I have a 1271 and an old HTPC and want to drive the 1271 with a STB player. After looking at the various options, I've come down to a few which seem the most practical for me.

Option 1 - Get used Momitsu upscaling DVD player.
This is the cheapest way to get an upscaled DVD signal into the 1271 and many posts appear to suggest acceptable video quality. Native RBG analog support.

Option 2- Get Oppo player and use component-RBG transcoder.
More costly than toption 1; maybe not much video quality improvement over Momitsu to justify additional costs.

Option 2 - Get HD DVD player and an external HDMI-RBG transcoder.
This options costs more but also seems like it offer better quality scaling as the posts seem to indicate the newer HD-DVD players generally have better scaling capability.

Costs for option 1 are pretty clear. Is there sufficient difference in performance between the Momitsu 880 and Oppo 970 series units to consider? What product and expected costs should I expect by going the HD-DVD, transcoder option?

Thanks!

I'm not sure about cost but I would go with a HD-DVD player. This way you can play all your DVD's upscaled and can also play HD-DVD's. Cost for this I'm guessing would be less that $200 for a brand new 1080i HD-DVD player and another $150 for a HD-fury to connect it to the 1271

Erik

I guess I should have been clearer about $$. Don't want to spend more than $100-$150 max, so the HD-DVD/fury option is actually not nearly as desirable an option as the first two. Thanks.

Sounds like me, I'll be buying my HD player when I can find a combo machine for less than $150

Why not use your old HTPC? Assuming it is set up for DVD playback all you need is a breakout cable to connect it.

Erik

hands down....hd-dvd

Why not use your old HTPC? Assuming it is set up for DVD playback all you need is a breakout cable to connect it.I've been using the HTPC (actually several) as my DVD player for 7 years. The picture is alright but the sound is not all that great, so I figured a used Momitsu for $50 or so would free up the PC for other duties.

I just don't want to spend much on the video stuff but instead may end up just buying a new PC rather than going through all the work to pull the HTPC from service and replace it with a STB. There are a lot of other things like Girder running the full home automation, touchscreen controller, Netremote, and integrated IR on their as well which I have not sorted out where it goes if I pull the plug. It's going to be a big mess to deal with and that is why I think about the upgrade but end up just letting it all alone as it works very well overall.

Option 2 is a total waste of money and since you can't afford option 3 then option 1 is the only one left. ;) Don't forget about the Helio's 4000 upscaling DVD player with VGA output. It's better built, comes in Black, and also a real remote instead of that horrible little credit-card thing with the momitsu.

What sound card do you have in the HTPC right now? If that is the only complaint a sound card is cheap and easy to upgrade.

Option 3 (HD-DVD player) and sell the HTPC. You'll likely never use it again. You can sell off a bunch of DVDs too as once you see HD-DVD (or Blu-ray) you won't want to watch DVD again. :)

Kal

If that is the only complaint a sound card is cheap and easy to upgrade.M-Audio card, maybe 6 years old at this point. It has a digital out that goes into a Lexicon Audio processor.

More votes coming in on the HD-DVD option. What would be the low end options and cost? HD-Fury and some low end HD STB?

thx

keep your eyes open on the HD-DVD front; I picked up one from one of WallyWorld's "secret" sales for 99 bucks last month - at that rate, you can then get either an HD-Fury or an Ophit, and not be in that bad of shape.

and don't forget the 5 free HD-DVD movies that come with the HD player - if you flat don't want them, you can always flog them, and bring the cost down even more.

Why doesn't the HTPC sound good??

Digital Out for DD/DTS is all the same - like network cards are all the same.

Humm... $100 HD-DVD players? That got my attention. Maybe I can go the HD-DVD/HDMI-RGB route. With Xmas around the corner, I'm sure there will be heavy discounts on the HD players.

The HTPC has served me well for many years. It functions as a media server and is the core of the home automation services. The quality of the audio is just not great, just flat, when compared to other audio sources feeding the Lexicon. I'm not at all excited about swapping the DVD player function over to another unit as there is a lot of work to get all the scripts and IR interfaces and programming redirected to use a STB.

Yet the less than stellar audio from the HTPC has always frustrated me. Are there truly high end audio cards these days? I've not kept up so maybe that is an option as well. Thx for asking.

yes - HD-DVD players have gone for under a C. Can't beat that - and best of all, upscaled dvds look nearly HD on my Sony CRT - at least close enough to be highly watchable.

as for HTPC audio, I'm sure Mark and others know boatloads more than I - I've seen nice 5.1 cards, but for over a hundred bucks. OTOH, as Mark says, if your just going to go with digital out - either SPDIF or coax, wouldn't think there'd be that much difference. I spent a ton for my stereo out card, but most of that was for the onboard dacs. For digital out, such overkill is not needed.