5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Going to the movies!
Date of Review: Dec 5, 2007
The Bottom Line: This is a quality unit with advanced circuitry that's easy to operate and offers upgraded performance compared to entry level units.
In the audio world that I recall from days gone by, the Denon name always stood for higher quality than most "mid-fi" level components. Even though I've been removed from audio scene for the last several years, the Denon name caught my eye when we started our search for a replacement DVD player. The Denon DVD-557 progressive scan DVD player is a basic high quality single disc model. Denon claims that it has "exceptional video quality from using a fast 10 bit 108 MHz video processor and an upgraded HDMI digital video output with scaling to 1080i for a professional looking picture with today's digital video displays". It's CD-R/RW disc compatible, HDMI 1.1 compatible, has WMA-9 and MP3 decoders, a JPEG slide show viewer, and is Kodak/Fuji Picture CD compatible. I briefly considered a less expensive SONY model, but this clearance deal through Amazon's "Warehouse Deals" swayed me to go with the Denon.
I have to admit, when it comes to modern video technology, I'm generally under-motivated and under-educated. We've had our fair share of lower end DVD players from Daewoo, Nexxtech, and Memorex that had issues with poor reliability, problems reading discs, skipping, and remote control layouts that were downright absurd. All of which ultimately prompted the purchase of an upgrade to the Denon.
The Denon DVD-557 comes in standard black, and is a physically a larger component than our other DVD players, with a width that's more similar to several of my audio components. The buttons on the front panel are well marked, intuitive, and work as expected. The motion of the disc drawer is swift and decisive, and it has really nice large remote control with buttons that are clearly identified and located in logical places.
Setup of the Denon was a snap. The included cables are color coded to match the appropriate input. Red to red, yellow to yellow, white to white and you're good to go. It was so straight forward, that I didn't even glance at the manual to figure out the hookups. The 24-bit, 192-kHz high resolution audio D/A converters, Windows Media Audio 9 (WMA), and HDMI interface with multi channel audio appear to do their respective tasks quite well. Within a few minutes of use, I easily noticed that the sound tracks were alot better than when played on our previous lower quality DVD players. The Virtual Surround Sound (VSS) allows "enveloping surround sound" using just one pair of speakers, which is a perfect feature for our traditional two-speaker stereo system. There were visible improvements to the video quality too. No doubt due to the fast 10 bit 108 MHz video processor. There are some nice features on the remote, like picture zooming (x2 or x4) - during play, the "zoom" button on the remote can enlarge the picture by 2x or 4x. The cursor moves the enlarged viewing area up, down, to the left, or to the right. It has a few other tricks that I haven't mastered yet, but we'll get to them eventually.
The DVD-557 is a quality machine. It's backed by the Denon USA 2-Year Parts and Labor Warranty. Everything functions as it should, and it offers some impressive advanced circuitry for a basic machine. The drive motor is a tad louder than I would have expected, but its minor enough that most people won't even notice. My biggest complaint is the lack of a volume control, which is a bit of a nuisance and a bit disappointing. Otherwise, this is a solid moderately priced player that has been a fine addition to our modest video system. We're thoroughly satisfied with the performance!
See the complete feature list below:
* HDMI interface with multi channel audio
* Progressive scan
* Picture adjustment function
* Brightness/Contrast/Color/Gamma Correction/Sharpness
* DVD-R/RW playback
* CD-R/RW (MP3 / Windows Media Audio 9 / JPEG /
* 24-bit, 192-kHz high resolution audio D/A converters
* VSS (Virtual Surround Sound)
* Discrete remote control commands for Power On/Off
* Picture zooming (x2 or x4)
* PCM, Dolby Digital and DTS Digital output
* 24/96 PCM digital output capability
* Icon based on-screen display
* 2 MB buffer memory
* Auto power OFF
* Marker function
* Dialog speed control
