Good picture, irritating user interface. Possible sound sync problem.

My third upsampling DVD player for review. See also Samsung 841 (http://www.epinions.com/content_178440343172), and Toshiba 5970 (http://www.epinions.com/content_178440736388).

I've only tested this player with HDMI connection to my Sharp LG32 TV. It produces a very crisp clear picture, with nice colors and balance. The digital connection seems to avoid the green hue problems noted by several other reviewers (or perhaps I have a later firmware version). At any rate, I'd rate the picture qualitatively better than either of the other two players, and arguably it upsamples better than the TV. Its supposed to have the state of the art Faroujda DCDi upscaling technology in it, so perhaps I'm unduly influenced by the hype. Its too hard to do a blind viewing test, since the non picture elements of playback (menus, etc.) are too distinct to ever confuse this player with either of my others. And besides, I don't have an HDMI switcher yet!

As with all upsampling DVD players, the upsampled signal is only available on HDMI (with HDCP), and the component output is limited to 480p analog output. This is a restriction imposed by the DVD licensing bodies to "close the analog hole" to protect the content. If you have an older HDTV without HDMI (or DVI with HDCP), you'll only get 480p output, and you might as well not bother.

The remote is chunky and heavy, and decently designed, with good feel. The range and directionality is good. There are direct buttons for most functions of interest - importantly you can set the output mode and display resolution from the remote. The front-panel shows HDMI, DVI, or analog modes and a resolution, so its not necessary to hook up an analog connector in order to switch the unit to HDMI mode, like most other HD sources.

"Squeeze mode" is documented to squeeze 4x3 aspect ratio DVD content into a panel on a 16x9 screen. Unfortunately it also indiscriminately squeezes 16x9 content into a panel too! And its about 10-12 button presses to navigate the menu to switch Squeeze mode on or off - that's the one button that should have been on the remote - or better still, the device should figure out the aspect ratio automatically - as the manual implies!

Build quality is very solid. The player weighs a ton, and all the buttons have a nice feel. Not quite sure why we needed a real power button and a standby button both on the front panel. Especially warm power-up from standby takes just as long as cold power up from a complete shutdown. Actually, everything takes a long time. It takes 2 full seconds for any DVD menu selection, and 2 seconds to think about opening the tray, and 2 more to close it. The power supply has about 30 seconds of reserve when the plug is pulled. Talk about overdesign!

The most serious defect, however, is that the audio is delayed about 200mS on most DVDs. Audio sync appears to be a significant problem with all HD sources, but this player is consistently delaying the audio. I'm playing it back on an optical cable to a Sony STR-DE897 receiver. Neither the DVD player, nor the receiver have sound sync correction, so I'm stuck. Next test is to try the analog audio hookup to see if that's out of sync too. Then to see if there's a firmware update. Irritatingly, you can't get to the Denon firmware site without a valid serial number to the unit, so I have to pull it from the rack just to see if its up to date!