Panasonic DVD-RV31 Review

Overall Rating

Okay quality on the DVDs that actually work.

False advertising. No surround sound. No DTS support. The box has both "surround sound" and a DTS logo. Half of DVDs will not play.

Bought 2 DVD Players for Christmas presents at Best Buy. They were advertised as having surround sound and DTS (this is the sound system used by some theaters), and the logos are even on the box. These were the factors I used to make my decision. Guess what? This item has neither DTS or surround sound.

DTS - The manual says you have to buy a DTS decoder and this player does not come with a DTS decoder.

Surround Sound - The manual says VSS which they say is virtual surround sound (stereo). Basically, it only works with front two speakers. Does that sound like surround sound? No! It's stereo. Period.

To make matters worse, out of the 8 brand new DVD's I bought for them for Christmas, only 4 actually work. The other 4 are continually interrupted with a blue screen every 4 seconds.

Members' Comments onrrand.'s Review

• paddy. on 31st Dec 2001

  when a player says it is DTS compatible, that simply means it can output a DTS bitstream, not actually decode it.
  Virtual Surround Sound is exactly that - a two-channel effect using delays on certain frequencies to give the impression (when sitting in the right place) of 'surround' sound.
  The 'reviewer' should learn what he is talking about before slagging a product.

• me. on 4th Jan 2002

  Did you do any research at all? Seems not.

• Viper. on 4th Jan 2002

  It has a DTS logo on it because it can utilize DTS with a receiver that has a decoder. Did you actually think you were going to get a DVD player for $179 that has a DTS decoder? Are you crazy?
  Also, it will only use VSS for 2 front speakers but with a good Dolby reciever you can manipulate the audio settings on the player and get a good surround sound. And I have played hundreds of DVD's on this machine and never had a problem with any of them. Don't completely ruin the rating of this product by giving a 0 out of 10 because you don't understand the box!

• RFR. on 12th Feb 2002

  Regardless of the dts garbage, this dvd player is like all the other rubbish panasonic players I've tried- MASSIVE problems with gold-bottomed discs, and it really seems to hate dual-layers too. I fear this one will go the way of my beloved A110 soon. >_<

• p_dog. on 29th Mar 2002

  Your blue screen problems are probably a result of Macrovision - did you plug it into your telly through your VCR?

• Sam. on 25th Apr 2002

  Before buying any product, proper understanding and research is necessary, and this individual obviously didn't have the faintest idea about home theater, surround sound, or DVD players. I own this model, and have found the Dolby Digital and DTS modes work quite well when connected to a decoding reciever properly.

• Rob. on 16th May 2002

  I have this DVD player and I all I can say is that it is excellent. At the end of the day it is a budget player and as someone else has commented, you can't expect it to decode DTS.
  
  

  Mine cost me just over £100 and for that money, the amount of features it has, not to mention the SUPERB picture and sound quality, you won't find a better player.
  
  

  I have also played over 40 DVDs in this machine with no problems whatsoever. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a quality DVD player for under £100.