Toshiba SD1700 DVD Player

• 10-bit video digital-to-analog conversion with 500 lines of horizontal resolution for startling image clarity and resolution far superior to VHS tape
• Component-, composite-, and S-video outputs accommodate a range of TVs
• Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound outputs feed digital surround signals to compatible AV receivers
• 4x picture zoom with 4 forward and reverse scan speeds
• Icon-based onscreen display, Spatializer N-2-2 virtual surround sound (simulates surround through stereo speakers)

I didn't want a DVD player to double as a CD player, or to hold up to 5 DVD's... the single tray here is fine, after all, I watch one movie at a time. I just wanted your basic DVD player with the standard features. This SD1700 by Toshiba delivers excellent picture quality (500 lines of resolution). Standard features like the necessary S-Video output, Dolby Digital and DTS output and various special effects... Zoom (up to 4x), slow motion, multi-language capability (if available on the DVD), and 3 speeds of fast forward & reverse (2x, 8x, 30x). The only special effect I personally haven't been able to use is the "multi camera angle"... I have about 50 DVD's and none of them offer this multi angle. The Toshiba is a sleek black box and the remote is easy to use with the push buttons well positioned. If you're looking for a basic unit to play your DVD's on this is the one. Great player for the price.

Buy Toshiba SD1700 DVD Player Now

After reading all the reviews about this DVD player and other compairably priced one's (130-230) it was a toss up between this model SD1700, the RCA RC5240P or the Panasonic RV31K. I went out to a local electonics store and compared all three on the floor and then took home the SD1700 and RV31K (picture quality on both was exceptional) and would return the loser. The toshiba played the Matrix with out a hitch, while the panasonic paused three times, test two involved DAS BOOT, even on VHS this movie has exceptional sound on an ordinary set of speakers, on DVD format the sound is awsome only if the player can properly process it and send it to your receiver. The toshiba did great for it's price, while the panasonic sounds slightly better than tape. For the price the toshiba can't be beaten. I will admit that there are other players out that offer more bell's and whistle's, but check out their reliablity and customer reviews. I personally have played 103 dvd's on this set and have only had one pause (the dvd was dirty). Give this dvd a try, it was made to play dvd's, not to be a jukebox (it does play cd's). It is a great intro or bedroom dvd player and you can't beat the price.

Read Best Reviews of Toshiba SD1700 DVD Player Here

After reading many, many Amazon.com reviews we knew that a true test of a DVD player was the ability to play THE MATRIX without skipping or stopping. We initially bought a Sony DVP S300 and it kept skipping at certain parts. Returning that one, we then tried the Panasonic RV31 but it was even worse...it refused to play ANY portion of THE MATRIX. We then bought the Toshiba SD 1700. What a difference! It handled THE MATRIX with no problems AT ALL. If you're wanting to buy a great DVD player for little investment...look no further.

Want Toshiba SD1700 DVD Player Discount?

I selected the Toshiba because it had a few extra features like zoom that the Panasonic brands lacked. I didn't know if zoom would be useful but I figured it was a good feature to have. Now I'm glad the Toshiba has zoom capability. It allows me to enlarge the picture area from wide screen to full frame or near full frame on a standard 4:3 TV. Of course the picture sides get cut off but that's not a big problem for me. Karaoke and listening to CD's are not important to me.

That said, Hannibal froze up on me badly in many places. There was one spot I could not get passed unless I directly went to a second past the freeze spot. It must have froze up 10 times while watching it. The DVD was a rental but it played fine on my PC's DVD player.

Another reason I selected the Toshiba was the 10 free rental DVD's from Hollywood video. ... Go to toshiba's web site and search for the offer.

The Toshiba SD1700 DVD player is a successor to a well-known SD1600. For [a reasonable price] it features "Parallel Video Output" and DVD-R playback.

Looks

I don't understand what is wrong with Toshiba, but they continue to produce DVD players that look plain and cheap. If you don't think so, please do not read the previous sentence. Oh well, at least the looks do not influence performance.

The front-panel design has only buttons for basic functions, everything else is performed through the remote control.

Setup

Setup is quite easy, assisted by Toshiba's "First Setup Menu".

Picture and Sound

Both picture and sound quality are excellent. The picture quality is great, when the player is connected to the TV with an S-Video cable (to avoid Moire patterns). Toshiba claims the player features 500 lines of horizontal resolution. The SD1700 also makes a good CD player.

Video Outs

The player has the composite, S-video outputs and ColorStream component jacks. The best way to connect DVD player to TV is to use component-video outputs (if you have a TV that has this type of input), since this method bypasses both TV's comb filter and color decoder.

However, difference in quality with S-video connection is negligible, so S-Video is second-best method of connection. It allows you to bypass TV's comb filter (the device that separates chrominance and luminance from the composite video signal) and avoid rainbow-like Moire effects, which happen when the comb filter mistakes luminance for color information.

The difference between picture quality using composite video connection and S-Video is apparent, especially on TVs with cheap comb filters. And even 3-D comb filters have problems with moving images, so S-Video is much better and allows you to bypass comb filter and feed the separate chrominance and luminance information directly to your TVs color decoder.

The player has a feature called "parallel video out" that allows you to watch the movie on several TVs/Monitors at once by connecting to them using S-Video, component (ColorStream) and composite outs.

PLUGE allows the player to pass "blacker-than-black" signals to your TV than needed, eliminating the gray color in places where the black color should be. You can see how "Black-Level Expansion" works from my review.

Audio Outs

Toshiba invented optical digital audio out, which is why it is sometimes called Toslink. Surprisingly, SD1700 does not have it, but rather features Dolby Digital and Digital Theater Sound (DTS) compatible digital coaxial output. Which provides the same sound quality, easier connection and allows you to use cheaper cable with RCA-type jacks.

Note: with coaxial digital audio out, it is recommended to use a cable that is designed to transfer composite video signal, since the bandwidth used is very similar.

The player also has analog (left and right) audio out (RCA type). To get surround sound you can either connect analog out to Dolby Pro Logic equipment or use coaxial digital out with Dolby Digital or DTS decoder. Or you can either use stereo sound from the analog audio out, using Spatializer feature when appropriate.

The SD1700 features Dialogue Enhancement mode, which boosts the center speaker sound level. The player is also CD-Text compatible.

Features

The player has other "standard" DVD features: parental control, CD-audio playback, camera angle select, multi-language and multi-subtitle select, Spatializer N-2-2 Virtual Surround Sound. But it also has some advanced features: 4-power zoom, x2 playback, 1/8x, 1/4x and 1/2x slow scan, x2, x8, x30, x100 Forward and Reverse high-speed scan and Time Search, Title Stop.

Remote

The remote is reasonably sized with good button layout Left/Right and Up/Down buttons are centrally placed, with the Enter button in the middle.

Bottom Line

The SD1700's looks can be contested, but the performance and features make it a good choice. However, there are better choices in the same price range.