Recommendations to go with 46" Sammy LCD

[NoDad]

Hi guys,

First post in this forum. I've just ordered a Samsung LE46M86BD LCD TV and I'm now looking for an upscaling DVD player to go with it. I've also got a Panny PTAE500 720p projector.

I don't know much about upscaling DVD players and it's taken me an age to get round to ordering an LCD TV, so please help me out and save me spending the next few months doing the same with DVD players. I have a budget of around £100?

Thanks in advance.

[Gambino]

Im in the same situation as you mate, got my new LCD a few weeks ago now and still trying to decide on a Upscaler. Im lookin at the Samsung DVD-HD860 and HD870 right now.

[NoDad]

Gambino, thanks for the company, it's a bit deserted here.

A friend of mine borrowed a Samsung upscaling DVD player (don't know which model), to try with his Infocus high end projector. He said that the difference was amazing......but it didn't matte whether the DVD player was set to 576, 720 or 1080. He thinks the improvement came from the digital connection. His projector has a Faroudja scaling processor and this would have been doing the scaling from the lower resolutions and the de-interlacing at the 1080i resolution.

I had an LCD TV (27" Videoseven) with Faroudja scaling/de-interlacing and the SD pictures off freeview were excellent.

The Denon 1930 DVD player has Faroudja processing but I think it has lip-sync problems.

I may try my notebook computer, which only has VGA output but I think the TV will not operate at 1080p @ 50Hz, only 60Hz, which is no good for PAL.

As for DVD players, the Panny S52 or S53 may be an option.

[Silver Serpent]

When choosing an upscaling DVD player, it's very important to remember that the players upscaling processor will have to do a better job at upscaling than your TV will, otherwise you are wasting your money, and best to stick with your current DVD Player (that's if you have one).

How much are you willing to spend?

[NoDad]

Originally Posted by Silver Serpent

When choosing an upscaling DVD player, it's very important to remember that the players upscaling processor will have to do a better job at upscaling than your TV will, otherwise you are wasting your money, and best to stick with your current DVD Player (that's if you have one).

How much are you willing to spend?

Well if I'm pushed I would go to £200. I have an H&B DVD/DivX DVD player with progressive component output. I've seen this on a Sharp 46" XD1E LCD TV, not bad but will I do better with an upscaling DVD connected via HDMI?

I agree, I don't want to spend money for the sake, only if the picture will be better. Would for instance a Denon 1930 be much better than what I have?

[Ron240]

Im very surprised that you have spent 1500 quid on a new tv,then only originally willing to allocate a measly £100 on a new dvd player....although you have upped this to £200 now.

Personally,i think a tv of this class deserves better,so i recommend keeping what you have for now,until you save up more money for a mid range player that will compliment your new tv.

[Silver Serpent]

Originally Posted by NoDad

Well if I'm pushed I would go to £200. I have an H&B DVD/DivX DVD player with progressive component output. I've seen this on a Sharp 46" XD1E LCD TV, not bad but will I do better with an upscaling DVD connected via HDMI?

I agree, I don't want to spend money for the sake, only if the picture will be better. Would for instance a Denon 1930 be much better than what I have?

I don't recommend the Denon 1930 due to the Lipsync issue it reportedly has.

I have a 40" M86 myself, and I'm going to purchase the Toshiba XE1 HD DVD Player soon. Will play HD DVD's and upscale to 1080p for standard DVD's, plus it has the Reon Processor. The player costs around £480 at the moment, and it would compliment your TV perfectly.

Sadly, it plays only region 2 DVD's though, so if you have alot of Region 1's then this may be a problem.

[NoDad]

Thanks chaps for your comments. One final thought, my son has an xbox 360, would this provide better performance than my existing DVD player in upscaled component mode? Does the xbox 360 work at 50Hz in 720p and/or 1080i? The reason I ask rather than try it, is it's such a task to unravel it and move it.

[Silver Serpent]

Originally Posted by NoDad

Thanks chaps for your comments. One final thought, my son has an xbox 360, would this provide better performance than my existing DVD player in upscaled component mode? Does the xbox 360 work at 50Hz in 720p and/or 1080i? The reason I ask rather than try it, is it's such a task to unravel it and move it.

The Xbox 360 only upscales over VGA, not component, and personally I find the noise it makes whilst watching movies very annoying. It's simply not made to be a DVD player in my opinion.

[NoDad]

Thanks SS. Well if the Xbox only upscales over VGA, then that's out because the Sammy M86 will not work @50Hz over VGA. I'm going to borrow a mates Samsung upscaling DVD player or "borrow" one from Argos, to see if it's significantly better than my current Chineese cheapo H&B machine. If not I'm going to wait until HD wars has settled down and then buy the winner/hybrid.

[Gambino]

I watched a few DVDs i rented out last night on my Samsung and i guess having adjusted to the TV now after having a little Toshiba 14" CRT for years, I felt the DVDs actually looked pretty good, And guessing i don't need an upscaler to be happy altho i prob still will get one, aslong as they do actually make a difference and i won't be just wasting money! I feel to go with a Samsung dvd player to match my TV.

[Ron240]

Originally Posted by Gambino

I feel to go with a Samsung dvd player to match my TV.

Im sure Samsung would be very pleased to hear this....it proves their advertising and marketing strategy actually works.
Seriously though....there is advantage in terms of picture quality,in matching your dvd player to your tv.
If we all done this the manufacturers would be extremely happy,but we would be severely limiting our choice.

As far as wasting your money on an upscaling dvd player goes.......im sure you would be happy with the results of whatever you bought(depending on what your using now of course),but im sure the majority consensus would be,that to get a significant improvement from an upscaling dvd player,you need to be prepared to spend serious money - around £500+ usually,if you buy brand new.

[NoDad]

What about an HD media player e.g. Kiss 1600. These can connect to a network and stream HD files as well as play HD WMV and DivX files on disc.

Anyone got experience of these?