NeuNeo HVD2085 Review

By Ian Bell
November 30th, 2005


Summary

No sooner had our Oppo Digital OPDV971H DVD player review been posted that we had Neo Digits knocking on our door wanting to send us an evaluation unit. This time around Neo Digits is trying to make a mark with their new NeuNeo HVD2085 DVD player. Capable of up-converting DVD video output to HDTV resolutions including 1080p, this is another player you may want to consider when shopping this holiday season. The NeuNeo HVD2085 DVD player has an MSRP of $249 and can be found for purchase directly from the company's website.

Full Review

Design and Features

 

We aren't terribly excited about the look of the HVD2085. The front of the unit looks pretty bland and there is a lot of plastic in the construction, not necessarily what we would put next to our high-end receiver, but you may be able to get away with it. The remote control also looks pretty bad, like it would be used to control a remote control car or any other toy. There are color coded sections that help to distinguish various grouped buttons. If we had to rate the looks of today's DVD players, the LG LGDVB418 DVD player we reviewed a couple weeks ago would be one of the better looking players out there, and the NeoNeu HVD2085 would be on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. But that's ok, because this puppy can up-convert DVD's to 1080p.

 

Feature-wise, the HVD2085 is fairly loaded. It has component video, S-Video, HDMI and VGA outputs allowing you to hook it up to just about anything. Plus it's a region-free player, so you can playback any DVD in the world on the HVD2085, perfect for those into anime or simply like to import their movies. The HVD2085 is capable of playing DVD/SVCD/VCD/CD/HDCD/MP3/WMA/Photo-CD/CD-R/CD-RW/DVD+R/DVD-R/DVD+RW/DVD-RW disc types. The manual doesn't tell you this, so check out their website for a complete compatibility chart.

The HVD2085 uses a 32bit RISC CPU and a 24bit video processing unit manufactured by AMLogic for de-interlacing and scaling. AMLogic is the only company we are aware of that makes chips supports HVD decoding. The Oppo Digital OPDV971H uses the new DCDi chip by Faroudja which we actually prefer, but this chip is not capable of HVD scaling.

 

The component video output will up-convert the picture to 1080p/1080i including copyrighted material (no HDCP compatibility, shame on you) while the HDMI output supports 1080i/720P/480P/576P/640x480/800x600/1024x768/1280x1024 resolutions depending on what you connect it to.

Priced at $245 dollars, you get the player, remote control, and 1 pair of analog RCA audio/video cables. An HDMI cable is not included nor are batteries, so expect to spend a little more money because you get this hooked up.

NeuNeo HVD2085
Image Courtesy of NeoDigits

Setup and Use

 

Setting up the HVD2085 is fairly straightforward and the instruction manual they provide does a pretty good job of explaining things. We want to point out though that the manual talks about playing pictures off of a memory card (SD, MMC) but there was no slot on our unit, so either this was an error on their part, or our evaluation unit was missing it.

 

The remote control is easy to use and fairly intuitive once you get to it. The main stop, play, pause buttons are in kind of an odd location, but nothing big there. There is no backlight behind the buttons, so you may want to get an aftermarket remote control if that feature is important to you. The remote control uses infrared instead of RF technology for communication, and we found ourselves sometimes holding the remote control out using our hands in order to get it to work, not a great sign there.

 

Since the HVD2085 is capable of outputting signals in multiple formats, you will have to manually change the media resolution depending on its native setting. For example, if you have recorded a DVD in a 720P resolution, but have the player setup to output the video at 1080P, then it will show it at 1080P. There is no way to tell the player to run the video resolutions at their native format. While this is not a huge deal and certainly not a feature that's common when it comes to DVD players, it might be an idea for a future firmware update by NeuNeo.

 

NeuNeo HVD2085
Image Courtesy of NeoDigits

Performance and Picture quality

 

For our review we hooked the HVD2085 up to the following equipment:

 

  • Hitachi 42HDT51 42” Plasma HDTV
  • Onkyo TX-SR701 Receiver
  • Axiom Audio Epic 80 Speaker System

 

Movies used for our review:

 

  • Batman Begins
  • Alexander
  • Casino
  • Ghost in the Shell
  • Spanglish

 

Comparison DVD players include the Oppo Digital OPDV971H, LGLDA-511.

 

We used the Sony DRU-810A DVD writer to make our recordable media.

 

We connected the HVD2085 to our television using a straight HDMI output to the HDMI input on our Hitachi 42HDT51, and the digital optical audio connection to our Onkyo TX-SR701 receiver for most of our tests. We also tested the video output mode of the component video connection both by plugging it directly into the Hitachi television and using the transcoding of the Onkyo receiver.

 

We immediately noticed that once the HVD2085 was connected to our television, that there was very little color adjustments that were needed. We noted in our Oppo Digital OPDV971H review that the Oppo Digital had a noticeable green tint when plugged into our set, but that was not the case with the HVD2085. Now perhaps it was because we were using a DVI to HDMI on adapter on the Oppo Digital player, but whatever the case, adjustments made everything look fine. In comparison to the Oppo Digital player, the HVD2085 has a softer look to the images, especially around the edges, which we actually liked. A lot of the up-converting DVD players out there tend to show higher sharpness levels on the up-converted content and some people like that (and maybe it fools others into thinking the up-converting works). Picture detail on the HVD2085 was good, but not as high quality as the Oppo Digital OPDV971H which tended to do a better with de-interlacing, especially on the older titles and recorded content due to the Faroudja chip it uses.

 

Black levels are adequate on the HVD2085 but not as good as what you would expect for a player in this price range. If you have a television with a high contrast ratio and good black levels such as most Panasonics, you might not notice the problems the HVD2085 has here. If you have an older Sony plasma or LCD TV for example, then get ready for a lot of washed out black levels — and spending time tweaking your TV settings.

 

We found the HVD2085 to be compatible with the following media brands:

 

  • Memorex
  • Verbatim
  • Ricoh
  • TDK
  • Maxell

 

The HVD2085 was able to playback video from all of our recordable media without any problems. If you find the HVD2085 does have some problems with a particular recordable format speed or brand, please post in the user review section for others to read.

 

We also found that some of the movies shot in 4:3 mode looked pretty goofy when up-converted to a 1080i or 720P 16:9 resolution depending on the type of television you have. Our Hitachi lets us keep the picture mode in 4:3 aspect ratio despite a 1080i or 720P signal being sent to it, but not all televisions are that nice, some will try to change the picture format to the 16:9 aspect ratio if a 1080i or 720P signal is sent its way; and that's when you will run into distortion.

 

On the audio side, the HVD2085 sounded good and the audio was in sync with the video side. The HVD2085 supports audio CD's but not DVD Audio or SACD discs, so if those are important to you, checkout a Pioneer product.

Conclusion

 

With a price over $200 dollars, the HVD2085 is on the high-end for a mid-range DVD player. Picture quality is good, and we like that the player is region free, but we just can't justify the high price. Heck, for $245 dollars, Neo Digits should have thrown in an HDMI cable, instead you will have to pick up your own, and you can expect to pay more than $40 for a good cable too.

 

So what should you do? Well, if you will not be importing those foreign films and 1080P output isn't that important to you, buy the Oppo Digital OPDV971H DVD player instead. For under $200 dollars you get a great DVD player and a DVI cable thrown in. The HVD2085 isn't necessarily a bad player; it's just not a premium name, so why pay for it?

 

Buy the HVD2085 for its region-free and High Definition DVD playback capabilities. Neo Digits has done a great job of providing firmware updates, so if you like to tweak your players, then this is the one for you. They have just updated the firmware on the HVD2085 to support 1080p output, so if you have a new 1080p HDTV, give it a try.

 

 

Pros:

 

-          HDTV up-conversion

-          1080P support

-          Region Free

-          HDMI and VGA outputs

-          Firmware upgradeable

 

 

Pros:

 

-          Lackluster design

-          Childish remote control

-          Expensive

-          Does not come with an HDMI cable

Specs

Specifications:

 

Support 1080P( 1080 Progressive Scan), 1080i, 720P, 576P and 480P output, VGA output support 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768 and 1280x1024.
Upscale DVD playback to high definition ( 1080P/1080i via component, 1280x1024 via VGA).
HDMI pure digital interface.
Supports 1080i/720P/480P/576P/640x480/800x600/1024x768/1280x1024.
Built-in high end level scaler delivers astonishing high definition image.
System contains one 32bit Risc CPU, one 24bit video processing CPU and one 24 bit RISC audio processing CPU. Total power equal to 1Ghz Pentium CPU.
Fast 16bit 149Mhz Video DAC and 192 kHz 24 Bit Audio DAC ( 32 bit/133Mhz Audio DSP).
HDCP is not required for playing copyright DVD title in high definition mode.
Brushed stainless steel front panel.
Fast forward / back forward (up to 40X) and ZOOM ( up to 8X)
Easy use full color navigation system.
Fully compatible with DVD/SVCD/VCD/CD/HDCD/MP3/WMA/Photo-CD/CD-R/CD-RW/DVD+R/DVD-R/DVD+RW/DVD-RW.
Built-in Dolby and DTS decoder.
Progressive scan, PAL/NTSC TV system compatible, support 4:3 & 16:9 TV mode.
Smart update function ( firmware upgradeable ).
Component, S-Video, VGA, HDMI and Composite video output.
Optical, Coaxial S/PDIF and RCA output. Support Dolby 5.1 and DTS digital output or 2 Channels analog stereo output. Built-in Dolby 5.1 / DTS decoder, 5.1 channel output.
Ultra slim and stylish design. Dimension: 17 x 10.5 x 1.7 inch (430 x 270 x 43 mm).
Package includes 1 DVD Player, 1 Remote Control, 1 pair analog Video /Audio Cable and User manual. Power 100 ~ 240 AC/50 ~ 60Hz.


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