Sony DVP-NC85H/S HDMI/CD Progressive Scan 5-Disc DVD Changer, Silver

by Sony

Product Details

• Item Weight: 9.7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 15 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B000EDI406
• Item model number: DVPNC85H/S
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,487 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Store hours upon hours of entertainment in Sony's DVP-NC85H/S five-disc carousel changer. This versatile unit plays DVDs and a variety of older disc formats, such as VCD and SVCD, as well as your favorite music CDs. And since the unit supports HDMI connections, you're sure to get the best picture possible.

HDMI Compatible
High-Definition Multi-media Interface (HDMI) is an interface format that provides uncompressed digital audio and video directly to a digital television. It represents the current state of the art in high-definition video and sound because the information never has to be converted into an analog format. Another benefit of HDMI is that it puts all that information into one cable and one easy-to-use connector.

An added benefit of connecting the DVP-NC85H/S to your set with HDMI is that the unit can "upscale" commercial DVDs, which are rendered at 480p resolution, to a digitally interpolated 720p resolution, which makes for a much sharper picture.

For analog sets, the DVP-NC85H/S includes a 108 MHz 12-bit digital-to-analog converter for sharp picture and clear action. It features composite, S-video and component video connectors, as well as optical digital, coaxial digital, and RCA analog audio outputs.

Precision Cinema Progressive
While other DVD players detect image changes at the scan line level, Sony's Precision Cinema Progressive (PCP) system detects them at the pixel level. This makes the picture more faithful to the source--whether film or video--because the technology uses separate, optimized algorithms to handle the differing pixel behavior. It also uses separate algorithms to process the moving and still parts of an image, resulting in sharp backgrounds with moving objects that are virtually free from motion artifacts.

Precision Drive 3 System
Sony's DVP-NC85H/S delivers excellent picture and sound quality--even from damaged discs. How? The unit's Precision Drive 3 system allows you to playback some DVDs that may have been damaged or warped without a degradation of picture quality. This feature comes in handy when watching rentals or other heavily used discs.

MP3 and JPEG File Playback
The DVP-NC85H/S plays MP3 sound files and JPEG photo files. Simply insert the disc and use the remote control to navigate through your folders to your files.

Product Description

5 Disc DVD Changer with HDMI Connectivity for HD Ready TVs

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The last DVD player you will ever own..., May 31, 2006

By 

Free Skye (Missouri USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony DVP-NC85H/S HDMI/CD Progressive Scan 5-Disc DVD Changer, Silver (Electronics)

I have been into DVDs for about six years now, so I have spent a LOT of time watching them. I started out on an old full frame tv and now have a 30" widescreen HDTV (1080i resolution). I plugged this player in with an HDMI cable (available here on Amazon far more cheaply than in your local store). So that's my perspective, now onto the review...

This player is the first multi-disk changer I am aware of capable of HDMI upconversion. At least at this price. I can also confirm that it is capable of playing vcds, which is often a hit or miss proposition since the format is so uncommon in the US.

As someone who watches a lot of tv shows on dvd and multidisk editions of movies, being able to load multiple disks at once is desireable for obvious reasons. I did find the interface for changing disks to be somewhat confusing at first, but once you figure it out you can change disks fairly quickly. But be advised that all the extra disks make this player fairly large. Much larger even than my first dvd player, let alone the miniature ones they make today.

The HDMI upconversion is the real holy grail here. Most people who own HDTVs do not actually subscribe to HD channels. I do subscribe to the HD pack and premium movie channels through my cable service, so I know what 'HD' tv shows and movies are supposed to look like.

And here's the verdict: This player makes DVDs look just as good as HD broadcasts. Maybe a bigger tv than I have can tell some difference, but for comparison purposes I decided to take the most digitally packed movie I could think of (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace) and watched the pod-racing scene. I know, bear with me for a minute. This scene has thousands of small moving objects in the audience and lots of detail all around. The picture looked beautiful. It was as good as I have ever seen pod racing look, and as good as anything I've scene on an HD movie channel.

How does HDMI upconversion compare to the new 'High Def' dvd formats? Well, consider this...The next generation dvd players offer two advantages over current gen dvd players: 1) HDMI upconversion to a higher resolution and 2) Higher disk capacity for larger files. Now consider that every movie you have ever seen has already been fit onto just one or two current gen DVDs just fine. Once you 'upconvert' those DVDs to the higher resolution of this player (1080i or 720p), then you will get a picture that's basically the same thing as the next gen players. The next gen players will be able to support 1080p resolution, but there are very few televisions on the market right now to use with it. Most HDTVs, except for a handful of the most expensive models, only support 1080i or 720p.

So for now, there really just isn't anything better on the market than this player. And for the current generation of players, I don't expect there ever will be anything better.

*UPDATE*
SA-CD users take note: Amazon has a misleading statement in the title. This is NOT an SA-CD player. Apparently a number of people are buying this player primarily to play SA-CDs. So be warned that Amazon's title is just plain wrong. I haven't found any other errors in the title or product description, but there is no SA-CD capability of any kind.

On that note, another music related issue is that when playing music cds it only shuffles tracks on one disk...not all five, as some might expect.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Must Have For 1080P DLPs, April 18, 2006

By 

Oliver Hernandez (Marrero, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony DVP-NC85H/S HDMI/CD Progressive Scan 5-Disc DVD Changer, Silver (Electronics)

The picture this player displays on my new 72" Toshiba DLP set is truly "near HD" via the HDMI output.

I was so glad Sony finally came out with a 5 disc changer with HDMI output. When I got my new TV, I hooked up my cheap Toshiba progressive scan DVD player from the bedroom via component video, instead of my non-progressive scan 5 disc Pioneer changer I had with the old TV. I did this to maximize PQ on my new TV, willing to sacrifice the convenience of a changer, and not willing to buy another DVD player to get HDMI upconversion without multi-disc capability, and Sony's mega changer would have been overkill for me.

I was a little disappointed at how DVDs looked with this initial setup. The picture was dull with noticeable mpeg artifacts. Not so with this player. Picture is crisp and sharp, and depending on the DVD itself, hardly any noticeable mpeg artifacts. Good quality DVDs like Star Wars, King Kong (2005), and Terminator 2 rival the HD movies I record with my cable co.'s DVR. I'm no videophile, but am finicky on picture quality, and this player truly makes a difference on my HD TV. With the idiocy of the 2 competing HD DVD formats, I won't be upgrading to HD DVD for a long time with this upconverting player.

I even believe this player is outputting 1080P to my TV! Per the manual, the progressive button on the front panel lights up when outputting a progressive signal. I have the player set to 1080i, and my TV confirms it's receiving a 1080 "i" signal from the HDMI port, but this light is on during DVD playback...hmm. Since my TV is native 1080P DLP display, maybe over the HDMI connection, the TV and player negotiate a progressive signal vs. interlaced??

Other good points, plays about any kind of recordable DVD, such as my home movies, and is a good small size to easily fit in my A/V center. Cons, the build quality of the disc carousel feels a little cheap. The trays holding discs don't feel deep enough, making me paranoid that I'll jam a disc not placed perfectly in the individual tray. The remote also feels a little cheesey, the buttons are small, and doesn't have a backlight. Small imperfections preventing me from giving this player 5 stars. But for the money (under $150!), it's a steal if you want a really good DVD player for your new HDTV.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I love it! - But man is it slow opening up., August 21, 2006

By 

Al Baston - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony DVP-NC85H/S HDMI/CD Progressive Scan 5-Disc DVD Changer, Silver (Electronics)

I wasn't crazy about getting a five disc player- I preferred a quality single player, however, none were available in black offered by Sony with the features I wanted.

So I purchased the SONY DVP-NC85H a few month's ago at list price, (something I usually never do) $150. plus tax & shipping, simply because of the reviews I read.

The player is amazing, in that it NEVER skips, it plays every format out there. The picture is excellent and the player also offers HDMI, (no wire is included though) for televisions offering the same.

I even enjoy the five disc changer, as I put in multiple disc more often than I thought I ever would. And the changer preforms well and of course one can exchange DVD's in the player while another one is playing.

The player offers a nice memory of where you left off (or stopped) playing each discs and asks if you want to begin from where you left off or start from the beginning.

The on screen menu is very good.

Now the cons: The Sony SONY DVP-NC85H is the slowest opening player ever. And turning it on from the player itself it reads a silly "welcome" display when you simply just want it to OPEN! The speed changing disc in the player is only fair.

The player doesn't offer SACD, so I kept my Sony NS75V DVD player exclusively for SACD.

The remote is adequate exactly like the NS75V remote, except it doesn't have the capacity to control A/V amps or receivers as the NS75V does and the button's on the DVP-NC85H take a little getting used to.

The DVP-NC85H display is a bit dull, but again, adequate.

The players controls are basic & minimal and not easily read.

But all the cons are relatively small compared to the DVP-NC85H performance, which is fabulous (besides how slow it opens) and what one really buy's the player for, QUALITY!

You can always buy a $39. dollar player at CostCo...However, when you buy the DVP-NC85H you'll see why it's worth the bucks.

I love it! But man is it slow opening up.