Panasonic DVD-S54K 1080p Upconverting DVD Player

This dvd player is a great find for the money. I will be honest and say that I am legally blind, so I cannot comment on the picture quality it provides. However, others have remarked on how beautiful the images are. So, I assume it's upconversion is of high quality. It also plays all of my dvds without any problem. One crucial note on this, however. It seems to want to play dvds upside down. I have noticed when putting in dvds with the painted or decorated side up, it comes up with an error message and it will not play. Then I flip the dvd upside down and it plays with no difficulty. Even stranger, it does not doe this with all my discs. It appears to play movies either right-side up or upside down, depending on the dvd. Specifically, it does this with my remastered box set of Star Trek:TOS dvds. I'm not sure why the player does this; it makes no sense. If anyone knows why, add a comment explaining it. However, I have had no problems playing my store bought dvd collection. The initial setup of the player is simple too, as it asks a few questions about your system and then all is done and the player is ready to go. In short, I love this dvd player. For the low price tag it is more that worth it. Read more

I own a Panasonic DMR-EZ485VK DVD recorder for recording about 5-8 shows per week off TV and then "power watching" them on weekends. I've learned that recording on DVD-RAM is MUCH nicer than other DVD formats due to easy editing (see my review under the recorder). The only CON is that they cannot be played on most (all?) other brands of DVD players. Hence, you need to buy Panasonic DVD players to watch your recorded DVDs at other locations. If you ever think you will make your own DVD-RAM DVDs, buy this (or similar?) unit in anticipation. Read more

This player is quick to load and respond to input. It seems to be of rugged Panasonic genealogy (I hope... I have a five disk changer that has been solid for years, but this player is new to my house). The audio seems to be very good and the many options for picture and audio control are available on the remote, which is very great as it saves having to stop the disk to go into the setup menu. The remote is as expected in terms of being low end and with out any see in the dark aids, but for me that is not an issue as I have been using a logitech universal remote for some time now, I am just glad the features are available for remote control. Big props for that. But where this package falls short is with the picture. If it is indeed upscaling the picture... it is not doing a very great job of it, in fact the picture looks decidedly 480p. The other bummer for me is that the HDMI does not work through my HDMI switcher, so it is manual cable swapping, and that is decidedly ghetto. I am stuck, as I have to have the HDMI switcher and have to use HDMI for my monitor, so this unit is a bit of a fail, it works fine, but forces a ghetto situation on my system and provides a non inspiring picture. Too bad my Samsung stopped working with the HDMI output... Have I mentioned that I think HDMI sucks? Read more

For those of us who want a simple, high quality, moderatly priced DVD player with lots of features, this is a great model. For a few dollars more than some no name brand, I got to stick with a Panasonic. The only thing that would have made it better, and for which I would have gladly paid a few bucks more for it, is if it was made or at least assembled in the good ole USA. Read more

This relatively inexpensive component to my video system has been in place for several months and it performs exceptionally well. Easy to setup, easy to operate. An excellent value. Read more

I just bought one to replace an older, but much better, Panasonic DVD-S97. This S54 player requires a lot of settings to up-convert to a new LCD 1080p TV using HDMI cable. Unfortunately, with all the correct settings, it will not up-convert -- the picture looks like 480p, not 1080p. Using the same TV, cable, DVD disc, my old Panasonic S97 player displays a gorgeous up-converted picture, compared to the S54. Panasonic doesn't seem to care either. Their profits will come from selling Blu-Ray, guess they don't much care about the quality of this 'transitional' DVD player. Don't buy the S54 if you expect up-conversion to a 1080p LCD TV. I also have an older Toshiba DVD recorder/player connected to the same TV, it up-converts perfectly. Read more

I am very pleased with this DVD player. I compared it to a sony and thought the panasonic was a little better. It plays any DVD no matter how old and the picture on the hdtv is excellent. Read more

This DVD player is worth more than its cost. The price is great for a full featured, multiple format player. For those of us waiting for Blueray players to become reasonably priced, this product fits the bill. Read more