Panasonic DVD player question

I have a Panasonic DVD-S27 player and the number buttons on the remote don't
work to skip directly to a particular chapter. In other words, if I hit 5
to go to chapter 5, it says it can't do that. The owner's manual says it
should. Everything else works fine. I returned the machine for another,
and the second one has the same problem. Anyone know what's going on? Is
this a problem all Panasonics have, or did the store I bought it from just
get a shipment full of defective machines?

I like everything else about this model, especially its zoom feature, which
is far better than any other I've seen -- it has a variable zoom, in
addition to the pre-set zoom settings, so I can get the picture exactly as I
want it.

I'd be receptive to a different brand if it has three features: Plays DVD-R,
has an "instant replay" button (to go back just 10 seconds or so), and has a
variable zoom. Anyone know of such a machine?

I previously had (and returned) a JVC because it didn't play DVD-R (even
though it said it would), and a Sony because the zoom never filled up my
screen. The other annoying things about the Sony are that the zoom icon
never disappears, but stays on the screen the whole time. Very distracting,
and very stupid! Also, its remote has so many buttons, I can't operate it
without my reading glasses on.

Any thoughts, especially about the Panasonic, are appreciated. Thanks.

JEP

Jerold Pearson

>I have a Panasonic DVD-S27 player and the number buttons on the remote don't
>work to skip directly to a particular chapter. In other words, if I hit 5
>to go to chapter 5, it says it can't do that. The owner's manual says it
>should. Everything else works fine.

You can access individual titles and chapters within a DVD through the use of
the number keys on the remote, but this can only be done through the player's
onscreen display. And, after entering the number, you must press the ENTER key
on the remote to execute the command.

Review the operations manual more thoroughly concerning direct chapter access.

>I previously had (and returned) a JVC because it didn't play DVD-R (even
>though it said it would),

Did you give the JVC the same courtesy that you did with the Panasonic, which
was trying to get a replacement JVC for exchange in the possibility that the
DVD-R read problem in your returned JVC may have been a defect?

and a Sony because the zoom never filled up my
>screen. The other annoying things about the Sony are that the zoom icon
>never disappears, but stays on the screen the whole time. Very distracting,
>and very stupid!

The zoom function was never meant for extended viewing, but to see certain
details in a scene close up briefly if you needed to see them. The icon is
there to tell you that you are zoomed in, so you won't forget. The use of an
icon wasn't really stupid, especially since widescreen DVDs were meant to
preserve a scope film's original aspect ratio.

Panning and scanning as well as open matte transfers disrupts compositional
balance, which ruins the film's ability to tell the story visually.

In the case of matted widescreen formats like Super35, open-matted transfers
can reveal details you weren't meant to see on the top and bottom, like
overhead set lights, riggings, mike booms, and other visual info which hurts
the film more than it helps.

In the case of hard widescreen formats, like Panavision and CinemaScope, making
the wide image fit the screen of your set cuts away about half of the frame.
This effect is even worse with formats like Cinerama, where you can lose up to
3/4 of the image.

Why wreck a widescreen presentation by zooming in, unless you use a small 4:3
television?

For more information:

http://www.widescreen.org/faq.shtml

>Also, its remote has so many buttons, I can't operate it
>without my reading glasses on.

This is a problem with just about any DVD player remote, including the
Panasonic.

>Any thoughts, especially about the Panasonic, are appreciated. Thanks.
>

Return the Panasonic and buy a Pioneer (since you are obviously not satisfied
with Sony or JVC models).

Previous and current generation Panasonic players have a tendency to develop
spindle motor problems resulting in H:05 and/or H:07 error codes within 1-2
years. Repair usually requires replacement of the spindle motor, which is very
expensive since the replacement Panasonic part is likely the entire traverse
mechanism instead of just the motor, plus the labor.

Older Panasonics from the first to third generations developed bad pickups
within the same timeframe.

The only Panasonics that were decent were the forth generation, like the
DVD-RV30. Those players were one of the best DVDs players you could find, then
Panasonic shot themselves in the foot with the fifth generation and up. -
Reinhart

LASERandDVDfan

I'm not sure about your model but Panasonic DVD's are the best right
now. Panasonic in the past few years has improved the quality of their
products immensely, in particular TVs, DVD players and consumer and
broadcast cameras. In addition their close relationship with Apple
(Final Cut Pro) and Microsoft doesn't hurt.

The Panasonic DVD player I have and those of friends of mine, have been
working great with no playback probs no matter what you throw at them.

Moe Belli

On Sun, 6 Feb 2005 00:34:12 +0000 (UTC), Jerold Pearson
<> wrote:

>I have a Panasonic DVD-S27 player and the number buttons on the remote don't
>work to skip directly to a particular chapter. In other words, if I hit 5
>to go to chapter 5, it says it can't do that. The owner's manual says it
>should. Everything else works fine. I returned the machine for another,
>and the second one has the same problem. Anyone know what's going on? Is
>this a problem all Panasonics have, or did the store I bought it from just
>get a shipment full of defective machines?

You may need to enter 05 to go to chapter 5.


-
-Jon Purkey - <)
For a quicker reply by email please use the
address found here: http://tinyurl.com/o8ka

Jon Purkey

> You can access individual titles and chapters within a DVD through the
> use of the number keys on the remote, but this can only be done through
> the player's onscreen display. And, after entering the number, you
> must press the ENTER key on the remote to execute the command.
>
> Review the operations manual more thoroughly concerning direct chapter
> access.

Reinhart and everyone else who replied:

Thanks for the responses. I finally stumbled on this myself last night, not
so much by trial and error as by pure accident. The unit is not defective.
You just have to hit the display button twice before entering the chapter
number to skip to. Seems odd, but that's okay. This isn't a feature I will
use much, but I do want it for those occasional times I mistakenly erase the
resume memory and need to pick up part way through a movie. How to do this
is NOT in the manual, which I have read word for word about three times.

> Did you give the JVC the same courtesy that you did with the Panasonic,
> which was trying to get a replacement JVC for exchange in the
> possibility that the DVD-R read problem in your returned JVC may have
> been a defect?

Perhaps I should have, but I called an audio/video specialty store in my
area and they said JVC typically supports +R better than -R, so I didn't
think it would be worth trying more units. In any case, I much prefer the
Panasonic as it turns out. The JVC is a more elegant looking machine, but I
really like the Panasonic's zoom feature, which gives me three different
functions: Auto-fit, a number of pre-set zooms, and the variable zoom (so I
can tweak it any way I want). I know zooming cuts off the edges, but I am
no longer a purist or much of a cinephile. The movie-watching experience is
harmed for me much more by watching a small narrow picture than by watching
a larger image that's not quite complete at the edges. And let's face it,
most movies are utter crap anyway, so we're not talking about compromising
an artist's "vision." I worked in the film biz as an actor and writer for
17 years, and I know most directors just point the camera to get the actors
in. Composition and visual storytelling are the last thing on most of their
minds. Obviously, there are exceptions, and that's why I like the freedom
to watch letterbox (or only a little bit zoomed) when I want to. Clearly, a
widescreen TV is the way to go, but it's just not important enough to me at
this point (at today's prices anyway). I spend MUCH more time with books
than with video.

>>Also, its remote has so many buttons, I can't operate it without my
>>reading glasses on.
>
> This is a problem with just about any DVD player remote, including the
> Panasonic.

Actually, Sony's remotes are far worse than any other I've seen. They not
only include buttons that seem extraneous and are too small, but the layout
of the buttons is much less intuitive than I've seen on others (i.e. the way
the buttons are grouped).

> Previous and current generation Panasonic players have a tendency to
> develop spindle motor problems resulting in H:05 and/or H:07 error
> codes within 1-2 years.

I guess I'd be happy with 2 years, by which time there may well be other
compelling reasons to buy a new machine. And I'm not a heavy user anyway --
a couple of movies per week will be about it. We'll see what happens.

Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to help me out on all this.
Your thoughts are much appreciated.

JEP

Jerold Pearson

>Actually, Sony's remotes are far worse than any other I've seen.

Then you've never tried the remotes Toshiba bundled with various DVD players,
including the SD-1200.

Even worse are the remotes supplied with the Wally-World players, like Apex or
Norcent.

Sony DVD player remotes were good up until now. I do find the same fault with
the newer remotes that you do. But there are much worse ones out there.

>I guess I'd be happy with 2 years, by which time there may well be other
>compelling reasons to buy a new machine.

The 2 year estimate is overly optimistic. There have been reports of failures
within months, including players that have seen light duty, while other reports
show a failure occuring after 1 year but not exceeding 2. The 1-2 year
estimate reflects this. There are players of affected models that have been in
use in excess of 2 years which have not failed yet or have failed due to other
reasons, so it's not totally definite. But since there are a good number of
complaints about it, it usually means that the chances of the problem occuring
in your player is fairly good.

Do a google search about it for more information.

>Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to help me out on all this.
>Your thoughts are much appreciated.

You're welcome. Enjoy. - Reinhart

LASERandDVDfan