[Ricky22buk]

Hi everyone !

I'm new on here guys but am hoping to pick up alot of idea's from you all.

Firstly, I am only a beginner in the home cinema front, but as I intend to do this only once and make it last me for a while I intend to go for high end items from Denon. I'm particulary interested in High Defination when it comes out and I have just ordered a new 50" Pioneer to cope with that. So my question..... how does this top of the range DVD player fair when HD comes out ? Is it worth buying now or should I just buy something alot cheaper until the HD DVD, blue ray etc etc comes out ?

Opinions please !

All replies appreciated !

Ricky !

[gandley]

personaly i would not bother with the denon A1xv and go for a cheaper rival.
Say the pioneer 989 or arcam DV29. these are both a fair bit cheaper and are both excellent performers. I had the denon on home lone for a week and it is a great dvd player but it is not that much better and at most times could not realy see much difference (if any).
I have decided to get a pioneer 989 and get one of the new scalers/Deinterlacers that feature either a genum or realta HQV chip. this will work out a tad more expensive than a Denon A1xv (althougth the pioneer 989 will cost £799, and its main plus is tha it outputs an interlaced signal via HDMI which is fed straight to the scaler. This is also also true of the arcam units) but will deliver a much better picture.
Also the up side of the scaler/deinterlacer is the it will work with all your sources like (if you still have one) a vhs deck, sky tv, and it will also work with the new HD formats due out soon. So you then get a great picture across the board and not just the dvd player. And it is also much more future proofed, well at least as much as one can be.

The type of scalers of interest would be say the soon to be released Lumagen XT, Crystalio`s new genum based unit etc.

Or a current excellent scaler would be the lumagen HDP Pro, which when coupled with the 989 would cost about the same as the denon A1xv.

[akcampbell]

If you're particularly interested in high definition I wouldn't even consider the Denon A1XV if I were you. You should get a stop gap DVD player until next year when Blu Ray and HD DVD come out, then you should buy a combination Blu Ray / HD DVD player. That will maximise the enjoyment period you get before having to buy something else. The current crop of high end DVD players are fine if you're got a high end projector and want to optimise the source now or you have a big collection of DVD's and don't plan on jumping on the high definition bandwagon straight away. The problem with the Denon A1XV is you're paying a huge premium for it's deinterlacing, scaling, and noise reduction abilities and these technologies age rapidly so after 3-4 years your big heavy Denon is still built to last but has outdated technology locked inside. Opting for a cheaper DVD player and hot of the press video processor combination as Gandley suggests makes much more sense. I would agree with Gandley again that if you go for this option you must get a player that outputs 480i over HDMI because that will feed the video processor a pure digital signal that hasn't been messed around with. Video processors like pure unmessed with digital signals. They will do a better job deinterlacing and scaling the image than most DVD players will. A cheap alternative, which will arguably produce an even purer digital signal for a video processor is to get a mid range or budget SDI modded DVD player and mid range SDI modded video processor. Have a look on crtprojectors.co.uk for more information on SDI modded DVD players.

Gandley what's you view on HDMI 480i Vs SDI 480i. Are they exactly the same quality? I've just ordered a Marantz DV9600 which can do the same as your Pioneer with 480i over HDMI and have just sold my SDI modded Philips 963SA which produced a stunning picture with an SDI modded iScan HD+, so I'm hoping to at least match the SDI combo picture quality. I don't think I will better it. I have a Marantz S4 projector so I can either use the ABT scaling in the DV9600 or the algorithm upgradeable Gennum deinterlacing, scaling and noise reduction in the S4. Have a look at this;

http://www.marantz.com/pdfs/e_dv9600.pdf

Any idea what deinterlacing chip the DV9600 uses? I can find it anywhere. I'm assuming it's the same SIL-503 chip used in DVDO's video processors.

Ricky good luck with whatever upgrade you choose.

[gandley]

Marantz 9600 is another excellent choice now they decided to include interlaced HDMI. I think early HDMI interlaced stuff was not totaly pure if i remember correctly, ie some processing was still being done. from what i can now gather the signal is now pure in the newer dvd players and will indeed compete with SDI. That is however based on rumour i have read and not hard concrete specs or A/B comparisons

I think the marantz dvd player uses its own deinterlacing chip i dont think its the silicon image chip, which is why they added the interlaced signal so user of the S4 and users of scalers/deinterlacers would get the benefit of there higher quality solutions but more so for the S4 users who have the very good Gennum chip already. you will have a great setup thats for sure

[akcampbell]

Ricky have you considered the Denon 1920? I thought that looked good value for the spec. The 1910 got excellent reviews and the 1920 sounds even better. Here's a link to a spec and discussion.

http://www.highfidelityreview.com/ne...umber=10526948

If your Plasma has DVI or HDMI input I'd also recommend the Oppo 971. If you can do DVI to DVI with it, it punches several weights above it's £175 price.

Also, I think the Marantz DV6600 will output 480i over HDMI far more cheaply than the DV9600. Here's a link

http://www.marantz.com/new/index.cfm...=comp&type=dvd

Of these 3 I'd get the Marantz DV6600 if it does output 480i over HDMI. The dealer I ordered my DV9600 from said it did. I don't think it's out yet though.

[Ricky22buk]

Wow.... thanks for the prompt replies guys ! I do appreciate your opinions and after only reading these few replies I'm convinced to get a stop gap dvd player until I know what the future is going to bring... Many thanks again !

Cheers !

Ricky !

[Joe Fernand]

Ricky22b

If your really keen on getting it right I'd reconsider your decision on the XDE PlasmaTV - I'm assuming like a lot of folk your in a queue for one of these devices; so cancelling/swapping to something more appropriate should be an option!

The best option if your wanting a flat panel TV for Standard and High Definition playback is to go with a Plasma Display model (no frills just a screen) and use a stand alone Video Processor between all of your source devices and the Plasma Display.

The Video Processor will Input a range of Standard and High Definition sources and Output at the optimal pixel and frame rate for your Display - you normally have multiple Output settings for 50Hz and 60Hz playback.

I have to say a lot of the 'Flagship' kit on the market is just willy waving by the hardware manufacturers and most of it is identikit bolt together bits from folk who actually get stick in amongst the issues you need to work on re video and audio playback.

I'd suggest you don't buy piecemeal and instead find a dealer you can work with who will provide a working solution for you - otherwise you can end up with a pile of 'award winning' kit, a big overspend and a less than satisfactory performance.

Best regards

Joe

[Ricky22buk]

Curious about your reply Joe,

I very simply choose the Pioneer plasma because from anyone I have spoken to at shows etc they say its the best on the market. Most of the home cinema books agree. Can I not buy a video processor and use it with my Pioneer ? If I didnt go dont the Pioneer route what plamsa should I buy ? Again please consider that I want to buy the best I can afford at this time and although I wouldnt say money is no option I am prepared to throw quite a bit of money on this project !

I'm sorry if the questions I ask are very trivial but I simply am new to this all and just dont know. Also if I were to buy a seperate video processor what do you suggest ?

Regards and thanks !

Richard.

[Joe Fernand]

Hello Ricky22b

The Pioneer XDE comes in two sizes - 43" with 1024x768 pixels and 50" with 1280x768 pixels.

Standard Definition video on disc comes (mostly) in two formats 720x480 (NTSC) and 720x576 (PAL).

High Definition video in the UK is most likely to be 1280x720P and 1920x108i.

Plus you may have a VCR, Digibox, Camcorder etc - somewhere along the line you require a processor to 'pixel match' these various signals to the actual pixels on the screen.

With the Pioneer XDE PlasmaTV the pixel matching is done within the Media Box and as many DVD players and most High Definition sources will be Digital with the option of HDCP encryption then the HDMI Input on the Media Box becomes key to getting your video signals into the TV.

The HDMI Inputs are set up to work with a range of Video signals including all the ones listed above - which is ideal; assuming the Media box does a good job of re-mapping those signals to the pixels in the screen.

Now considering a 2k or more outlay on a DVD player with in-built up-conversion and all the other tricks sounds ideal until you realise you then have to pass this 'super signal' at 720P and or 1080i via the Media Box and no matter how good the processing in the high end DVD player the Media Box is then going to stamp its signature on the video signal as it converts the Input signal to match the screens pixel array.

Whilst the XDE is undoubtedly an excellent PlasmaTV what works best is to have a Display that allows you to Input a 'Native' Signal and as much as possible bypass or limit the amount of re-processing undertaken in the screen.

Ideally you want your video sources connected to a programmable Video Processor and then a single Output from the Processor to a suitable Input socket on the Display.

A typically arrangement will include a Lumagen, DVO or Crystalio Video Processor along with a Panasonic or Fujitsu Display; others on the Forums will have other 'favoured' combinations.

Choosing the hardware is only one part of the equation - to get the best out of the hardware you need to include for your dealer to provide a pre-configuration plus onsite configuration and calibration service to ensure your equipment is working optimally with your source devices.

Best regards

Joe