RCA HDV5000 HD DVD Player

Other products by RCA

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 24 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000DZTCTW
• Item model number: HDV5000
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #54,617 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)

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  Electronics > Televisions & Video > Disc Players & Recorders > HD DVD Players

• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 17, 2006

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

RCA's first DVD player compatible with the new HD DVD disc format, the HDV5000 combines the superior image and sound quality of high-definition images and multichannel surround sound with the convenience of DVD disc playback. Using the HDMI output, which provides uncompressed, all-digital video and multi-channel audio delivered via a single cable, you'll be able to view HD DVD discs in high-definition 720p or 1080i resolution. The HDV5000 is also backward compatible with your library of standard DVD movie and CD audio discs, and it offers an upconverting function that brings your favorite DVDs to near HD quality. Since the conversion occurs in the player, the signal is free of excessive digital-to-analog conversion artifacts. Note that viewing high-definition HD DVD Disc content requires an HDTV or HD-ready TV.

HD DVD movie discs provide the ability to search the on-screen menu, make changes to set-up options or access other menu functions while the movie is playing. Scene searching is facilitated with thumbnail images on the TV screen that allow you to use the cursor to go directly to a specific scene. You can even access bonus material like directorÕs comments while the movie is playing without going back to the discÕs menu. Other features include:

• Capability to connect the HDV5000 to a home network using the Ethernet port, enabling upgrades of the player as new features are developed
• Dual front-panel USB game controller ports
• Enhanced black level selection for optimum brightness
• Letterbox pan and scan support for multiple video formats
• Multiple audio and video stream decoding with separate volume control
• Parental controls
• Multi-lingual on-screen display (English, French, Japanese)
• Disc compatibility: HD DVD, DVD movie, CD audio, DVD-R/RW, Dual Layer DVD-R, DVD+R/RW, CD-R/RW

The HDV5000 provides a full range of audio decoding, including Dolby Digital, Dolby DTS, MP3, and WMA. It has stereo outputs as well as coaxial and optical digital audio outputs for 5.1-channel home theater surround sound. It offers the following video output connection options:

• Composite AV (RCA): 1
• S-Video: 1
• Component Video: 1
• HDMI: 1

HD DVD Disc Format
Officially endorsed by the DVD Forum industry organization as the next high-capacity DVD disc, the HD DVD format delivers sharper, more detailed picture performance than standard DVD discs. Moreover, the HD DVD format opens new avenues of interactivity including enhanced on-screen menus, scene searching, directorsÕ commentaries and the potential for online shopping. HD DVD discs can offer both the current DVD and HD DVD formats on one disc, which means that special HD DVD discs will play in older DVD players as well as new high definition players.

Tech Talk
HDMI is a lossless, uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface to link any audio/video source (such as a set-top box, DVD player, or AV receiver) with your TV--all over a single cable. HDMI supports standard, enhanced or high definition video, plus multi-channel digital audio on a single cable. It supports all ATSC formats--standard (SDTV), enhanced (EDTV), and high (HDTV).

Component video (also called Y/Pb/Pr) features a three-jack video input, which provides separate connections for luminance (Y), blue color difference (PB) and red color difference (PR). This results in increased bandwidth for color information, resulting in a more accurate picture with clearer color reproduction and less bleeding than you would get with S-Video or composite (RCA yellow video plug) connections. You will need a separate RCA left/right audio cable for sound.

• High Definition Formats: The most common high-def (HD) video format is 720p, which displays video at 720 vertical by 1280 horizontal pixels. The "p" denotes that it is progressive scan, meaning that all video lines are filled at the same time. The 1080i format displays video at 1080 vertical by 1920 horizontal pixels, and the "i" means that it is interlaced (the old-school way of presenting video where the screen scans the odd-numbered video lines first, then the even-numbered lines). The 1080p format has the same pixel resolution as 1080i, but it is a progressive scan format and thus has a constant vertical resolution of 720 lines.

What's in the Box
HD DVD player, remote control (with batteries), L/R audio cable, video cable (yellow), HDMI cable, printed operating instructions

Product Description

The HDV5000 combines the superior image quality of high-definition images and multi-channel surround sound with the convenience of DVD disc playback. It supports various video formats including MPEG2, MPEG4/AVC and VC1. The unit plays back DVD/DVD-R/-RW/DVD-RAM discs and MP3 audio files from CD-R/CD-RW discs.As movie studios prepare new titles for release in the high-definition HD DVD disc format, the retail introduction of the RCA HDV5000 offers consumers an array of convenience features that enhance the movie experience. These include the ability to search the on-screen menu, make changes to set-up options or access other menu functions while the movie is playing. Scene searching is facilitated with thumbnail images on the TV screen that allow you to use the cursor to go directly to a specific scene. The viewer can even access bonus material like director's comments while the movie is playing without going back to the disc's menu.The RCA HDV5000 provides high-definition up-conversion of standard DVD discs and includes an HDMI 1.1 output for digital audio and video in one convenient connection. The HDV5000 will output copy-protected HD content through the HDMI interface in either 720p or 1080i - and standard definition DVD discs can be upconverted to 720p or 1080i to complement the performance of a high-definition television. Since the conversion occurs in the player, the signal is free of excessive digital-to-analog conversion artifacts.While improved picture performance is an outstanding advantage of the RCA HDV5000, audio quality is equally impressive, featuring Dolby Digital Plus technology for a more realistic listening experience.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Picture Quality!!, July 9, 2006

By	P. Shah "firestarter" (co) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this HD-DVD player about 2 nights ago and am just amazed at the value this player provides both in terms of build quality as well as performance. Some people have complained about the boot up time but you cant speed it up by downloading the latest firmware through the internet, i never felt it was a problem so i haven't applied any software patches to it.

After the demise of my Panasonic dvd player i was thinking of getting an upconverting dvd player like the Oppo or a Panasonic but i am SO GLAD that i waited until the HD-DVD players came out. The standard DVDs play beautifully on this player as well.

All im going to say in the end is, take a look at your local BestBuy store for a demo of the HD-DVD player and you will know why im so amazed with what this player is capable of. Make sure you get Chronicles of Riddick HD-DVD with your player, in one word "WOW".

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Without Flaw, November 10, 2006

By	Edward Park (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm excited about the long awaited next generation Hi-Def DVD players, but being an early adopter comes with it some growing pains. First of all, I'm all for HD DVD, I think it's the right price and the right technology for the next step. This RCA player is part of the HD revolution and is identical in stats to the Toshiba HD-A1. The player itself is clean and attractive, although large and bulky, it literally houses a home computer inside the case. Such as a computer, the boot up time is extraordinarily long, with the biggest fault being that it will not allow you to pop discs in and out while booting up. So basically, you will have to wait a good 3-4 min from initially powering up before you can pop out the disc in exchange for a another one. We have been spoiled by the instant-on DVD players of today and I have to keep telling myself...this is not a DVD player, but a new HDDVD player. Secondly, and as expected, the machine is very finicky about the movies it plays. In fact, switching layers is downright quirky. While watching a pristine copy of Mission Impossible 3, the RCA player locked up toward the latter half of the movie, I imagine during the time the laser has to refocus layers. Bascially, the picture freezes while the laser is trying to refocus; with your only option being to unplug the unit and start all over from the beginning, including the 3-4 min bootup. In order to finish the movie, I had to skip to the next chapter and reverse back, ensuring I didn't go past the layer change. If you recall, back when DVDs first came out, the first DVD players had the same issue regarding refocusing on layers. This problem is even worse with used discs. It will flash a blue screen and say Disc Error, with your only option to eject the disc or power down. When all is well, you get a fantastic picture and sound. The DTS is crisper and much more balanced than before. The pictures are vibrant and crisp. All in all, if you can wait, I'd definitely wait until the next generation players come out. If you can't, don't expect your experience to be without quirks.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HD-DVD is here and affordable!, November 20, 2006

By	D. Kay (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Have had the RCA HDV5000 for about a month now. Found one in the back room of a local Wal Mart here in Columbus, OH for $450.00. All I can say is, it really works well! I am really impressed for this much quality for the money. These heavy duty units are built by Toshiba in Japan and are built much better than the $30 DVD players coming out of China these days. The unit has a computer quality drive mechanism and a cooling fan on the back . It reminds me of a piece of quality computer hardware. The remote is not fancy but well organized and is able to operate different brands of TV sets by changing the code to your TV brand. I did connect the unit to the internet via a ethernet port on the back of the unit and downloaded the latest firmware. The unit came shipped with version 1.0 firmware and now shows version 2.0. This allows the manufacturer to iron out glitches in this first generation HD-DVD player. My unit loads a lot slower than my old DVD player, but that is about my only complaint with this unit so far.
The back panel well laid out and is filled with jacks for analog, digital and optical outputs. Component output plug is there along with HDMI output. The best thing about hooking this to my Sony 46" LCD was that this DVD player included the expensive HDMI cable! The picture quality is stunning and this player does a great job of upconverting regular DVD's too.
Buy this unit and be enjoying 1080 output HD-DVD today. The technology is here and is affordable.

Edit - CONCERNING SOME BAD REVIEWS: This player plays King Kong and every other HD-DVD disc you can throw at it. The trick is you must connenct this unit to the internet (or contact RCA for a CD) and update firmware to 2.0 to play King Kong and some other newer discs. All of my HD-DVDs are 1080p and they play just fine. Don't listen to the people who don't own this player. The picture is great.