| Brand Name: | Toshiba |
Product Specifications
Technical Details
- Dolby Digital and DTS output
- Component-video output
- Video black-level expansion
- Onscreen bit-rate meter
- Screen dimmer
Product Details
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Product Description
Amazon.com Review
Straight from the box, Toshiba's SD-1200 DVD player appears to be a lightweight machine--but appearances are deceiving. After plugging it in and letting it spin, we were overwhelmed by this player's audio-video performance.
Although it weighs only 6.5 pounds, the SD-1200 reflects Toshiba's proven track record for building high-quality video components. This is a solid DVD player with sturdy rear-panel inputs and outputs. The SD-1200 provides only a single coaxial digital output and a pair of standard RCA analog-audio outputs (There is no optical digital-audio output.) Although we'd rather see both optical and coaxial, our preference for coaxial digital cables makes it easier to ignore the absence of the optical output--especially since optical connectors have a tendency to pull loose.
The SD-1200's back panel accommodates composite- and S-video cables. Toshiba, which has been at the forefront of promoting component video, also offers ColorStream component jacks. Hooking the SD-1200 DVD player up to a TV with component-video inputs should render a decidedly superior picture, with more natural colors and less video noise. We used the SD-1200's S-video output, however, and saw no compromise in color fidelity. Edges were especially well defined, adding depth to the picture on our 54-inch rear-projection television. Toshiba offers a video black-level enhancement mode that you can access from the onscreen menu. Although it's designed to increase contrast and edge definition, we noticed little improvement with the enhancement; however, we didn't see any degradation either.
Like most DVD players on the market today, the SD-1200 accommodates Dolby Digital as well as Digital Theater Sound (DTS). Unlike some of the low-end models we've tested, however, the SD-1200 performed flawlessly in both DTS and Dolby Digital. We fed the SD-1200 a hefty stream of DTS-encoded movies, surround-sound concert videos, and demo discs, and the player never missed a beat. Our concert videos sounded superb in 5.1-channel surround sound, and the thundering bass and crackling explosions in our action movies portrayed a realism unmatched by lesser DVD players.
For the sake of simplicity, Toshiba opted for a minimalist front-panel design on the SD-1200--but to a fault, as this leaves all but the most basic functions up to the remote control. Although less is certainly more when it comes to front-panel buttons, we would at least like to be able to access the onscreen menu from the player in case the remote is lost or rendered inoperable.
The remote is a pleasure to use, and while the buttons may prove too tiny for large fingers, we like the layout. Left/Right and Up/Down buttons are centrally placed, with the Enter button in the middle. The Open/Close and Power buttons are at the very top, where they belong.
If you don't like the distraction of LED lights, you'll be happy to know that the SD-1200 allows you to dim or deactivate the panel display. You'll also like the onscreen bit-rate meter, which allows you to gauge the video bit-rate allocation at any given second while you're watching a DVD. The bit-rate bar fluctuates from less than 1 to 10, depending on the complexity of a given scene, with action sequences generally measuring between 8 and 9.5. This isn't a feature you'll want to leave on while you're enjoying a movie, but it's cool and thoughtful, and is the icing on the cake for this DVD player.
Performance-wise, the SD-1200 is one of the best DVD-video players we've tested in its price range. --Eric Gill
Pros:
- Good build quality
- Easy to use
- Excellent sound quality
Cons:
- No optical digital-audio output
- No front-panel menu access button
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
181 of 181 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great player (quality and features) at great price: get it!,
By
This review is from: Toshiba SD-1200 DVD Player (Electronics)
I got this player just a week ago and love it already. My father already had the older Toshiba SD2109 (the previous model- the SD1200 is the breand new replacement), and it seemed good, so I followed those reviews; see those for more detail if you want, just note the improvements in this model.The SD1200 has the same good points as the SD2109, but adds VideoCD and CD/Video Text capabilities. I was even able to play some old VCD2.0 tour videos from China, they worked great, no glitches! Played Matrix fine. Video quality is superb, both on S-Video output and of course component- SV had a little less color saturation than component. Dolby Digital sounded great! Note that this player has some important features vs others: let alone the low price and quality! ! + the price- only $230-250 for ALL the features you'd want in DVD! Don't pay more! + outputs both Dolby Digital and DTS- compatible w/ all movies then. (does not decode, but no biggie- put that in your receiver, not dvd!) * Note it only has coax digital audio out, not toslink optical. Make sure your reciever is compatible (my JVC RX888 is great.) Will output dolby digital, dts, PCM digital audio out. Has regular RCA analog also. You can select options & which to output via remote. + has all video outs: component, S-Video, and composite. Note some others like Sony SVP330 do NOT have component out, only svideo! + plays videoCDs (unlike SD2109). + has slow play mode (1/2, 1/4, 1/8) as well as fast fwd/rvs scan. (doesn't seem to have reverse slow.) Other players only have "pause/step", what's the point of having a random-access disk w/ great slow/freeze frame picture, if you can't play slow to see big explosions in detail? :-> + has a nice interface, eg onscreen- good, unobtrusive, usable menus overlaid on the video. Can also change most options on-the-fly w/ buttons on the remote, eg subtitles, audio select, etc. with minimal text on the screen- good for changing specific things quickly w/o distracting from the movie. All menu options are easy to understand, eg no "cool looking" but unusable interface (JVC555 was kind of hard to use in that respect.) - Remote buttons are a bit small, and play/pause etc. are not "highlighted" or bigger, so you have to look at the remote (no backlight.) + dimmable display on the player, if you don't like distracting time counter etc. in your stereo rack. + resume-from-stop mode, eg stop, then optionally resume from where you were. You can also input exact HHMMSS to go to, and zips there immediately. + screen saver for long pause, to not burn out your new big-screen projection tv :-) otherwise all the comments for SD2109 also apply. I haven't noticed too much noise (disk tray/rotate) playing disks, seems quiet. Nice build eg tray is solid opening/closing. Small and light, but heavy on features and performance! I've heard this and SD2109 are not compatible w/ CD-Rs, though, I've played some "mix" discs a friend made for me, and seems to work fine. Not sure if they are CDR or CDRW or what, but they do work. Highly recommend this player. Get it.
81 of 81 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Value, Top Notch Performance,
By A Customer
This review is from: Toshiba SD-1200 DVD Player (Electronics)
As most of the reviews indicate, this is a very good DVD player at a bargain price. I auditioned players from Samsung and Panasonic in the same price range. Although both of those brands performed adequately, each was deficient in at least one critical area. The Samsung had a tendency to randomly skip over seconds worth of movie; this was true of every DVD disc I played in the two-day period, ranging from recent sci-fi (Lost In Space) to an old classic (Casablanca). The Panasonic was considerably more in price, had more features on paper, but it's performance was not up to the task. Although it had no problem playing the discs, the video quality was not as impressive as even the cheaper Samsung. In addition, at least one of the remote functions seemed to not work (VSS, to enable the virtual surround sound feature). Finally, in order to change settings you have to locate the proper icon (which are almost as intuitive as ancient hieroglyphics) from a series of display menus. Those items not accessible from the display menu have to be accessed through an "action" button. So finally to the Toshiba. I went to Amazon to read customer reviews, and noted that this Toshiba was both the top seller, and also garnered the most positive reviews. Satisfied that this component had potential, I went to a local Best Buy and asked the sales person his recommendation. Without hesitation he recommended the Toshiba for it's top performance at a very reasonable cost. While there are other models out there with seemingly more bells and whistles, this unit will play movies flawlessly, and has the most useful features for the average consumer. Finally, Toshiba has a reputation for designing and manufacturing top-notch home electronic components. This DVD player is no exception to that rule, and furthers Toshiba's reputation as a leader in home audio/video components. The only slight I can find with this model is the size of the remote buttons; for the average male, the buttons are much too small and close together. But once you get past that small inconvenience you appreciate how good this player really is.
83 of 84 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great bargain for the price!,
By Steven Diaz (St. Paul, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Toshiba SD-1200 DVD Player (Electronics)
As a lover of all things audio-video, I must say that the Toshiba SD-1200 is one fine machine. I personally own an older model SD-500 sony from two years ago, a Toshiba 2008, toshiba 3108, and a creative labs dvd player for my pc, and I must confess that the toshiba SD-1200 is a great player. The color reproduction from the toshiba is outstanding, and I have always felt that toshiba dvd players produce a brighter, more vibrant color scheme than any other DVD player that I have seen. The definition, and black level detail in the Toshiba SD-1200 is better than any other DVD player in that price range. The only thing that is not as good as it could be is the players in-player letterboxing. If you are like me, you watch your movie on a standard 4:3 tv which means that when you are watching an "anamorphic" dvd, the player must convert the picture to be displayed on your tv. The Toshiba SD-1200 has a tendency to add wavy edges to scenes that contain parallel lines that are close together. For example, in the movie aliens, the floor of the fortress they are in has many closely spaced metal divisions that can tend to look like liquid metal when the camera slowly pans over the surface. Having owned or seen many dvd players in this price range I know that this is a problem for all dvd players, but the Toshiba SD-1200 handles this problem the best. The only players that can letterbox well are the $600 and up players, so this should not be a knock on the Toshiba SD-1200. The audio outputs provided great sound when I fed them into my dolby digital/DTS receiver, but the omission of an optical output may upset some people. All in all, I think that the Toshiba SD-1200 is a great deal for the price and offers great audio, and video performance.
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