I have Pioneer 6010 1080p. Currently i connect Sony dvd upconvert 1080p to the tv. However, i'm not quite sure if Sony is better or Pioneer. I have a whole bunch of DVD in my collection . Is getting something like Oppo 980 better option?
thanks.

Pioneer does a good job up converting IMO

In many cases the television is going to upconvert better than the DVD player. With a Pioneer, I would personally not invest in a upconverting DVD player. I would take the money and put towards a Blu-Ray.

The Oppo DV-983H is getting rave reviews from professional reviewers and people on this forum. At $399 it isn't cheap but it is probably the best DVD player you can get for under $2000. The difference in picture quality between the Oppo and Sony will be apparent with a large high end plasma like the 6010. With such a nice TV and large DVD collection, spending a little extra for a quality player such as the 983 is well worth it in my opinion.

The Oppo DV-983H is getting rave reviews from professional reviewers and people on this forum. At $399 it isn't cheap but it is probably the best DVD player you can get for under $2000. The difference in picture quality between the Oppo and Sony will be apparent with a large high end plasma like the 6010. With such a nice TV and large DVD collection, spending a little extra for a quality player such as the 983 is well worth it in my opinion.

Why not just buy a PS3 for the same price.

Why not just buy a PS3 for the same price.

Exactly. I see very little point in spending $400 on a DVD player at this stage. For that price you should be able to grab PS3 or a new player with BD Live.

Thanks.

So if i set 480i at the output, the Pioneer will do upconvert?

Yes, otherwise you could not watch any tv source other than high def. The set has to display at 1080p, so any source you input has/will be upconverted by the TV. So analog cable, DVD, vcr, etc inputed into the tv will be upconverted.

If my experiences with a Toshiba A1 and a Pioneer plasma mean anything, the Oppo 983 should provide much better dvd quality than a player sending 480i to the Pioneer.

OK...I have been wondering about this for a while now as well.

Here is my take on this issue: Where and how many times do you want to process your signal? And which component has the better processor?

1080P Display (1920 x 1080) via HDMI
This is probably the easiest situation. A good up converting source will most likely have a better video processor than the TV so it would make the most sense to process on the DVD player and send a 1080P signal to the display.

720P Display (1280 x 720) via HDMI
Another easy situation. Up converting DVD players output 720P at this resolution – so if you have a display with a native resolution of 1280 x 720 (most likely this will be a projector) then you can choose the device with the better processor.

768P Display (1024 x 768, 1365 x 768, 1366 x 768) via HDMI
Now it gets interesting! Most up converting DVD players will output in the following formats: 480P, 720P, 1080i and 1080P. None of which match the native resolution of the display. Which ever mode you choose will require the display to further process the signal into its native format – resulting in multiple processing steps with multiple processors. This works and for many it is the only option. However, there is another alternative. Find a DVD player that will output 480i via HDMI and send the signal to the display in its native format. Let the display do all of the processing.

I have a Pioneer 1150HD and a DV-48AV DVD player (I needed SACD). I have found the best images when the display does all the processing. Pioneer has another cheaper (about 1/3 the price) option in the DV-400V DVD player. The 400V will output 480i over HDMI as well. There are other DVD players that do 480i via HDMI like the oppo 970 so look around for other choices.

All of this requires you to use HDMI as the transport to keep everything in the digital domain. Using Component Video as the transport will dump the signal into the analog domain and will have to be converted back to digital in the display and then processed up to the native resolution.:eek:


Your mileage may vary…

This should be very useful information for making your decision... Thanks td!

I looked at the Sony dvd player. It upconvert to 1080p, but i don't see any option in the menu to let met send signal in 480i. Thanks to PatInvision. The info is helpful. Look like i need a better dvd player to take advantage of my dvd collection . I also have Sony bluray, but its upconvert is bad too.

Now the question whether it is wise to spend $400 for Oppo 983 or just 981 would do the trick. If the difference between 983 and 981 is not like day and night, i would go with 981 , even with 980. I wish i could have all Oppo players to try out.

Exactly. I see very little point in spending $400 on a DVD player at this stage. For that price you should be able to grab PS3 or a new player with BD Live.

Well, in term of upconverting SD DVDs, the PS3 is a bad choice, according to Hometheaterhifi's DVD Benchmark.

And about BD Live, it's only included in the new 2.0 firmware which I don't believe has been implemented in any BD player yet.

IMO, if you're really care about the PQ of your SD DVDs on big screen TV, one of those Oppo players, especially the 983H, is what you'll need without breaking the bank.

Honestly, i can't tell the difference between 1080i and 1080p upconvert on 6010. I look at the price of Oppo 483 and have second thought of getting Denon 3910 which is very good player on both video and audio. If the difference is not like day and night, i'll go with Denon then.

thanks.

Honestly, i can't tell the difference between 1080i and 1080p upconvert on 6010. I look at the price of Oppo 483 and have second thought of getting Denon 3910 which is very good player on both video and audio. If the difference is not like day and night, i'll go with Denon then.

thanks.

The Oppo DV-983H beats the Denon 2930ci and 3930ci on the Secrets benchmarks. It is the frist player ever to pass 100% of all Secrets benchmark test. They use two Anchor Bay chips that you normaly find in high end scalers. From what I have read, you will see the biggest difference if you use a projector and have a large screen. In the 983 thread 'miata' has a 60" kuro (not sure which model) and says there is a diffrence with picture quality with the 983.
His review;

Quick Review: 983/980/HD-XA2/PS3 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13385070#post13385070)

Here is the link for the Oppo DV-983H thread;

Official OPPO DV-983H w/ ABT VRS FAQ/Dump (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1001832)

I hear the audio output is outstanding also.