Panasonic DVD-S53K Up-Converting 1080p DVD Player Black
By: Panasonic Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 18
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 On: 2008-06-12
Ive had this product for 2 months. So far I cant find anything to complain about. It plays store bought and my home recorded DVDs with no problems. The picture quality is flawless.
If I needed another DVD player, I would buy this one again.
 On: 2008-03-01
Just bought it several days ago, player shuts down completely after about 30 min of playing time. Wont turn on until about 20 minutes later.
Also, when viewing JPG files on DVD-R, can only see the files in first 6 - 9 folders, in alphabetical order. Dont see any files in folders beyond those first 6 - 9 folders.
 On: 2008-02-19
Ok, first the cons.
Really, just one. I like to burn a few dozen of my music CDs to a DVD in MP3 format at 320/kps. You can fit a LOT of albums on one DVD and not need to buy a CD changer. You just have them queued up on a single DVD.
The S52 had a GREAT method of displaying the foler names on the DVD. Whereas a very long file or folder name would still be truncated, it would display out to 16 characters or so before that would happen.
With the S52, the dual column display is gone, and even worse it seems to display even less than conventional pc 8.3 filenames. A BIG dissapointment, this was one of the major reasons I have been sticking with Panasonic rather than a different brand.
The pros - Its cheaper than the S52 was, and the picture quality is the same. Very nice on my Samsung LCD panel. I wish they would throw in a better tray rather then the composite video/audio cable, which I doubt that anyone on the planet uses, but I have no complaints with playing DVDs on this unit. Plus, it plays Divx files just fine. The S52 would not play Divx files at all.
Bottom line - I have few Divx files and a lot of music CDs. I like the S52 better! Th4e S53 is a nice set, and if you have a lot of Divx files it is obviously better suited to your needs, but for displaying music file names the S52 was vastly superior.
I hope this helps you decide which to choose if you can still pick either or!
 On: 2007-10-02
When this unit came out I rushed out to buy it since I own the model S52 that came right before it.I love the S52.It has all the adjustments one would ever need to get a great picture.What a letdown the S53 was.The picture is fair but Panasonic took all the user adjustments off this model.You are stuck with the factory presets like skin,normal,etc.There is no adjustment for gamma on this machine.If you have a scene with alot of black and you cant see the details,you have to either turn up the brightness or live with it.I thought I would be getting the same player as the S52 but with the added joy of upconverting my movies to 1080P.I have just bought a Philips 47" ambilight 1080P television.This tv has to be seen to be believed.Philips 47PFL7432D 47" 1080p LCD HDTV with AmbilightThe one thing that I really do like about the S53 over the S52 is the open tray function on the remote.The S52 does not have this feature.
On: 2007-10-01
When this unit came out I rushed out to buy it since I own the model S52 that came right before it.I love the S52.It has all the adjustments one would ever need to get a great picture.What a letdown the S53 was.The picture is fair but Panasonic took all the user adjustments off this model.You are stuck with the factory presets like skin,normal,etc.There is no adjustment for gamma on this machine.If you have a scene with alot of black and you cant see the details,you have to either turn up the brightness or live with it.I thought I would be getting the same player as the S52 but with the added joy of upconverting my movies to 1080P.I have just bought a Philips 47" ambilight 1080P television.This tv has to be seen to be believed.Philips 47PFL7432D 47" 1080p LCD HDTV with AmbilightThe one thing that I really do like about the S53 over the S52 is the open tray function on the remote.The S52 does not have this feature.
On: 2007-09-29
The quality of the picture is excellent. I dont have an HD setup, but it seems as though the quality, even on LD is somehow enhanced. Very happy with it. The tray for the DVD seems a bit on the flimsy side and caution is needed. Also, from advertising that I read about this, I was under the impression that it could play Dual Layer, but it wont play DL thats been generated on a PC. It makes that very clear in the owners manual. You may want to download a copy of the owners manual to verify it will play what you want it to. But otherwise, a 1000% better than the DVD player I used to have. It is a well designed quality product.
On: 2007-09-06
I got this product after a long research. Put the first CD (The lord of the Rings) and image quality was disappointed. Up-conversion was the worst.
Returned this product quickly and got and Oppo 981HD. What a difference!!
If you are looking for a good DVD player dont buy this, instead buy an Oppo 981HD.
On: 2007-09-05
I got this product after a long research. Put the first CD (The lord of the Rings) and image quality was disappointed. Up-conversion was the worst.
Returned this product quickly and got and Oppo 981HD. What a difference!!
If you are looking for a good DVD player dont buy this, instead buy an Oppo 981HD.
On: 2007-09-02
This Panasonic player replaced another Panasonic DVD player that was lost to an electrical storm - and although I could have still found the older model, reviews led me to select this unit. Not only is it 1/2 the height of the older unit, but eliminated many of the front mounted controls that were rarely used and cluttered the face of the player. In the month of use - very heavy use - it performs flawlessly. The same features such as quick replay and variable scan (forward and back) that I had on the other unit were one reason to stay with this Panasonic series. In addition, this newer unit supports 90% of the types of CDs and DVDs you will encounter whether commercial or user created. I would recommend the unit to anyone.
On: 2007-08-31
I just purchased this player about a week ago, and it is great. It is quiet, sturdy, starts up quick and looks cool. I have it hooked up with an HDMI cable to an okay 32 in. 720p LCD Visio TV that accepts 1080i input. I can tell you this..... the movies have never looked and sounded better. I popped in a DVD and played with the players settings to get it just right. This DVD player has many Sound enhancement options and many Video enhancement features to help get a better picture. Read the manual, its good with helping you set it up to your likings. Very Satisfied with my purchase, thank you very much. 5 stars *****
On: 2007-07-31
I used this DVD player once and the power supply broke. It has been in the shop for almost a month cause the part needed to rebuild it is on backorder with no estimated arrival date. Panasonic wont send me a new one. I am surprised Panasonic manufactures such a poor quality product.
On: 2007-07-30
It sounds good, looks good and has lots of features. Very easy to set up. Cant go wrong at this price!
On: 2007-07-29
It sounds good, looks good and has lots of features. Very easy to set up. Cant go wrong at this price!
 On: 2007-07-15
I have both an S53 and a Philips 5982 running to a 1080P Philips 42" 7422.
The S53 is inferior in picture quality. It is blurrier, loses detail, loses color accuracy, and loses grey shadows. The Philips 5982 outperformed it in every regard to the picture quality.
Audiowise, the Panny has more options for audio with Dialogue Enhancer, but those filters seems to lose some of the fine details. You are better off messing with your TV audio or Stereo audio than using any Panny filters.
Colorwise, I could not really change any settings with the S53. The Philips allowed for RGB values to be altered which I was really hoping for on the S53. I could alter the screen settings like Cinema1, Cinema2, Multimedia, etc and that was it. There is an HD enchancer that makes the image sharper...it made it too sharp to my eyes and I leave it off.
The only thing I liked was the remote and menu. Much better than Philips and more functions.
Its sitting in my bedroom with my 26" bedroom 720P HDTV, so I cant complain too much about it. My set accepts the 1080i signal and it looks good on a small screen. I would not recommend it for a large screen in the living room.
On: 2007-07-09
I have been a big fan of this company since the 80s. Lately they have been eclipsed by some other players in the game. (LG, Samsung, etc.) I am glad to see they still have the goods. This DVD player rocks. Tons of features and performs flawlessly. Great picture, sound, and functionality. I am waiting for my HDMI cable so I can watch my DVDs at 720p HD !!!
On: 2007-07-03
I ordered this unit based on Panasonics reliability and quality.
Indeed it has come up to a very high standard. Great picture with DVDs using HDMI connection. Very simple hook up. Outstanding sound from CDs.
Reasonably priced. Doesnt come with HDMI cable.
On: 2007-07-01
Looked at the Sony DVP NS75H as a competing model with the Panasonic player. Both had great picture quality for a non HD player. The panasonic edged out the sony in sound output. (using HDMI connectors). One great feature is the digital voice enhancer so you can hear people speak on the dvd and not have to turn it up too loud.
The included instruction manual could have been written better, confusing. Sonys was a bit more user friendly. The menus for the panasonic are OK, more thought should have been put into this to make it more intuitive. Similar with the Sony player, maybe a bit easier.
I ended up with this unit over the sony bc of sound features. Also, no blue annoying light as on the sony player.
On: 2007-06-24
I was in the market for a dvd upconverter...to make my dvds on my hd lcd tv look sharp...well I came across this and so far its doing the job. I do suggest when you purchase this you go over the settings for the player and tv so that you can get optimal performance. For the more recent dvd releases theyre mastered in hd ie: Sony pictures and the picture is sharp and clear on 720p really youll love it! I suggest watching Casino Royale on 720p and enjoy!
On: 2007-05-30
Widescreen DVDs dont of course look like HD with this, but still pretty darn good. Very fast player response.
On: 2007-05-19
I purchased this dvd player today from a local BestBuy. My dvd player of the past 7 years recently died and I needed to purchase a new one. I went with Panasonic due to the fact that I have all Panasonic equipment and have always had great success with their products.
The price as BestBuy was $109. I have seen them cheaper but really wanted to watch some movies this weekend. Setup of the dvd player was easy. It does have a HDMI port but does not include a cable. My problem lies in that the player is loud reading a dvd and the images are broken as well as the audio. I tried 5 different dvds and had the same issues with all of them. I thought it might be a loose cable. It was not. I thought perhaps it could be a setting that I had incorrect. It was not. The worst part is that after spending 45 minutes on the phone with Panasonics Support, they claimed it was the dvds I was using and not the player! Mind you, Im using only commercial dvds. Nothing burned. At this point, Im beyond disapointed and I plan on returning the player.
On: 2007-05-18
I purchased this dvd player today from a local BestBuy. My dvd player of the past 7 years recently died and I needed to purchase a new one. I went with Panasonic due to the fact that I have all Panasonic equipment and have always had great success with their products.
The price as BestBuy was $109. I have seen them cheaper but really wanted to watch some movies this weekend. Setup of the dvd player was easy. It does have a HDMI port but does not include a cable. My problem lies in that the player is loud reading a dvd and the images are broken as well as the audio. I tried 5 different dvds and had the same issues with all of them. I thought it might be a loose cable. It was not. I thought perhaps it could be a setting that I had incorrect. It was not. The worst part is that after spending 45 minutes on the phone with Panasonics Support, they claimed it was the dvds I was using and not the player! Mind you, Im using only commercial dvds. Nothing burned. At this point, Im beyond disapointed and I plan on returning the player.
On: 2007-05-18
Hasnt anybody bought this DVD player? I wish to purchase one but I was set off course by its Tech Data section, which classified it as having a Media Format : SECAM, PAL. No NTSC???
Other sellers list it as NTSC but my faith and bias lie with Amazon.
Could any of the 12 people who returned them help out?
(NB: I rated it 4 just so that I could add this question without ruining the products rating -- or putting it too high.)
On: 2007-05-17
Hasnt anybody bought this DVD player? I wish to purchase one but I was set off course by its Tech Data section, which classified it as having a Media Format : SECAM, PAL. No NTSC???
Other sellers list it as NTSC but my faith and bias lie with Amazon.
Could any of the 12 people who returned them help out?
(NB: I rated it 4 just so that I could add this question without ruining the products rating -- or putting it too high.)
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