Upscaling on HD65

[jsa1972]

Hi, After reading the reviews on this site and the current Dixons offer I am now the proud owner of an HD65

Now the trouble is that I've never owned or had any real experience with PJ's and as I'm currently in the process of creating a HC I am looking for a bit of guidance......

Is it worth buying an upscaling DVD player? Does it make that much difference? I can't afford to go blu-ray just yet
and besides I've got over 500 DVD's to go at in SD format.

If upscaling is worth doing can anyone recommend a reasonably priced player that's compatible with my PJ?

Thanks, jamie.

[KpjComp]

Originally Posted by jsa1972

Hi, After reading the reviews on this site and the current Dixons offer I am now the proud owner of an HD65

Now the trouble is that I've never owned or had any real experience with PJ's and as I'm currently in the process of creating a HC I am looking for a bit of guidance......

Is it worth buying an upscaling DVD player? Does it make that much difference? I can't afford to go blu-ray just yet
and besides I've got over 500 DVD's to go at in SD format.

If upscaling is worth doing can anyone recommend a reasonably priced player that's compatible with my PJ?

Thanks, jamie.

Well the HD65 has built in upscaling, it's not the best but will certainly get you started. Also if you have a PS3 or XBox 360, both of these do a very good job at upscaling, that will be better than the HD65 built in one.

I'd say one of the best upscaling devices is a decent PC.

[jsa1972]

Thanks for that. I can't afford to shell out on a PS3 just yet (I've still got to get all the sound gear etc) and I don't really want to use a PC to do the job. I am ideally looking for a reasonably priced upscaling DVD player that will be better than the one inbuilt in the HD65. Also would upscaling like this make all that much difference?

[Avi]

Originally Posted by jsa1972

Thanks for that. I can't afford to shell out on a PS3 just yet (I've still got to get all the sound gear etc) and I don't really want to use a PC to do the job. I am ideally looking for a reasonably priced upscaling DVD player that will be better than the one inbuilt in the HD65. Also would upscaling like this make all that much difference?

Oppo produce some very good upscaling DVD players.

http://www.opposhop.com/en/category/2/oppo_dvd_player

Also it may be worth looking at deals on HD DVD players as I suspect these will have dropped in price and most models are very good as just an upscaling DVD player.

AVI

[A Legal Beagle]

Try the toshiba EP30 (£77) or the EP35.(139.99)

ep35:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...pf_rd_i=468294

EP30:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Toshiba-HD-E...4294657&sr=1-1

Main difference is the onboard 5.1 decoder on the EP35 for true HD.

Ive just bought the EP35 and the upscaling is very good, have a look round the forums on this site you will find some useful info on them.

hope this helps

[sweevo]

Another vote for the Oppo 981HD DVD player here.

Bought it on the strength of the DVD Benchmark results (google it) and it's relative cost (ie much cheaper) to other players which were it's equal in terms of PQ.

Like yourself I decided to sit out the Bluray/HD-DVD battle and enjoy my large DVD collection all over again upscaled to my PJ.

[shogun]

Originally Posted by jsa1972

Hi, After reading the reviews on this site and the current Dixons offer I am now the proud owner of an HD65

Now the trouble is that I've never owned or had any real experience with PJ's and as I'm currently in the process of creating a HC I am looking for a bit of guidance......

Is it worth buying an upscaling DVD player? Does it make that much difference? I can't afford to go blu-ray just yet
and besides I've got over 500 DVD's to go at in SD format.

If upscaling is worth doing can anyone recommend a reasonably priced player that's compatible with my PJ?

Thanks, jamie.

Welcome to the HD65 members club.

If money is tight at the moment and your existing Dvd SD player has a component output < red,blue green > connection,then i would use this method to hook up to your HD65 to show a 576P picture for watching your SD movies.

I find SD over component with the HD65 gives a pretty good watchable picture, even tho it is not as detailed or sharp has a HD sourced signal.

Then when funds permit in the future, then maybe invest into the HD format world such as Blu Ray.

Another option instead of purchasing an upscaled DVD player would be to go out and buy either a new or second hand Toshiba EP30 HD DVD player which retail now at around £80 mark, due to that Toshiba have pulled the plug on their HD dvd technology.

The Toshiba EP30 can be used as a normal HDMI upscaled DVD player which gives good results against the sub £100 DVD upscaling players on the market whilst playing SD movies.

You could also buy or rent a few HD DVD Disc's in the short term to view the full glory of HD on your HD65 projector before the HD DVD backed film studios cease HD DVD format production of new realest film titles in the future.

[Colin151]

Tohshiba EP30 from Amazon or Play for £79.99 with 2 free HD-DVD's is a very good buy. The DVD upscaling is excellent, - much better than a PS3 or Xbox 360.

Even though HD-DVD format is dead it doesn't matter as you'd be getting this player very cheap to use it as a DVD upscaler. I bet the toshiba has a much better upscaler in it than 50-80 new DVD players that can upscaler. The EP 30 was £270 when it was originally released only about 3 months ago. Only slight negative of the EP30 is that the loading time can be a little slow, - but it is not too bad with DVDs, - slower with HD-DVDs.

Hope this helps.

[Colin151]

And to answer your question yes upscaling is well worth it for an existing DVD collection. If you had for example a Toshiba EP30, I would set the Toshiba on 720p upscaling then press the "Native" Button on your HD65 remote bypassing the internal HD65 scaler. Though you can experiment with settings.

Cheers,
Colin

[jsa1972]

Thanks for that. I've just found the Toshiba SD-370E for 32 quid on Ebuyer. The reviews I've read are good. What do you think of this one for starters?

[jsa1972]

Thanks for all of your advice. The EP30 on PLAY at the moment looks like a good deal although after £423 last night on the projector I don't want to push my luck with her indoors

I'll work on it....

[nwgarratt]

I find that using a HDMI player is worth it over component even if upscaling is not done in the player. I get a much shaper picture with HDMI.

[jsa1972]

Looking again at the SD-370E it upscales to 780p. As this is the native resolution of the HD65 would upscaling any further make any difference ? Sorry if that's a stupid question but as far as I understand just because a PJ might be compatible with a HD format it doesn't mean it will project at that resolution. is that right or am I getting my wires crossed?

I really would like the EP30 if it's gonna definitely make a difference but I don't want to spend double the money just for HD when I plan on getting BR in 6 months or so.

[jsa1972]

Figured on the savings I made on the HD65 I can justify buying the HD-EP30 so I've just bought it

Just got to tell her now!

Anyway the 2 free DVD's that come with add up to 40 quid so it hasn't cost me that much after all

[Colin151]

Really Sorry I missed you replies Jamie,
Haven't been able to get near a computer again until now!

Don't worry you won't go wrong with the EP30, - for that money it is an amazing buy and is a very good DVD upscaler. Try it on the 720P setting with the HD65 on native. This I think in theory I think should be better as the EP30 will be doing the upscaling. I am pretty sure the if you press native on the HD65 it will disable its internal scaler and give 1:1 pixel mapping.

However you can try other settings as the HD65 will take a 1080p and 1080i signal. You could try 1080p (will be 50Hz with a region 2 DVD and 60Hz with a Reigon 1), - the HD65 will then use its scaler to convert the res back down to 720 for suitable size for its pixel resolution. This in theory I think is worse than the other method as you are using two scalers instead of one but I have noticed that when you send a 1080 signal there is more info so it can be better. Just try both and see which you prefer.

Let me know how you get on,
All the best,
Colin