Panasonic DVD-LV70 portable DVD player review

Summary: This is Panasonic's updated portable DVD player for model year 2001 with a built-in 7-inch color LCD screen, Dolby Digital and DTS digital output, virtual surround sound, Dialogue Enhancer, Digital Cinema Mode, and a long life Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery. This unit is nearly identical to the Panasonic DVD-LV75 introduced in April 2000, except for (1) no built-in decoder for Dolby Digital and DTS decoding in favor of a digital output, (2) no headphone virtual surround sound, (3) slightly larger remote (no longer the super slim credit card style remote), (4) different power transformer, and (5) a more affordable price tag. The performance is identical in many respects, which is to say that the DVD-LV70 is a solid performer with top notch picture quality, smooth fast scan and slow motion modes. It can easily pull double duty as your primary home theater DVD player as well. And like last year's DVD-LV75, we are recommending the DVD-LV70.

> Bright and detailed 7-inch (actually only 6 7/8 inches diagonally) color LCD display

> Pixelated picture when watching a non-anamorphic widescreen DVDs on the built-in LCD display in zoom mode to fill the screen

> Built-in LCD display has to be turned off manually when listening to audio CDs

One of the nice benefits of reviewing DVD hardware is that we get to play with these wonderful portable DVD players. (Oops, did we say "play"? What we really meant to say was "evaluate" and "assess".) Last year when we reviewed the Panasonic DVD-LV75, we were very impressed. This year's DVD-LV70 PalmTheater™ portable DVD player is based on (and therefore very similar to) last year's model, with some "refinements" to make it more affordable. The DVD-LV70 is identical to last year's DVD-LV75 except for (1) no built-in decoder for Dolby Digital and DTS decoding in favor of digital outputs, (2) no headphone virtual surround sound, (3) slightly larger remote (no longer the super slim credit card style remote), (4) a single-voltage (120V) power transformer, and (5) a more affordable price tag. We think that these changes are the right way to go. The performance is identical in many respects, which is to say that the DVD-LV70 is a solid performer with top notch picture quality, smooth fast scan and slow motion modes.

disc tray open - click here to see more photos

This lightweight portable player has a handsome, silver case that opens like a laptop computer. Check out our photo gallery for pictures of this model. Open the DVD compartment by pressing on the "Push Open" button at the left bottom corner of the base and the disc lid pops up. Press the disc (DVD-Video, Video CD, or audio CD) into the spindle until it engages into the hub clips, close the lid, press and hold the "Play" button and the unit turns on automatically and starts playing the movie. As soon as the image appears on the built-in 7-inch color LCD screen, you can't help but be amazed with the detailed, sharp, bright and colorful image. It's simply stunning! And with this player's full host of features and very notable performance, it should easily pull double duty as your primary home theater DVD player as well.

Picture Quality. Watching DVD movies on this portable player is a visual treat. The picture quality of the high-resolution 7-inch (actually 6 7/8 inches diagonally measured) 16:9 aspect ratio LCD screen is absolutely top notch. The picture is particularly detailed and sharp with anamorphic widescreen (i.e., "enhanced for widescreen TVs") DVD titles. With letterboxed (non-anamorphic) widescreen DVDs, you can zoom the image to fill the LCD's 16:9 aspect screen, but you start to see pixelation effects. This may seem like a limitation of the non-anamorphic widescreen DVD, but is a shortcoming of the Panasonic's zoom video processing for its built-in LCD display. When video is output to a TV, there are no pixelation problems. In fact, the picture looks really good on both our 27" TV and 61" rear projection TV. To accommodate DVD software coming in various aspect ratios, the player allows you to choose various screen modes: native modes for 4:3 and 16:9, as well as 16:9 "stretched", and 16:9 zoom.

A Note for Users: Be sure to set the "TV aspect" (using the "Action" button on the remote control and selecting menu item #5, "TV aspect") to "16:9" aspect ratio to get optimal video performance from anamorphically enhanced DVDs (i.e., those DVDs labeled as "enhanced for widescreen TVs"). If you output the picture to a conventional 4:3 TV, be sure to set the "TV aspect" to "4:3". Just remember to set it back to "16:9" when you use the 7-inch built-in LCD display again.

LCD Screen. The LCD screen is sufficiently bright for comfortable viewing even under the brightest sunlight conditions. The screen brightness can be adjusted for comfortable viewing under darker conditions. Color is saturated and also adjustable. A feature we found particularly useful is the built-in LCD screen which can serve as a display for an external video/audio feed. For example, we connected our camcorder (Sony Digital8 camcorder model DCR-TRV103) to the DVD player and watched the Digital8 videotape playback on the 7-inch LCD screen. The image was equally astonishing as that from DVD, since the source is digital video. Our videos looked great on the Panasonic's widescreen LCD, since we chose to shoot our video in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen format. It's a little troubling that the advertised 7-inch screen really measures 6 7/8 inches diagonally. That's an 1/8 inch shy of what's advertised. Hmmm. Anyways, as a final testament of quality for the LCD display, we did not notice any dead pixels on the LCD screen of our sample.

Slow Motion, Fast Scan, and Frame-by-Frame Advance. This player features a full set of scan, search, and slow motion special effects. It features forward and reverse fast scan search, forward and reverse slow motion, forward and reverse frame-by-frame advance, chapter preview (plays the first four seconds of each chapter), and pause.

Portable Listening. For on-the-go enjoyment, this model comes with a pair of built-in stereo speakers, located just below the screen. Since the speakers are on the same panel as the screen, it points towards the viewer for improved sound propagation, even as the screen is adjusted to various tilt angles (i.e., good placement of the speakers). However, the sound quality from these built-in speakers are limited due to their compact size.

For improved sound quality and private listening, there is a mini-headphone jack for using an optional (read as "not included" or "sold separately") headphones. So get yourself a good set of headphones, like the Sony MDR-V600 studio monitor that we used, to fully enjoy the great sound produced by this DVD player. For on-the-road use, you may want to consider investing in a pair of noise-canceling headphones. Panasonic offers the RP-HC100 compact noise-canceling headphones as an accessory, or you can buy any of the other brands. These noise-canceling headphones dramatically reduce the ambient noise in cars, trains, and planes, and make the audio much more enjoyable (though the technology is not perfect). By the way, two headphone mini-jacks would be nice for sharing the DVD experience.

Audio CD Playback. Since this model plays audio CDs, it can double as a portable CD player when you want to give movies a rest. We were very pleased with the CD playback quality. The sound has good tonal qualities, is well-balanced, and has considerable bass extension. The DVD-LV70 also plays CD-Rs. When playing audio CDs, you should turn off the built-in LCD display to save battery power. Unfortunately, this has to be done manually with the "Monitor" button on the unit and setting into mode "4" (off).

Home Theater DVD Multi-Channel Playback. For the full-blown 5.1-channel surround sound DVD playback in the home theater, you will need an optional mini optical digital audio cable (model RP-CA2120, available from Panasonic) to connect the compact optical digital audio output to a Dolby Digital and/or DTS A/V receiver. The regular, full-size Toslink optical digital audio cable used for home DVD players will not work. Unfortunately, Panasonic was not able to furnish us with this accessory so we could not test the DVD-LV70 in our Dolby Digital/DTS home theater system.

Virtual Surround Sound. A nice feature is the Virtual Surround Sound (VSS) mode which produces a more expansive simulated surround sound environment while listening with the built-in speakers or connected to a pair of home audio stereo loudspeakers. This feature significantly expands the sound field and simulates a surround sound effect. It doesn't compare to having a real multi-channel surround sound home theater system, of course, but is a significant improvement over just plain stereo.

Navigation. When navigating through the various DVD menus, the DVD-LV70 is quite responsive. This makes navigating through the various DVD menus an effortless and quick process.

Layer Switch. In our layer switch tests, this model exhibits fair performance in switching between layers of a dual-layered DVD disc. Most layer switches are noticeable to some extent in any DVD player. Like many DVD players, the picture is momentarily paused for about a full second as the DVD-LV70's laser automatically re-focuses on the second layer.

DVD Angle Change. Using the scene deconstruction featurette in the bonus features section of the "Men In Black" Collector's Edition DVD, we were able to verify that the DVD angle change feature performs smoothly and with a lag time of less than one second from the time we selected a new angle to the time that new angle is displayed. This is about as fast as we've seen from the fastest of DVD players.

The DVD-LV70 is pretty easy to use. The operating instructions are well-written with clear and helpful diagrams. (To get the most of this unit, do read the user manual.) Most common settings have reasonable default factory values, making the set-up process quick and painless for most consumers.

Initial Set Up. Out-of-the-box, this DVD player is ready to be used as a portable unit -- that is after you charge up the batteries. As a home DVD player, you may be able to skip the first-time set-up menus altogether due to very logical default settings. This is especially true for those with the conventional 4:3 aspect ratio TVs. If you have a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio TV or if you want to re-configure the options, simply press the "Action" button on the remote control and the graphical, icon-based menu helps guide you through the configuration of of the DVD player. Settings such as TV aspect ratio, parental lock setting, the menu language selection can be set using this menu. Once you've completed this initial configuration, you shouldn't have to do it again.

Everyday Use. When using this portable DVD player's built-in LCD display, some controls like screen aspect ratio, brightness and color adjustments can only be accessed by using the buttons on the unit itself, and not from the remote control. For home viewing with a TV, some features can be invoked directly from the remote, while other features are accessible through a series of menu selections from the remote control. In any case, the method is simple and straightforward, thanks to the intuitive icons and user-friendly on-screen menu system.

A Note for Users: Cursor control is achieved on the unit by sliding a circular disc (Panasonic calls it the "cursor jockey") forward/aft and side-to-side. To skip forward/backward to other chapters, there are dedicated buttons. However, to perform a forward or reverse scan search, press and hold the dedicated forward/backward chapter skip buttons until the desired scan speed is reached. Press "play" to resume normal playback. To advance the video frame-by-frame, press pause, then slide the cursor jockey side-to-side to advance the frame forward or reverse.

remote control - click here to see more photos

This unit comes with a compact, low-profile remote control, with color-coded buttons (gray, green, blue, and red) that are logically organized. The buttons are just big enough to operate with ease, though they might be a tad small for those with larger hands. Buttons for disc transport controls (e.g., play, stop, pause, scan, skip) and menu navigation buttons (e.g., arrow and enter buttons) are well placed for good ergonomics. Also included are direct access buttons for subtitles, audio tracks, and angle change. Unfortunately, the remote control can't be used to control other audio or video components (such as a receiver or TV, Panasonic or otherwise).

Obviously the mass appeal behind portable DVD players is that you can take it with you anywhere. So you would naturally ask, how long does the standard Lithium Ion battery (same battery technology as in state-of-the-art laptop computers) last between charges? Of course, this depends on how you use the unit. For example, whether you use headphones vs. the built-in speakers, what volume it is set at, and the LCD screen's brightness setting. When we tested the DVD-LV75 last year, we got an astonishing 4 hours and 50 minutes of play time for one charge. Our test was conducted with headphone volume set to a typical listening level ("6" on the volume dial), and LCD screen brightness set to "0" (from a scale of "-5" for dimmest to "+5" for brightest). In our test this year for the DVD-LV70, using the exact same settings as described above, we got an identical 4 hours and 50 minutes of play time. That's pretty long... long enough for at least two movies or a non-stop flight across the United States.

As if that's not enough, you can always purchase an optional second battery. Just be aware that you can only charge the battery while the unit is turned off, battery attached, and the A/C cord plugged in. There is no separate charging cradle for a second battery. It takes about 4 hours to completely charge a battery. So if you have a second battery, you would have to swap the second battery (perhaps in the middle of the night) if you wanted to fully charge two batteries for the next day. We think the near five-hour of battery life should be adequate for most users. Finally, take note that the Lithium Ion battery can be re-charged and used for about 300 cycles, according to Panasonic.

OK, so battery life is great, even with only one battery. But you're wondering, how well does this unit take to travel? While we did not subject our unit to any formal drop tests, from our experience with the occasional and inadvertent bumps of daily life, this unit seems rugged enough to handle most common and expected bumps of any portable electronics equipment. Obviously the best part of a portable DVD player is that you can take it virtually anywhere. And we really mean anywhere. Where you use it is only limited to your imagination. This portable model makes long road trips and flights much shorter and much more enjoyable. Just think, instead of hearing the kids ask "are we there yet?" every 15 minutes, they'll ask "we're here already?" at the final destination. Ah, the power of technology.

As a portable model, the DVD-LV70 does not have all of the outputs that you would normally expect to find in a good full-blown home DVD player model. But here is what it does have:

The DVD-LV70 does lack a coaxial digital audio output (but you can use the optical digital audio output instead) and component video output (for the best picture quality if you have such inputs on your TV). The optical digital output jack should have a cover, as the red diode/laser keeps lighting up and leaks out from behind the unit. Though this is relatively minor, it is somewhat of an annoyance.

The build quality appears to be slightly better than average for a portable DVD player in this price range. The unit comes with a one year parts and 90-day labor warrantee, which is comparable to other portable models in this price range. The attractive silver metallic finish casing is actually high-impact plastic, but it still seems to scratch rather easily. For those who travel much and want to protect the unit, Panasonic makes a special protective carrying case accessory (model DY-CC20).

Panasonic offers a more affordable model DVD-LV60 with a slightly smaller 5.8-inch LCD screen for about $700 (some $200-$300 less), and another portable model DVD-PV40 with no built-in screen for about $400. The portable DVD player market is a hot one with many competitors trying to out do each other. Sharp and Toshiba have each introduced 8-inch LCD screen models, the DV-L80U and SDP-1500 respectively. Panasonic is answering the challenge in October 2001 with their introduction of the DVD-LV95, a portable DVD-Audio/DVD-Video/DVD-RAM player that will sport a 9-inch (yes, 9!) diagonal LCD screen that will sell for about $1,300. Meanwhile, Sony continues to offer the 7-inch LCD screen Sony DVP-FX1 (a year 2000 model) which still retails for about $1,500, while Pioneer has since introduced the Pioneer PDV-LC20 which retails for about $1,300.

We absolutely love the concept of portable DVD players. And this latest model from Panasonic reflects many of the positive attributes we love of last year's DVD-LV75, with some additional "refinements" to lower the price. What more could you ask for? (Besides a 9-inch screen, of course.) At about $900, the DVD-LV70 should be within reach of more DVD enthusiasts who want their DVDs "to go". While the DVD-70 is a solid performer on the road, it should prove to be an equally competent DVD player for your "at-home" home theater as well. We are wholeheartedly recommending this portable DVD player to the lucky few who can afford such luxuries in life.

A final suggestion: save yourself a chunk of change (about $200 off the average retail price of $900 and possibly sales tax) - consider ordering this model from one of the online merchants below. With the savings you'd realize, you can upgrade to that corner suite at the Hyatt Regency.

If you buy online, please consider supporting this site by starting here and clicking through one of our links below:

Summary of Features: portable DVD-Video player; 7-inch LCD color screen (actually 6 7/8 inches, diagonally measured), 16:9 aspect ratio screen with approx. 337,000 pixels; built-in stereo speakers; plays DVD-Video, Video CD, audio CDs, and CD-Rs; low-profile remote control; 27MHz/10-bit video D/A converter; Dolby Digital and DTS digital output; Virtual Surround Sound (VSS) mode; Dialogue Enhancer; Digital Cinema mode (for enhancing shadow detail); fast scan (forward and reverse); slow motion (forward and reverse); resume play, random play, and program play modes; parental lock-out feature; interlaced video via S-video and composite video outputs (compact, requires included cables); mini-optical digital audio output (compact, requires optional cables as an accessory); stereo analog audio output (compact, requires included cables); mini-headphone jack (1); auto power-off function.

Specifications: audio S/N (CD) 115dB; dynamic range CD 97 dB; DVD linear audio 2 Hz - 22 kHz (48 kHz sampling), 2 Hz - 44 kHz (96 kHz sampling); DC input 9V, 1.5 amps; A/C adapter input 120V; Energy Star compliant; Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery, rated for approximately 4 hours; power consumption 23 Watts; weight 3.2 pounds with battery, 1.4 pounds without battery; dimensions 7 9/32" (W) x 1" (H, without battery) or 1 9/16" (H, with battery) x 5 1/2" (D); warrantee one year parts, 90-day labor; made in Japan.

Associated equipment used in evaluation: Sony KP-61V45 61" rear projection TV (4:3 screen aspect ratio), Sony KV-27V66 27" TV (4:3 screen aspect ratio), Sony STR-V444ES A/V receiver, NHT 2.1 as left/right main speakers, NHT 1.1C center channel speaker, NHT SuperZero as surround speakers, Monster Cable M-series S-Video cable MSV-500, Monster Cable Interlink LightSpeed 100 (Toslink) optical cable, Monster Cable XP speaker wires, and Sony MDR-V600 studio monitor headphones. Our home theater equipment was calibrated with the Video Essentials DVD.

This review was originally posted on August 6, 2001, and last updated on August 10, 2001.

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See more photos	Manufacturer:	Panasonic
	Model:	DVD-LV70
	Market introduction:	June 2001
	Warrantee:	one year parts, 90-day labor
	Retail/list price:	$700 retail / $900 originally as low as $498.94 online

	Features: B+	Video: A-	Audio: A-	Performance: A-
	Ease of use: A-	Remote: B+	Build quality: B+	Value: A-