JVC D-2000BK
A first-generation DVD player with a distinctive face and a decoder that's best left switched off.
Overview
Owners of the D-2000BK will tell you the first thing that grabs them is the front panel. It has a fluorescent dot-matrix display backed by a string of LEDs that spell out what the machine is doing: "Dolby Digital 5.1," "Linear PCM," or "96KHz Sampling." Illuminated channel legends ("L," "C," "R," "LFE," "LS," "S," "RS") confirm which outputs are active. Audio (March 1998, p.52) called it "one of the most informative around" and noted the panel would be "hard to miss" in a DVD-player lineup.
This is a DVD player with 5.1-channel analog output from a built-in Dolby Digital (AC-3) decoder. It plays DVDs, Video CDs, and music CDs, but not recordable CD-Rs, which the manual warns can be damaged by playing them. It handles 16-bit/44.1-kHz linear PCM for CDs, plus AC-3 and 16-bit/48-kHz to 24-bit/96-kHz linear PCM for DVDs. The audio and video paths are kept totally separate to minimize crosstalk, with separate power supplies for the analog and digital circuitry.
On the video side, a 10-bit, 27-MHz oversampling video DAC is claimed to reduce aliasing and yield optimum dynamic range. Both S-video and composite-video connections are provided. Audio (March 1998, p.57) found the luminance level close to the mark, gray-scale and color accuracy "perfect," and no measurable chroma differential gain or phase. On movies and test patterns the player "delivered clean, crisp images that were a delight to behold." One caveat: the reviewer had to recalibrate his lab monitor to accommodate a "hot chroma level." Color was high, though within the range most monitors can handle. Higher-frequency resolution on the multiburst pattern was down a touch versus other DVD players tested, but not enough to see by eye.
Audio conversion runs through JVC's proprietary PEM (Pulse Edge Modulation) D/A converter, essentially a one-bit DAC with quasi-fourth-order Victor Advanced Noise Shaping (VANS). It is supplemented by a newly developed 96-kHz version of JVC's K2 interface, said to eliminate jitter and "ripples" and reduce digital distortion. The measurements were mixed. Frequency response at the "2CH" outputs was "extremely good," within 0.1 dB total spread with just two filter ripples at the high end. Output levels matched within ±0.035 dB, and dynamic range was first-rate at 100 dB A-weighted, 97.9 dB unweighted, 95.8 dB CCIR-weighted. Linearity was "exceedingly linear," with maximum error of only 0.25 dB at - 100 dBFS. But THD + N versus frequency climbed sharply, from well under 0.002% in the bass to 0.2% at 12.5 kHz and nearly 0.44% at 18 kHz. The reviewer's diagnosis was intermodulation between the signal and the 44.1-kHz sampling frequency, not true distortion. His listening verdict was blunter: the PEM converters sounded "tizzy" on high strings and brass, with cymbals striking him as "surreal."
The rear panel has gold-plated RCA jacks for the "2CH" analog output, six more gilded RCAs for decoded front, surround, and subwoofer signals, Toslink and coaxial digital outputs, composite and S-video, and a pair of "AV Compulink" jacks for daisy-chaining with other JVC components. A slide switch drops the "2CH" level by 6 dB, and another raises the subwoofer output by the same. A gold-plated headphone jack with its own "Phones Level" control sits on the front panel, which is unusual on a DVD player.
The supplied RM-SVD2000U remote is preprogrammed for a variety of TVs, cable boxes, and satellite receivers, but oddly no VCRs. The reviewer noted that with some amusement given JVC invented VHS. The layout is logical, with transport and main functions near the base and multi-use controls forward. On-screen menus are a high point. A two-page setup menu handles languages, aspect ratio, AV Compulink mode, digital output format, and speaker configuration. The disc menus handle angles, audio and subtitle languages, time/chapter search, A-B repeat, video resolution, and Dolby Digital compression for late-night listening.
The transport is the weak spot. The review sample was "rather noisy when it was in operation," emitting a high-pitched whir even with no disc loaded. It was audible up close, though not from across the room during a movie. Dimensions are 17⅛ in W × 4⅜ in H × 12⅞ in D (43.5 × 11.2 × 32.8 cm) at 10.6 lbs (4.8 kg), and the original list was $999.95. Audio's closing advice was pointed: since most buyers won't want the internal 5.1 decoding, consider JVC's own XV-1000BK at $899.95, with two-channel analog output only, and save a few bucks.
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