Yamaha DVD-S2300 MK2 Setup SACD, Video Tests

Setting up the player for SACD is easy and involves using the instruction manual and the front panel display to set your speaker configuration and bass mangement settings. There is no on-screen display or GUI for any of the SACD settings, again a function of having completely discreet circuitry for those functions. As SACD has no video functions, there is no reason to introduce video circuitry into that part of the system. I believe this was an excellent call on the part of Yamaha. When configuring the system, you may ghost a center channel and elect to not utilize a subwoofer, but you must have rear (surround) speakers to enjoy multichannel SACD - there is no provision for combining the rear channel information into the front channels. Your receiver's analogue inputs may, however, be able to handle this function in DSP, but this would incur additional A/D/A conversion. Obviously, 2-channel SACD content will not have these requirements.

Video Resolution and Noise Comparison

I wanted to see how well the Yamaha DVD-S2300 MK2 handled high resolution video. As I ran through some of the AVIA set up tests, I was pleased to see that the Yamaha (as well as my old Sony player) could handle high resolution images up to the maximum resolution of 540 lines (theoretical limit for DVD's native format). During this test, I was somewhat surprised to notice a huge difference in the performance of the Yamaha vs. my old Sony DVP-S550D player in terms of video degradation. This showed up clearly in the AVIA 100 TVL and 200 TVL wedge resolution test patterns as noise in the lower right hand corner. Take a look at these images:

Because of the excellent performance of the Yamaha DVD-S2300 MK2, and tests we have performed on several television sets, we recommend utilizing the Faroudja de-interlacing circuitry in lieu of the technology which may be present in your television. This will result in a cleaner picture and better video performance.