Upscaling DVD buying advice

[Ninj]

Hi all,

I want to upgrade my Denon DHT500 all in one with a DVD player which is an upscaler (native res of the TV is 1366x760) and has a DVI/HDMI output.
Im on a budget so not wanting to spend a fortune, cheaper the better within reason and bearing in mind it needs to be as good as if not better than the Denon.

With it being an all in one, that shouldnt be too tall an order.
Im also replacing the amp.
Suggestions greatly appreciated.

Rgds

Rich

[Ultra2man]

If you are thinking of buying a budget player the chances are that the TV will do a better job of upscaling than the DVD player.
Why not go with another Denon player such as the DVD-1730.
This has a scaler and you can see which does the best job of scaling, the player or the TV.

[evans]

I just got the denon for 115 and its okay. Looks like good build quality. It makes a noise though while running and if you have the volume low you can hear it. Up to now i have thrown a lot of different disks plays all no problems. Sound is good for cd play. The menus and manual are terrible, Denon if you are listening you should be shot!! Put the remote in as well its crap.

I havent got hdmi connection to tell the upscaling just through component. Well for the price the picture is very good and sharp however what lets it down is the deinterlacing on progressive scan. its just not quite up to the ddci of faroudja chips. But you have to pay twice as much to get it!!

Your other choices are samsung hd 850, pioneer 696, sony ns 76 or ns 92, or pay a bit more and get the oppo 971 which is more than 100.

hope this helps.

[Ninj]

Thanks guys,

Heard a bit about the Denon in the past and like the look of it. I agree about Denons menus though - very 48k Spectrum!

Ill check out the other suggestions seems theyre very reasonable just now:
Samsung hd 850 - £85
Pioneer 696 - £121
Sony NS 76/92 - £81/£129
Oppo 971 - £130ish I think

According to a reply on my amp thread, I dont think I can afford to replace the amp and speakers with better than the DHT. The suggestion was nothing less than £400 for an amp and budget no less than £500 for a speaker set so including the DVD and interconnects, that is a lot of money

I hadnt realised the DHT was held in such high regard - I always turned my nose up at all in ones, but it looks like Im going to have to spend some serious wedge to out perform it!

Thanks again

Richie

[Ninj]

Had a look at a few reviews and the Pioneer looks good for me and seems to offer decent upscaling.

Out of interest (and cant find any mention of it) but do any of these models offer upscaling at 1366x768?

Im thinking, as an interim step, about using the Denon DHT500 as my amp and substitute the DVD side of the unit with an upscaler. This will help in more than one way as Ill now be able to use HDMI and free up a component.

Because I wont be shelling out for an amp and speakers, I might be able to stretch to a better DVD player. Im going to avoid the Denons as Ive seen a couple of LipSync problems with (mostly series 1-3 of 24) with my DHT and TV. I think its just a compatibility thing as in isolation, fed by a different player or to a different TV theyre fine.

Thanks

Rich

[Ninj]

Narrowed my choice down to the Pioneer 696 or Sony NS76H.

Does anyone know if the Pioneer has audio delay to cater for lipsync - I dont want to have that problem again.

[Ninj]

Ordered Pioneer 696 Multiregion £117 PRCDirect

Thanks for the advice, Ill see how it goes

Rgds

Richie

[evans]

okay good luck with it let us know the pic and audio quality is like, similar price to the denon. Except you get the dvd a and sacd as well. I originally ordered this one but changed my mind and went for the denon instead.