Upconversion-Blu-ray player or AV processor?

[chefmac]

I ordered an Anthem Statement D2 Audio-Video Processor. It hasn't arrived at the dealer for me to pick up yet. Since I ordered it, I've been looking into Blu-ray disc players. The ones I've read about will upconvert the HDMI video output to the maximum of what the TV will display. Is upconvesion by a Blu-ray player a feature that can be set on or off?

I haven't gotten the D2 yet, and I don't have a Blu-ray player. I've been reading about Blu-ray players to pick one out. So--I haven't been able to see which would do a better job at upconversion. My feeling is that the D2 has more sophisticated circuitry/technology than current Blu-ray players. Does anyone have any experience with these issues? How does this affect the Blu-ray player that would be best for this kind of system?

[theknub]

in honesty, never tried to turn it off, but from what i remember it can't be done. as im sure you know, but want to make clear, it is only upconverting DVD's. BR is already in hi-def so no upconversion there.

[Chad Varnadore]

You'll probably find that the D2 will outperform any of the current crop of BD players deinterlacing and scaling abilities. Most BD players automatically deinterlace the video to 480p for HDMI. There are some like the Pioneer and maybe the Sony that will send straight 480i via HDMI. I'm not sure of any others. All will output 480i via component, just not HDMI. Some aren't half bad at deinterlacing, but none will outperform the Gennum solution in the D2. Once you experience BD, you may never want to watch DVD again anyway.

For BD, some players will output the full 1080/24p, if your display will accept it (most will only accept 1080/60p, 1080/60i, or 720/60p), that's the way to go - no extra processing necessary. If not, you're better off letting the player interlace the video to 1080i, which most do automatically, and if you have a progressive display let the D2 deinterlace it again or deinterlace it again and scale to 720p, depending on the resolution of the display. For 1080i displays just let the player interlace the video.

[chefmac]

I have a Denon 2910/955 player that I bought to play CD/DVD/DVD-Audio/SACD formats. I supports 480p/576p, 720p, and 1080i output via its HDMI output. I believe that it was released pre HD-DVD, and it doesn't support that format. I have a Panasonic TH-50PX60U plasma HDTV that will handle up to 1080/60p, but not 1080/24p, as far as I can tell from the manual. I like the fact that the D2 can be my single input to the TV for all video sources: HDTV, Std Def TV, DVD, and Blu-Ray. Am I better off playing standard def DVDs in the Denon and letting the D2 upconvert? Does it matter what BD player I buy, if they all output 1080p? What are the quality differences between players that I should be aware of? The Anthem FAQ on HDMI seems to say that it doesn't matter if the player outputs via HDMI 1.1 or 1.3., because there isn't any source material that benefits from HDMI 1.3 for video, and the decoding for audio (Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD) is done in the player, so the HDMI version doesn't matter.

Which BD player will help me get the most out of my system? I don't want to spend a lot on a BD player now, because I think the technology is moving so quickly that in a year or two much better products will be available. I want to buy a BD player by mid-July that I'll enjoy for a year or two, but--I don't want to get a player that performs poorly.

Would I have to get a new TV to have 1080/24p? Does it really make any difference as long as the D2 can handle 1080/24p input and send nice output to the TV? (No way I'm going to get a new TV anytime soon--I bought the Panasonic last fall.)

[HDTV1080P]

The Sony PS3 for $599 is a good value BLU-RAY player with an excellent picture with 1080P/60 output. 1080P/60 is ideal for games. When you are ready to upgrade your display in a few years or so go with a 1080P/24 display then you can upgrade your BLU-RAY player to 1080P/24 and place the PS3 in a second room.
Just some ideas to think about.

[Chad Varnadore]

Just to be clear, there's a huge difference between resolutions the display will accept and it's native resolution. If it's a 720p display, anything other than 720p is being scaled to 720p by the display. So, you'll want to make sure you know what the native resolution is and let the Gennum do all the heavy lifting if possible. If your display is 1080p, you can try feeding it a 24p signal from a player that supports the full resolution of BD. There are only a couple right now that do - the Sony and the Pioneer. But, I've heard that both the PS3 and the Panasonic could be upgraded to support 24p in the future.

Of all the players currently in the market, the PS3 is the most future proof, as far as design, in that it should be able to support all future audio formats because of it's HDMI 1.3 output. Though the D2 doesn't support 1.3 at this time. But, like you say, if they update the PS3 to decode DTS HD internally, the D2 won't need to be 1.3 compliant. The PS3 is also the only player I'm aware of that can be updated to support some of the advanced java features coming down the line.

As far as the difference between 24p and 60p, they say we in America are so used to 60p that it's not as big of a deal to most. Though, I know some that consider it a deal breaker if the display doesn't accept a 48 Hz refresh. Aside from removing two unecessary steps in processing and eliminating the need for the display, player, or video processor to properly deinterlace films, 24p will produce smoother, more detailed pans. It's probably one of those things where once you see it, it's hard to go back. But, if you haven't, it doesn't bother you.

The 2910 should be better at deinterlacing DVD than any of the current crop of BD players. Whether it's so much better as to merit keeping instead of selling it will depend on the player and how critical you are. Most likely any of the current players will do a decent job with film, but may struggle with video based material. In other words, for reviewing, I couldn't get by with it, but I think most would be more than satisfied with the DVD output of some of the BD players on the market.

Correct, the 2910 doesn't support HD DVD. There are only a few stand alone players that do and all are made by Toshiba.

I almost forgot, Samsungs new BD player features HQV. If implented well, it should perform as well, if not better than the 2910 with DVD. In fact it might perform better than the D2 with DVD or BD. I'm not sure if it will output straight 24p though, nor am I clear on whether or not the D2 will accept 24p. Any of these three deinterlacing solutions are very reliable when implemented correctly: HQV, Gennum, VRS/DVDO. Faroudja is pretty good too, at least for DVD.

[baccusboy]

Another side note:

My HP notebook computer upscales video better than my PS3 does. It's much cleaner, although I have to use VGA out from the notebook. On the flip side (and I don't know if this is due to HDMI being better than DVD at color, or the DVD drive is just blah) the PS3 has better color. If I'm sitting back more than 12 feet, I can't notice the clarity difference on regular DVD, so for ease of use, and better color, I just play DVDs with my PS3.

[Chad Varnadore]

The PS3 doesn't have scaling enabled yet. So, you're probably comparing your notebook to what's built into the display. As for color, it could be that the notebook isn't sending the correct colorspace.

[chefmac]

I called the salesman who sold me the D2, to see if it had come in yet. It hadn't, but he expects it any time. I also asked him about the PS3, because he told me that it was his top choice for a Blu-ray player. He said he'd bought one, and he was very pleased with it for playing Blu-ray movies. I bought a PS3 (60GB) on Amazon yesterday afternoon. I downloaded the Quick Reference and looked at the User's Guide online at the Playstation 3 site.

The manuals describe connecting the PS3 to an AV receiver--exactly what I want to do. It isn't clear to me how or whether the PS3 chooses the format, or how or whether I would choose the video format to output. Looking at some of the previous comments, it appears that the PS3 doesn't upconvert the video format. Does it downconvert it if the TV that's connected won't support as high a resolution as the native source format? Does it send native format or less, in other words? (This would be 1080p for Blu-ray, right?)

Is anyone using a PS3 connected by an HDMI cable for audio and video output to an AV processor? How does it work?

[HDTV1080P]

Most HDTV displays in the last 5 years have scaling (up convert circuitry) built in. The PS3 will not up convert it plays everything in native format unless you select 480I, 480P, or 1080I. When 480I and 480P is selected the PS3 down converts 1080P, 1080I, and 720P to 480I/P. The PS3 can also downconvert 1080P to 1080I. It does not support down converting to 720P, but if you play a game that is 720P it will output 720P unless you choose to down convert it to 480I/P.
Most games for PS3 are now being mastered at 1080P/60. So having a display with 1080P/60 will be ideal for videogames. For BLU-RAY movies almost 100% are encoded at 1080P/24. If you have a display that is 60HZ only the PS3 will convert the movie to 60HZ for you. If you own a 1080P display select 1080P in the PS3 menu. If you own a 720P or 1080I display then you will either need to select 1080P or 1080I. Some new displays that are only 720P or 1080I will accept a 1080P signal.
Some of the new receivers accept 1080P HDMI switching.