HD DVD players with 1080p upscaling??

[Mazrus]

Just wondering if any of the above have been realeased and if so, what are the available options?? Just want a nice HD DVD player that can also upscale my old DVDs to 1080p... any suggestions welcome. Apologies if I've missed a previous post about this, please provide a link if I have.

Many thanks.

[Mazrus]

Aha, just stumbled across the Toshiba HD-XE1, looks good... wonder if there are any alternatives.

What would the difference in HD DVD quality be between an Xbox 360 HD DVD unit and a proper HD DVD player with HDMI output?? I don't expect it'd be £500+ worth of difference?!

Also, can the xbox 360 HD DVD unit upscale to 1080p??

Many thanks.

[Avi]

Originally Posted by Mazrus

Just wondering if any of the above have been realeased and if so, what are the available options?? Just want a nice HD DVD player that can also upscale my old DVDs to 1080p... any suggestions welcome. Apologies if I've missed a previous post about this, please provide a link if I have.

Many thanks.

The Tosh XE1/XA2 will output 1080p. However IMHO upscaling 720x576 DVD doesn't alway produce a quality result. You can't add what doesn't exist in the first place and thats why DVD often looks better on low def displays.

AVI

[Rasczak]

Originally Posted by Mazrus

What would the difference in HD DVD quality be between an Xbox 360 HD DVD unit and a proper HD DVD player with HDMI output?? I don't expect it'd be £500+ worth of difference?!

Predominantly on the audio side - the Toshiba XE1 offers 5.1 outputs enabling you to enjoy Dolby TrueHD and DD+.

[Mazrus]

Originally Posted by Avi

The Tosh XE1/XA2 will output 1080p. However IMHO upscaling 720x576 DVD doesn't alway produce a quality result. You can't add what doesn't exist in the first place and thats why DVD often looks better on low def displays.

AVI

Thats what I always thought, however upscaling seems to be raved about on here, with everyone buying upscaling DVD players instead of investing in HD DVD players. However, I'm wondering whether normal DVD playback will look poor on my new TV...

I saw a normal DVD (Toy Story) playing on a 50" HD Samsung screen in Currys a few weeks back, and it looked awful, very pixellated indeed.

I've now bought a 46" 1080p Sony Bravia TV (awaiting delivery) and am wondering whether all my DVDs are going to look pixellated unless I get an upscaling DVD player. At the same time I want to start buying HD DVDs instead of continuing to purchase the soon-to-be-outdated normal DVDs.

Obviously the Toshiba would be the best idea, providing 1080p upscaling and HD DVD playback, however the likelihood of the same player being under £200 in the near future is very high, so I'm wondering whether it'd be better to go for the significantly cheaper xbox HD DVD add-on instead, though really I guess I'd need upscaling, which I'm not sure that it provides???

Anyone have any advice on my above concerns?

Many thanks.

[Avi]

Originally Posted by Mazrus

Thats what I always thought, however upscaling seems to be raved about on here, with everyone buying upscaling DVD players instead of investing in HD DVD players. However, I'm wondering whether normal DVD playback will look poor on my new TV...

I saw a normal DVD (Toy Story) playing on a 50" HD Samsung screen in Currys a few weeks back, and it looked awful, very pixellated indeed.

I've now bought a 46" 1080p Sony Bravia TV (awaiting delivery) and am wondering whether all my DVDs are going to look pixellated unless I get an upscaling DVD player. At the same time I want to start buying HD DVDs instead of continuing to purchase the soon-to-be-outdated normal DVDs.

Obviously the Toshiba would be the best idea, providing 1080p upscaling and HD DVD playback, however the likelihood of the same player being under £200 in the near future is very high, so I'm wondering whether it'd be better to go for the significantly cheaper xbox HD DVD add-on instead, though really I guess I'd need upscaling, which I'm not sure that it provides???

Anyone have any advice on my above concerns?

Many thanks.

If you have a native 1920x1080 display it will upscale DVD to its native res in order to fill the screen. Othewise you would only end up with small 720x576 in the middle of your display. The real question is how good is the video processing in the display and at what price point the video processor in an upscaling DVD player can yield better results.

The problem with the demo you mention is twofold. 1) Currys 2) Samsung.

AVI

[Mazrus]

Originally Posted by Avi

If you have a native 1920x1080 display it will upscale DVD to its native res in order to fill the screen. Othewise you would only end up with small 720x576 in the middle of your display. The real question is how good is the video processing in the display and at what price point the video processor in an upscaling DVD player can yield better results.

The problem with the demo you mention is twofold. 1) Currys 2) Samsung.

AVI

I see, so using my 360 as a DVD player (this is the only DVD player I use, other than my old xbox), with an old DVD, the image would still be upscaled to 1080p (the screen is a 1080p bravia), even though the xbox doesn't upscale?? Tis all very confusing!!

I'd hope that the TV I've bought has all the goodies in to create a decent image though... getting very impatient waiting for the delivery to be arranged!!

[Avi]

Originally Posted by Mazrus

I see, so using my 360 as a DVD player (this is the only DVD player I use, other than my old xbox), with an old DVD, the image would still be upscaled to 1080p (the screen is a 1080p bravia), even though the xbox doesn't upscale?? Tis all very confusing!!

I'd hope that the TV I've bought has all the goodies in to create a decent image though... getting very impatient waiting for the delivery to be arranged!!

Yes your display will take the DVD output and upscale it to its native res. I'm not sure how good or bad the 360 is as a DVD player. I've found that HD displays often produce an inferior image to their SD counter parts when fed SD source material. However with a good HD source it's a very different story.

AVI

[Mazrus]

Originally Posted by Avi

Yes your display will take the DVD output and upscale it to its native res. I'm not sure how good or bad the 360 is as a DVD player. I've found that HD displays often produce an inferior image to their SD counter parts when fed SD source material. However with a good HD source it's a very different story.

AVI

Cheers, thanks for the help... TV is finally being delivered on Tuesday now... can't wait!

[Mazrus]

One last question... if HD TVs upscale the image to fit the screen, why are people buying upscaling DVD players??
Thanks!

[Dave2]

Originally Posted by Mazrus

One last question... if HD TVs upscale the image to fit the screen, why are people buying upscaling DVD players??
Thanks!

Because scart only has a small resolution output(320x240) while dvd has 720x567/480 worth of resolution so upscaling will still give you better picture..

I think thats what it is, I could be wrong.

[Avi]

Originally Posted by Mazrus

One last question... if HD TVs upscale the image to fit the screen, why are people buying upscaling DVD players??
Thanks!

A great question. Some upscaling DVD players offer better quality de-interlacing and scaling than the displays internal VP. The early upscaling DVD players from the likes of Denon, Pioneer etc provided a 720 progressive (or 1080i) output that yielded better results with the early HD ready displays due less internal processing of the incoming signal. They also offered digital signal ouput via DVI/HDMI in addition to upscaled images via component. Magazines and forums raved about this and the everybody jumped on the bandwagon. As per my earlier post the question is at what price point does an updaling DVD player yield better PQ than the displays interal VP. The answer is this depends on the display.

AVI

[Avi]

Originally Posted by Dave2

Because scart only has a small resolution output(320x240) while dvd has 720x567/480 worth of resolution so upscaling will still give you better picture..

I think thats what it is, I could be wrong.

You didn't pick this up from Currys or Comet did you ?

AVI

[Mazrus]

Originally Posted by Avi

A great question. Some upscaling DVD players offer better quality de-interlacing and scaling than the displays internal VP. The early upscaling DVD players from the likes of Denon, Pioneer etc provided a 720 progressive (or 1080i) output that yielded better results with the early HD ready displays due less internal processing of the incoming signal. They also offered digital signal ouput via DVI/HDMI in addition to upscaled images via component. Magazines and forums raved about this and the everybody jumped on the bandwagon. As per my earlier post the question is at what price point does an updaling DVD player yield better PQ than the displays interal VP. The answer is this depends on the display.

AVI

Ah right, thanks Avi! My tv arrives tomorrow afternoon, its a new Sony Bravia, so I'd hope that the internal processor was a good one...

Everything thats going to the tv will come from my xbox 360, as I don't actually have a DVD player anymore, so I'll be playing games and watching DVDs all through that. Will see how it all looks tomorrow...

[robo989]

Originally Posted by Dave2

Because scart only has a small resolution output(320x240) while dvd has 720x567/480 worth of resolution so upscaling will still give you better picture..

I think thats what it is, I could be wrong.

320x240? Who told you that?