Pioneer DV-868AVi - Laserdisken

0504wv20 Pioneer DVD 3/15/04 1:11 pm Page 90
Pioneer DV-868AVi
Pioneer’s new digital-obsessed DVD player has good connections.
John Archer is ushered into a brave new world of AV
FEATURES
Plays: DVD-Audio, DVD-Video,
SACD, CD, MP3, CD-R, CD-RW,
VCD, SVCD, DVD+R, DVD-R,
DVD-RW (video/VR), DVD+RW;
HDMI colour/detail adjust;
three user-definable picture
memories, plus presets; YNR;
CNR; progressive motion adjust;
PureCinema progressive modes;
Sharpness High/Mid adjust; detail
adjust; white/black level adjust;
black setup; gamma adjust; Hue
adjust; Chroma level adjust;
Legato pro; Hi-Bit filter; Virtual
Surround; DRC; Channel level
adjustment; channel delay
adjustments; repeat, repeat A-B;
bit-rate meter; basic setup guide;
parental lock; screen saver;
jog/shuttle navigation from
remote; Dimensions: 420(w) x
109(h) x 279(d)mm; Weight: 5.7kg
SOCKETS
Sockets: HDMI jack; two i.Link
outputs; 2 S-video outputs;
2 composite video outputs;
component video output; stereo
audio output; RGB Scart; optical
and coaxial digital audio outputs;
5.1-channel line-outs; Pioneer
system remote in/out
TEST DATA
Video jitter: 3ns (excellent)
Audio jitter: 156.2ps (excellent)
Signal to noise ratio: -76.5dB
(excellent)
Chrominance AM/PM: -76.0dB/
-67.5dB (excellent/very good)
Chroma crosstalk: -57.4dB (Good)
Freq response at 5.8MHz:
Composite: -1.03dB (Very good)
S-video: -0.84dB (very good)
Component: -0.99dB (very good)
CONTACT
☎ 01753 789500
www.pioneer.co.uk
Fiddly but otherwise
excellent
In case you hadn’t noticed,
the world is going digital
crazy. Cameras, camcorders,
broadcasting, TVs and DVDs. If
you want to be taken seriously in today’s
AV world, you’ve just got to be digital.
DESCRIPTION
However, one significant point has been
overlooked: cabling. While it’s fab to have
wonderful digital picture sources like DVD
players and marvellous digital picture
displays like plasma and LCD TVs, it’s daft
to connect them with an analogue cable.
Yet this is what we do every time we use
a Scart, an S-video, or even a component
video lead. This means our lovely digital
signals have to be converted to analogue
for their journey through the cable, and
then be reconverted back to digital when
they reach your screen. And, of course,
every time you have a digital/analogue
conversion, you introduce interference and
imperfections to the signal.
Cue the High Definition Multimedia
Interface – or HDMI to its (many) friends.
This horribly overdue connection permits
the simultaneous delivery of digital audio
and video streams between digital devices,
potentially revolutionising picture and
sound quality by completely removing all
those nasty analogue conversions.
Already dubbed ‘the digital Scart’, HDMI
looks set to become a connection standard
on future AV kit. At present, however, since
elements of the HDMI format have still to be
ratified by the industry, HDMI-capable kit is
extremely difficult to find. In fact, the only
manufacturer already embracing HDMI
consistently is Pioneer. Elsewhere in
this issue, we check out the company’s
outstanding 50in HDMI-ready plasma screen.
Build quality is reassuringly
expensive
90 May 2004 ■ WHAT VIDEO AND WIDESCREEN TV
HDMI is not the 868AVi’s only stand-out
talent. Another hugely significant feature
is its i.Link interface. This permits the full
digital transmission of high-resolution
multi-channel audio between compatible
devices – such as Pioneer’s VSA-AX5i i.Link
AV receiver that we reviewed in January. So
there’s no longer a need for six separate
analogue lines between your DVD-A/SACD
DVD deck and your amp.
What’s more, the system allows all digital
processing, bass management and time
alignment to be taken on by the amp, before
the final digital to analogue conversion
and amplification processes – a situation
which should deliver better sound quality.
Furthermore, since i.Link allows two way
communication between kit, you should
enjoy improved operating flexibility.
In the last paragraph we talked about
DVD-A and SACD sound being deliverable
by the 868AVi’s i.Link jacks and this was no
error. In keeping with most Pioneer DVD
decks these days, the 868AVi can play both
DVD-A AND SACD discs.
And still we’ve only just scratched the
surface of the 868AVi’s features list. For
starters, on the video front there’s what
amounts to possibly the most comprehensive
suite of user adjustments we’ve ever seen
on a DVD deck (see Features) accompanied,
thankfully, by three memory slots so you
can store your favourite set-ups.
Groovy flourishes on the audio side,
include Legato Link Conversion (a
proprietary digital filter designed to create
a more natural sound from CDs) and hi-bit
conversion, which enhances low-level
linear PCM signals into 24-bit quality
to reduce audio deterioration. If you’re
worried that this sounds complicated, don’t
be. Inspired onscreen menus are aided by
a superb ‘initial set-up’ guide and a mostly
excellent remote control.
PERFORMANCE
Thankfully all these impressive features and
friendly front-end are just the appetisers
for what turns out to be a veritable AV
performance feast. Let’s start with the
pictures. Even just using an RGB Scart
output the picture quality is sensational. Fine
detail levels are awesome, colours are vibrant
and smooth with hard, noiseless edges,
and MPEG decoding artefacts are all but
Using only the HDMI and i.Link sockets you’d get the best possible
performance

0504wv20 Pioneer DVD 15/3/04 1:28 pm Page 91
Universal DVD player
£1,000
non-existent. Mosquito noise around motion
is kept under tight control, too, and the
black level is as good as anything we’ve seen.
Step up to progressive scan with the
deck’s component video and edges become
even more accurate as they lose their
shimmer and jaggedness, colours look
richer, and detail levels get even better.
Also there’s no trace of the extra judder that
some budget progressive decks introduce.
As we’d hoped, though, it’s when using
an HDMI feed that the 868AVi really flies.
It’s so clear is the picture, so devoid of
noise, so immaculately coloured and edged,
and so rich in detail, that it’s enough to
make you wonder why everyone goes on
about progressive scan! Seriously, it really
is staggering to see what a difference an
all digital interface makes – and it’s even
more staggering to contemplate that it’s
taken this long to make such a simple
upgrade path available to us…
Wrapping up what is comfortably one of
the most convincing clean sweeps we’ve
ever seen, the 868AVi is also an outrageous
audio performer. Even without taking
advantage of its i.Link talents the 868AVi
delivers CDs, DVD-As and SACDs with
transparency, subtlety and finesse that
makes you wonder why anyone bothers
with hi-fi separates any more.
Move to the i.Link connection we
hooked up a Pioneer AX5i receiver and the
increase in quality is so tangible that it
could well make a grown audiophile cry.
There’s more focus, more dynamism, more
clarity – more everything.
CONCLUSION
Normally we like to try and find some
niggle with any product we review, but
we’re really struggling with the 868AVi.
Occasionally the two-way i.Link throws up
the odd bit of incorrect LCD information,
but such instances are extremely rare and
have no impact on quality whatsoever.
So all that’s left to do is for us to hold
our hands up and admit that we’re beaten.
The DV-868AVi has reeled us in hook, line
and sinker. And frankly, we couldn’t be
happier. Some day – if we’re lucky – all
DVD players will be made this way ■
WHAT’S GOOD
Everything
WHAT’S BAD
Nothing
PICTURE ✪✪✪✪✪
SOUND ✪✪✪✪✪
FEATURES ✪✪✪✪✪
EASE OF USE ✪✪✪✪✪
VALUE ✪✪✪✪✪
ALSO CONSIDER...
PIONEER DV-757A
Reviewed: Mar ‘03
If you can live without the HDMI, the 757Ai still gives you
i.Link and SACD/DVD-A while saving you a bit of money
in the process
OVERALL VERDICT
The most future-friendly DVD ever – and a
dreamy performer to boot
✪✪✪✪✪
FACT FILE
● DVD-Audio, DVD-Video,
Super Audio CD player
● HDMI output
● i.Link audio connection
● Countless picture
adjustment options
● Component video out
● RGB Scart
May 2004 ■ WHAT VIDEO AND WIDESCREEN TV 91