Toshiba SD-5980 DVD Player
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- Number of Discs: 1
- Progressive Scan: With Progressive Scan
- Playable Disk Types: DVD Video VCD DVD-R DVD-RW CD (Audio) CD-R CD-RW
- Playable File Formats: MP3 WMA JPEG
- DVD Type: DVD Player
- Video Upconversion: 720p (HDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
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TOSHIBA'S NEW 2006 UNIT, IS AN AMAZING IMPROVEMENT the SD-5980SU
Pros
Much Improved Model & Remote, Response, Amazing Visual Quality, Features and Price.
Cons
None so Far.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
What an Improvement over last years edition, in every way! This player has about the best out of the box picture I've seen to date. Well worth trying!
The SD-5980 is a HUGE improvement, over the previous version the SD-5970. It's a 2006 model, and like many electronic companies Toshiba releases these early summer, and all companies by August.
What we have here is not only a better looking player, and one with a remote that actually " functions well ", but a player that is second generation, and has both visual and audio improvements. Toshiba who came late to the UPconvert/ Scaling DVD player market, failed to impress with the last edition of this player, mainly due to being non responsive, and had a remote that was near worthless, as well as also being trouble prone. However we look at his player, out of the box it instantly offers you a very different feel and look.
When playing I quickly noticed the improved picture, it is near vivid quality, and increased details, over the older unit. I also noticed it sounded alot better, and sound was one of the few areas that were not weak, before, this is just flat out, a better higher level of player, more what you would expect with the Toshiba name on it.
They achieve better sound in several ways, two you can adjust the first called QSound, which allows for a concert hall/ cinema effect, and works well at that. Another is called DRC, which is much like a feature on some TVs that allows a constant sound level without hearing a explosion that jars your room. Now some people may want that off, depends alot on where you live and neighbors but the ability to tweak is always a plus. Audio in general is excellent quality comparable to high dollar units. There is also the Digital out that has superior sound to many players.
The video is mainly what this class of player is all about, achieved in a way similar to setting your computer monitor, to a higher resolution, and one can see, a visible change in picture quality this is achieved via a HDMI connection. You must have a HDTV to take advantage of this feature. If you have a DVI port instead of HDMI, I have great success with an adapter and or a DVI to HDMI cable. When testing this and all the players, I use this to see if there is any loss of visual quality, and to date there has been none.
Specific to this unit, the SD-5970 is light years ahead of previous Toshiba players in visual quality. Amazing picture at 1080i, really will surprise owners of the earlier model. Just alone and out of the box, the picture is one par with the best of this type of player, and this has held true with all the DVDs I have so far tried. THERE is a setting called E.B.L when set to on, offers and " enhanced " grey scale, what this does for you, is gives you a more vibrant picture, and this works!
While not as feature rich as the Panasonic DVD-S97S, and lacks many of the abilities/ adjustments, to tweak a picture, you do have a very sharp picture, here, and near perfect to the eye. There is no Chromo problems visible, and blacks " pluge " is excellent, which translates into, being able to see the many shades in black, allowing for detail and true to life viewing. Here again Toshiba has made serious strides.
There is no pretense here to being the ultimate in features, all the standard and expected are here, as well as functions that work like mentioned above. The results are solid, right on target, and make this player a solid entry into this market. At an entry price of 149.00 you get for about 1/2 the cost an enviable picture on your TV. Priced on the same level as Samsung's new DVD HD-850, the two are both improvements over the previous editions.
So what you have here is a nice unit, one that looks really well with other components, being black and silver in color, plus has an unique " flame orange " colored LCD display. Which I liked myself. There is alot of value here for the money, this class of player is a hot market item right now, and it will be a fill in, until the new technology for DVD, and DVD players comes along. Such as the SONY Blue Laser. But for existing DVD collections this player offers you lasting value, with an ability to make them much more HD quality on your HDTV. And even when DVDs go the way of VHS, this like all upconvert units, will extend their life span. Thus making your investment much more worthwhile.
Features to note are:
1. Improved Audio Quality & Enhanced Audio features.
2. QSound which is almost something one expects only on a Receiver to give you a Cinema Hall experience.
3. MEDIA CARD READER, accepts 6 different cards. Plus HD JPEG, useable only with a HDTV via the HDMI connection.
What this means to the user is you can take your pictures from your cam, and view them in Near HD quality. Rather cool, and it does work.
4. Despite no DCDi, a flat out AMAZING video quality and near perfect picture out of the box. There is no " Overly Greenish Look " with this player using a HDMI connection.
Previous model had a problem with green.
5. An enhancement called E.B.L which helps add even more details. You may have to increase brightness a bit depending on your TV an easy adjustment.
6. An attractive remote, in matching black/silver to the unit.
7. The remote works quickly to any function.
8. Unlike previous models, this one plays CD-Rs, DVD-R/RW, SVCD MP3, and all I tried worked. There is a note in the manual, that it will not play some CD-Rs depending on recording conditions, however it played the ones I tried.
9. Minor flaw is loss of the UPconvert resolution selection on the unit itself. It is all now on the remote. But the only reason it was important before , being the remote on the previous Toshiba was so weak, it was often hard to change. Not so now.
10. One must also note there are little functions on the base unit, and buttons are tiny to see. Here again the new remote is also " USER FRIENDLY " both to having everything easily seen as well, as it works.
11. Tech specs are available at the Toshiba site, though I noted that the improvements here were more in the area, of making the unit solid and functional, and what shows up on paper, sure does not explain where the BEAUTIFUL PICTURE came from. Not in this case, because I see little if any difference between the SD-5970 and this the new SD-5980. I do try to mention anything which makes an improvement to the item or it's presentation, and what has been done here, seems to be a total work over of concept.
12. All traditional features from ZOOM to Replay, everything you would expect is here and more.
Also worth note is Toshiba has changed the looks of the unit, and by doing so has produced one that plays well with either black or silver components, and TV, if you are picky about matching everything up. Some people are. While last years model was also both silver and black, it's design was ill conceived in appearance.
Another plus feature almost unique to this class of player, is the Media Reader, and HD JPEG, this will allow use of viewing thru the HDMI connection only, and with a HDTV or HD monitor. What this means is you can actually upconvert your own pictures. I tried this, with a SONY cam's memory card, and was impressed with what I saw. Like the whole Upconverting concept, the picture was better at the higher resolutions. One other player by LG Zenith, in the LG version, offered a similar concept.
I've tried to explain not only what this player does, but the benefits of this unit itself, the whole industry is turning to this kind of player, and HDMI is the standard that will be around for sometime. Unlike DVI which had a short lifespan, however as I noted, there are adapters which work fine, and Both formats offer a " PURE DIGITAL " connection to your TV, thus a picture as good as possible will be available.
Using several HDTVs to test with, all favorable, I am impressed with Toshiba, and pleased I bought this. And really taken back, by what improvements they have made over the previous unit. This is well worth anyone buying and deserves to be taken on it's own merit and not ignored because of last years model. Apparently someone at Toshiba was listening, and that makes one feel better knowing a company is actually trying to answer it's issues. There are none here with the SD-5980 it is a pleasing experience, to use. And a real treat to view.
I've tried all of the UPconvert players, that I am aware exist, and so far, this one was the most pleasing surprise, Toshiba has taken what was an average unit, with problems and made such strides in every direction, it is really a shock. Since I know I'll be running this one quite a bit, if there is any change it will be added to this review. But since it has been on, constantly for 72 hours+, I have seen no over heating issues, and that usually is a real indicator of any future troubles. I have HIGH hopes, and feel I can really say, take this one into consideration, when looking for a new DVD player.
Other similar items:
Denon DVD-955S - DVI & HDMI
Denon DVD-755S - DVI
Samsung DVD-HD931 - DVI
Samsung DVD-HD841 - DVI
Samsung DVD-HD850 - HDMI
Toshiba SD-5960 - HDMI
Toshiba SD-5970 -HDMI
Samsung DVD-HD941 - HDMI
Toshiba SD-V592 DVD-VCR Combo - HDMI
Denon DVD-1910 - DVI
Denon DVD-2910 - DVI & HDMI
Denon DVD-3910 - DVI & HDMI
LG LGDVB418 - HDMI
Norcent DP-501M - Component Connection
What we have here is not only a better looking player, and one with a remote that actually " functions well ", but a player that is second generation, and has both visual and audio improvements. Toshiba who came late to the UPconvert/ Scaling DVD player market, failed to impress with the last edition of this player, mainly due to being non responsive, and had a remote that was near worthless, as well as also being trouble prone. However we look at his player, out of the box it instantly offers you a very different feel and look.
When playing I quickly noticed the improved picture, it is near vivid quality, and increased details, over the older unit. I also noticed it sounded alot better, and sound was one of the few areas that were not weak, before, this is just flat out, a better higher level of player, more what you would expect with the Toshiba name on it.
They achieve better sound in several ways, two you can adjust the first called QSound, which allows for a concert hall/ cinema effect, and works well at that. Another is called DRC, which is much like a feature on some TVs that allows a constant sound level without hearing a explosion that jars your room. Now some people may want that off, depends alot on where you live and neighbors but the ability to tweak is always a plus. Audio in general is excellent quality comparable to high dollar units. There is also the Digital out that has superior sound to many players.
The video is mainly what this class of player is all about, achieved in a way similar to setting your computer monitor, to a higher resolution, and one can see, a visible change in picture quality this is achieved via a HDMI connection. You must have a HDTV to take advantage of this feature. If you have a DVI port instead of HDMI, I have great success with an adapter and or a DVI to HDMI cable. When testing this and all the players, I use this to see if there is any loss of visual quality, and to date there has been none.
Specific to this unit, the SD-5970 is light years ahead of previous Toshiba players in visual quality. Amazing picture at 1080i, really will surprise owners of the earlier model. Just alone and out of the box, the picture is one par with the best of this type of player, and this has held true with all the DVDs I have so far tried. THERE is a setting called E.B.L when set to on, offers and " enhanced " grey scale, what this does for you, is gives you a more vibrant picture, and this works!
While not as feature rich as the Panasonic DVD-S97S, and lacks many of the abilities/ adjustments, to tweak a picture, you do have a very sharp picture, here, and near perfect to the eye. There is no Chromo problems visible, and blacks " pluge " is excellent, which translates into, being able to see the many shades in black, allowing for detail and true to life viewing. Here again Toshiba has made serious strides.
There is no pretense here to being the ultimate in features, all the standard and expected are here, as well as functions that work like mentioned above. The results are solid, right on target, and make this player a solid entry into this market. At an entry price of 149.00 you get for about 1/2 the cost an enviable picture on your TV. Priced on the same level as Samsung's new DVD HD-850, the two are both improvements over the previous editions.
So what you have here is a nice unit, one that looks really well with other components, being black and silver in color, plus has an unique " flame orange " colored LCD display. Which I liked myself. There is alot of value here for the money, this class of player is a hot market item right now, and it will be a fill in, until the new technology for DVD, and DVD players comes along. Such as the SONY Blue Laser. But for existing DVD collections this player offers you lasting value, with an ability to make them much more HD quality on your HDTV. And even when DVDs go the way of VHS, this like all upconvert units, will extend their life span. Thus making your investment much more worthwhile.
Features to note are:
1. Improved Audio Quality & Enhanced Audio features.
2. QSound which is almost something one expects only on a Receiver to give you a Cinema Hall experience.
3. MEDIA CARD READER, accepts 6 different cards. Plus HD JPEG, useable only with a HDTV via the HDMI connection.
What this means to the user is you can take your pictures from your cam, and view them in Near HD quality. Rather cool, and it does work.
4. Despite no DCDi, a flat out AMAZING video quality and near perfect picture out of the box. There is no " Overly Greenish Look " with this player using a HDMI connection.
Previous model had a problem with green.
5. An enhancement called E.B.L which helps add even more details. You may have to increase brightness a bit depending on your TV an easy adjustment.
6. An attractive remote, in matching black/silver to the unit.
7. The remote works quickly to any function.
8. Unlike previous models, this one plays CD-Rs, DVD-R/RW, SVCD MP3, and all I tried worked. There is a note in the manual, that it will not play some CD-Rs depending on recording conditions, however it played the ones I tried.
9. Minor flaw is loss of the UPconvert resolution selection on the unit itself. It is all now on the remote. But the only reason it was important before , being the remote on the previous Toshiba was so weak, it was often hard to change. Not so now.
10. One must also note there are little functions on the base unit, and buttons are tiny to see. Here again the new remote is also " USER FRIENDLY " both to having everything easily seen as well, as it works.
11. Tech specs are available at the Toshiba site, though I noted that the improvements here were more in the area, of making the unit solid and functional, and what shows up on paper, sure does not explain where the BEAUTIFUL PICTURE came from. Not in this case, because I see little if any difference between the SD-5970 and this the new SD-5980. I do try to mention anything which makes an improvement to the item or it's presentation, and what has been done here, seems to be a total work over of concept.
12. All traditional features from ZOOM to Replay, everything you would expect is here and more.
Also worth note is Toshiba has changed the looks of the unit, and by doing so has produced one that plays well with either black or silver components, and TV, if you are picky about matching everything up. Some people are. While last years model was also both silver and black, it's design was ill conceived in appearance.
Another plus feature almost unique to this class of player, is the Media Reader, and HD JPEG, this will allow use of viewing thru the HDMI connection only, and with a HDTV or HD monitor. What this means is you can actually upconvert your own pictures. I tried this, with a SONY cam's memory card, and was impressed with what I saw. Like the whole Upconverting concept, the picture was better at the higher resolutions. One other player by LG Zenith, in the LG version, offered a similar concept.
I've tried to explain not only what this player does, but the benefits of this unit itself, the whole industry is turning to this kind of player, and HDMI is the standard that will be around for sometime. Unlike DVI which had a short lifespan, however as I noted, there are adapters which work fine, and Both formats offer a " PURE DIGITAL " connection to your TV, thus a picture as good as possible will be available.
Using several HDTVs to test with, all favorable, I am impressed with Toshiba, and pleased I bought this. And really taken back, by what improvements they have made over the previous unit. This is well worth anyone buying and deserves to be taken on it's own merit and not ignored because of last years model. Apparently someone at Toshiba was listening, and that makes one feel better knowing a company is actually trying to answer it's issues. There are none here with the SD-5980 it is a pleasing experience, to use. And a real treat to view.
I've tried all of the UPconvert players, that I am aware exist, and so far, this one was the most pleasing surprise, Toshiba has taken what was an average unit, with problems and made such strides in every direction, it is really a shock. Since I know I'll be running this one quite a bit, if there is any change it will be added to this review. But since it has been on, constantly for 72 hours+, I have seen no over heating issues, and that usually is a real indicator of any future troubles. I have HIGH hopes, and feel I can really say, take this one into consideration, when looking for a new DVD player.
Other similar items:
Denon DVD-955S - DVI & HDMI
Denon DVD-755S - DVI
Samsung DVD-HD931 - DVI
Samsung DVD-HD841 - DVI
Samsung DVD-HD850 - HDMI
Toshiba SD-5960 - HDMI
Toshiba SD-5970 -HDMI
Samsung DVD-HD941 - HDMI
Toshiba SD-V592 DVD-VCR Combo - HDMI
Denon DVD-1910 - DVI
Denon DVD-2910 - DVI & HDMI
Denon DVD-3910 - DVI & HDMI
LG LGDVB418 - HDMI
Norcent DP-501M - Component Connection
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