Upconvert DVD Players?

[JoeyGee]

We just bought a new HD TV. I am a little disappointed with the picture from our DVD player. I know it's only putting out 480i, so that's what I should expect.

Are upconvert DVD players worth it? I know I won't get full 1080p (which the new TV is) but will I notice a difference in picture? I know this is a loaded question which I should know the answer to, but is there a BIG difference between the sub $100 units and the higher cost ones?

Also, will Blu-Ray players play non-BR discs? I really don't want to spend that much at this point.

[avaserfi]

Ahh, somewhere I can help . New to woodworking, but not to the world of AV...

Here is the secret to this all if you have a fixed pixel displays (LCD, Plasma, DLP are a few examples) are not capable of actually displaying anything but their native resolution. To determine what the native resolution of your display is look at the resolution is should either be 1920x1080 (1080p) or 1024x720[768] (720p). When you feed a TV such as this any lower resolution it actually upscales the image to fit the display.

So the question becomes why does standard def look bad on your new TV? Simply put SD was never designed to be watched on a screen so large so now that it is blown up you are seeing all the artifacts and issues that were hidden on a smaller, lesser quality display.

So what buy a an upscaling player? Often times screens don't do a good job of upscaling the image and a quality player can help with this. Is it really worth it right now? I wouldn't say so. If you really want to I would recommend looking at any of Oppo's players. They all perform very well on the benchmark tests and are priced very well for the functionality.

Every Blu-ray player I am aware of will play DVDs, but this is a tricky territory as many are crippled and don't work to well especially for the money. As of now I would suggest the PS3 as the best Blu-ray player on the market because of its easy upgradability, Sony's strong commitment to it and its functionality.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Ed62]

I think if you just want to upconvert, you could get a real buy on an HD-DVD player now, since blu-ray is the clear winner. Of course I could be wrong, so don't take my post too serious until someone else verifies my belief. I also believe blu-ray players will play the older DVDs.

(edit It looks like you already have a much better answer than I could give. I'm not too fast typing anymore.

Ed

[LCHIEN]

blu ray players (and HD-DVD players for that matter) play older std. DVD discs, they also upconvert them to higher pixel counts by interpolating which makes them look smoother and less jagged but doesn't quite give them the total high definition look, can't create information where there is none - they just soften and smoothe the picture so it does look better.

So your options are

1. Buy a good upconverting DVD player (upconverts but won't play high def DVDs) in the range of $100 to $150
2, Buy a Blu-ray and upconvert your old DVDs and have a high BR definition player. $400
3. Buy a HD-DVD (Toshiba) on sale now and get a allegedly very good upconverting player at under $100 prices that will play what HD-DVD disks are out there (also available at bargain prices - but won't be many more new ones coming out) but you'll always have the upconverting feature for regular DVDs

If you go with 1, take a look at Oppo (www.oppodigital.com) a little known company that specializes in universal upconverting DVD players and has won the praise of many reviewers and videophiles (I have 2 myself) for high quality audio and video performance. I found that they play virtually all my writable DVD movie backups whereas many players from name brands sometimes skip.

[JoeyGee]

Those Oppos do look pretty good. After dropping way too much on the TV, I think I am going to sit tight for awhile or try to snag a clearance HD DVD player if I get a good deal on one.

Thanks for all the info!

[jaybee]

For about $50, you can find a decent Philips upconverting dvd player. Usually only to 1080i, but that is the best you can get over the air, on cable, or other digital tv source. By getting Philips, you also get the ability to play avi videos - which means that you can download torrents of the tv shows and movies that you missed and play them as if you watched them live.

Note that CBC made the final episode of "The next Prime Minister" available as a bit torrent.

And Fox leaked the pilot of "The Sarah Conner Chronicles ..." as an avi.

[Toolhound]

HD DVD players are superb upconverters (must be connected to HDTV with an HDMI cable as most SD DVDs lock out upconversion over component video cable connection) and of course can play the HD DVD titles that are currently available. I have seen reviews that favorably compared them to the Oppos for their upconversion, as they both use high quality scaling chips.
There are still some around that can be purchased at firesale prices. For example, Circuit City still has the HD-A3 for $100 and the HD-A30 for $130 available online and possibly in stock at some stores. (As a bonus, some of these units were shipped with a couple of HD movies in the box). CC also has an in store 50% off sale on their remaining HD DVDs this week.

A couple of caveats: These players take a minute or two to boot, and they do not play avi, divx files. If you get one, be sure to download and install the latest firmware update for best results.

I think that current pricing on Blu Ray players and software is way too high, and current BR players are profile 1.x which is due to be replaced (by end of this year?) with profile 2. Old players are not upgradeable to Profile 2, other than the PS3. For me and many, I think that SD DVD, especially upconverted, is good enough, and until prices drop signifacantly, I wouldn't consider purchasing BR. This may take a long time, as Sony will probably try to recoup the "incentive considerations" that they made to the studios and retailers to drop HD DVD support.

[poolhound]

I got an upscaling DVD as soon as I got an HD TV. Not quite as good as the HD broadcast but much better than your basic 480i. I just upgraded to a Blue-Ray player as my wife got me a PS3 for my birthday earlier this month. Loads of fun, a media player and internet surfer plus HD DVDs. The $500 price tag is a bit much but is was a birthday gift from LOML so what could I say but - Thank You.

Joe - my upscaling DVD is now not being used so if you are interested let me know, I sent you a PM.

[messmaker]

For about $50, you can find a decent Philips upconverting dvd player. Usually only to 1080i, but that is the best you can get over the air, on cable, or other digital tv source. By getting Philips, you also get the ability to play avi videos - which means that you can download torrents of the tv shows and movies that you missed and play them as if you watched them live.

Note that CBC made the final episode of "The next Prime Minister" available as a bit torrent.

And Fox leaked the pilot of "The Sarah Conner Chronicles ..." as an avi.

I would have to agree. I bought a Phillips upconverting DVD player and it will play anything.

[JoeyGee]

I ended up with the Toshiba HD-A3 on clearance at Circuit City for $100. It came with the Bourne Identity and the Bourne Supremecy HD DVD's for free--movies I REALLY wanted, anyway. All my local CC's were out of them, but the South Bend, IN had some, and I was in West MI for work today, so it worked out well.

Now I need to comb all my local CC's for HD DVD's at 50% off. It will upconvert, so I can watch all my old ones, but why not stock up on HD movies at half off...

[LCHIEN]

good deal... the movies lets say are worth at least $20 each so you got a player for $60.
I stopped by Best Buy today they still had their remaining Toshiba HD-DVD player listed at $399 - I'm sure that's going to sell quickly

[Toolhound]

The Discovery Channel Store has a terrific deal on Planet Earth and Sunrise Earth HD-DVD boxed sets if you're interested
Link: http://shopping.discovery.com/catego...-mp1-HDDVDSale