Samsung BDP-1000 vs Marantz DV7001, thoughts?

[Mr_Sukebe]

To satisfy my curiousity, I'll be running a dem on Sat morning comparing my own BDP-1000 (with latest firmware) vs a Marantz DV7001.
As you may have thought already "what is he doing comparing a BD to a DVD player"? Well it's to answer a question to myself about just how well an upscaling BD player will fare against a mid-range DVD player.

The tests I'll be running will be:
- DVD on both
- DVD on the Marantz vs BD on the Sammy

If you have a good hunt around, some people feel that there's not much difference between HD and upscaled DVD and some people think there's a world of difference. Well it's time to prove it to myself.
Some people also rate upscaling BD players as being able to compete with higher level DVD players.

So both comparisons will be interesting.

If the Marantz does outperform the Sammy on DVD and is close against BD, I can see me selling up and going back to just DVD.

Any comments?

 

[jackal]

I would hazard a guess and say it will be a non contest - the Marantz will win hands down.

A bit of a bold statement I know.

I have compared my Denon 3930 with my HD-XE1 HD DVD and PS3 (latest upscaling firmware) with SD DVD and in my view there is a big difference with the 3930 coming out on top.

The Marantz is very highly regarded as a DVD player - from what reviews I have read the BDP-1000 is not.

However the proof is in the pudding as they say.

Good luck with the test and I look forward to hearing the results.

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

Well I made it to Sevenoaks today for my comparison.
We have my (latest firmware) BDP-1000, which is supposedly not very good at SD-DVD vs the £600 Marantz DV7001. Both units were connected via HDMI to a new Pioneer 42" plasma. The Pioneer was a 768 resolution unit.

We tried several clips from films on SD-DVD, including Hero and the Day After Tomorrow.
Frankly, neither myself, my gf or the salesman could tell the difference. I was so unimpressed that he wheeled out a Denon 3930, and there wasn't much difference with that. For the money, hardly blew me away.

Thinking about it afterwards, I guess the key learning point is that the quality of the screen is almost certainly going to have been the deciding factor. I know that I can see a much bigger difference between SD-DVD and BD since I moved to my new place, though that's with a 100" projection screen image.

Having said all of that, it does imply that the Sammy is not completely rubbish at SD-DVD, and right now that's enough to stop me blowing a load of dosh on a new DVD player.