Pioneer BDP-95FD and BDP-05FD Zoom Control?


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These are the only two higher end (>decade old) BD players I can find with all manner of analog video connectivity, including s-video (lol). The Oppo model BDP-80 has all of this analog video, though likely lackluster DVD and poor analog audio performance. https://www.cnet.com/reviews/oppo-bdp-80-review/

 In a just world cinephiles would be free to get as intimate with BDs as they have long enjoyed doing with DVDs via slow motion and zoom controls (albeit at some loss of picture quality). But the BD Assn’s Java BD disc authoring locks and hardware player licensing killed that off for us.

 Now that my $800. Cambridge Audio 650BD player is ready for the trash as Cambridge and PanurgyOEM said there are no more decoder boards to fix the disc reading errors I’m hoping the BDP-95FD or BDP-05FD players will have all of the 650BD’s functionality and comparable analog audio quality.

 This thread implies that the 05fd is the newer and better player-at least \if Pioneer came through with the firmware upgrades. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/pioneer-blu-ray-player-bdp-05- fd    https://www.blu-ray.com/firmware/firmware.php?id=28

But first I went here

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/StaticFiles/PUSA/Files/BDP95FDOperatingInstructions1010.pdf  The 95fd does slow motion and zoom

Then here https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/Blu-ray-Disc/Elite-Blu-ray-Disc-Players/BDP-05FD  The 05fd does slow motion at least with DVDs, but there’s no indication here that it does any kind of zoom.

Maybe Pioneer mistakenly omitted this from the manual??

Can someone confirm yes or no about zoom control with 05fd?

However, what’s scary about the 095fd’s zoom feature as described is that on page 25 it’s called “photo zoom”.

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/StaticFiles/PUSA/Files/BDP95FDOperatingInstructions1010.pdf.

Does this mean that the 95fd can only zoom in on a stationary image but not on a running DVD movie, like I can easily do with my wonderful JVC XV-NA70 from 2004?

If yes, why would a premium brand BD player brand like Pioneer disable DVD movie zoom control?

In any case, I will also need to find out how long Pioneer stocks the most failure prone parts for these players. And then if I can even find any of these old players for sale.

I need two years or so before I build my surround system, where my desktop will play BDs via JRiver player (the Java BD killer) and outputs audio via USB to a multichannel DAC like this one. https://www.exasound.com/Products/e38MarkII8-channelDAC.aspx

Meanwhile, I need an analog video friendly BD player for my 32” Toshiba CRT TV that lacks component video inputs and has slow motion and zoom control, at least for DVDs.

Last resort? Go with the lowly Oppo BDP-80? As it’s feeding a 32” CRT TV how bad would BD  and DVDs look on it? If yes, has anyone used the zoom and slow motion? The manual says it does what I need. http://download.oppodigital.com/BDP80/BDP-80%20English%20Manual%20v6.pdf However, that Oppo’s analog audio is no doubt very poor compared to the Cambridge and Pioneer players. Of course, if need be I could feed the Oppo’s digital audio to that great stereo DAC I’ve been putting off buying for much too long.

But please fill me in on what’s true about the 95fd and 05fd zoom controls.


ajant