Shade Posted February 2, 2005 Share Posted February 2, 2005 I'm in the market for a new DVD player, and interested in the new upscaling players. SACD/DVD-A playback would be nice, but not really a necessity. Most reviews tend to criticize one thing or another on all these players. Just wondering if anyone here is using one they would reccomend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 Just make sure your display device can accept the output from your cable selection. My DLP projector for example will not accept 720p or 1080i via the DVD-D input, For standard HDTV formats I would be limited to a component input. That was before I descovered the power of a HTPC JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epsilon Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 I recently got the I-O Data AVeL LinkPlayer2 which not only upconverts to 720p or 1080i but also plays HD content via the DVD loader or a locally attachable firewire hard disk or your LAN (with its 100-BaseT port). This the FAQ thread at AVS Forum: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=484807 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholtl Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 I have a Pioneer Elite 59AVi which upscales to 1080i, as well as playing SACD/DVD-A. Still, my Denon DVD-3800 has the superior picture with it's "mere" 480p progressive. In my opinion, a solid progressive scan player that gets all the nitty gritty details right will outperform any upscaling DVD player currently out on the market. An outboard upscaler, however, would be a different story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JewishAMerPrince Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 I recently purchased an Oppo DV971V for $200. It performs on par with players costing several times as much, has excellent build quality and very strong customer service. I did a side by side comparison with a Marantz DV9500 (using an HDMI to DVI adaptor) with a MSRP of $2200 and a street price of about $1600. At 720p or 1080i the Oppo's PQ is every bit as good as the Marantz. Both run circles arond my previous Denon 2900's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 There are some units available but they all output the upconverted signal out of the HDMI jacks and not the component jacks. Check the spec sheets to make sure you can connect to your tv as only the very latest HDTV's have the HDMI jacks and a 6 ft cable costs $110.00 at present. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ct1615 Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 I tested the Toshiba upscale unit on my SONY CRT HDTV and it did not improve the picture past component cables. Save your money and get a normal DVD player with progressive scan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shade Posted February 3, 2005 Author Share Posted February 3, 2005 Connections aren't really a problem, my Samsung has DVI, HDMI, component, etc. Sounds like maybe a regular progressive player would be the way to go though... Anyone know how far you can run component cables without much loss in the picture quality? My rooms about 23ft long, with the equipment on the opposite wall from the TV. j-malotky : You mentioned you were using HTPC. This is actually what I've been doing more or less with the TV as a 2nd monitor connected via DVI. I just can't seem to get 1:1 pixel mapping, and my player of choice (VLC) seems to have some problems with DTS. How would you compare the picture quality from your PC against a DVD player using component cables? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ottscay Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 My Sony 975 does a fantastic job with upresing; what kind of tv do you own? If it's a crt, just get a good progressive scane player. If it is a plasma, LCD, or or lcd rptv then get the Sony. It does everything you want, including SACD, for under $300. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shade Posted February 3, 2005 Author Share Posted February 3, 2005 what kind of tv do you own? ----------------------------- It's a Samsung 5685W. The one with the built in pedestal. AKA the "Kirk". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 I currently use a length of 36 ft for both DVI and Analog 15 pin cables without any problems. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easylistener Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 I have had to upscaling dvd players and will never go back. I have had some of the best rated players like the pana'a. None would compete. If you have a big tv then this is a must. My father has a 36 wega and it is hard to tell the differnce between the two. Remember you have to recalabrate the tv for the new dvd player. Right now I have the zeinth machine, got one before they disabled the comp. upscaling. It does have a little green crush to the picture but I compensated that in my tv. People that have not seen the differnce either don't have a tv that is big enough or calibrated correctly to see the differnce. It took me three weeks to get my tv setup right. It is not HD quility but close, and way better than progressive scan picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 ---------------- On 2/3/2005 8:09:41 PM Shade wrote: Connections aren't really a problem, my Samsung has DVI, HDMI, component, etc. Sounds like maybe a regular progressive player would be the way to go though... Anyone know how far you can run component cables without much loss in the picture quality? My rooms about 23ft long, with the equipment on the opposite wall from the TV. j-malotky : You mentioned you were using HTPC. This is actually what I've been doing more or less with the TV as a 2nd monitor connected via DVI. I just can't seem to get 1:1 pixel mapping, and my player of choice (VLC) seems to have some problems with DTS. How would you compare the picture quality from your PC against a DVD player using component cables? ---------------- I'd take the PC's PQ over the DVD player any day, as long as the video card is up to the task. 23 feet is a long run for component cables. If you can get a high-quality HDMI or DVI-D cable to do the job for you, you'd be better off in the long run. One thing you can guarantee, a PC with a high-quality video card will deliver a much better signal quality than any DVD player, regardless of connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 Shade Let me add more to what Griff states and answer your question for settings. The PC adds much more post prosessing power than any DVD player, upscaling or not. What I do is have my Vid card output match the native mode of my projector so my projector does not have to do any up or downscaling of my data. I am using a DVI-D cable in between my PC and projector. I am using the TheaterTek DVD software package which uses the Nvidia native post processor. I then added FDDshow as my secondary post processor. The post processors do the line doubleing and scaling to create an unbelievable HD picture. Even fast forwarding 8x, every frame is crystal clear, almost too much to watch at that speed. I only have about $700 in my brand new HTPC so they are VERY affordable. You just need to be computer savey as there is a lot of work getting all the software working together. JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtop Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 j-malotky, I just had a DVD player go belly-up yesterday, so would you mind sharing the detailed specs on your HTPC? I'm a computer geek and interested in this direction for my HT, if I can do it and still have it quiet. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epsilon Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 Granted, an HTPC is the most powerful available solution because of the scaling and filtering it can provide but, if you are able to get through the very long thread (114 pages and counting) of the AVLP2 I mentioned above, you'll see that it provides a low-cost turnkey (and high WAF) alternative. Furthermore, by using the advanced server software on a machine of your LAN, it can transcode any video stream the PC is able to display locally, also applying any filtering (such as ffdshow) configured on the PC machine. Again, to take advantage of the full power of the AVLP2, you must have a home LAN (although it does quite well as a standalone player). BTW, the latest firmware update added internet radio support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shade Posted February 5, 2005 Author Share Posted February 5, 2005 Since I keep a computer in my livingroom anyway (games, internet, etc.) Griff's & j-malotky's posts suggest I would be better off improving the software end of my DVD playback. My computer is an Athlon XP 2800+ with 1 GB of mem, an M-Audio revolution 7.1 sound card, & a ATI 9800XT video card. I think I'm pretty set for the hardware end of it. Please correct me if I'm wrong though. j-malotky : Did you need to use powerstrip to match your projector's resolution? I'm pretty good with computers, but couldn't seem to get anywhere with powerstrip. From looking at the Theatertek website, the software looks pretty nice. It mentions custom resolutions. Does this allow you to match your projector's resolution, without having to use software such as powerstrip? epsilon : The AVLP2 unit you mentioned looks pretty interesting. I've already got a PC in the living room though, so I think I'll try working with it some more first. Might be able to save a few bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 Sounds like you're ready to roll on the hardware end. I'll defer to j-malotky for the software suggestions - my HTPC deployments almost always include an outboard scaler, so I don't generally mess with software upsamplers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 My HTPC hardware is an ASUS P5P800 MotherB. Intel P4 3G Prescott CPU. 1 gig RAM. ATI Radion 9550. M-Audio Audiophile 2496. I did most of my reaserch on the AVSForum when I built my PC. I use the Audiophile for two reasons, First I have a Lexicon HT processor so I am just using SPDIF passthru for HT. I plan to do high definition audio soon for CD playback and that card is "the one" for that. I tried powerstrip without any luck. My projector is 2 1/2 years old and some what limited on resolutions via DVI-D input, so most powerstrip changes gave me a blank display This is why I ended up running native XGA into my projector. My screen is a 16 x 9 so "pan and scan" is what I needed for 4:3 movies. Theatertek does this extremely well. You can do custom aspect ratios, but all the standards are already in the menu. I did try PowerDVD, WinDVD and Zoomplayer also. On my system TheaterTek had the best picture out of the box, plus has the ability to plug in post processors. Power and WinDVD will not let you post process. Zoom is an amazing DVD platform, it will let you snap in anything, and give you more granular control, but is very complicated and does not include any DVD decoders, so you still need to purchace a codec. What is also cool is I have my PC setup so I do not have to pick up the keyboard. I can do everything including shutting down the PC thru the remote control. If you go this route, be prepaired for hours of tweeking, but the rewards for the effort are well worth the time investment. Then again, when are we not tweeking something in our systems JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtop Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 jm, Thanks for the specs. That's a pretty powerful system. In your research, did you find that you need that much horsepower for DVD playback? Or did you have a more multi-purpose solution in mind (games, internet surfing, etc.)? How is it for noise? Is it in another room? There are a zillion threads on HTPC over at the AVSForum. Were there a few you could point us to that you found particularly useful? Sorry for all the questions, but I value your opinion much more than most of the byteheads over at AVSForum... Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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