Rookie Questions! - Pal Prog Scan etc.

Hey guys (and gals),

Short term lurker... etc etc.

Due to one of my mates at work buying a Panny PT-AE200 projector I am now considering joining the wonderful world of AV malarky by getting an PT-AE300 in a few months (well, when i've sorted out a mortgage and redecorated etc).

Anyway, back to all-in-ones.....

After talking to another clued up mate at work (I work in the computer games industry - so most people are clued up on this gear) he sang the praises of progressive scan, the only trouble that after a lot of searching the only all-in-one that seems to offer PAL prog scan is the Jamo DVR-50.... All of my DVDs etc are PAL region 2 - so I don't fancy replacing em all.

Are there any more all-in-ones on the horizon that will offer PAL prog scan? As I say I probably won't get around to buying it for a few months, but if anyone has heard of any then they could be added to my 'research'. The £500-600 tag on the Jamo is also a bit off-putting, but not too bad...... maybe someone knows whether more 'main-stream' (i.e. cheaper) manufacturers are about to release a PAL prog scan system soon? (Sony, Panasonic etc).

Also has anyone heard of any all-in-ones that offer DVI output? The PT-AE300 (apparently) has DVI-IN which is 'even better' than prog scan (again, apparently).

Sorry if all this is a bit simple, but any advice is better than nowt....

Cheers!

 

'Fraid I can't help you with regards to all-in-ones as I use separates, however perhaps I can correct a slight misunderstanding with this comment.

DVI is indeed 'better' in most cases but it isn't connected with progressive vs. interlaced, DVI is a digital connection and the comparison is with analog ones of which 'component' is the most used in this respect ... generally DVI would be expected to be 'better' than component or RGB because the digital signal coming off the DVD media doesn't get converted to analog and back again before being displayed, thus avoiding degrading the signal.

You can feed progressive or interlaced signals by either digital or analog connections. Various factors will help make that choice, but the type of signal does not of itself determine the choice between the type of connection you would use.

HTH.

 

Something like the Sony DAVS550 can be had cheap. Its only got NTSC progressive but you'll still get a very good picture using its interlace PAL component output. Make sure you get a multiregion one.

Alternatively I would suggest something like the videologic digitheatre platinum for about £200 and add a samsung dvi equipped player to the package to give you the best possible results with your projector. If you don't like the samsung then as a stop gap measure something like the amw p80l (£40) would do you until better dvi equipped dvd players become available.

 

Cool, cheers for the replies.... some more stuff for me to think about anyway.