Digital Trends

NeoDigits Helios H4000 February 27th, 2007 | by Ian Bell

Testing and Use

For our review, we used an Onkyo TX-SR701 receiver, Hitachi 42HDT51 42” plasma (with HDMI input), Sony Bravia KLV-S32A10 32” LCD, and Axiom Audio Epic 50 5.1 speaker system. For our comparison, we used Oppo Digital OPD971H (with a DVI to HDMI adapter cable) and Oppo Digital DV-981HD981 HD DVD (using HDMI) players. DivX and Xvid files were played off of TDK recordable CD and DVD media. Movies used for testing included Dead Wood: Season 2, The Aviator, and Bad Santa.

Setting up the H4000 is an easy process, but because of its features, you might want to spend some time fine-tuning the picture settings to best take advantage of your TV (this includes various screen resolutions and audio settings). The H4000 comes shipped with the parental controls turned on (at least ours did, in the retail packaging), so make sure that you keep your manual, because the code to unlock the parental controls is inside.

The boot-up time for the H4000 is considerably slower at times than other DVD players out there; in fact, we counted a 35-second boot-up time with a regular DVD in it at one point. The controls located on the top of the player also show considerable lag when used. It almost behaves like a PC; if it’s unplugged and then plugged back in, the startup time is longer than if the player was turned off using the remote. While we cannot confirm what was going on, the player may have been going into a “sleep” state at times.

The H4000 seems to respond more quickly to the remote control than the built-in buttons, which is rather odd. The remote works well, but is very directional, so you will need a very clear line-of-sight. Also, the Smart Play feature is really cool; it will remember where you stopped playback on a DVD movie and allow you to resume where you left off. It even works after the player is turned off, or if you swap DVDs.

The H4000 had an average performance on most tests. Color detail and saturation is good, but eliminating jaggies proved to be too much of a feat on some lines, especially on diagonals. In our upscaling tests, the H4000 performed well, but picture quality was not as good as the Oppo Digital players we mentioned. It’s worth noting that both the Oppo Digital 971 and 881 players in our testing use the DCDi chip by Faroudja and cost $30 to $60 more than the H4000. The Oppo Digital DV-970HD DVD player (which we did not have on hand for comparison) is closer to the same price range as the H4000 and does not use the Faroudja chip, so it would probably be a better comparison. We also did not have a 1080p set on hand to test the upscaling performance of the H4000 at that resolution.

Playing movies recorded in DivX or Xvid posed no problem on the H4000, simply browse to the folder using the on-screen explorer and then play the movie you want. Image quality is really dependant on the movie, and not necessarily the player. Some movies or shows recorded in high-definition and then burned onto CD looked worse on the H4000 than they did on the PC, it really depended on the compression of the show/movie being burned.

On the audio side, the H4000 performed well, and we did not experience any sound noise or issues in our tests. The H4000 lacks both SACD and DVD-Audio playback, which is supported by the Oppo Digital DV-970HD DVD player at a lower price point. So, it’s a trade-off; if you have to have 1080p support, then the H4000 is the player for you at this price. But if SACD and DVD-Audio playback is important, go with the Oppo Digital DV-970HD; neither player supports both.