Will upscaling DVD player make a difference on Panasonic 42PX70?

[Shimmie]

Hi,

I'm completely new to this home cinema / av separates game, looking to purchase my very first set of gear.

I've decided to go with a Panasonic 42PV70 (same as 42PX70 but w/o digital tuner) 42" plasma screen. I'm now considering what DVD/CD player, AV receiver/amp, speakers and AV rack to go with.

On the DVD / music CD player front, having read a lot on this (brilliant) forum and in magazines over last couple of months, I'm wondering what to do.

I am considering going with a Denon DVD-1930, given both its apparant video upscaling and also audio CD playback abilities.

Thinking of combining this with a Sony STR-DA1200ES receiver, and maybe the Q Acoustics 1010 5.1 speakers.

My question is whether the Denon 1930 is the best option for this set-up? Will the upscaling ability of this player really make a difference when watching movies on the 42" Panasonic plasma? I have never seen an upscaling DVD player in action :-( so don't know what to expect!!

Also - do you think the Denon 1930 / Sony STR-DA1200ES is a good combination for the price?

Thanks very, very much for any help - amazing the depth of knowledge and experience there seems to be out there. Much appreciated by a complete novice.

Regards,

Simon (in Dublin)

 

[Ronan1]

Hi Simon,

I think the general feeling about feeding a tv that large is that you need to spend and not scrimp on your player. The Denon 1930 is probably the minimum you should consider and I see that all of your choices are from What Hi-Fi magazine's category winners. I know in Dublin its nearly impossible to test equipment as we are not half as lucky as our friends across the pond regarding outlet availability and indeed expert advice (as many a trip to Currys and Dixons has proved). I would consider something like the Denon2930 or the new Marantz 7001 to match with your tv although where you can find an outlet in Dublin who can show you either of these up and running is anyone's guess. Maybe the one in Parnell square. They sometimes have good gear set up in the basement.

Besides there, I know for a fact that there is nowhere else in the city you can see any decent gear set up properly or even a shop with a proper range of home cinema goods who could show you different set ups. I had a look at 4 upscalers recently and while the 1930 looked fine on a 32 inch LCD it did not look so hot on a 42 inch plasma in the same shop. I hope you will get much more and better advice from the boys here. Maybe they would be so kind as to help you out as they have done with me on many occasions once I explained my situation on not having anywhere to see new machines running in a showroom due to the lousy customer service where I live. Good luck with your purchase! Come on guys, help him out here! Ronan

 

[brandondanger]

ive just bought a 42px70 and im really pleased with it... i watched spiderman 1 the other day on my xbox360 (not upscaled) and i was amazed at the picture quality... looked almost hd, but spidy2 didnt look half as good...
must be the discs encoding.?.

im considering getting the new panny s53 dvd player when its released as that upscales to 1080p (and is the same colour as the tv and will use the new viera link through hdmi) but will it make the picture better? no one has commented on my thread i posted earlier asking the same question though..

 

[Shimmie]

Thanks for your input guys.

Ronan - you feel my pain in not having anywhere to go in Dublin for quality demos or advice. Getting the TV in Alliance Electrical on George's St - decent price. I read somewhere about a Panasonic Store on Parnell Square / Parnell Street, but not aware of it - did I imagine it? Only shop I know there is Peats?

Ever hear of / been to Cloney Audio in Blackrock? I haven't but looks interesting?
http://www.cloneyaudio.com/hi-fi.shtml

I would love to go with a Denon 2930 or similarly priced player, but unfortunately the budget doesn't quite stretch that far. Am pushing it a bit as it is but will go as high as maybe £300 for a player that is good at both DVD and audio CD.

Brandondanger - glad to hear you like your new telly! Can't wait to get mine!!

Lads, what I'm wondering is that, given the Panasonic's native resolution of 1024x768 pixels, is there any benefit at all in upscaling to 1080i / 1080p, with a resolution of 1920x1080? Would a solid 720p performance from a DVD player not be good enough, giving 1280x720 pixels? Naturally there'll still be some scaling involved by the TV (since its not a perfect match for that resolution), but not much? Or is it just better to upscale to as high a resolution as possible, and then downscale on the TV to suit?

If 720p is the way to go for the 42PX70 (and since I'm completely new to this I could be completely wrong!!) can anyone recommend a player that will perform well at 720p upscaling, and also very well at standard audio CD playback, for about £250 / £300-ish? Should I look beyond the Denon 1930?

Thanks again for any advice or input - this is my first ever attempt at setting up a home entertainment installation, and I'm hoping to get as much advice and input as I possibly can!! Much appreciated!!

Simon

 

[evans]

720p lines is closer to your tvs natural picture of 768 lines so very little upscaling would be necessary from the tv. However 1080i or 1080p upscaled by your dvd player means double processing first upscaling then downscaling to your tvs native resolution which is never a good thing. Hitachi make plasmas at good prices now that are 1080 lines horizontal resolution rather than 768 lines. Ive got the denon 1730 and it is very good on my 32 inch tv. It has got the panasonic upscaler and very good and much cheaper than the 1930 and no lyp sync issues people go on about here. You have to try it however on a bigger screen.

 

[Ronan1]

Hey Simon,

Downstairs in Peats they run Panasonic plasma's as their display tv's in a little mock home cinema set up. Depending on who is working on the day you might be able to ask them to rig up an upscaling DVD player to see how it looks. They tend to do a lot of Harmon Kardon and I was not at all impressed with their new upscaler as it was so noisy I found it unwatchable. However, check out their website and see what they have in stock and maybe call them to ask for a time to go in to have a look at their players upscaling through a HDMI cable. Its amazing how many places still use component and even scart to show images on plasma and LCD sets at home and they always come up with some bull.... excuse for not using HDMI cables. Noel Clooneys are really good and really know their stuff but display practically nothing as they concentrate mainly on hifi. If you go there to see AV gear you will be wasting a trip. Best of luck mate. Ronan

 

[loz]

simply the best you can buy in your budget is an Oppo Digital DV981
http://www.oppodigital.com/dv981hd/dv981hd_index.html

It would still be one of the best if you had more to spend.

Just check out the threads here about it, and its predecesor the 971.

 

[Fvet]

simply the best you can buy in your budget is an Oppo Digital DV981
http://www.oppodigital.com/dv981hd/dv981hd_index.html

It would still be one of the best if you had more to spend.

Just check out the threads here about it, and its predecesor the 971.

yes the oppo 981 is fantastic, I have one myself.
but not really necessary since your tv isnt 1080p.
you would be as well going for the 971.

 

[norfbech]

Good thread - I'm in the same boat.
Currently use a really cheap Philps player which either freezes the picture ever so often or just doesn't give a great image.
The oppo has been mentioned a few times on these boards.

 

[loz]

yes the oppo 981 is fantastic, I have one myself.
but not really necessary since your tv isnt 1080p.
you would be as well going for the 971.

I don't think you can buy new 971's in the UK any more.
Only 981 and 970's.
http://www.crtprojectors.co.uk/dvd_players.htm

Even if you don't have a 1080p TV, you still benefit from the superior image processing of the 981.

 

[norfbech]

Yes the amount of positive reviews on here come out in it's favour (just been looking through the old Oppo 981 threads). Will look to see if this can now be purchased in the Uk.
Is there a recommended connection to the TV from this machine i.e. connect via decent scart/HDMI or component?
Cheers.

 

[Bolander]

The 981 doesn't have a component video connection, only HDMI, but picture quality via HDMI is excellent so there's no need for component so long as the display has HDMI or HDCP compliant DVI sockete.

 

[norfbech]

Cheers Bolander...yes I have the HDMI socket. Reading around though it appears that Component outs on DVD's are quite rare these days...