Philips DVD724AT Progressive-Scan DVD Player

by Philips

Product Details

Product Manual [1.60mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 17 x 11.3 x 2.9 inches ; 6.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 10 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: B000068U2L
• Item model number: DVD674AT
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #217,995 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Philips's slim, affordable DVD724AT features high-end progressive-scan component-video outputs and built-in decoding for MP3 music files and HDCD-encoded discs, as well as JPEG image CD playback so you can enjoy digital slideshows right in the living room. It also converts non-region-encoded PAL-formatted discs (the standard in Europe) for viewing on standard NTSC televisions.

Whether your living room is currently home to an HDTV or you're merely thinking of "someday," the DVD724AT stands ready to deliver the full potential of DVDs. 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 DVD724AT also performs 3:2 pulldown. DVD mastering introduces a common distortion when adjusting 24 frames-per-second movies to 30 fps video; 3:2 pulldown digitally corrects this distortion, removing the redundant information to display a film-frame-accurate picture.

A set of left/right analog-audio outputs channel audio to Dolby Pro Logic receivers and stereo televisions. Both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel surround-sound signals can be routed through the player's digital-audio outputs (one each of RCA coaxial and Toslink optical) for direct connection to a full-featured audio/video receiver. Playable on all CD and DVD players, discs encoded with HDCD (High-Definition Compatible Digital) technology have extended audio resolution appreciable only in HDCD-equipped devices such as the DVD724AT (be sure to use the analog outputs to appreciate this feature).

Playback options include five-disc resume, which lets you pick-up where you left off on your five most recently viewed DVDs, enhanced parental control (with 120-disc lockout), and picture zoom for magnification of select images.

What's in the Box
DVD player, remote control, batteries, user's manual, stereo analog audio interconnect/composite-video cable.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This baby does it all., August 18, 2002

By 

Alia Hamiduddin "Liya" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Philips DVD724AT Progressive-Scan DVD Player (Electronics)

This DVD player is amazing.

Features
It has progressive scan, s-video, component video, coaxial and optical audio connections in addition to the RCA connection.
It plays different kinds of media. I tried regular DVD movies, an original VCD, a cheap VCD, a home made VCD (using Nero), a home made music CD (MP3 files), a CD that contain photos organized in different files (Jpeg files), I even tried a Mini CD filled with photos and a short movie (my digital camera saves directly to a mini CD), each and every one played flawlessly. I still want to try DVD+R and DVD+RW as soon as I do that I will post an update.
When using Jpeg CDs
-You can watch your photos as a slide show and change the transfer time between the photos with one push on the remote (very nice when you want to take your time watching photos you love or just want to go quickly on others).
-You can choose either that the player runs the all photos automatically or you choose which file contents to play (saves a lot of time when you want to watch a specific group of photos).
-You can rotate a photo (very important if you took the photo vertically and you didn't edit it).
-You can zoom in and out (it's beautiful to watch the face of my niece fill the screen).
-You can press next or previous to navigate (and you get a very fast respond).
-You can watch a thumbnail of all your photos by pressing preview on the remote control (although it takes a long time).

What I like about this player
The features I mentioned earlier.
The clean cut of the player and that it has the 4 most used buttons Play/Pause, Stop, Prev. & Next on the player itself just in case you can't find the remote.
When you turn this baby off, no lights remain on.
The feel of the remote control.

What I don't like
How slow it is when viewing thumbnails.
The player can't add effects between pictures when using the slide show (so if I want to watch a group of pictures with effects I make a slide show with my computer then burn it to a CD, but with the prices of the CD-R going down and the fact that with a slide show program you can make much better slide shows than any DVD player can and on top of that also add sounds the lack of the slide show is not a big deal, although it would've saved me time and effort if I can watch all the photos with effect just by using the DVD player).

I really recommend this player, if you just want a regular DVD Player you can't go wrong it plays movies beautifully with great sound for an amazing price.

If you have a top notch TV, stereo or surround sound, or might get one in the future it is important to have a DVD player that will take advantage of it.

If you don't use Jpeg CDs, it is also nice to have that feature especially that in these days a lot of people send each other photos on CDs, so if you have this player you can just pop the CD in and watch the photos on your TV no need to use the computer or be limited by your monitor size.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Better alternatives available, November 6, 2002

By 

Paul D. Wykes (Auburn, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Philips DVD724AT Progressive-Scan DVD Player (Electronics)

I bought one of these but had to return it since it would freeze up and/or stutter while playing the second layer (about an hour or so in) on most of my DVD's. The player seems cheaply made and the features are not that great. The remote, in particular, is very flimsy, with tiny buttons that you can't read in a dimmed room. Afer returning this, I got a JVC XV-S500BK for about the same price and I'm much happier with it.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible!, September 20, 2002

By 

"tew02" (Southern California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Philips DVD724AT Progressive-Scan DVD Player (Electronics)

This is a wonderful machine I have had it a month or two but I have tested every feature they work better than I thought they would.

I am using cables I bought later on that are gold plated plugs and shieled wire. There is such a difference in the quality of sounds and picture with the better cables.

PROS:
-Sharp clear picture
-Crisp clear audio
-Easy to navigate menus
-Easy to use remote that is not as cumbersome as other brands
-Quick disc loading time
-Component video, S-video, and composite A/V outputs
-Optical, coaxial, and A/V audio outputs
-Virtual surround sound for use with 2-channel audio systems
-Built-in Dolby Digital decoder with 5.1-channel analog outputs
-Compatible with MP3 audio files
-View digital still images (in JPEG format) from Picture CDs
-Easy to view and change images when viewing JPEG images from CDs
-Multistandard-compatible: plays both NTSC (American) and PAL (European) DVDs
-480p progressive-scan video output (courtesy of a Faroudja 12-bit/54MHz processing chip) with 3-2 pulldown
-Plays DVD-Video, VCD, SVCD, CD-DA, CD-R/RW, HDCD, MP3-CD and Picture CD formats
-Zoom feature so you don't have to watch it in widescreen
-Inexpensive, compact, and lightwieght
-I compared it feature for feature to a Toshiba SD4800 and it was much more inexpensive the only feature the Toshiba had that this didn't was an onboard DTS Decoder which I don't think is nessecary.

CONS:
-To use the menus and other features you have to use the remote there are no buttons on the player besides Power, Eject, Skip Backward, Skip Forward, Play, and Stop.

I highly reccomed this player for a great DVD Player with incredible audio and picture at a much lower price than any other player on the market.