Best HDMI Upscaling DVD Player

Ramspeed

Established Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2005
Messages
532
Reaction score
24
Points
121
Hi there

I have a Sony V32 LCD and I bought a cheapo Sony DVP-NS5 prog scan DVD player (£60). The player's okay but a get a little motion judder. I'm told that it's probably down to poor 3:2 conversion and/or the deinteracing of the player. What should I upgrade to? The Oppo looks cool but I don't have DVI and don;t really want to get a converter. What about the new Denon 1920? i notice it has the Faroujda chip which has been problematic for macroblocking artefacts but advertises itself as using another company (Silicon Images?) for the upscaling so maybe not a problem. At around £200 looks very tempting. Any serious competition at that price? Am I barking up the wrong tree and the motion judder is the TV's fault and not my DVD player?

Any advice appreciated....
 
Ramspeed said:
Hi there

I have a Sony V32 LCD and I bought a cheapo Sony DVP-NS5 prog scan DVD player (£60). The player's okay but a get a little motion judder. I'm told that it's probably down to poor 3:2 conversion and/or the deinteracing of the player. What should I upgrade to? The Oppo looks cool but I don't have DVI and don;t really want to get a converter. What about the new Denon 1920? i notice it has the Faroujda chip which has been problematic for macroblocking artefacts but advertises itself as using another company (Silicon Images?) for the upscaling so maybe not a problem. At around £200 looks very tempting. Any serious competition at that price? Am I barking up the wrong tree and the motion judder is the TV's fault and not my DVD player?

Any advice appreciated....

I can't answer you last question, but I can comment on the Denon 1920. I bought one over the weekend and so far I love it. The macroblocking was a concern of mine, but it appears the problem has been taken care of. I don't think there is any serious competition in that price range. I looked into a few players that played both SACD and DVD-audio formats, but from what I read, these players were poor quality and a waste of money. For what you get with the Denon 1920, it is well worth the $350USD.

Best of Luck
:)
 
twobeagles said:
I can't answer you last question, but I can comment on the Denon 1920. I bought one over the weekend and so far I love it. The macroblocking was a concern of mine, but it appears the problem has been taken care of. I don't think there is any serious competition in that price range.

I would hazard a guess that the Oppo was serious competition, granted it can't play DVD-A / SACD and it is DVI not HDMI...PJ
 
I'll second the Denon 1920
 
twobeagles and hillster, sound-wise, are you connecting your 1920 to your amp via digital (coax or optical) or are you letting the 1920 decode all the sound (stereo/DD/DTS) and, therefore, connecting the 5.1 analog outs (and/or stereo analog outs) to your amp??

Thankx!
 
Spacedog said:
twobeagles and hillster, sound-wise, are you connecting your 1920 to your amp via digital (coax or optical) or are you letting the 1920 decode all the sound (stereo/DD/DTS) and, therefore, connecting the 5.1 analog outs (and/or stereo analog outs) to your amp??

Thankx!

Using optical, very happy with the sound so far. :thumbsup:
 
Ok, so you're not really hearing the sound produced by the 1920 (you're just passing the 1s and 0s to your amp and using its DACs)...
 
The Oppo comes with a free DVI-DVI or a DVI-HDMI cable. The DVI-HDMI cable isn't a 'converter', it just has a different plug.

I plug into my PJ via HDMI, no problems and a great picture.
 
Spacedog said:
Ok, so you're not really hearing the sound produced by the 1920 (you're just passing the 1s and 0s to your amp and using its DACs)...

OK, I see. Bit new to all this. So would I get any benefits from connecting the other way and using the 1920 to produce the sound?
 
thanks PMC - the oppo looks mighty tempting suddenly. Noticed any macroblocking on it?
 
I also have a V32 and I guess I already made my mind and am going for a Denon 1920. I think the guys on Cambridge Audio are gonna make us wait forever for that firmware update :(

Also, there are some threads on avsforum.com that talk about sucessful setups concerning the V32 and the 1920 :thumbsup: And, compared to the DVD79/Oppo, it seems like the Denon is probably a better unit with probably better specs and some (even future-proof) advantages like:

-> better sound DACs
-> better video DACs (11/216)
-> has HDMI instead of DVI (video + sound, and I can connect it to an amp with HDMI input)
-> the 1920 can output progressive through its component outs (I can confirm the 480i/576i component outs of the DVD79 are very weak. Even SCART image looks much better!)
-> the FLI2301 has some features which are dedicated to progressive scan that aren't present in the FLI2310 (see here)
-> the 1920 has a Silicon Image chip which is dedicated to process and improve the PQ via HDMI (see here)

I guess these are enough advantages... :cool:
 
I would say oppo. It has DVI and comes with a DVI to HDMI cable is requested.

Also it does play DVD-Audio discs..

jsut not SACDs.
 
dbeamish said:
I would say oppo. It has DVI and comes with a DVI to HDMI cable is requested.

The fact that the 1920 doesn't come with a cable is not relevant to me.


dbeamish said:
Also it does play DVD-Audio discs..

jsut not SACDs.

I'm affraid that's not true, as you can see in here (click on the "more information..." link).
 
I think he means the Oppo!!

Don't forget the Oppos has advantages re HDCP as well. Lots of people recommending the 1920, how many have tested this against known performers?

Re

-> better sound DACs
-> better video DACs (11/216)
-> has HDMI instead of DVI (video + sound, and I can connect it to an amp with HDMI input)
-> the 1920 can output progressive through its component outs (I can confirm the 480i/576i component outs of the DVD79 are very weak. Even SCART image looks much better!)
-> the FLI2301 has some features which are dedicated to progressive scan that aren't present in the FLI2310 (see here)
-> the 1920 has a Silicon Image chip which is dedicated to process and improve the PQ via HDMI (see here)


This is NOT how I would asses a player, experrience has taught me it is a poor correlation. If I used that list tocompare against my Tag DVD32R, the Denon would win every time. Fancy trying it? It is how stuff is used that matters. The 3910 is a classic example of throwing everything at a problem and not excelling anywhere. Denon recent history is less than stellar. The new Denon looks interesting but I think it too early to give it rave reviews. Try before you buy.
 
I'm sorry if I didn't explain myself correctly.

I was NOT trying to give no rave review, recommend the 1920 to anyone OR even compare it to other players in the market other than the CA DVD79/Oppo/BBK !! :)

I was just trying to argument that probably, in my case, going for the 1920 is a better option than wait a million years for a Cambridge Audio firmware update for the DVD79 to correct its problems (and that, problems aside, the 1920 seems to be better than the DVD79)!

sorry if said anything wrong :oops:
 
No I think you miss understand me as well. I am consious that when a new player hits the market often we get a very biased view until 'someone' in the know takes it appart and finds out exactly how good it is, just being cautious. No appology necessary. I read rave reviews of the 950, so bought one, :(

If I had my way I would ignore upscaling!!

Personally I don't think CA will update their firmware. The oppo needs a few tweaks but seem to please everyone (well I haven't bought it yet :devil: ) so is the one to bench mark against. The Denon looks great just hope the firmware is up to speed, a typical Denon failing. Oppo is MUCH better in this regard.

I want to see facts about these players. Anyone know what MPEG decoder the Denon uses, this is often key to quality not SIL / Faroudja badges.... :smashin:
 
Just read a comparison in another thread between the 1920 and 2910 from nhart who had test the two head-to-head and it seems he found the 2910 noticeably superior picture-wise and sound-wise...

Now it just made me more unshure... :)
 
Spacedog said:
The fact that the 1920 doesn't come with a cable is not relevant to me.
I'm affraid that's not true, as you can see in here (click on the "more information..." link).

As has been said - wasn't talking to you matey. I was talking about the Oppo player which DOES come with a lead and DOES play DVD-Audio jsut no SACD.

cheers,
Dave
 
And Oppo is working on a HDMI version of their player...
Should be out in a while...

Good competition.
 
but then we get HDCP by definition which is not a good thing.
 
Nic Rhodes said:
but then we get HDCP by definition which is not a good thing.

Why not?

It's a DVD player, not a HD/Blue Ray player... So hdcp won't bugger it, since no content that will be played on it will have dhcp...

Connection wise it's an easier and tidier solution.
 
99% of all DVDs you watch are likely to have copy protection like macrovision, if a player sees that with HDMI output it HAS to add HDCP. It is not just for HD it is for ALL HDMI players regardless of what they are (DVD, DTheatre, HD DVD, Blueray).

In my case with a HD CRT projector it means no pcture. Most others are in similar positions to me as HDCP aware displays are only just appearing in numbers and not everyone has a 3 month display (I wish).
 
It is the LAW!! A crap one but....
 
I know it has to add HDCP...

But tell me how it will influence your viewing of the DVD??
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom