Scan is certainly a company who know how to make waves. One of the first companies to sell DVD players under the £200 mark, Scan were promoting DVD at a time when they still had to explain what the benefits were. The original SC-2000 player introduced many hundreds of thousands of DVD neophytes into the wonderful world of digital home entertainment. Not only was the SC-2000 cheap, but it offered a breath-taking plethora of options, including easy region and macrovision hacks, MP3, VCD and SVCD functionality, and a range of trick play features. On the downside however, early machines also introduced users to amongst other things, flakey firmware, image pixellation and chipset overheating. With such a high turnover of machines, Scan also experienced customer services difficulties when players developed faults. However, the SC-2000 has now been through many iterations of firmware, and it appears that all of the serious issues that affected the player have been solved. Whatever your opinion of Scan's customer service, it is difficult to criticise their release of new firmware in response to the user complaints.

Although it shares a similar name, the Scan SC-2500 comes from a different manufacturer to its predecessor. As soon as you open the pleasant fold-over carryhandle box, it becomes clear that the SC-2500 has been custom built for Scan. Further investigation of the power unit reveals the manufacturer to be Korean-based Amoisonic, which also provide players to some familiar brand names. Indeed, the Amoisonic DVD 8506 looks remarkably familiar. It is obvious that Scan have committed themselves to the machine, as is it branded to the extent that the top case has the logo stamped into with nice quality rounded machining, in addition to the usual case badge and firmware tweaks.

Features and build quality

In operation, the SC-2500 puts in a stunning performance for a player in its price range. The function of the player is without doubt the fastest I have yet seen for a DVD player, with disc menus and other functions appearing almost instantaneously. I cannot see how performance is going to get very much better than this without some sort of predictive read-ahead and caching facility on players. (Such facilities would certainly come at a premium due to their reliance on expensive memory capacity.) The SC-2500 certainly puts a great deal of other far more expensive players to shame when it comes to speed and I was mightily impressed. What is additionally surprising - bearing in mind the speed of the machine - is that the SC-2500 is also the quietest budget player I have tested. Observed up close, and during menu access, some disc thrashing can be heard by a user sitting near the machine. However in normal use, and at a typical distance away (or inside an AV cabinet), no noise is audible. This is something you would normally have to spend a great deal more to achieve.

Those users with specific requirements in the PAL/NTSC department will rejoice in the SC-2500. There is an option in the setup menu which allows output of either format, or an automatic selection. Making this a menu option also prevents any fumbling for a rear panel switch as with some other machines. Unfortunately these players seem to ship with NTSC output set as standard, which for UK consumers with limited knowledge might result in an unfortunately jerky picture as the PAL information is converted into NTSC before output to the screen. The Scan does not handle this particular conversion well, and the result is difficult to watch. NTSC to PAL conversion is, at least, slightly better. However for the best results it is always preferable that the picture is output in its native format as long as the display device can handle each.

The remote control is a disappointing grey generic affair. At least the cursor and select keys are reasonably sensibly placed, but the rest of the functions invariably require a good long visual scan of the keypad. The same as with the LG-4950 previously reviewed, the remote attempts to combine the 'search' and 'skip' functions into a single pair of buttons. While this helps to reduce the number of buttons, the operation is hopeless and leads to repeated accidental chapter skips in place of a simple picture search. The remote is certainly a candidate for rapid replacement with a multi-function model. The only problem with this would be the remote-only access to some of the more special features of the player, which I will discuss later.

There were two particularly frustrating things which happened with the SC-2500, both of which I am sure could be fixed in future firmware upgrades. Sometimes - and this seemed to be only occasionally - with non-Region 2 discs, the title ran with subtitles on at first. This must be some problem to do with interpreting the DVD specification, as I have seen it happen on many budget players. This was only a slight annoyance, as the subtitle button on the remote serves to turn this off in short order. The other issue which I found mind-numbingly aggravating was that when the player is in standby and the 'eject' button is pressed, it powers on and PLAYS the disc !! The logic in that escapes me...

Users who like to burn their own software, or who want to use the MP3 facilities, will be pleased to hear that the SC-2500 plays CD-R and CD-RW media of all standards without any complaints. I also had no problems playing a Philips DVD+RW disc from a DVDR-1000 which had not been finalised - a task which defeats many other players. Further features include the usual bevy of once-used-then-normally-forgotten trick play offerings such as three-level zoom, A-B repeat, slow, step and reverse. Slightly less familiar is an independent output volume control, and power-off timer.

Exterior and connectivity

When unpacking this player, users will note the inescapable fact of all budget players - the SC-2500 is a light machine. Largely, the greater weight of more expensive machines translates into more beefy power generation, and also a heavier built and more rigid chassis. Despite its initial lightness though, the SC-2500 seems solidly built and the stamped Scan logo on the top casing is pleasantly understated, as well as giving the machine the feel that some effort has gone into the re-badging. Exterior beauty is always an entirely subjective matter, and to my eye the SC-2500 looks pleasing enough, without being particularly attractive or repulsive.

Around the back, the sockets are neatly tucked together. Twin SCARTs offer a little more flexibility than some competing budget players, especially when you note that the SCART socket can output an RGB signal which is very welcome. Video outputs also include the secondary options of S-Video and composite. The SC-2500 also offers both electrical and optical outputs for digital audio data, an analogue stereo output and also a 5.1 discrete channel output from the on-board decoder. With the price of home cinema amplifiers coming down all the time, this option may not come into a great deal of use. It does, however, offer an extremely cheap introduction to 5.1 surround sound if the SC-2500 is partnered with a non-decoder 5.1 speaker system such as the Creative Inspire 5300 or the Videologic ZXR-500.

Looking under the skin of the SC-2500, we see exactly what we would expect of such a budget player, with a couple of surprises. As usual, there is a lot of space left over inside the case. It is pleasing to see the power management circuits placed as far away as physically possible from the picture generation hardware. The integrated chip doing all the processing work is the Zoran ZR36732 (Vaddis IV-LC), with Dolby Pro-Logic, Dolby Digital, DTS and even HDCD decoding included. Additional information can be found at the Zoran website. This chip is utilised in a number of other budget and also some brand-name players (such as the Toshiba SD-1300). The loader mechanism comes as something of a surprise because, unlike most budget systems, it is not simply an off-the-shelf PC item. The connectors are dedicated, rather than computer-standard IDE and Molex. This may well go some of the way to explaining the increased performance experienced. The most annoying aspect of the drive is the tray mechanism. When you press 'eject' it is the tray, rather than the whole unit which slides out. A small door drops down to allow the bare tray to emerge. This in itself is not too bad, although it is a pretty ugly arrangement. The problem is that the tray does not project completely from the fascia, meaning you have to angle a disc in slightly sideways to locate it in the correct position. This was awkward and slightly concerning, because discs might easily become scratched.

Multi-region compatibility

You certainly can't fault the Scan when it comes to offering tweaking facilities. The first thing you come across when unpacking the SC-2500 is a clear sheet of A4 with the multiregion hack described. This hack is very simple to apply, and the sheet also refers to the method of setting the player to a specific region in case any RCE discs refuse to accept the player as multiregion.

In use, the player was as simple as the hack instructions. I threw discs from regions 0,1,2 and 4 at it without a hitch, and you can be confident that region-coding will not be an issue for the foreseeable future with the SC-2500. In actual fact, RCE discs played perfectly, without having to manually select the regions - another bonus.

Video

As described in the introduction, the Scan has a number of options to set up for optimum picture output, and the standard settings of these might not suit everyone. Anyone hoping for an out-of-the-box experience might be a little disappointed, as you will only get the best of the SC-2500 with a little thought and setup. As shipped, the player is in both NTSC-only mode, and also non-RGB. This is unlikely to suit the majority of users in the UK market, and as noted the NTSC-only output results in an extremely poor down conversion of Region 2 native PAL material. A less knowledgeable user might simply believe the player to be poor, without ever appreciating the problem. Installation should, therefore, be a careful consideration of the connections available, and also involve a careful rummage around the various options in the setup menu.

Of the picture outputs available, after comparing the S-Video, composite and RGB outputs it was clear that RGB was the format of choice. Don't get me wrong, S-Video and composite offered reasonably clear pictures, with nice tight colour control. The RGB, however, offered a sharper contrast, more detailed images and a richer more life-like colour balance. Focus on the RGB images were also sharper and had more defined edges.

Because of the poor internal conversion, the Scan should almost certainly be used with a multi-standards television set. Most sets these days handle both PAL and NTSC, and this means switching the menu option to 'Auto' which then results in native format output across the board.

In long term use, the video performance of the SC-2500 was excellent. Contrasts were well handled, with a nice deep black level. Shadow detail was, however, still retained. Digital artefacts were extremely rare, and usually only appeared on discs which are typically considered as particularly challenging due to poor encoding or very low bitrates. In a similar vein, the SC-2500 did prove to be slightly sensitive to damaged or dirty discs, but this was often simply a case of giving the offending item a clean.

VCD performance of the SC-2500 was also surprisingly good, because the lower quality format often causes nasty tizzing, smearing or blocking on cheaper players. Even with moderate quality discs and a widescreen zoomed image, the picture was eminently watchable, although it did exhibit some horizontal scan lines these were unobtrusive (and a typical drawback of the limited horizontal resolution of the format).

One of the particularly interesting features of the Scan are the built-in options to tweak the image to your own personal taste - the kind of function often only found on top-end players. With a dedicated 'enhance' button on the remote-control, users can select for the level of picture processing to be 'soften', 'sharpen' or 'off'. On discs of modern films with quality encoding, I often preferred the 'sharpen' option which further clarified most edges and detail, although this is probably a personal preference. Purists may choose to leave well alone, but that is not to say that it is not good to have the option available. A second option on the 'enhance' menu allows a boosting of the brightness, but the effect is unsubtle and rarely likely to add anything positive to the overall presentation.

Audio

The audio performance of the SC-2500 is a little less remarkable than the video. Digital performance on 5.1 presentations is good, if not remarkable. I did not have the opportunity to test the internal decoder, but there is no reason to expect that it is not competitive with the other machines in its category. On DVD movies, the SC-2500's audio rarely attracts attention to itself, for good reason or bad. Vocals are centred well on the front channel, with only minimal bleed across the front sound stage. There is a reasonable amount of depth and slam when required by appropriate discs, and the player renders effects well. Background music can sometimes be a little bland. This does overall sound rather like criticism, but I am expecting similar excellence as shown in the visual department, and it is only this standard that the SC-2500 does not reach.

CD performance, on the other hand, is rather lacking. The SC-2500 is unlikely to outperform even a similarly priced CD-only player, as the musical quality is rather muddied and flat. Instruments tend to run together, and there is little effort at creating a stereo soundstage. When moved to the digitally transported DTS CDs, the performances see some increase, indicating that it is the audio digital to analogue conversion which is to blame, rather than the transport mechanism. Sting's Brand New Day DTS CD had pace and depth, and was nicely presented overall. As shown with 5.1 DVDs, surround steering was again well handled.

I rarely enjoy rating MP3 performance on these budget machines. As far as I am concerned the limitations of the format often overweigh the performance of individual players. For any kind of high fidelity sounds, self-burned MP3's are usually best kept for quiet background music, or for long play parties. If you have a DVD player and wish to play a 'legal' MP3 (ie. one for which you already own the source), then what is the point of compromising sound quality when you can play the original itself? Those transferring tape or vinyl can consider my viewpoint invalid! On the operational side, the SC-2500 is extremely poor because there is not currently any MP3 navigation provision in the firmware. While this might change in future releases, currently MP3s can only be used by skipping through each track. This again counters the original benefit of having many tracks on one CD. Once MP3s are playing, the sound quality is reasonable, although again suffers from a bit of audio flatness on top of the compressed sound of the format itself.

Overall

I have to admit, I approached the SC-2500 with a generous dose of scepticism. The genesis of the SC-2000 was a painful one, and in the interim the budget market has become even stronger and more cut-throat. However, the performance of the SC-2500 was highly competitive. While the picture can still labour over truly difficult scenes, or with badly encoded or damaged discs, this is not a fault of the player but merely a reflection of it's price point. There are no artefacts or defects in the picture which would be considered intrusive or affect the enjoyment of a film. What the Scan does not do is offer any expensive trickery to make bad images look good. On the other hand, the SC-2500 does offer a stunning performance with moderate or good source material. Certainly the performance of the player overall was one befitting a player at a much higher price point.

The package as received was a moderate one, and there were a number of niggling issues to begin with. In the first eight weeks, I had received four different firmware upgrades, and also new drivers for the loader mechanism. The problems which occurred included picture stuttering, layer change pauses, sound dropouts, remote input 'memory', and a failure of the front panel controls. These were all, eventually, fixed by the firmware updates. Given this evolution of the firmware, the SC-2500 only performs to it's full potential when carrying the most up-to-date operating system and loader software. For this reason, anyone investing in the player should ensure that they stipulate that Scan deliver either a player which has already been updated, or that they package the update CD's with the unit. Failing this, users must be happy that they have an Internet connection on which they can download the necessary software, and access to a CD burner to transfer it to the player. You can download the player firmware version here and the loader (drive) firmware version here. A guide on burning and installing these files can be found here. Anyone who has already bought a player can check their firmware versions by switching the machine on without a disc in and pressing the 'play' button on the remote control about ten times. The loader mechanism should be version 013 or above, and the system should be 136 or above.

In conclusion, the vast majority of customers buying an SC-2500 will be extremely happy with what they get. Bearing in mind the price (DVD Reviewer readers can order at the reduced price of £99+VAT if they ring and mention the site) the performance of the Scan player is little short of amazing. Offering a excellent quality RGB picture output, twin SCART and dual 5.1 decoder in a lightning-fast and near-silent package for under £130 delivered is a stunning achievement, and one which will again thrust the budget market forward. The only slight reluctance in a wholehearted recommendation would be the well-known and publicised concerns about customer service if things should go wrong. It is an unfortunate fact of life that a small proportion of high-tech equipment will always display faults, and Scan have in the past suffered criticism over a customer service department which is difficult to communicate with and often under-staffed. Scan have also done their own PR no favours in rushing the SC-2500 to the market with the initial problems which were exhibited. Although the issues have now been resolved (and much more quickly than with the SC-2000), the experience has unnecessarily tainted a number of customers with bad experiences that would probably have been avoided if more extensive testing had been undertaken before sales began. Notwithstanding the points mentioned above, once you have a functioning SC-2500 with the appropriate updates, you are likely to be very impressed with the performance, and particularly pleased with the price.

Dan Bates