Denon VIERA TC-P60ZT60, VIERA TC-P65ZT60, DVD2200 Brochure & Specs

Shame it lacks the metallic
finish of the top-end model

64 March 2004  WHAT VIDEO AND WIDESCREEN TV

Resting in the middle of
Denon’s new universal

DVD range, between the
excellent entry-level £400 DVD-1400
and the simply gobsmacking £850
DVD-2900, the heritage of Denon’s
DVD-2200 speaks for itself.

On the other hand, mid-range
products can sometimes prove
the hardest sell, appealing neither
to the budget-conscious nor to
well-heeled folk who simply must
have the best of everything at any
cost. So can the DVD-2200 really
manage to inspire those notoriously
hard-to-motivate middle-grounders
into money-splashing action?

DESCRIPTION

Perhaps inevitably, the DVD-2200
doesn’t employ anything like the
same stunning heavy-duty build
quality that the 2900 did. It’s much
lighter and doesn’t boast the 2900’s
sensational metallic finish, regardless
of whether you plump for the silver,
black or gold versions.

We shouldn’t judge a book by its
cover, of course, but it’s hard not to
be concerned that such an obvious
step-down in build quality could
have a severe negative impact on the
2200’s performance. Let’s just hope
that this impact isn’t ultimately
worse than you’d reasonably expect
for your £250 saving over the 2900.

The 2200’s connections are very
satisfactory. There are two main
highlights: component video outputs
which enable you to enjoy the

deck’s Progressive Scan talents on
a suitably capable screen; and 5.1
RCA line outs so you can enjoy the
full-range benefits of the 2200’s
DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD
playback talents.

There are also the customary
RGB-capable Scart, composite video
and S-video alternatives, together
with both coaxial and optical
digital audio options and a pair of
dedicated stereo RCA outputs.

The 2200’s list of standout
features isn’t restricted to its
DVD-Audio/Super Audio CD and
progressive scan capabilities.
Enhancing its Universal credentials,
for instance, are MP3, WMA and
Photo CD playback.

Also useful are ‘Darker’ and
‘Lighter’ settings for adjusting
the black level according to your
screen’s capabilities. However, we
recommend you take care with this
setting, since choosing ‘darker’ on
a low contrast screen can result in
the loss of quite a bit of background
detail during dark scenes.

We also availed ourselves of handy
facilities for tweaking the brightness,
contrast, sharpness, gamma and hue
components of the picture.

Similarly impressive levels of
flexibility are found on the audio
side, too. Particular highlights
include a bass enhancer and an
extremely comprehensive suite of
speaker configuration facilities
for surround sound music that make
the 2200 a friend to just about any

DENON-DVD2200

Universal DVD player

type of speaker/amp system we
could think of.

Some of the DVD-2200’s internal
specs warrant our attention, too.
For starters, video circuits are
mounted on separate boards in
isolation from each other, and the
power supply is a discrete design
with separate power for the audio,
video and digital blocks.

When it comes to video
processing, at the 2200’s heart
are 12-bit/108MHz video DACs,
while the progressive scanning is
provided by the highly regarded
Silicon Image Sil504 chipset.

On the audio front, the
2200 boasts three Burr-Brown
24-bit/192-kHz DSD1791 DACs
for decoding PCM and SACD/DSD
signals discretely, with no down­conversion of the DSD stream.
Furthermore, there’s a Pure Direct
mode that switches off all video

Talent show

Handling is easy enough – no
thanks to the manual, though

The handset is a beefy,
clearly labelled job



John Archer takes a
look at Denon’s new
universal DVD player
and wonders if it has
enough sparkle to make
it stand out from the
middle ground

WHAT’S GOOD

Top-end performance from a
mid-range deck

WHAT’S BAD

CD playback only average

PICTURE . . . . . . . .

SOUND . . . . . . . .

FEATURES . . . . . .

EASE OF USE . . . .

VALUE . . . . . . . . .

VERDICT

Rounds out Denon’s latest Universal
DVD range in style

£600

ON TEST:

0403wv03 Denon DVD2200 1/20/04 2:10 PM Page 64

more sense. The thought that there
could be people out there spending
£600 on the DVD-2200 and then
through lack of knowledge watching
it forever in rubbishy composite
video mode is enough to send
shudders down the spine…

PERFORMANCE

However, provided you do use the
RGB output or, even better, the
component video jacks, Denon’s
refusal to compromise too far with
the 2200 results in yet another
exceptional Denon DVD performer.
With pictures in particular, the 2200
even runs the award-winning 2900
impressively close.

The most immediate impact
comes from the 2200’s tremendous
richness and solidity. This gives
pictures a level of dynamism, depth
and cinematic impact that precious
few rivals at any price can muster.

What’s more, there’s almost the same
superb fine detail talent as with the
2900, almost the same extensive
contrast range, almost as little noise
(be it MPEG blocking or electrical),
and in progressive mode, seemingly
exactly the same fluidity and dearth
of jagged edges. Which all adds up to
a truly outstanding effort for £600.

The 2200 also knows its onions
when it comes to DVD-Audio and
Super Audio CD playback. The
flavour is perhaps a little smoother
than the 2900, meaning you miss out
on some of the tiny subtleties in a
good multi-channel music mix – but
comparisons with the 2900 aren’t
really fair. Set against similarly priced
or cheaper Universal players, the
2200’s prowess is clear.

CD playback is the 2200’s
weakest area, with a few cheaper
decks – particularly from Sony –
able to deliver more dynamism
and sparkle. But even though it’s
the 2200’s weakest point, its CD
playback still rates as ‘good’ by
anybody’s reckoning.

CONCLUSION

What this all comes down to is that
Denon has, with typical aplomb,
completely confounded any doubts
we might have had about the 2200.
In fact, it’s judged this mid-range
contender’s talents so perfectly that
far from not finding an audience, we
now think it might actually become
the most popular model in Denon’s
universal range! ■

March 2004  WHAT VIDEO AND WIDESCREEN TV 65

circuitry to reduce the possibility of
electrical interference on your
music, and ultra-flexible, separate
bass management systems for
DVD-A and Super Audio CD.

OPERATION

Set-up is fairly straightforward,
given the relative complexity of
some of its features. The onscreen
menus are attractively and clearly
presented, and the remote control is
big and comfortable.

Our only grumbles would be that
the instruction manual doesn’t do a
particularly great job of explaining
some of the most complicated
features (such as the two different
progressive scan modes available)
even though they can have quite
an impact on performance.

Also, the default Scart output is,
bizarrely, composite video, when
surely RGB would have made much

SPECIFICATION

FEATURES

Plays: DVD, DVD-A, DVD-R, DVD+R,
DVD+RW, DVD-RW (Video and VR
modes), CD, SACD, CD-R, CD-RW,VCD,
SVCD, MP3,WMA, JPEG; slow mo; frame
advance; x2, x4 zoom; progressive scan;
black level adjust; bass enhancer (two
channel); speaker size/distance adjust
with test tone; Pure Direct audio only
mode; SRS TruSurround; pic adjustments
with five preset memories; random
playback; repeat; repeat A-B; JPEG slide
show mode; subtitles; parental lock;
bookmarking

SOCKETS

RGB Scart; component video outputs;

5.1-channel outputs; stereo audio
outputs; S-video output; composite
video output; multi-room link in/out;
coaxial/optical digital audio output

DIMENSIONS

434(w) x 101(h) x 318(d)mm

WEIGHT

4.7kg

TEST DATA

Video jitter: 3ns (very good)
Signal-to-noise ratio
(composite): -72.5dB (good)
(S-video): -74.7dB (very good)
Signal-to-noise ratio (component):

-75.4dB (very good)
Chrominance AM/PM: -72.8dB/-62.3dB
(excellent/average)
Chroma crosstalk: -47.8dB (below
average)
Frequency response at 5MHz:
(S-video): -0.83dB (very good);
(composite): -0.63dB (very good;
(component): -0.59dB (very good)
Audio jitter: 153.0ps (very good)

CONTACT

☎

01234 741200

www.denon.co.uk

Also consider...

DENON DVD-2900

If you can find £250 more, this step-up
Denon will reward your extra outlay
in spades
Reviewed: Oct ’03

PIONEER DV-757Ai

Performs roughly as well as the Denon
2200, but adds a digital link so you can
deliver full SACD and DVD-A sound
using a single cable to any suitably
equipped amp
Reviewed: Mar ’03

0403wv03 Denon DVD2200 19/1/04 11:16 Page 65