Upscaling DVD players-newbie

I'm looking to buy an LCD HD TV, and am taking steps to learn what the hell it's all about.

Today, I have learnt that upscaling DVD players exist, which somehow make your DVD's look better than on a normal TV-right?

Anyway, is the picture actually better when your DVD's are upscaled, and how isn't the picture distorted? Does it work on all DVD's, or do some look rubbish? And I believe they mostly connect over 'HDMI' (?), only thing is I think the Xbox 360 connects this way. And I think just about every HDTV has one HDMI socket, so how do I connect an Xbox 360 as well as one of these DVD players?

Finally, do you necessarily have to spend a lot to get a good one? I'd appreciate some recommendations for highly rated ones below £100...

 

XBOX 360 will connect via component and not HDMI. For a £100 budget I you would struggle getting a decent HDMI player. I would stick to component for a DVD player as it is still only standard definition. There are HDMI players that will upscale it but the screen with then scale it again to match its resolution.

Loads of threads talking about this. IMHO the current players with HDMI are all hype introduced by the sellers, but it seems to be working as everyone seems to want one. Wait for some true hi-def players (HD-DVD or Blu Ray) or even Sky HD to use the HDMI input.

 

I'm after a new DVD player, maybe a Denon 2910 to replace my current 575.

I'm also considering either a AE700 or maybe a 1024X768 plasma of some kind.

I keep hearing nothing but bad things recently about the HD formats, copy protection, mandantory phone line connection, strictly enforced region coding etc.

I buy all my DVDs from the US/Jap as they are NTSC, if HD meant I would have to buy UK PAL disks, I would never buy into them, unless they ran at 48Hz or 96Hz to preserve the 24 frame rate per second.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm still confused about all the connection types, so didn't really mean I wanted an HDMI DVD player, just one which can upscale. And if a component one can do this, then fine. To repeat another question from before, do all DVD's look good upscaled or do they look distorted?

 

There are very few players which can upscale via component. You still have an SD source and unless you are using a scaler then you are unlikely to see any dramatic results. Even if the DVD player does upscale to say 720p you display will then scale again to fit its resolution.

IMHO this is pointless. Stick with a standard DVD player via component. I have seen a Denon 2900 compared with the Samsung 950 (I think it is that model) where the Samsung was upscaling to 720p and in my opinion the old Denon 2900 via component blew it away.

 

This is why I'm strongly not thinking of going for hd-dvd or blue ray. I might just stick to dvds and when they stop, maybe I'll have to start reading more books. I may also go back to playing more computer/video games.

Sorry to go off topic, just one of the things that really bugs me.

On a more related note I've heard many say that the pioneer 575 does a good job via component prog-scan and some are questioning whether there is that much in it between hdmi and component.

 

I replaced an older dvd player with a panny s97 dvd player with hdmi out for 150 quid. I've got that plugged into the PT-AE700E projector. You can see an improvement especialy on straighter lines, for example, you'll notice it more as the credits roll.


a good stop gap between regular DVD and HD DVD. I'd say 10 - 15% closer to true HD.

 

This isn't true, it is exactly 0% closer to true hi-def. It is simply the same image spread across or made up of more lines.

I have a little experience of upscaling dvd players (having owned and sold on) and alot of experience of good quality sit-up-and-beg SD dvd players (of which i still own 4 or 5) and it has been my experience that by and large up-scaling by these (cheaper) devices is rubbish compared to that of a SD image from a quality device. An expensive upscaling dvd player seems completely self defeating imho as surely you would invest in an (altogether superior) standalone scaler if that is your bag.

 

Supposedly if you purchased a Denon 2910 which upscales to 720, and a Panasonic AE700 / 900 which has a native res of 720, would you see much improvement over SD?

I was under the impression that the Faroudja 720P upscaling was the bees knees in the Denons...?

 

It is down to the player scaling or the projector scaling, if we also ignore where the deinterlacing is done. 720p native rate shows them off at their best, or should I say least worst

I'm with Steve on this one (again, becoming a theme this) but we appear to almost unique in that both of us have gone out and bought several of these players and 'learned' from experience rather theory.

The 97 is one of the better players though but I would still output 480p / 576p from HDMI with it. It gets no where near HD, this is a completely different kettle of fish. It is in the VERY good SD player category, now unfortunately removed from the market.

 

Why was the S97 removed from the market, what brand de-interlacer did the UK model have, and how much did it retail for?

 

Never worked out why it was removed. £250 originally but no DIVX thingy, probably why Panasonic moved on. Later deals at £150.

Killer was the great MPEG decoder (always a Panaonic strength), used the competent Faroudja DCDi deinterlacer.

 

It interpolates the pixels which gives the extra count. As it's only interpolating them it's not actually HI Def but creating an inbetween pixel ie; 50% of the RGB values between each pixel. Probably. I guess the dedicated upscalers have better algorithms for this kinda of thing. but my 10 - 15% closer comment was just a guide to how much you can appreciate the effect. All depends how much spare cash you have as to whether it's worth it or not i guess...

Not brlliant really but the s97 was only 150 quid.

 

I do see an improvement over SD. but it's only really noticeable on things with straight lines; building vehicles etc even on the credits anti-aliasing! To be honest the ONLY time I conciously notice it is on the titles/credits.

 

Yes agreed, my point is simply that it bears absolutely (imho) no relation whatsoever to true hi-def other than the number of lines used.
I don't honestly think there is any comparison as such. It is no different to watching the 9 o'clock news on a native 720 device.

 

Agreed. It's just a gimmicky thing. I just wanted to try out my HDMI and High Def Picture on my projector. When are the HD players out? When is Sky broadcasting HD? I know Thompon are manufacturing the boxes now.

 

Agreed. It's just a gimmicky thing. I just wanted to try out my HDMI and High Def Picture on my projector. When are the HD players out? When is Sky broadcasting HD? I know Thompson are manufacturing the boxes now.

 

Just feed it a good SD signal and let the TV do the scaling. My Samsung SP50 does a great job of it