HVD2085 Menu System & Remote Control

The Setup menu on the NeuNeo player is sparse and consists of 6 main areas with submenus where needed. The Setup screens are arranged as a basic GUI and helpful descriptions are given at the bottom of each screen. It covers the basics 舑 but just the basics. You can set all of the standard fare, including TV shape, language, video output and audio options. As this player doesn't handle SACD or DVD-Audio discs, the reduced menu was expected since many of the complexities of a DVD player's menu have to do with bass management and additional settings for multiple formats. Completely missing, however, were any display options for picture control. If you are unhappy with the output levels of the NeuNeo player you're going to have to alter the display to compensate.

Sound Menu & Audio Options

Setting up the audio for the player was easy and simplistic. You could set the digital output to send Dolby Digital and/or DTS to the player's coax and optical S/PDIF outputs. If neither is checked (the default position, by the way) the system will output a straight PCM downmix. A Stereo menu option sets whether the player will be used for analogue two-channel output only, or allow configuration and use of the 5.1 multi-channel outputs. Set this to 'No' and you can then enter Speaker Setup and configure the type speakers (Large, Small or None). NeuNeo does not specify the fixed crossover frequency used, so I ran a low frequency sweep tone and determined it to be a surprising 60Hz with a steep 24dB/octave rolloff. I was expecting the other end of the scale with 120Hz or more for smaller home theater systems. Why they chose this frequency I have no idea as 80Hz would be a more popular frequency and a lot closer to the majority of home theaters in existence. Better yet would be a selectable crossover frequency that ranged from about 40Hz - 200Hz (to cover the widest range of systems possible).

Delving back into the Sound setup menu I found that you could also configure loudpseaker Distance in 1' increments, though delay compensation is not available for the subwoofer (again, this is all for the analogue outputs only). Speaker output levels are adjustable in 1dB increments, allowing for fairly accurate level setting when using the analogue outputs (we even like to see 0.5dB increments on flagship players). The last item in the Sound menu is the ability to set LPCM output to 48kHz or leave it at the default 96kHz setting.

Editorial Note
By default the digital audio exiting the NeuNeo HVD2085 player will only be PCM. You must enable Dolby Digital and DTS in the Sound > Digital Output submenu. Simply check the boxes next to the two formats (or just Dolby Digital if you have an older receiver that doesn't decode DTS) and you'll be all set.

If you do have an older receiver that doesn't do DTS decoding, but has 5.1 analogue inputs, you can still use the NeuNeo's analogue multi-channel outputs to send the decoded sound to your receiver. This is especially handy for DTS audio discs.

The Display setup page completes the more involve menu items and allows setting of the TV System which is really just the output resolution you would like to see coming out of the player. The options are NTSC (480i), PAL (576i), Progressive 480p, Progressive 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p, VGA, SVGA, XGA, and SXGA. Obviously the computer resolutions are only available from the HDMI or HD15 (VGA-style) outputs. Composite and s-video outputs will have a choice of NTSC or PAL. This player does convert frequency and formats (NTSC/PAL) so you can play just about any disc imaginable and get usable output.

Other menu items allow you to select the TV style you own (16:9, 4:3 PS (pan-and-scan) , or 4:3 Letterbox) . No matter what style of TV you have you should choose 16:9 to get the correct aspect ratio from anamorphic DVDs. You can also change the HD scan frequency from 60Hz (US default) to 50Hz (for PAL use).

The last Setup Menu items include Languages and parental Lock which is standard fare on most players. Play Mode is also included which sets whether the player will function via program play or random play modes. I don't think these will get much use and I'm guessing neither does NeoDigits as the user manual goes on for some time about playing SD and MMC cards which, of course, the HDV20885 does not do.

Remote Control

My 2-year old son loved the remote. It was big, colorful and safe for him to use in free play. None of this, however has anything to do with what makes a good DVD player remote control, which I would prefer to be small, backlit (this one isn't) and ergonomic. The first problem I had with it (and continued to have with it regardless of how long I used the remote) was the absence of a standard navigational control section. Instead of centrally locating the 'Enter' key as expected, it was located to the top left of the 4-way arrow pad. I sure hope NeoDigits doesn't go into making computer keyboards or the 'Return' key may end up on the left side next to the caps lock key! I simply didn't understand the nearly hidden 'Menu' and 'Title' buttons, separated Play, Pause, and Stop buttons, and fast forward, rewind, and skip buttons which were completely relocated to an area not even within striking distance of Play and Pause .

Some other things that were odd had to do with misnamed buttons or help systems. Frequently you would do something, such as utilize the bookmark feature, whereby the system would instruct you to select buttons named 'OK' or 'Return'. Neither exists, nor does the intuitive 'Exit' button that would be a logical substitute. Does any of this really matter? Maybe not to those who plan to utilize a universal remote control (except for the lack of discrete power on/off codes, that is.) We point out these things in the hopes that the overall experience of this player would improve with future models.