1. Introduction
Pioneer DV-370
DVD Player - page 1
Pioneer
develops and manufactures innovative products for all your hi-tech entertainment
needs ? home, car audio, multimedia and DJ equipment. By combining cutting-edge
technology with sophisticated design, those products can transport you to a
world
of fun.
This year, Pioneer has given a new meaning to the phrase ?home cinema?. With
the new digital home cinema packages and systems, home entertainment has become
extremely
attractive and practical. The consumer will become addicted to
the effects possible with surround sound and razor sharp images with vivid
and intense colours. For state-of-the-art
DVD,
look no further. With new additions in Pioneer's range, the consumer is sure
to find just what he/she wants ? from the latest DVD-A/DVD-V/SACD machines
to portable DVD players.
The DV-370 is one of the latest players in Pioneer's product list. It is an
affordable solution for a DVD player with a very large list of characteristics.
Features
- 24-bit/192kHz compatible DAC
The on-board 24-bit/192kHz DAC means that this player is fully compatible
with high sampling-rate
discs, capable of delivering exceptional sound quality in terms of dynamic
range, low-level resolution and high-frequency detail.
- Surround sound entertainment with Dolby Digital and DTS software
When connected to a suitable AV amplifier or receiver, this player gives
great surround sound with
Dolby Digital and DTS discs.
- Pure Cinema progressive scan video
When connected to a progressive scan-compatible TV or monitor using the component
video outputs, you can enjoy extremely stable, flicker free images, with
the same frame refresh rate as the original movie.
- New Disc Navigator with moving pictures
The new Disc Navigator enables you play the first few seconds of each title
ot chapter in a thumbnail image on screen.
- DSP effects for enhanced playback
- Picture zoom
- MP3 and WMA compatibility
- JPEG compatibility
- Energy saving design
An auto power-off function switches the player into standby if not used for
about 30 minutes.Technical Data
Specifications
2. Unpacking - Control Menu
Pioneer DV-370 DVD Player
- page 2
Unpacking - Control Menu
The European retail package includes the unit, the remote control, two
AA/R6P dry cell batteries, the power and the Audio/video cable (red/white/yellow
plugs). We would like to see a coaxial
cable included as well. Full multilanguage manual and warranty are also included.
Below we can see the inside of the DV-370, after opening
the cover, an action which is not recommended since you void the manufacturer's
warranty.
Below are the main chips used in the unit.
On the rear panel are the audio/video outputs. Analytically
there are: a coaxial (digital) audio output, the S-Video, component video,
a stereo audio output (L & R)
with video and last the universal (Scart) line out. There is no 5.1CH
decoder, but this is something we wouldn't necessarily expect to find on
a low-priced DVD player.
For excellent sound, we recommend you use the coaxial output for digital
sound, with the use of an A/V 5.1CH (or more) amplifier. Pioneer offers a wide
variety of home theater solutions.
If you are about to connect the DVD player straight to your
TV you can use one of the above provided connections, composite video
output and audio (RCA), or the scart, which also includes stereo
sound.
The
retail package also includes the excellent remote control. Click on the image
for an enlarged view.
Below is a screenshot of the main screen from the player, the one you see
every time you turn the player on.
Below can been seen the provided information while playing back, almost
everything you would want to know. During the playback you can change the
audio, subtitles
and
viewing angle
from
the remote control.
The player can play MP3 files. Pioneer provides a convenient and user-friendly
menu for fast navigation through the MP3 files or folders on a data disc
(CD/DVD). Below is an example with an MP3 audio CD where there are different
MP3 encoding parameters.
ZoomX2,X4
3. Reading Tests
Pioneer DV-370 DVD Player - page 3
Reading Tests
When it comes to a DVD player, the main focus lies in the reading performance
of the device. Technical performance tests could include detailed testing of
the performance of the player with various video
and audio input signals (MPEG-1 /2 Video/Audio, VBR High/Low switch, CBR, AC-3
implementation,
LPCM multichannel audio, A/V synchronization navigation commands, transitions
etc). However, such detailed testing is out of the scope of this review
which attempts to offer testing procedures directly resembling the average
user's everyday needs and tasks. Thus, the performance
of the DVD player
can be described in terms related to reading speed, reading accuracy,
compatibility with various CD/DVD recordable/rewritable formats as well as
data/audio playback
support, stored in any common medium.
DVD support
The
Pioneer DV-370 we have in our hands is a region-2 drive, which means that the
player
is able to decode (play) only the pressed DVD-Video discs coming
from
the European
region. However, the player is widely available in the European market through
retailers as region-free, meaning that you will be able to use it with any
disc regardless of the regional restrictions applied on it.
The next question would be whether the player supports both PAL and NTSC
transmission formats. The answer is yes, although since the player is already
restricted to region 2, it is originally setup to support the PAL transmission
format used throughout Europe. Unlike some multi-regional players,
the DV-370 has an internal transcoder that will
automatically modulate the source signal to a derivative of PAL or NTSC. Of
course, the player will recognize only the region 2 NTSC DVD-Video discs. What
we would like from Pioneer is to make this feature adjustable through the setup
menu, in order for users to manually set it to PAL, NTSC or to Auto select.
We
connected the DV-370 through the Scart interface with the corresponding
cable, which was unfortunately not included in the player's package. Of course,
the player supports the DVD-Video format. We recorded a 4.35GB DVD-Video file
on various DVD+R/-R, DVD-RW/+RW
media. The recorders we used are some of the latest dual-format available on
the PC market, as well as some 1st generation recorders. Pressed
single /
dual layer DVD-Video discs were also included in the test. Here, we
remind you that the Pioneer DV-370 supports DVD±R/RW and DVD-Video
playback. All the test discs
were
created with the same PC /software in the DVD-Video mode.
We checked the player's disc recognition as well as smooth navigation
and playback. The results were very impressive, since all the discs were
read completely. See the drives and media we used in the table below:
Recorder |
Media |
Speed recorded |
Recognition |
Playback |
Pioneer
DRX-500UL v1.0c |
TDK DVD+RW 2.4x |
2.4x |
OK |
Pioneer
DRU-530A v2.0h |
Mitsubishi Chemicals DVD+R 4x |
4x |
Taiyo yuden DVD+R 4x |
4x |
N-Tech DVD+R 4x |
4x |
Philips DVD+R 4x |
4x |
Pioneer
DVR-107D v1.05 |
JVC DVD-R 8x |
8x |
MKM DVD+R 8x |
8x |
CMC DVD-R 4x |
4x |
CMC DVD+R 4x |
4x |
NEC
ND-2500A v1.06 |
JVC DVD-RW 4x |
4x |
Maxell DVD+RW 4x |
4x |
Ritek DVD-R 4x |
4x |
Mam DVD-R 4x |
4x |
TDK DVD-R 4x |
4x |
Plextor DVD+R 4x |
8x |
Mitsubishi Chemicals DVD-R 4x |
8x |
Taiyo Yuden DVD-R 4x |
8x |
Optorite
DD0401 v1.30E |
MKM DVD+R 8x |
8x |
Hi-Space DVD-R 4x |
4x |
Verbatim DVD-R 4x |
4x |
BTC
DRW1008IM v0.55 |
Pioneer DVD-R 4x |
4x |
LiteOn
LDW-811S vHS0K |
FujiFilm DVD-R 4x |
4x |
Philips DVDRW885K |
MKM 2.4X DVD+R DL |
2.4x |
NEC ND-2510 |
MKM 2.4X DVD+R DL |
2.4x |
BenQ DW-1600A DL |
MKM 2.4X DVD+R DL |
2.4x |
Sony DRU-700A |
MKM 2.4X DVD+R DL
|
2.4x
|
LiteOn SOHW-832S |
MKM 2.4X DVD+R DL
|
2.4x
|
The results were nevertheless to be expected from a newly released
player like the Pioneer DV-370. A DVD player offers limited features by its
own nature,
meaning
that it lacks
the DVD recording capabilities and advanced video authoring/editing features
found on DVD recorders. Thus, reading reliability as well as compatibility
are the key factors which will encourage most users to run out
and buy a player. What is really interesting in our
case is that the Pioneer
DV-370 did
not face
any
problems reading even the latest 8x DVD±R and 4x DVD±RW discs.
The Pioneer DV-370 does not support reading of DVD-ROM discs, even if they
hold MPEG-1/2 video files or MP3/WMA files. This is usual for most DVD players
since native DVD-ROM format is not supported.
The Pioneer DV-370 supports AudioCD, CD-R/-RW, VideoCD and Super-VideoCD playback.
The cda files of any audioCD are recognized flawlessly, even when the disc
is factory pressed or is a CD-R/RW. In addition, CD-Text is supported.
In our case, when talking about data CD (CD-R/-RW), we refer to either
compressed audio files (MP3, WMA, Ogg Vorbis..) or pure *.wav files,
or to
VideoCD and
Super VideoCD.
In the case of pressed AudioCDs, the player recognizes and plays all the tracks,
offering additional features such as CD-Text reading and navigation between
tracks, as already mentioned in the previous page. This also applies to
CD-R and CD-RW discs. The device played audio files from CD-R, 10x HS-RW,
24x US-RW and 32x US-RW discs we inserted in the disc tray.
In
addition, no problems were noticed when we played 8cm CD-R/-RW (185MB), 90/99min
CD-R as well as CD business cards, as long as they are round shaped.
The player's tray is not designed to accept any other media shapes, as is sometimes
the case with smart
cards or business cards.
For anyone that has purchased any protected audio discs from
a music store, the Pioneer DV-370 will not let you down. The discs we tested
were "Natalie
Impruglia - White Lilies island" protected with Macrovision' Key2Audio
system, and the the "Celine Dion - A New Day Has Come" protected
with Cactus Data Shield 200. Both titles were recognized and played flawlessly.
After all, those protection schemes
are designed to discourage PC users from copying them and as such
are not playable only on PCs.
The Pioneer DV-370 does not support Super AudioCD.
-
Compressed Audio (data CD)
Let's
see now how the player reacts to various compressed audio files stored on data
CD-R/RW. Although the specifications of the DV-370 clearly indicate
MP3 support, it is not certain whether the drive can handle all MP3 compression
modes. CBR or VBR encoding mode and variations in the sampling rate could be
hard for
any reader to decode. Below is available the response of the player to
various MP3 and WMA files.
Compression type |
Compression settings |
Recognize / Play |
MP3 |
CBR 20kBit 11025Hz Mono |
Yes |
CBR 20kBit 11025Hz Stereo |
CBR 32kBit 11025Hz Stereo |
CBR 32kBit 22050Hz Mono |
CBR 40kBit 22050Hz Stereo |
CBR 48kBit 22050Hz Stereo |
CBR 48kBit 44100Hz Mono |
CBR 56kBit 22050Hz Mono |
CBR 56kBit 44100Hz Mono |
CBR 64kBit 22050Hz Stereo |
CBR 96kBit 22050Hz Stereo |
CBR 96kBit 44100Hz Mono |
CBR 96kBit 44100Hz Stereo |
CBR 112kBit 44100Hz Stereo |
CBR 128kBit 44100Hz Mono |
CBR 128kBit 44100Hz Stereo |
CBR 160kBit 44100Hz Stereo |
CBR 192kBit 44100Hz Stereo |
CBR 224kBit 44100Hz Stereo |
CBR 256kBit 44100Hz Stereo |
CBR 320kBit 44100Hz Stereo |
VBR - High compression |
VBR - Highest compression |
VBR - Low compression |
VBR - Lowest compression |
VBR - Medium compression |
Windows Media Audio
(WMA)
|
WMA 48kbps |
WMA 64kbps |
WMA 96kbps |
WMA 128kbps |
WMA 160kbps |
WMA 192kbps |
WAV |
WAV |
No |
The player supports decoding of the most popular CBR and VBR MP3 modes. All
the files sampled at 44.1 KHz CBR were playable despite the quantization resolution
(112-320 Kbits).
Note that the DV-370 is equipped with a 192 kHz 24 Bit Digital to Analog
Converter for audio.
As presented in the player's specifications, both VCD and Super Video
CD formats are supported by the player. The discs are recognized and played
by
the drive
without any particular problems.
DV-370
is capable of images playback, not only for Jpeg format.
4. Error Correction Tests
Pioneer DV-370 DVD Player - page 4
Error Correction
Tests
Here, we try to simulate one of the most interesting problems faced
by the average user while using a DVD player, the reading accuracy of a DVD
player when accessing a defective or scratched DVD or CD disc. Of course, the
performance
of the drive here has to do with the quality/precision of the mechanical
parts (Optical Pickup Unit, sufficient servo control, etc) as well as with
the drive's reading strategy under abnormal conditions, controlled by the main
chipset and firmware commands.
In the case of a reader and especially a high-priced stand-alone reader, we
do expect better control during the reading process. We tested the Pioneer
DV-370 with a number of pressed DVD-Video and AudioCD test discs. The ABEX
series
from Almedio offer
a good picture of the error correction capabilities of a CD/DVD reader. In
addition,
we used the SBC444A test disc from Philips and the CD-Check
test disc from Digital recordings.
DVD-Video
This
is a single-sided, dual layer (S-2 type, OTP) disc with 8.5GB capacity. The
disc can be used for checking the layer switching operation from layer1
to layer 0. The disc also includes test pictures and test signals for Dolby
Digital, linear PCM (48kHz/24bit, 96kHz/24bit) and others to check for high
quality picture and sound. The disc contents is a MPEG-2 NTSC DVD-Video file.
Apart from the disc contents, the TCD-545 includes defects on the disc area
(black dots and fingerprints). The size of the black dots varies from 0.4mm
to 1.0mm. Fingerprints are sized from 0.065mm to 0.075mm.
Although a graphical presentation of the transfer rate when reading the test
disc is always enlightening, it is not an easy task when you test a non-PC
DVD player. As a result, we used the test disc as a normal DVD-Video disc and
checked whether it is recognized and played correctly, with detailed navigation
through the tracks and forward/reverse operations. Note that the size of the
defects increases as we sequentially play the tracks.
The Pioneer DV-370 read the disc successfully, and no skips, picture stills
or glitches were noticed. This good behavior is also prominent amongst
most PC DVD
recorders/players. We proceed to the next test disc, the Abex TCD-541.
This
disc is exactly the same as the Abex TCD-545 tested previously, except
that the defect is a scratch of dimensions varying from 0.4mm to 3.0mm, increasing
by steps of 0.2mm/step.
The Pioneer DV-370 showed very good performance again. All chapters of the
DVD-Video were played correctly. Here we should say that not all
PC DVD/CD players
are able to read the specific disc.
AudioCD
This
is an AudioCD disc used for measurement and adjustment of the error correction
ability and tracking/focusing servo characteristics of a player
against the defects included in some CDs. Three kinds of defects are included
on this disc, interruption in information layer, black dots and fingerprints.
The interruptions are fabricated by intentionally varying the lengths of pits
in the disc fabrication area. Their size varies from 0.5mm to 1.0mm. The diameter
of the black dots have sizes of 0.4mm to 1.0mm. Last, the simulated fingerprints
are small, gathered dots, of diameters sized from 65 micro-meters to
75 micro meters. 160 such black dots in total construct the artificial fingerprint.
All audio tracks were played in the Pioneer DV-370 deck. No audible read errors
(clicks, skips) were reported.
The
test concept with the Philips SBC 44A is the same as in the previous test disc.
Interruptions on the information layer vary from 400 micrometer to 1000
micrometer, while the black dots have a size of 300 micrometer to 800 micrometer.
No audible click or skip was audible while playing back, indicating
very good performance.
Same contents as with the Abex TCD-726, but different defect. A scratch sized
of 0.4mm to 3.0mm is on the disc's surface. Error symptoms expected when
playing this disc are noise, sound skips, same sector repeatedly played, start
of tune cannot be detected etc.
The Pioneer DV-370 surprised us by playing without us being able to detect
(with the human ear) any audible clicks or skips on any of the tracks on
the specific test CD. This is the
best performance we have ever
encountered from a standalone player. However, we are certain that if we
could perform this test under the same conditions as we do with the PC drives,
where the extracted file is analysed by comparing it to
the original error free file, then we surely would
have seen error counts and skipped samples.
We finish this testing cycle with the CD-Check disc from Digital Recordings.
Five audio signals (5 tracks) in combination with disc error patterns to rate
the player's ability to read music and reproduce it completely. The five tracks
contain a sequence of progressively difficult tests.
Check level 1 (track 1): Standard manufacturing errors
Check level 2 (track 2): 0.375mm scratch
Check level 3 (track 3): 0.750mm scratch
Check level 4 (track 2): 1.125mm scratch
Check level 5 (track 2): 1.500mm scratch
Any clicks, interruptions
or looping during audio reproduction indicate failure of a Check level (audio
track). Below you can see the test results:
Check level |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Result |
OK |
OK |
OK |
OK |
one
click |
The Pioneer player had good behavior with this disc. The first four tracks
were played flawlessly, while in the last track, out of five playings
we heard one audible click per play. The overall
performance
of the DV-370 in our CD error correction tests is very good, if not excellent.
5. Conclusion
Pioneer DV-370 DVD Player
- page 5
Conclusion
The DV-370 is a compact DVD player, nicely designed, and with a large
list of features. It came in two colors, silver and black with names
DV-370-s and DV-370-b respectively. The menu inerface is excellent as it
is the remote control itself.
According to our reading tests, the player is capable of reading almost
everything. Advanced formats such as DivX, Xvid, SACD and DVD-Audio are not
supported,
logical for such a low price. The player managed to also read our new
DL media burned with the latest DVD DL recorders available on the market,
such
as Philips DVDRW885K,
Sony DRU-700A, LiteOn SOHW-832S, NEC ND-2510 and BenQ DW-1600A DL.
The error correction is one of the strong features of the DV-370. It managed
to playback successfully all of our defective test media reporting negligible
errors. As we described in the appropriate part of this review, we couldn't
detect, visually or audibly, any errors. Only
in case of the CD-Check audio CD, there was a single click in the last track.
The player is priced at about 115 euro. A very good choice for someone who
wants an affordable and reliable solution.
- The Good
- CD/DVD error correction
- Reading capabilities
- Compact dimensions
- Menu interface
- Remote control
- Component Video Out
- Photo viewer
- Progresive scan
- 54 Mhz / 12-bit Video D/A Converter
- Price
- The Bad
- No optical output for audio
- Like to be fixed
- Coaxial cable in the retail package
- DVD-RAM support
