best blu-ray for upconverting standard dvds

[Superecdor]

I am getting a blu-ray player in the next 2 weeks and almost went with the ps3. However, in my opinion, standard dvds do not look well on the ps3 (tried fight club dvd). I used to own a toshiba xa2 that made standard dvds look a lot better in pic quality (almost HD) but the ps3 does not do it as well. Is there a blu-ray player I can buy for under say $500 with good upconversion/upscaling for standard dvds and mayber has DTS HD-MA and bd-live too? Or should I just get a separate upconverting/upscaling dvd player altogether?

P.S. What is the difference between upconverting and upscaling?

[CrazyFool]

Originally Posted by Superecdor

I am getting a blu-ray player in the next 2 weeks and almost went with the ps3. However, in my opinion, standard dvds do not look well on the ps3 (tried fight club dvd). I used to own a toshiba xa2 that made standard dvds look a lot better in pic quality (almost HD) but the ps3 does not do it as well. Is there a blu-ray player I can buy for under say $500 with good upconversion/upscaling for standard dvds and mayber has DTS HD-MA and bd-live too? Or should I just get a separate upconverting/upscaling dvd player altogether?

P.S. What is the difference between upconverting and upscaling?

Personally, I do not use my expensive Blu-ray player for watching DVDs. I bought a DVD player that 'upscales' for that purpose. You can buy one for under $50.

[fighthefutureofhd]

some people actually don't want to have 17,000 players/pieces of equipment all over their house. novel concept i know. anyway to answer the original poster's question i have a samsung bd-p1200 that isn't so hot on the blu-ray side of things. but it's great on dvd's. the upconverting is really good. i wouldn't get the bdp-1200, but i would check out the newer samsung bd players.

[callas01]

the panasonic bd-35/55 both do great jobs of upscaling. cnet(take it for what it is) said they upscale better then anyother bdp and close to that of the oppo's. I think it does great at upscaling.

[Cortiz]

I have owned several Blu-Ray players within the last year or so including the Panny BD30, BD35, Samsung, 1200 and 1500, Sony S300, S350, and the PS3 (which I still have).

Of all these players I can honestly say the Samsung with it REON chip has the best upconversion of all. However, the player was full of glitches. Freezing, skiping, audio and video drop outs etc.... and Samsung probably has the worse customer service and they don't support their products properly. Had to wait several months just to get a firmware update to fix some of the problems. Now, Samsung has since replaced the P1200 with the P2500 which has the same REON chip for upconversion. Maybe this player doesn't have as many problems as their older models, but after the experienced I had I'm not willing to find out.

So, what is the best upconverting player right now that is reliable?

My honest answer is : The Sony S350. Yes, I know some reviewers has said the upconversion is mediocre, however I do not agree. I compared the S350 and the Panny BD35 side by side ( I purchased both) and to my eyes the Sony looked better. More detailed and less noise, ringin. So my advice to you is this: Everyone has a different opinion and taste on what a picture should look like. So just trust your eyes and go with the one you think look best for your taste.....

[SatinKzo]

I hear ya on the samsung products Cortiz, I got burned by samsung BD players (with their 1500-house burner model, it was almost literal). Won't touch them again based on how they support their products let alone how they build them.

As for upconversion of current players, I'd have to say my Panny BD55 is one of the best I've seen. S350 for me was good, but I noticed a few times it had some issues with certain things and how it handled the upconversion/upscaling. Not show stoppers and should not disuade you from one at all.

[CrazyFool]

Originally Posted by fighthefutureofhd

some people actually don't want to have 17,000 players/pieces of equipment all over their house. novel concept i know. anyway to answer the original poster's question i have a samsung bd-p1200 that isn't so hot on the blu-ray side of things. but it's great on dvd's. the upconverting is really good. i wouldn't get the bdp-1200, but i would check out the newer samsung bd players.

And some (even smarter) people don't feel like waiting forever for a Blu-ray player to load a DVD. The wait might be tolerable for a Blu-ray Disc but not for a DVD.

[Djnx]

I have to say that my BDP-S350 has very nice upscaling, taking into account that I just have the Xbox 360 upscaling as reference. I'd say they are about the same in quality. Plus it's cheap.

[BLUTRIG]

It's not a blu-ray player but i think the oppo upscales brtter than my elite 95

I'm not sure if your quandary is the same as mine which is: can the upscale signal on a moderately priced BD player compare to or surpass the upscale quality of a good SD upscale player.
I'm not interested in BD vs upscale - I know BD is superior in quality but I have a few thousand SD movies which I enjoy watching and want to enjoy them to the fullest on my new LG60.
So the question is: is there a reasonably priced BD player which has an upscale quality comparable to, say, OPPO?

[callas01]

Originally Posted by Herplord

I'm not sure if your quandary is the same as mine which is: can the upscale signal on a moderately priced BD player compare to or surpass the upscale quality of a good SD upscale player.
I'm not interested in BD vs upscale - I know BD is superior in quality but I have a few thousand SD movies which I enjoy watching and want to enjoy them to the fullest on my new LG60.
So the question is: is there a reasonably priced BD player which has an upscale quality comparable to, say, OPPO?

the panasonic bd-35 cnet review

Otherwise you can get a samsung, but I hear the CS sucks

[GodofBlu]

Originally Posted by Superecdor

I am getting a blu-ray player in the next 2 weeks and almost went with the ps3. However, in my opinion, standard dvds do not look well on the ps3 (tried fight club dvd). I used to own a toshiba xa2 that made standard dvds look a lot better in pic quality (almost HD) but the ps3 does not do it as well. Is there a blu-ray player I can buy for under say $500 with good upconversion/upscaling for standard dvds and mayber has DTS HD-MA and bd-live too? Or should I just get a separate upconverting/upscaling dvd player altogether?

P.S. What is the difference between upconverting and upscaling?

You didn't mention your TV. Remember BD players will only upconvert over hdmi. If your TV is a little older and your using conponent, then you will need to use a upconverting dvd player.

[Superecdor]

oooh ya. I have a samsung 56" dlp. I am using hdmi cables with an onkyo 605 with 5.1 cambridge soundworks satellite speakers.

[Toptube]

Originally Posted by Superecdor

I am getting a blu-ray player in the next 2 weeks and almost went with the ps3. However, in my opinion, standard dvds do not look well on the ps3 (tried fight club dvd). I used to own a toshiba xa2 that made standard dvds look a lot better in pic quality (almost HD) but the ps3 does not do it as well. Is there a blu-ray player I can buy for under say $500 with good upconversion/upscaling for standard dvds and mayber has DTS HD-MA and bd-live too? Or should I just get a separate upconverting/upscaling dvd player altogether?

P.S. What is the difference between upconverting and upscaling?

It may be that Fight Club's DVD transfer is particularly cruddy. The PS3 may not be the absolute best upscaler for DVD, but it does a pretty swell job. That said, just like Blu-ray, DVD transfers vary in quality. Things like LOST, 24 season 6, and Southland Tales have really excellent DVD transfers and therefore benefit more from and look pretty great upscaled. I'd never confuse them for an average Blu-ray, but it'd be nice if all DVDs looked that good.

On the flip side, Knights Tale, Donnie Darko, and The Descent have pretty cruddy DVD transfers and just look plain bad anytime, even after upscaling.