfer rates from an external disk connected to it's USB2 port. The DVP5982's USB2 transfer rate is minutely faster than my DVP5960's USB1. I have not found any practical difference between the two units or their USB ports (besides the case color). The DVP5982 is almost identical performance to the DVP5960. The DVP5982 is advertised with USB2 and the older DVP5960 is advertised with USB1 but they work almost identical in performance. I am reposting a review that I had made for my DVP5960, with the slightest of alterations for the DVP5982, (mainly substituted model names and changed the TIVO Best recording bitrate lag time from .5 sec to .2 seconds.) This DVP5982 still cannot play my TIVO "Best" recording "Best=5.8 Mbps" without pausing every 3 seconds. I was hoping the DVP5982 would be better than the DVP5960 to meet my needs to play my .mpg-2 TIVO recordings and DVD backups directly from an external disk and bypassing the need to burn them to a DVD but the DVP5982 USB transfer rate is not fast enough yet. If you save money and purchase a DVP5960, I would do that before buying the DVP5982. If not, then purchase the DVP5982, both are excellent DVD players.
  
  This DVP5982 player plays everything I have thrown at it on a DVD. Backup movie DVDs, mpeg files of various vibrates, jpg, mp3, DVDMP3. I have other DVD players that play "most" everything but for the money, this player is great. Plays back-up copies of DVDs on all brand DVD (&RW) media so far. Perfectly plays grandson's scratched DVDs that other players stopped playing. Picture is great, same as other posts, standard Composite & Component give a great picture and upscale 1080 does work for even a better picture. Hey, it is not a Blu-Ray player but for a sub-$70 unit, this player is well worth the money.
  
  I can use this DVP5982 for my TIVO backed up files. I use Direct Show Utility to change my .tivo files to .mpg files. I found that an external "My Book" western digital 400 gig disk is pre-formatted in Fat32 (plug and play). I copy files from my computer to the "My Book" disk and then I just plug the "My Book" disk into the 5982 USB port and it reads the complete 400 gig. You can move through folders with the remote and select any .mpg or mp3 and play it. (Both DVPmodels filename 8 character length limit can be a challenge when viewing on the TV screen) Video plays exactly as the original recording looked from my Tivo. The only problem is that Tivo can record in 4 different quality settings, Basic. Medium, High and Best. Both DVP players cannot play the BEST recordings from their USB port because the USB ports transfer rate cannot keep up with the higher Bitrate (more data per second)
  According to info from Google;------------
  TIVO video is recorded at 2/3 D1 (480x480) resolution at 29.97 frames per second with constant-bitrate MPEG-2 at one of four bitrates:
  Setting Bitrate
  Best 5.8 Mbps
  High 3.5 Mbps
  Medium 2.6 Mbps
  Basic 1.47 Mbps
  ----------------------
  I found that the "My Book" disk connected to the 5982 USB will play all Tivo recorded settings EXCEPT the "BEST" quality. The "Best" recordings play jerky because the 5982 USB cannot keep up with the higher transfer rate. It Plays 3 seconds then pauses .2 seconds while the 5982 buffer catches up to the transfer rate then plays 3 sec, then pauses .2 sec, and so on, not viewable. The 5982 also plays jerky like this if you try to play DVD files directly from the My Book disk. (but the same BEST quality .mpg files play fine if copied to a DVD or DVD RW, then play the DVD in the 5982)
  For me, the quality between TIVO's Best and High quality is negligible so I will now set all my future Tivo recordings to High and just put them on the "My Disk" external disk, then move the usb connector to the front usb port on the 5982 to play them on the TV)
  
  I can buy a $1000 HD/BluRay player and I can still find something to grip about but for less than $70, the DVP5982 is well worth it.
  Ok, the remote is a little stubborn and you have to slowly-deliberately press the buttons but it works ok.
  AND FYI;
  I formatted a different external disk but with multiple FAT32 partitions due to XP's maximum 32gig "Fat32" format size limit, the DVP5982 will only recognize one of the partitions. You can format any disk with larger FAT32 partitions with an old Win98 PC or a 3rd party format software (or just use a "My Book" external USB disk)
  
  
  
• Very impressed!!
  By A1H9RHZ355E9BY on 2007-05-11
  I've only had this player for about a week, and so far I love it.
  
  Yes, the only difference between this and the 5960 is the 1080p upconversion, but that's a pretty major addition if you ask me. The 5982 is cheaper than the 5960 anyway, so you might as well get the 5982 even if you don't have a 1080p TV yet.
  
  But I do have a 1080p TV, and if you do as well, this is definitely the one to get. The upgrade in picture quality over a standard DVD player is instantly noticable. Your standard DVDs will look fresher immediately; you definitely will notice the difference in resolution. Of course, your DVDs won't look as good as Blu-Ray disks, but that isn't to be expected from *any* up-converting player.
  
  At around $70, the price on this player can't be beat. A 1080p upconverter for $70???!!? Are you kidding me??!?! Amazing! A few months ago you had to pay over $200 for this capability!
  
  I also love that this can be made into a universal region-free player with a few button presses on the remote. The code is readily available on the Internet. I recently purchased a set of Region 2 DVDs from the UK, and once I put the 5982 into Region 0 (region-free) mode, the DVDs play no problem.
  
  I highly recommend the Philips DVP5982. You just can't beat this level of quality and this feature set at the price!
  
  
• Great multiregion DVD player!
  By A30O1FZNMWB8BH on 2007-09-22
  This player plays almost any possible format on CD/DVD. I could play any DVD from India as well, without having to bother about the region code. The other feature that is really fascinating is, it can play files directly from a USB input.
  
  The HDMI up-conversion works excellent, it is perfectly compatible with my HDTV.
  
  The player in itself is very sleek and light-weight. The black color adds to the classy look.
  
  Its a great player, totally worth the price!
  
  
  
  
• Comparable to the Sony NS75H
  By ALONJ1MTG2WD9 on 2007-05-28
  I have both the Sony and Philips. Both are very good Mediatek-based upscaling players. The Philips has the vertical squeeze problem (about 3 vertical pixels) that is inherent on all Mediatek-chip players. The Sony eliminates that problem through additional software processing. The Philips also exhibited red push, but that's easily remedied by adjusting your tv. I'd say that both players are about equal in picture quality.
  
  I had the Oppo 981HD and happily returned it. Not worth the extra cost (3 times the price) for marginal PQ improvement.
  
  PROS: $$$, DivX, USB, 1080P, region-free capable, batteries for cheap remote, black color, $$$
  
  CONS: vertical compression, no optical output, red push, cheap remote, not many available video adjustments
  
  
• Great Player for the Money
  By A1B5U8XX52YYOO on 2007-06-18
  bought this on sale for $62. AWESOME.
  
  
  
  The Good -
  
  1) HD upscale to 1080i on my 720P Viewsonic HDTV and it's incredible. Quality varies per disc. Newer discs - especially Sony releases - play flawlessly. My DVD's I bought in 2005 don't look as nice as a new 2007 DVD release. Near HD quality on new DVD's, seriously. Not tried 1080P so far. WAY better than my 2 year old Sony dvd player w/ component.
  
  2) Regionless. I've played discs from Hong Kong with no problems.
  
  3) Compatible with everything I've thrown at it. DVD-R. DVD+R. DVD+RW.
  
  USB. All played with no problems. Even home movies from my PC.
  
  4) Scratched DVD's play fine. TRust me, some of these would not play on my Sony.
  
  5) USB input is fantastic, but a little slow.
  
  6) HD JPG's are amazing. Watched slideshow of my kid and it was better than my computer monitor. A little slow to load, though.
  
  
  
  The So-So Problems -
  
  1) Red Push. I had to adjust the picture in the Picture setttings and take it back several notches. I also adjust the Blue a tiny bit.
  
  2) Detail levels. I really played with these a lot along with the brightness/contrast to get a nice image. I found it best at 1 or 2 with very little change to the brightness or contrast ( use your TV settings instead ).
  
  3) Lock-up. If I have a disc I stopped and started a bunch, it can lock up and the only way to fix it is unplug it ( or use a power strip and just flick the switch once ). Happened twice so far with over 30+ viewings. Not big deal IMO.
  
  4) Remote stinks. Lightweight with tiny buttons. Although my Sony remote was always too long, this one is too short. Good for small hands.
  
  5) Menu is a bit of a mystery at first. You have to read the manual a bit to get the best settings and REALLY play with with Picture settings.
  
  6) Can't output HDMI and Coaxial at the same time. Sort of annoying if you use a stereo only half the time. Just means I have to go to Audio settings before viewing something for the whole family w/ the stereo system.
  
  
  
  I plan on buying another for the bedroom when we get a second HDTV.
  
  For the money, it's great. AND buy your HDMI cable at AMAZON! Those $5 cables work exactly the same as the $40 one I returned locally.
  
  
  
  
• Multi region does not mean any DVD
  By AOZZ99MAAVLY on 2007-11-16
  I purchased this DVD player based on the other reviews that said that the owners were able to pop in their European DVD's and that the DVD player worked just fine. However, mine did not work. I put a call in to Philips and they said that the DVD itself has to be a multi region DVD in order for the DVD player to play it. I then found a discussion on Amazon with the access code to get into the setup menu and change the DVD player to any region. Works just fine now.
  
  
• Great machine at a great price! Now plays all region DVDs!
  By A9V1CCMYQF82Z on 2007-12-31
  I bought this machine for myself as a Christmas present. It arrived TWO days after I ordered it (using the free shipping option). The set up was simple - plug in and go (I did read the instructions). It plays DVDs (of course) but it also plays CDs/DVDs with jpegs on them in a slideshow format. It also accepts USB input (from a memory stick) and plays music and jpegs from there as well.
  
  The best bit is that I found a DVD region hack so that it plays all region code DVDs, so I can watch my US and European format DVDs whenever I want to!
  
  Here are the steps I followed:
  Hold the Stop key on the remote to Open the DVD tray
  press Setup
  select Preference
  Press 1,3,8,9,3,1
  Press up/down key to select "0
  
  Easy - Enjoy!
  
  
  
• Good value for money
  By A1VGOKV1RIC9TG on 2007-05-12
  Got this player as an upgrade from DVP642. Highly impressed with the unit so far (1 week). Here are my observations. My experience is with only
  720p/1080i resolutions.
  
  Plus:
  * Sleek, stylish, black color
  * HDMI upconversion is excellent.
  * USB interface is nice and avoids burning the files to CD/DVD.
  * Plays anything that is thrown at.
  * Quickly identifies the media and loads it.
  
  Could be better:
  * Way to display bitrate from USB media.
  * Remote
  
  For the price, this model is feature rich and highly
  recommeded.
  
  
• great dvd player if you don't want to spend the huge amount for HDdvd/bluray
  By A2LZ6AGWWLWNXP on 2007-06-01
  I bought this dvd player to replace my dvp-642
  I was a little scared at first when i switched my hdtv's input to hdmi and the audio stuttered and a green screen came on, but that is the nature of the digital signal and its just checking itself when first switched on. some people say that they don't like the remote control, however I do. This remote is similar in layout compared to my previous philips dvd player.
  pros:
  inexpensive for what you get
  it will upscale to 1080p (whether or not you notice it is up to you)
  sleek piano black finish with mirrors
  usb input works great and is pretty quick, it's a poorman's media center
  remote control fits well in my hand and has easy to use buttons
  usb function will play xvids!
  HDMI output, need i say more?
  
  
  cons:
  my HDTV's built in upscaler is better or equal to the one in this dvd player, so no improvement was noticed with the upscaling function
  you need to dig in a menu to turn on HDMI audio
  it will not output HDMI audio and coaxial audio at the same time
  philips always seems to make the dvd players too small and a little too wide. it is wider than my series 2 tivo, so the dvd player sits underneath it, however it is not long enough in the back. thats just a nitpick though
  it does take a little while to startup, it's especially annoying when you just need to eject the dvd and have to wait about 10 seconds before anything happens.
  the buttons on the remote are white and semi-translucent, making me think that they would light up or glow, but they don't
  i wish the usb input was also available on the back, it looks bad to have an external drive's cord hanging sticking out of the front all of the time
  keep in mind that the usb function will not play hd content or .tivo files
  
  
• Easy set-up, excellent viewing for HDTVs
  By A3EV60RHD55U6D on 2007-07-10
  My review cannot include a lot of jargon, as I am no technofile. I wanted something easy to set-up and pretty to watch. The DVP5982 is essentially plug and play. I connected the power cord to the wall, plugged in a single HDMI cable to my HDTV, and off it went. Awesome.
  
  The menus and remote docked the player of a full star. They are tough to navigate, and are very confusing. The instructions don't help much. Basically, I figured out how to change the video setting to tell the player that my TV was 16:9, and to do virtual surround for the audio. I also have it doing 1080i all of the time instead of automatically choosing how much to upscale. That's my personal preference.
  
  Thankfully, after this, it has done whatever it needed to do on its own. It automatically scales movies to best fit the screen, which is incredibly cool.
  
  I decided to try out the player for purposes of this review on three standard DVD offerings: Star Wars Episode III, Superman Returns, and the BBC version of Planet Earth, episode one. My findings:
  
  The opening ten minutes of SW 3 are visually taxing, and the player blows the image up to 1080i (my TV's limit) beautifully. Viewing it in both 720p and 1080i, I noticed little difference but preferred the 1080i. In fact, I could find no ghosting at all. Stunning, really.
  
  Superman Returns looked better than on my standard TV, but ultimately lacked the quality of the Star Wars presentation. It wasn't terribly sharp. Good, but not great.
  
  Planet Earth was mind-blowingly beautiful. I could find little to no difference between a true HD signal and the upscaling transfer from the 5982 -- perhaps only the glassiness that true HD brings to the table. Unlike the other two movies, it also fills the screen. Again, the other two are movies, shot in widescreen, and it knows to letterbox them slightly. This, shot for HDTV, completely fills the 16:9. It looks amazing, and worth the price of admission right there.
  
  Recommended, especially at the price.
  
  
• My experience...
  By A2HKUCBWZPJBPQ on 2007-10-27
  After getting my 1080p LCD tv I wanted an upconvert DVD player. So I ordered this product (I've always had good luck with Phillips products), but I had my first bad experience.
  When I would try to upconvert I kept getting a onscreen message from the DVD player saying that my TV wasn't compatible, but after double checking the specs with my TV and this DVD player, they should have been compatible. After hours of frustration, I returned this unit. I'm not sure if I got a bad unit, or if there is a compatibility problem with other LCD TVs. Good luck.
  
  
• Disppointed and dismayed
  By A2IS5MNBLCC6MK on 2007-11-28
  This Philips DVD came inoperable, defunct, useless. It was sold through Amazon by J&R who makes returning damaged merchandise difficult if not impossible.
  
  
• Great Choice For A DVD Player
  By A261XVBO9VYV4G on 2007-10-26
  This is indeed a very good DVD player at a surprisingly affordable price. No complaints about performance. Using an HDMI connection it upconverts to 1080p providing an excellent picture and sound on HDTV. It not only plays NTSC (US/Canada) DVD's but flawlessly handles the PAL (Europe, etc.) format. Yes, highly recommended.
  
  
• Close to perfect.
  By AH2H6YQF8H4PL on 2007-11-30
  After having gone through 3 name brand DVD players I can say that I am a bit picky. Saying that, I do really like this machine. HDMI makes a wonderful difference. Set up is a breeze and if it isn't defaulted to Region 0, the forums have the answer. This makes it so easy for US users to see other great films from around the world.
  
  The remote is about one-half the size of other remotes. Also the lettering is a miniscule 1 millimeter in height, try that in a dimly lit room. The remote also lacks an 'Eject/Load' button. I am flabbergasted at this oversight. The manual says to keep the 'Stop' button depressed to eject the disc. Go figure. Finally, the recess in the load tray is so shallow that it is rare when you get the DVD correctly aligned prior to loading.
  
  The added features, like USB haven't been used by me, so I can't comment. So, now knowing what to expect, go ahead and purchase this player and explore a world wide variety of movies.
  
  
• Problems with unit - may be defective (suspected, based on other positive reviews)
  By A1BUITSHQJM9N2 on 2007-06-02
  I purchased this to use along with my new 42" Philips 1080p LCD TV. From the start, I have had problems with it. First, it often locks up completely, becoming unresponsive to the remote (checked that batteries are good). The only way to get out of the "locked up" mode is to pull the plug out of the wall. Not good. Next I noticed that while a movie is playing, suddenly the time counter will be displaying completely random numbers that are unrelated to play time. Another bad sign. Third, though I am connected to a 1080p set, which is configured correctly, if I try to choose 1080p upscaling from the player, it displays only briefly and then goes to a green screen and the DVD player locks up again (requiring unplugging from the wall outlet). Given that this is a Philips player, with a Philips TV, I'm quite disappointed with the lack of seamlessness. I am sure it is likely that I received a bum unit, but for a little more money, I will probably go with another manufacturer.
  
  
• Worst DVD Player ever !!
  By A1H6OA71YYZBFQ on 2007-09-20
  It freezes all the time and just can't be fixed ! Don't waste your money and stay far far away from this one !
  
  
• One feature
  By A3PHL18RYME2UB on 2007-12-26
  Depends on the actual DVD features, this has a feature that if you takeout a DVD before the end of the movie and watch other DVD's, then put the a previous watched DVD back in, it will remember the place it stopped and restart from that place. Just like a VCR tape. I really don't like the remote, it is really cheap and inconsistent action. I wish it was more like a Sony player and remote.
  
  
• Problems with HDMI
  By A1IY3KR2GUS92M on 2007-05-17
  The video quality is great. Plays anything you throw at it. DivX/xVid/JPEG from USB is a big thumbs up. The problem I ran into was when I hooked up the player with the HDMI cable. The movie would freeze in the middle while playing. Cannot skip/stop/poweroff. Also, the JPEG shows up in B/W when connected through HDMI. You have to literally yank the power cord from the outlet and power it back on to get it to work again. I restored the RCA cable and the unit started working again.
  
  Not giving up yet. Plan to call Philips to see if they've a firmware upgrade on the way.
  
  
• New firmware fixed all HDMI issues
  By A21441IBG3J0DO on 2007-06-29
  Got this player for its price and 1080P output. HDMI output used to freeze with Vizio VU42LF 1080P full HD tv. Called up Philips, called up Vizio - no solution. Flashed the player with new firmware (ending with 40) and all problems went away. Still have minor interlace issues with fast moving scenes (noticable by a person with 12 eyes). Divx/xvid output is excellent in 1080P, would have been better with faster GPU. Great value for money, nicely built unit, remote looks cheap. Mediatek is the not the greatest chipset, for this price I will not complain. Good job Philips and Amazon (for its best price/value)
  
  
• Freezes
  By A1X64VDUIF3H2Y on 2007-07-24
  Very sharp and clean picture (compared to Toshiba SD-5000) even on a 100" projection screen. Upconverter is better than the one built into Mitsubishi HD1000U projector. Plays DivX like a charm including those Ultra DivX files with built-in bmp subtitles. Would definitely be a keeper, if it didn't pause, choke, freeze on certain titles like "Terminator 2" and "Cars".
  
  Another thing that annoyed me all the time was the player trying to route 5.1 raw audio through HDMI if the HDMI cable was plugged. In my setup HDMI cable was going to projector alone and audio receiver was being fed via coax. Philips for whatever reason by default was trying to send 5.1 audio to HDMI, and coax was getting only PCM. This could easily be fixed via player's menu, but after disconnecting and reconnecting the power, it was going back to this strange behavior.
  
  
  

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