Page 1 of Pioneer 454 and multiregion probs

Anyone having problems with their 454 and multiregion? Playing region 1 disk, occasionally some of the lines or areas of the screen will flicker (either fade or become darker). Can`t figure any rhyme or reason to why. Just some scenes and then others are fine. Someone suggested that it could be my TV`s not being able to handle NTSC very well??? Playing region 1 disks is no problem - great picture there. Using a Philips 28`` widescreen, about 3 years old, with a scart plugged into the ext. 1 slot for RGB. Both EXT 1 and 2 are supposed to be NTSC compatible. I don`t have this problem when using American Video tapes on my video machine. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance. Jim

I too have a multiregion 454.
I don`t have any playback problems on region 1,2 or 3 discs but I am using the S-VHS option into my scart socket 2 ( AV2 )
I have heard of one person returning a 454 because of flickering when using RGB though. I returned my first 454 to Amazon because I found out it had already been sold and returned to them by someone else for that very problem.
Try changing the player to send an S-VHS signal instead, still using your scart. Any deterioration of picture quality is negligible.That might solve your problem.
Alternatively, return the machine to the supplier for having picture flicker on RGB just like the guy did with my first machine.

OK, did that. Seems to work. But now I have to change the scarts on the back of my TV (big hassle) when I want to switch between RGB`s better picture for UK videos, and S-VHS for American videos - not that I have many of these - yet. Just seems a pain!
Is this a common problem, RGB flickering with Region 1 disks? Or is this a Pioneer problem? I took back a Pioneer 454 last year, with this problem - and others. Should I expect this, or should I return the machine in favour of a Tosh 220E? Thanks for any advice. :)

Is the difference in picture between RGB and SVHS so marked that you feel you have to change between the 2 all the time ?
I tried switching my 454 between RGB and SVHS on my TV and the difference in picture was hardly noticeable. I`m lucky that I have a new JVC TV with all the bells and whistles though, including some auto NTSC thingy...
SVHS also has the added advantage of being able to adjust colour and contrast, which you can`t do with RGB.
You could try a 220 I suppose, but I`ve read Toshiba have some kind of fickleness ( is that a word ? ) when being made multiregion.
It`s certainly no better a player than the 454 as such. In fact the 220 seemingly suffers from the same noisy drive as the `old` 210.
I don`t suppose you have access to a newer TV to eliminate that as the probem do you ?

OK, Thanks. But, what do you mean by `noisy drive` on the Tosh? Is it noisy when the tray opens to insert a DVD, or is it noisy while DVD plays? Also, just wondering why you wouldn`t hook yours up to the RGB outlet if the image is even slightly better? I think I can change those video colour, contrast etc. settings on my screen in RGB too via the TV menu. Are you saying you can`t, or am I missing the point? Just curious.

I checked the SVHS, and the flickering is substantially less, but every once and a while there`s a bit of a waviness to the texture of the image - noticed it on a sky shot and one other place in a short test (about 3 / 4 mins of footage). To be fair, this seems to happen less than the flickering. However, I`m still perplexed as to why there shouldn`t be such good quality here on RGB with R1 disks as there is with the RGB on R2 disks . . .

I`ll see about trying it on another TV. Thanks . . .

This item was edited on Tuesday, 21st January 2003, 15:29

The noisy drive is all the time the disk is playing.A really quite audible high pitched whirring, kinda like the noise the 454 makes when it`s searching a disk, but all the time.
I actually though it was normal on my 210, as it was my first player. It wasn`t until I heard the total silence of other machines that I thought "oh"...
Seemingly the 220 is no better.
I`m pretty sure you shouldn`t be able to change the colour or contrast when using RGB. The whole idea of RGB is that it sends a `perfect` picture and kinda locks it at the same time. I can only adjust the brightness to a small degree on RGB.
I use SVHS simply because I have SKY into my RGB socket, coz I watch SKY more than DVD.
I think most people with SKY and DVD do it this way.A case of priorities, at least until I can afford a TV with 2 RGB sockets !

Oh, right. Thanks. I`m on NTL, and have the same problem with only 1 RGB socket. One of my friends bought some sort of scart switcher thingy. I`ll have to ask him if this is what it`s for - getting 2 plugged into the RGB socket. . .

OK, here`s the deal. I borrowed a friend`s Toshiba 220E last night, and tried it out on my set up: not a hitch. Playback was perfect with R1 disks. So, thumbs down Pioneer - and I`m taking it back! Thanks for all your help! :) Still don`t know why it should have happened on the Pioneer to begin with, though. It happened on a 454 I previously had too. And changing the output of the machine between AUTO, NTSC, and PAL didn`t help either. :(

Hi
I have the 656 no flickering no noise

so this is the one to get if you go for a new dvd

Alona

This item was edited on Thursday, 23rd January 2003, 00:00

Hi
I have the 656 no flickering, no noise

so this is the one to get if you go for a new dvd

Alona