JVC XV-N50 review: JVC XV-N50

The XV-N55SL is a progressive-scan DVD player that sits at the middle of JVC's line of single-disc models. Despite some promising features, this $170 (list price) player has some issues that should give potential buyers pause.

DVD players have been slimming down for the past few years, and at less than two inches high, the N55 is one of the flattest we've seen. The unit comes in both black (the XV-N50BK) and silver (the XV-N55SL). Its angular face has a bright-blue neon bar directly under the centered disc tray and an informational LCD to the left. Fortunately, the distracting lights can be dimmed or turned off by a couple of clicks on the medium-size remote, which is well proportioned but overly crowded with buttons. Also, its disc-transport keys glow in the dark, and it can control many brands of televisions.

The XV-N55SL includes the standard DVD audio and video connections along with both optical and coaxial digital audio outputs. The component-video outputs toggle between interlaced and progressive-scan modes via the remote or a switch on the player's back end, and a handy green LED on the player's face indicates whether it's in progressive mode.

Disc compatibility is a strong suit, and our test DVD-R/RWs, DVD+R/RWs, and VCDs booted up with ease. The player's well-designed folder and file navigation makes playing CD-based MP3 and WMA files a snap, though like most DVD players, the N55 lacks a shuffle function for digital music. Playback of photo discs is also painless, with JPEGs loading in a quick one to two seconds. The player must be manually set to music or picture disc modes, so viewing data on mixed-media CDs involves a trip to the setup menu.

The XV-N55SL packs a few nice extras. It can automatically resume from the last location on 30 discs, and it features a powerful 64X zoom function. Of greater use are the picture presets and adjustments, so you can customize an array of video-output settings on the player rather than the TV.

Video performance on the XV-N55SL was a disappointment. The player exhibited problems on the opening sequence of Star Trek: Insurrection, where the horizontal panning motion introduced a noticeable stuttering effect. The scene also revealed the N50's poor implementation of 3:2 pull-down, later confirmed by the nasty stair-stepping artifacts evident on several test patterns of the Video 2000 disc. Toggling to any of the player's three manual video-processing modes only aggravated the problems. Curiously, unlike its predecessor, the JVC XV-S502SL, the N55 doesn't have aspect-ratio control, so owners of HDTVs who can't resize nonanamorphic source material are out of luck. The N55's worst offense: It locked up twice during our testing and had to be restarted.

Sadly, the XV-N55SL's good looks are only skin-deep. DVD fans seeking superior performance in a bargain-priced player should instead consider either the Sony DVP-NS325 or--for progressive-scan playback at the same price--the Panasonic DVD-S55S.