Panasonic DVD-LV60 5.8 in. Portable DVD Player

Until the budget aircrafts of this millennia setup some nice screens on the back of seat head rests, and also encourage that in buses and trains, a portable DVD player is the key to winding away the hours while travelling. Even then you won?t have a vast amount of leeway in what to watch, thus making these slim portables all the more appealing.

Portable DVD players are destined to get smaller until they can fit in your pocket yet still give you a cinematic experience. Panasonic was the first to start this craze, and has now released a smaller-screened unit, with a 5.8in LCD screen it uses existing technology both to reduce the screen size and maintain the quality of viewing consumers are used to. But is size everything?

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For $1190-(est)/#850 ESRP/RRP you get plenty for your money, albeit small:
Features:

5.8in 16:9 LCD screen; DVD, Video CD, CD playback; Dolby Digital/DTS; 4:3/16:9 switchable; Virtual Surround Sound; multiangle support; brightness and colour adjust; lock facility; slow motion capture ?frame-by-frame- viewing; five total picture speed searches; 5 hr battery life.

Sockets:
Composite video output; S-Video output; optical input; headphone jack.

Size
159x27x140mm (WxHxD)

Weight
750g inc battery

Included accessories
Remote; video/audio output adapter; battery charger; battery; mains AC adapter (110/240v 50/60Hz).
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Description

First impressions are very good, I?ve tried others in the store, and found this to be the smallest neatest and most compact. It looks like a silver sandwich. The only flaw is the disc tray; it sticks out at one side by a centimetre or two. Though as a counteraction they have decorated it an attractive purple/blue, with nice styling curves along the strip, which follows round the front and inside the disc mechanism. The effect of this purple is quite bizarre, giving the rest of the casing an off-silver hue.

The player feels sturdy to take the rough accidents, but that overhung tray seems a bit venerable. Open the casing to reveal the small screen, and lower panel; alit with the control functions on the far right hand side. The onscreen cursor control is situated in the bottom right and is incorporated into the blue plastic, which makes the player look cheaper than it is.

The battery pack, which bolts onto the back end of the unit provides a good 5 hour lifespan, and takes that time to charge. Strangely the unit doesn?t have an independent S-Video socket. Instead you have to use a special adapter cable, through the same composite socket ?which isn?t included in the box. That adapter is available from specialist Panasonic dealers. The use of a single socket or multisocket design makes the player seem less congested and therefore helps keep the slim design.

The video and audio sockets act as outputs or inputs, alternated by a small button next to them, while the audio out acts as an optical output capable of streaming Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks. There is a small headphone jack on the other side of the player.

The included remote control is pleasingly small and well designed. Panasonic has kept it basic really, but taking it too far, leaving no volume control, which is very silly.


Operation

The onscreen menu is extremely simple to use. It has nice ouches such as diagrams in the bottom left corner showing how to use the cursor. The menus are easy to navigate, even in dim light, each option is labelled as a tab, like in a PC folder.
Curiously, there is no way to switch between S-Video and composite video via the menus. There are also some differences between the diagrams in manual and on-screen, despite the manual being solely for the LV60.

The feature list kicks off with multi-angle capabilities and picture-by-picture frame advance, but there is no zoom and only one speed of slow-motion. I felt a bit uncertain when using the slow-motion feature. With manual in hand, I have to first press pause, then use the forward or reverse buttons, holding or a second will keep the picture moving at the slower speed until I press play again. As usual pressing the forward/reverse buttons once simply skips the chapter, whereas holding them down while playing will search the film with five speeds of search available.

Finally, you can change the brightness and colour from pressing the Monitor button on the player, not remote.

As a whole, the operation is either complex or simple, though the LV60 earns merits for being easy to use with the basic controls.


Performance

The 5.8in screen is the smallest, I?ve heard, available, and seems fairly good on first look. In standby mode the LCD is very black to start with, giving a good level of contrast when on. But this good contrast is obliterated by small levels of grain. This grain is a little tough to see, but with dark scene shots such as on The Matrix the grain can be seen easier, along with traces of noise. It unfortunate the DVD-LV60 hasn?t a sharp up/down adjuster, which could clear up and/or improve any visual flaws.

With still images they look great, bright colours are so flat, and thick, but turn to motion and the LCD screen starts to show it is and LCD screen, by having some motion blur. The motion blur is most noticeable in dark to bright changes, like a ceiling light bulb crossed by a person, making a trail of dark ambers behind the person?s head. And as usual you don?t have any flickery images; more associated with normal (50/60Hz) TVs.

The contrast level seems to be set a little low, as most films appear too dark. Similarly any scenes where white meets darker backgrounds will be affected by this and often affected badly.
For a positive the LV60 produce very good colours, bright and thick, as I said before, and they show up very clear. Flesh tones are perfect, no nasty bleeding, which often occurs. That?s thanks to excellent detail levels. The levels you can pick out are amazing, for such a small screen it pictures people and clothing in a realistic projections. Even densely sown clothes have no ?waterfall? effect often seen. This gains more merits as I go along.

The internal speakers dipict dialogue fairly well, acceptable and only acceptable, as you could expect for the small less-than-2cm-sized speakers. Just don?t expect great volume, or gung-ho explosions powering out of the portable. The icing on the cake and cherry on-top is the Virtual Surround Sound option, switching it on and you?re instantly turning your head. The sound is quite 3D, expanded around you and not just in front. As it stands, extremely effective.

The LV60 is restricted to VCD, and CD only, no CD-R playback, and to be honest its very poor performance hear. The main flaw lies in the speakers, which distort at list enable levels, so headphones are a must in this situation.

Playing the portable through a large TV with the composite is fairly good. A little loss of detail from the composite alternative, but otherwise, colourful, and contrast is good. It won?t beat a #500 player but still is fairly good for the small size.
I managed to hook it up to my Denon receiver, and was propelled into surround sounds ? for real. The sound was a little dynamically challenged, but heavy explosions have the penetrating effect they should. I would buy the S-Video cable, but since I have a proper player already I?ll leave the LV60 to the LCD screen.


All in all: this is an attractively stylised portable, not only in looks but in operation and price. The minor flaws cause a bit of disappointment, and overall is worth a buy. I would rather like to know how other portables were like to judge this one better but still I feel satisfied with the purchase. I managed to get one for #590 at a high street store, although with no interest free credit though.