JVC XV-N40BK Progressive-Scan Slim DVD Player , Black

by JVC

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B00008N6X1
• Item model number: XVN40BK
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,332 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

JVC's ultra-slim XVN40BK DVD player is as much about audio playback as video, having been optimized for the high audio sampling frequency of 192 kHz, providing extra-wide dynamic range to realize the benefits of high-spec sources. Even CD playback benefits from higher-bit digital decoding. You want quality and convenience? Try format compatibility with DVD-Video, VCD, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW, CD, JPEG image CD-R, and MP3 CD. But it's definitely no slouch in the video department, offering JVC's digital direct progressive-scanning. Progressive scanning, referred to as 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines of a conventional DVD picture, providing higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts.

The model's 10-bit, 54 MHz video sampling frequency ensures detailed images and clear, pure colors for DVD movies. And, with seven parameters to adjust, the unit's Video Fine Processor (VFP) provides exceptional versatility in fine-tuning images to personal preferences. The player gives a choice of either optical or coaxial digital-audio output for routing Dolby Digital or DTS 5.1-channel surround signals to a compatible audio/video receiver.

A high-resolution onscreen graphical user interface (GUI) allows Windows-like interactive operation with tool bars superimposed onto the TV screen for simple, point-and-click operation. Other conveniences include AV CompuLink (which optimizes performance when using the player in conjunction with other JVC equipment), Quick Start, 1.5x playback with sound, 13-step zoom, and screen fill (which zooms in on a DVD image to eliminate letterbox "bars" on the TV screen).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What Can I Compare it To?, December 1, 2003

By 

I. Gross Georg "imgeorg" (Edmond, Oklahoma USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JVC XV-N40BK Progressive-Scan Slim DVD Player , Black (Electronics)

This is my first DVD player. I've had it since June 2003, and it still works. It lives here with me, and there are no kids around to destroy it, and it gets played once or twice a week. Why wouldn't it work? It's extremely slim, has a cool blue light when it's on, and I've been able to play everything I've ever gotten from Netflix. So, as far as I'm concerned, this player is great!

There are a couple of things I've noticed about it, and I don't know if this is common practice with VCRs or not. But not all my reviews are for ranting or raving; I like to inform, as well! So here's what I know:

I don't have cable, and I've noticed that if I sit the machine on top of my TV, the reception on the TV gets very snowy. It took me a while to figure out why my picture got so bad, when I had a powered antenna that usually brings in a great picture for me. This problem went away when I moved the DVD player off the TV and onto its own shelf.

I think the machine is very quiet. Mind you, I live in an apartment, and I watch my TV with stereo headphones, so machine noise as I'm watching a movie is not an issue for me. So if the DVD player is making noise, it's not enough to bother either me or the neighbors.

The remote has more buttons on it than I will ever use. Six months later, I still haven't figured out what they all are. All the important buttons that actually play the DVD are in white. If you switch to TV, you can turn the sound up and down and channel surf with the blue buttons. Other than mute and video, I've never touched the gray buttons, and frankly don't understand why there are so many. On the other hand, I've bought more DVD player than I need, so it's not that surprising that the buttons are a little daunting.

I have a JVC television (which I've reviewed some years ago), and that colored my decision to buy it somewhat. It ended up being a choice between the Panasonic and JVC, but ultimately, all other things being equal, I bought it for its looks. Being JVC, I knew it would be a quality device, and a delightful result of my decision is that it is already programmed to work with my three-year-old JVC 20" TV! I didn't have to program it or anything.

I could have bought a ridiculously low-priced machine from APEX, but I'm old school and I don't like buying things figuring I'm just going to toss it later. I buy quality and I expect it to last. So far, the XV-N40BK is just what I need. If, heaven forbid, I'm ever crazy enough to spend more on a TV than I do my car, then the machine will be ready, since it is already progressive-scan. I don't know what progressive-scan is, and I cannot use that feature anyway. You don't have to use it to use the machine.

Part of me wanted to wait for DVD recorders to get real cheap, because I have a lot of videotaped TV shows I'd like to convert. Well, I figured why wait for what could be years down the road, when you can enjoy DVDs now. Tomorrow isn't promised to anybody! And I was a die-hard convert, too. I didn't jump on the DVD bandwagon; I had to be thrown! But I'm glad I made the move. I love the fact that you get extra stuff besides the movie on the DVD; audio commentaries are the best thing since movies started talking, in my opinion. And when you pause the DVD, it's perfectly still and will stay that way forever until you un-pause it. (My VCR only paused for 3 minutes, and you had some flicker with it.)

So, all in all, I think I've made a great decision on two counts: one, jumping on the DVD bandwagon (and if you rent you never really have to own any...no more bulky tapes! Imagine the storage space you save...); and two, choosing the JVC XV-N40BK, a beautiful little black machine that says hello to you when it's activated and shows every indication that it's going to be around a long time.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STUNNING, August 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: JVC XV-N40BK Progressive-Scan Slim DVD Player , Black (Electronics)

ALL I CAN SAY IS THIS LIGHTWEIGHT SKINNY BLACK ... DVD PLAYER IS AMAZING. IT PLAYS EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN WITH PERFECTION. THE SOUND QUALITY TRAVELED THROUGHOUT OUR HOUSE. MY SON PUT IN SOME OF HIS G.I. JOE CARTOONS HE GOT AT A CONVENTION AND THE QUALITY LOOKED AMAZING COMPARED TO HIS $300.00 JVC. DON'T SLEEP ON THIS PLAYER BECAUSE IT'S CHEAP. IT'S BETTER THAN ANY SONY OR ... APEX>

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible video glitches, streaking., October 19, 2003

By 

Reverend L.S. Goodwin "Reverend L.S. Goodwin" (Encino, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JVC XV-N40BK Progressive-Scan Slim DVD Player , Black (Electronics)

I bought this unit to replace my older Sony unit, which has trouble playing home-burned CDs and some home-burned DVDs. Furthermore, I thought that with progressive scan it would be a good match to the component inputs of my JVC 56" projection set. Immediately I noticed bad video artifacts on any fast action scenes...anything moving horizontally would have streaky lines trailing it. If you then "rewind" over the same section, it would play fine! I tried every possible combination of settings and switched from the component outputs to S-Video and even composite, but the streaking remained.

The JVC is on it's way back to the store, and my Sony is back in place. Maybe I got a lemon, but I'll be looking at other brands.