Sungale DVD8500
The Sungale DVD8500 is a DVD player with 2 Karaoke mic jacks built
in. Purchased at Radio Shack for $99.99 CDN in December 2003. I would strongly
not recommend this unit for North American consumers because it has
been permanently set to the Japanese black level standard, not the North American
black level standard & therefore the blacks in your picture will look way
too dark & clipped when viewed on a properly set up television. The picture
is also deteriorated because the progressive scan is always on for all video
outputs, which is why I also wouldn't recommend this unit for Japanese NTSC
or PAL users either. By the familiar look of the remote, I'd guess that the
original equipment manufacturer of this unit was Hitachi. Made in China.
Likes:
- Does not cut off black Does not cut off black "pedestal or footroom" detail in the 0
- 7.5 IRE range, or white "headroom"
- 100 IRE white comes out at 100 IRE.
- hue (tint) is correct.
- comes with 2 sets of stereo RCA cables & 1 set of A/V cables (3 RCA ends),
although they are very thin.
- Can be selected to output a PAL or NTSC signal.
- Has "progressive scan" feature, but it is always on for each type
of output (can't be turned off).
- Has six RCA analogue audio output jacks for 5.1 surround sound.
- Has 2 Karaoke mic jacks built in.
- Supports HDCD (192 kHz 24 bit High Definition CD audio).
Dislikes:
- Black pedestal of 7.5 IRE comes out at zero IRE (a major design
flaw). For this reason, North American NTSC consumers should not consider
buying this unit, but this black level is proper for Japanese NTSC users,
or PAL users.
- Only has a 90 day warranty.
- When viewing via the Y/C video jack, fine detail such as 12% dots,
looked totally white instead of light gray. Likewise single pixel
horizontal lines did not flicker as they are supposed to in an
interlaced image, but instead blocked up. The probable reason
is that this unit is doing a progressive scan & line doubling
on the standard Y/C & composite output, when it is only supposed
to do it on the YPbPr component output. This represents another
major design flaw that wipes out certain fine details, as well
as reduces temporal resolution (smoothness of motion over time).
- Horizontal synch tip measures -35 IRE, it should be -40 IRE. This combined
with a wrong black level setup could cause picture hold on televisions to
roll with certain types of picture content.
- Return button didn't work on remote.
By Doug Hembruff.
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