I compared the video performance of Pioneer's DV-AX10 to the company's DV-09 ($2200), which, by a small margin, remains my reference standard in DVD players.

With judicious use of the DV-AX10's video controls, it is possible to exactly duplicate the picture quality of the DV-09. With the latter so configured, I found no reason to rate one player above the other. But the DV-AX10 does provide enhanced control flexibility. In particular, its High sharpness control, which boosts only the highest video frequencies, can add an amazing degree of crispness and subjective definition to the best DVDs, without producing artificial edges or other unnatural effects. The effect isn't truly filmlike, but that's not necessarily a negative—film itself often looks a little soft, even in the best theaters. In any event, with careful adjustment of the DV-AX10's controls, I was able to subtly enhance the image to a degree I found worthwhile.

But I can't say that images on the DV-AX10 looked, subjectively, inherently better than on the DV-09—only that I found the new player's adjustments to be genuinely useful. Is that worth the extra money? It is if the DV-AX10's other features—progressive scan, and SACD and DVD-Audio playback—are important to you. The DV-09 has none of these, nor does any other DVD player we know of.—TJN