I am considering purchasing a new 1080p upscaling DVD player to connect to a soon-to-arrive Onkyo TX-SR605 which will connect to my Samsung LN-T4061F 40" LCD. I am considering:

Onkyo DV-SP405 $149
Oppo DV-980H $169
Oppo DV-981HD $229 ($183 refurb via Oppo)
Anything Else Good Around $150-$200???

All of these upscale to 1080p which is what I am looking for while I wait for the HD DVD wars to settle.

Question 1:
How do all of the above compare? I mostly will watch standard DVD's and on occasion standard music CD's. My needs are pretty basic as far as viewing/listening.

Question 2:
What is really happening with upscaling by hooking up a 1080p DVD to the Onkyo 605 via HDMI? I assume the 980H will upscale the DVD to 1080p and the 605 will then simply pass the 1080p signal straight through to the LCD with no up/down conversion. I heard that only the non-HDMI inputs on the 605 do any converting. Can anyone confirm?

Question 3:
If I want to use the DVD player to listen to CD's as well , will connecting via the HDMI work fine? Will the TV always need to be on? What is the best audio connection for this?

Question 4:
Any known issues between any of the aove and the Onkyo 605 or similar 2007 line?

Keeping within the Onkyo family is enticing due to remotes being compatible, hopefully no compatibility/handshake issues and under $150 price. But if spending only $20-$30 gets a much better player, I'll do it. I'm torn...

This is only my 2nd post, so thanks in advance!

I bought the Oppo DV-980H and I'm thrilled with it! Case closed.

+1 Dv-980h

BTW- now I can answer my own questions I had asked below! I now have the 980H connected to an Onkyo TX-SR605 AVR.

Question 1:
How do all of the above compare? I mostly will watch standard DVD's and on occasion standard music CD's. My needs are pretty basic as far as viewing/listening.

Answer: While I never directly compared the Oppo to the Onkyo, the 980H picture on DVD's in "near-HD" and standard CD's sound amazing.

Question 2:
What is really happening with upscaling by hooking up a 1080p DVD to the Onkyo 605 via HDMI? I assume the 980H will upscale the DVD to 1080p and the 605 will then simply pass the 1080p signal straight through to the LCD with no up/down conversion. I heard that only the non-HDMI inputs on the 605 do any converting. Can anyone confirm?

Answer: My connection is Oppo>HDMI>AVR>HDMI>TV. The Oppo's upconverted 1080p signal appears to be passed straight through to the TV without any up/down conversion.

Question 3:
If I want to use the DVD player to listen to CD's as well , will connecting via the HDMI work fine? Will the TV always need to be on? What is the best audio connection for this?

Answer: HDMI works fine, but because that is the DVD input on my AVR, it remembers the last movie-specific audio settings. I found connecting an optical and setting it to the "Game/TV" input on my AVR allows me to listen to CD's on the Oppo an d maintain a music-specific audio setting. My TV does not need to be on to listen to music via HDMI or optical. I like this "dual connection" option for the added flexibility.

Question 4:
Any known issues between any of the above and the Onkyo 605 or similar 2007 line?

Answer: I am experiencing no issues and find this combination of equipment (Onkyo TX-SR605 + Oppo DV-980H) a bargain for under $559 total.

Just wanted to say that this was quite useful info for me! I am trying to do the same with my HK AVR645 receiver and had similar questions. Thanks!