ему за звук максимальную оценку 5 балов
In case you hadn't noticed, every manufacturer and their mother - plus a few more distant relatives besides - have jumped into the phenomenal DVD market. Some distinguish themselves on price, some offer oodles of features, some offer various internal 5.1-channel audio decoders, some use the highest grade components known to man, some try to look like the sexiest thing since Liv Tyler and Alicia Silverstone in those Aerosmith videos, and some, like Sony's DVP-F11, just try to be small.
We've already seen a couple of other DVD diddy men, in the shape of portable units from Sony, Panasonic and Pioneer. But we've never seen anything quite like the F11. Bigger than the portable CD-sized DVD-to-go gizmos, but smaller than any other standard players, the little F11 seems to herald a whole new niche - a niche which might reasonably be referred to as bookshelf DVD...
But, I hear you cry, books stand on end, while DVD players lie flat! This is of course normally true, but Sony has engineered the F11 to be able to stand on its edge (via a supplied slide-on support). The result? A fully fledged DVD player that'll perfectly fill that little gap left by your now-discarded Jeffrey Archer novel.
It looks rather more attractive than Kane & Abel did, too, courtesy of a slick silver bookend front where you pop your discs in, and an unusual but tasteful, robust and splendidly tactile body shell.
FOCUS
Terrific picture and sound tucked into a beautifully designed little package. You'll want an F11
Picture 4.5
Sound 5
Features 4
Overall 4.5
Model : Sony DVP-F11
Approximate street price : £450
Features : DTS/Dolby Digital output; two S-video outputs; two composite video outputs; two stereo audio outputs; coaxial/optical digital bitstream outputs; subwoofer out; speaker size selection; virtual surround; audio attenuator; variable dynamic range control; bit rate meter with history; shuffle, program, repeat modes; PAL/NTSC playback; parental controls; DVD/CD/VCD with PBC playback; aspect ratio optimisation; downmix choice; screensaver choice
Dimensions : 125(w) x 39(h) x 62(d)mm
Weight : 2.35kg
01932 816000
Given how slim the F11 is, it's no great surprise to find that there's no Scart output on the rear panel. But Sony has helpfully included a composite/S-video Scart adaptor for folk who've only got Scart cables. Sadly, though, there is nevertheless no provision for getting RGB signals (which deliver the purest colour fidelity) out of the F11.
There are quite a few smaller hook-up options on the player's rear. Unusually you get two sets of stereo audio outs, two composite video outs, two S-video outs, coaxial and optical digital audio bitstream outputs, and a subwoofer line out.
THIN ON FEATURES
One of the biggest hits on Sony's recent DVD players has been the number of features they have crammed in. The awesome DVP-725 and DVP-CX850D players both carried just about every whizzy gizmo you could hope for in a DVD player, so what do we have here?
Naturally all the basics are there, such as multi-language choice for player and disc menus, preference setting for audio and subtitle tracks, multi-angle support, PBC with video CD playback, multi-TV-aspect ratio support, parental locks and DTS as well as Dolby Digital output.
There's also another appearance by Sony's audio attenuation and audio DRC. Audio attenuation reduces the player's audio output level to protect speakers (like those on your TV) which aren't built to handle the prodigious range of DVD audio tracks. Audio DRC (the DRC standing for dynamic range control) compresses the audio playback of soundtracks for late-night listening. Unusually, Sony allows you to switch the DRC between Standard, TV, or Wide Range, with TV referring to the usual compression processing and Wide Range supposedly giving the impression of being at a live performance.
You can also choose at setup how you want the player to downmix a Dolby Digital soundtrack (Surround or Normal), and tell the machine what size speakers you are using for the optional external front and subwoofer speakers.
There are also a couple of HCC fave gizmos: a bit rate meter and a screen saver. The former lets you keep tabs on how a disc has been coded by showing the rate that data is streaming from the disc to the player. There's even a bit rate history option, showing how the data transfer has varied over the previous few moments.
The screen saver function, though, has a nasty surprise up its sleeve. On other Sony models this feature lets you store in the player's memory any frame from any movie to use as the background to onscreen setup menus or when the player is at rest. But here you can only use a jacket picture (in the extremely rare circumstance where a disc includes one), a fairly bland Sony graphic, or black or blue. You cannot store an image of your own. Bummer.
In fact, now that I've been given cause to think about it, a whole host of features found on the 725 and 850 turn out to be AWOL on the F11. There are no manual picture adjustments, for instance, and no facilities for scanning the head images of separate chapters, or even for bookmarking favourite scenes.
Basically, the F11's operating system is taken more from the mid-range DVP-S525 and bottom-end DVP-S325 than Sony's top-dog 725, 850 and DVP-7700 models. But actually it's hard to dismiss the F11 for not having all the features some of its brothers have. I guess you've just got to accept that something has to give to hit the size point. After all, you wouldn't expect to fit War & Peace into something not much bigger than a Ladybird Peter & Jane story, would you?
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
VIDEO
Jitter: 3ns
Inherent signal to noise ratio: -68.8dB
Chroma crosstalk: -43.4dB
Chroma AM/PM: -66.3dB /-68.2dB
Frequency response: -7.49dB (S-video)/-7.19dB (composite video)
AUDIO
Digital deviation:206.6ps
The above results point to a high level of technical achievement - especially given the small proportions of the box all the DVD gubbins has been squeezed into.
But there is an oddity. The F11 falls slightly short of its full-sized DVP-S525 brother in a couple of areas (most notably the signal-to-noise ratio, a potential indication of picture noise), which is no less than We might have expected with such miniaturisation going on, but actually slightly betters the 525 in other areas (most notably chroma crosstalk and Digital Deviation, indicating reduced likelihood of picture interference and cleaner PCM sound respectively).
These results also send out mixed messages about the build quality of the unit, but my subjective viewing experience shows that in spite of one or two inconsistencies, both the 525 and the F11 are able to dazzle eye and ear alike with subjectively excellent performances.
BIG-SCREEN PERFORMANCE
Popping a disc into the F11 is initially an alarming experience. It really doesn't feel right just shoving your favourite movie into a slot like you'd push a floppy disk into a computer drive. And as the player grabs the disc there's an uncomfortable amount of whirring so that you're sure you're breaking something. But once you've gone through this trauma a couple of times without seemingly causing any damage, you soon get used to it.
One niggle that you will never get used to, though, is the way that if you position the player on its edge on a bookshelf, you have to read the front panel's LED sideways. It's hard to see what else Sony could have done, but that doesn't stop it being irritating - even though you can, of course, call up the information you need on the onscreen menus.
At this point, though, relief sets in. Unlike Panasonic's most recent attempt at miniaturisation (the hand-held DVD-L50), it seems that the picture and audio abilities have survived the bookshelf downsizing intact.
Current fave discs of The Mummy and Shakespeare In Love both look superb. There is a sumptuous richness to the pictures currently to be found on all Sony's latest-generation players, and the F11 continues the trend. Colours are exceptionally vivid, well-saturated and contained, and apparently hindered by zero interference in S-video mode, and only a little using a composite feed.
Detail levels are exemplary, too. Every grain of sand seems visible during The Mummy's sandstorms. Overall the F11 presents a divinely cinematic image that cries out for a big screen to do it justice.
The audio contains no surprises - which in Sony's case counts as a very good thing. The F11 is a masterful performer, eking out every little effect and every inch of bass from movie mixes, but more tellingly presenting a delightfully rich, smooth but still exceptionally clear audio performance from PCM stereo playback.
DON'T IMITATE, INNOVATE
Sony has once again done the DVD business. As with the mammoth 850, the company has come up with an original but useful concept, engineered an exceptional design to turn the concept into reality, and most importantly of all, managed to keep the heart and soul of every great DVD player, the picture and sound performance, at the highest level.
John Archer, Home Cinema Choice, February 2000
