Upconverting DVD Players

[fox2jk]

I just came across HD-Conversion DVD Players.... Anyone own one? They are getting good reviews so I am going to have to get one. It appears they convert dvd's into high def for better quality.

[shiltz]

they are pretty worthless imo, all they do is take the 480p image and upscale them to 720p or 1080i, there is no real improvement in picture quality, it's like taking a 640x480 picture on your computer and stretching it to fit your computer's resolution, I belive a lot of HD tv's can do that anyways, my tv can take a standard DVD and upconvert it to 960i.

[fox2jk]

are you sure? I am hearing something totally different.

[Blue]

If you have a HD monitor projector that's LCD, DLP, Plasma or related technology, these will already be doing some sort of up conversion. The DVD player may do it a little bit better but at this point in time unless you have mony to burn (then please pass on to me instead of burning it)for the marginal improvement it's not worth it. I agree that DVD's look quite impressive on my 720p projector - even from a cheap and nasty DVD player.

If your monitor is HD compatible with a native resolution below 1280x720 and you get one of these players - your picture quality will be worse as there is a lot "fake" data being generated and being added to the real data then the monitor is going to start throwing out alot of the information - so you will loose some of the real data as well as some of the "fake" data.

Blu ray is almost here and the difference between up converted DVD and BD - After you have seen HD properly set up there will be NO turning back

[AV_Integrated]

I consider a decent upconverting DVD player a must in a decent setup, but that is not to be confused with HD. HD upconversion is the process where by a DVD video signal in 480i/p format is converted to one of the HD standards of 720p or 1080i and broadcast to your display. Typically you use HDMI or DVI cabling to make this connection.

A good upconverting DVD player will dramtically improve the quality of your DVDs apperance on your display. Especially since most displays have so-so video processing on board. A good unit, like the Panasonic S77 or Oppo players, will run about 200 bucks and provide a marked improvement in video quality. I have head-to-headed 3 DVD players once and the HDMI connection from the S77 was a visible improvement overall. This was done using front projection and a 100 inch screen.

The smaller the screen, the less noticable improvements will be.

MOST OF ALL - Don't confuse this technology with HD disc technologies. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD simply will blow the upconverting player away because it begins as higher quality video.

Plus, in a nice HD setup with a $2K+ display and another $2K in audio gear, a $200.00 DVD player should not bust the budget.

[fox2jk]

Sony has the DVP-NS70H, which is only 150 dollars and that’s what I am looking at for my projector. I just want to give a little more information because I thought I posted this as a reply to another thread on another board but it somehow ended up here. Obviously DVD's don’t look as good as they should on HD so I want to get the most out of them so this is the basic reason for me wanting the dvd converter. I am sure Blue ray or whatever new technology comes out is great but for now I need something cheap that will improve my movies. Blue ray and the DVD's are far away so I am looking for the best option today.

[thunderhawk]

I wonder if, when you play DVDs on a Blu-ray player, if it can upconvert those images if you want to...

[Knight-Errant]

I've just found out my Denon can upconvert to 1080i and it's a definite improvement on my DLP projector.

It aint true HD, but it's an improvement on what I'm used to.

Can't wait for BD though, now THATS gonna be an improvement

[AV_Integrated]

Originally Posted by fox2jk

Sony has the DVP-NS70H, which is only 150 dollars and that’s what I am looking at for my projector. I just want to give a little more information because I thought I posted this as a reply to another thread on another board but it somehow ended up here. Obviously DVD's don’t look as good as they should on HD so I want to get the most out of them so this is the basic reason for me wanting the dvd converter. I am sure Blue ray or whatever new technology comes out is great but for now I need something cheap that will improve my movies. Blue ray and the DVD's are far away so I am looking for the best option today.

Keep in mind that not all HD upconverting DVD players are created NEARLY equally. Sony specifically is known for poor DVD players and poor deinterlacing within those players. People always look to save 50 bucks, but the bottom line is that the Sony player does a inferior job when compared to much of the competition because they can't seem to get their act together with deinterlacing.

This is where the Panasonic S77 really shines over a lot of the competition. Most notably, the Sony or Samsung models.

I'd much rather spend that 50 bucks and get the better player for my projector.

[AV_Integrated]

Originally Posted by thunderhawk

I wonder if, when you play DVDs on a Blu-ray player, if it can upconvert those images if you want to...

While I don't believe that this is required, a Pioneer rep. has said that the announced Elite model will upconvert DVD to 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p formats.

I would think that this would generally be answered as 'yes' since the processing is already onboard with the players, it is (relatively) very easy to add that little piece of improvement.

[fox2jk]

Originally Posted by AV_Integrated

Keep in mind that not all HD upconverting DVD players are created NEARLY equally. Sony specifically is known for poor DVD players and poor deinterlacing within those players. People always look to save 50 bucks, but the bottom line is that the Sony player does a inferior job when compared to much of the competition because they can't seem to get their act together with deinterlacing.

This is where the Panasonic S77 really shines over a lot of the competition. Most notably, the Sony or Samsung models.

I'd much rather spend that 50 bucks and get the better player for my projector.

Well i just went out and bought that Sony upconvertor. it was only 150 but the hdmi cables whacked me 120 bucks. Aside from being sick from spending all that money on the cables my dvd's look far better on my projector. I am very satisfied and recommend everyone who is not happy with dvd's on hd get one. the screen door affect is basically gone and the black levels are incredible. Deeper richer colors really show. Amazing.

Now I have to go spend more money and get an optical cable for my sound. I was using the bose 321 so I need to run better cables for better sound from my new dvd to my 321.

AND eventually I will need to get the lifestyles system and then get a blu ray plus start buying blu ray dvd's so donations are welcome.

[thunderhawk]

Originally Posted by fox2jk

Now I have to go spend more money

Thats what they want

[AV_Integrated]

Originally Posted by fox2jk

Well i just went out and bought that Sony upconvertor. it was only 150 but the hdmi cables whacked me 120 bucks. Aside from being sick from spending all that money on the cables my dvd's look far better on my projector. I am very satisfied and recommend everyone who is not happy with dvd's on hd get one. the screen door affect is basically gone and the black levels are incredible. Deeper richer colors really show. Amazing.

Now I have to go spend more money and get an optical cable for my sound. I was using the bose 321 so I need to run better cables for better sound from my new dvd to my 321.

AND eventually I will need to get the lifestyles system and then get a blu ray plus start buying blu ray dvd's so donations are welcome.

I would do some reading on some audio sites before investing one more penny into Bose. The facts are out there. Also, try www.monoprice.com for cables. $120.00 is a bit more than you really need to spend. Could have saved some cash and gone up to the step up DVD player. But that's already done now.

Enjoy what you have - keep doing research and asking questions before you buy. There are great deals and excellent products out there - if you know where to look or ask before buying and it can save you a lot of cash.

[thunderhawk]

Originally Posted by AV_Integrated

Enjoy what you have - keep doing research and asking questions before you buy. There are great deals and excellent products out there - if you know where to look or ask before buying and it can save you a lot of cash.

That's why most people are here by the way

[shiltz]

Originally Posted by thunderhawk

I wonder if, when you play DVDs on a Blu-ray player, if it can upconvert those images if you want to...

Well not sure on Blu-ray, but so far both the HD-DVD players that are avaliable for pre-order do so I would imagine the Blu-ray players would probably do it as well.

Originally Posted by fox2jk

are you sure? I am hearing something totally different.

From the ones i've seen so far I was less than impressed, I couldn't tell the difference between the upconverted ones and ones run at 480p, i've also done it at home with my computer to see if a $500 video card could do a better job, nope, running the DVD on the computer and having the video card upconvert it to 1080i and connected it to my TV with component video cables it didn't look any better than outputing it at 480p.

[Knight-Errant]

Originally Posted by shiltz

Well not sure on Blu-ray, but so far both the HD-DVD players that are avaliable for pre-order do so I would imagine the Blu-ray players would probably do it as well.



From the ones i've seen so far I was less than impressed, I couldn't tell the difference between the upconverted ones and ones run at 480p, i've also done it at home with my computer to see if a $500 video card could do a better job, nope, running the DVD on the computer and having the video card upconvert it to 1080i and connected it to my TV with component video cables it didn't look any better than outputing it at 480p.

On my projector I can easily tell the difference, but that's a big image.

You can't invent resolution though, you can only work with what's on the DVD.

[john_1958]

Some people say upconvert is bad but i came across Denons Dvd-a1xva that can take regular dvds and display 1080p

[john_1958]

Its not sony that is bad when it comes to products i find toshiba to be the worse ever