Samsung DVD-HD841 vs DVD-HD850 vs DVD-HD950

[hfelsh]

I'm looking to buy a DVD player that upscales to HD. I found the DVD-HD841 refurbished on Amazon for a few ten spots, and I also found the DVD-HD850 - at nearly double the price, but new. I also found the Samsung DVD-HD950 HD Conversion DVD Player (Black) on Amazon, for a little under 2 bills.

Any reason I should go for the DVD-HD850 over the DVD-HD841? What about the HD950? I've searched on here, and I see the hacks to play DivX on the HD841 (not something I needm since my modded Xbox is running Xbox Media Center aka XBMC), but I do need upconversion over component (since my HD STB is using DVI to HDMI cable, and my PDP only has one HDMI port.) I can't seem to figure out what exactly is the difference in the models. Anyone?

[ProofTech]

Originally Posted by hfelsh

...but I do need upconversion over component (since my HD STB is using DVI to HDMI cable, and my PDP only has one HDMI port.)

I know that remote controlled HDMI switchers are expensive, but have you considered using this? Although it has no remote, that shouldn’t matter since you would have to get off the couch anyway to put a DVD into the player.

ProofTech

[hfelsh]

I don't need an HDMI switch. I know the 841 does upconversion over component, so I was wondering if the 850 or 950 has more/better features or output. From what I've read so far, the 850 and 950 also does upconversion over component.

I don't watch that many DVDs, so spending the cash on an HDMI switch box isn't something I'd really want to do. Hence me comparing the 841 (cheap, does what I want) cs the 850 vs 950.

[C.D.]

ive got the 841, and for the price, i dont think it could be beat with upconversion on components, though i cant say ive had any experience with the 850 or 950

[Foxbat121]

Although there are some improvements with the newer HD850/950 like black level adjustment over HDMI, keep in mind that feature wise, HD841 and HD 950 are identical while HD850 lacks DVD-A/SACD capability. Of course, if you don't care about hi-res audio, all three are similar in video performance.

[hfelsh]

Well, right now I have my HD STB using digital coax, and my Xbox using optical, going into my Logitech Z-680 5.1 surround-sound speakers. Not sure how I'm going to hook up the DVD player to get surround sound, since I don't know of any splitters for digital coax or optical sound.

But it looks like the HD841 for $60 or so is my best bet. Thanks!

[Foxbat121]

You can buy a digital audio switch. Or buy a real surround sound system with a receiver that takes three or more digital audio inputs.

[hfelsh]

I don't want to buy a new speaker setup, since I'm happy with my Logitech Z-680 system. I don't watch enough DVDs to really justify it. I may look into a splitter for digital coax or optical, but it's not a primary concern. I can alwas just unhook the digital coax from the HD STB and plug it into the DVD player for the occassional use.

[fonedood]

..

[Nightmaster]

I've had the HD841 in my computer room for 6 months or so to use with a standard def 27 inch flat screen Philips TV on my desk beside my monitor. It can be a bit finicky at times as to what discs it likes to play but it does a fine job overall for what I'm using it for. I'm thinking about adding one to my HT setup.

[xmenxmenxmen]

The problem with the 841 is that has the black crush problem where detail are lost in black. good example is a black suit, with the 841, you will lose details of the fine lines detailing the suit.

The other problem with the 841 is they tend to break.

Currently, what most consider a true or at least a decent upconvert play is one that has the dcdi chip inside or one of the sony models. I think both the 850 and 950 has them.

Personally, if one is go buy the 841, they would better off just go buy the Toshiba mention on the board, which is cheaper and possible looks better.

[cityscapex5]

Samsung has horrible software. I have an 841 and its nowhere near as well thought through as a product as panasonic/sony/pioneer, etc. I have 2 Panasonic S77's and they provide a noticeable better picture and ease of use compared to the Samsung. After purchasing it i wouldn't buy another Samsung DVD player again.

[Foxbat121]

Originally Posted by xmenxmenxmen

The problem with the 841 is that has the black crush problem where detail are lost in black. good example is a black suit, with the 841, you will lose details of the fine lines detailing the suit.

True but latest firmware greatly reduced black crush.

The other problem with the 841 is they tend to break.

That's true for ALL Smasung products.

Currently, what most consider a true or at least a decent upconvert play is one that has the dcdi chip inside or one of the sony models. I think both the 850 and 950 has them.

Wrong. 850 and 950 don't have DCDi chips in them. 950 is a refreshed 841 with HDMI and 850 is 950 w/o DVD-A/SACD.

Personally, if one is go buy the 841, they would better off just go buy the Toshiba mention on the board, which is cheaper and possible looks better.

Not necessary. Actually aside from the outside shell. It seems to me both Toshiba and Samsung units are made by same OEM company. Their menus are exactly similar and performance are too.

Remember you only buy HD841 at very cheap price (less than half the price of a new HD850/950 or Toshiba players). At that price, a few shortcomings can be forgiven.

[hfelsh]

OK, I've decided to keep my 50" plasma HDTV. So now I need to find a decent upconvertign DVD player that will upconvert over component. Which one should I go for? WIll the Toshiba player upconvert over component?

[bioman35]

I plan on getting the HD950. At under 2 bills, its a pretty good deal. I'm going to be using this via component cables, so I have heard that it does not give a HD signal over component, but there is a hack to do this. Can anyone provide me with the link for the hack? Thanks a lot.

[brian32672]

Personally I would stay away from the 841. I have had 3 of them, all with the same problems.

Yes they will produce a fine picture (when it works).
As another poster stated (these players are very finicky)
I have original pressed discs and dvd-r.
For some reason the pressed disc (originals) did not like playing in this player.
The dvd-r did actually play better (I mean more often)

Anyhow my suggestion is NeuNeo. I had the 2081 for quite some time and had no issues with it (other than the 1 firmware upgrade)
I sold that one to a fellow, who has since said it is better than his 700.00 HTPC.
So he was going to sell that.

I have the latest model the 2085. And as of now it has played flawless.
It may be something that you should look into.
Here is a direct link. - http://www.neodigits.com/body/produc...85/feature.asp

I have used the 1080P. But my projector, does not truly support this. So at the moment I am at 1080i.
Also I use the VGA to a monitor so I clan play my mp3's that are on dvd. It gives a good enough file system so I can search & play the 500 songs that are on the dvd.
Yes it will upconvert over component, as well HDMI/DVI.

[Chris Gerhard]

Originally Posted by bioman35

I plan on getting the HD950. At under 2 bills, its a pretty good deal. I'm going to be using this via component cables, so I have heard that it does not give a HD signal over component, but there is a hack to do this. Can anyone provide me with the link for the hack? Thanks a lot.

The remote angle hack:

Power on if off then

Angle

4327

Angle

Several people including myself find the component upconversion at 1080i is unacceptable. I use mine at 720p and I am very pleased.

Chris

[bioman35]

Thanks Chris. I just Pm'd you before you responded to my question. Why is the upconversion of 1080i unacceptable? Does it just look bad? How does it compare to the HDMI 1080i?

[Chris Gerhard]

Originally Posted by bioman35

Thanks Chris. I just Pm'd you before you responded to my question. Why is the upconversion of 1080i unacceptable? Does it just look bad? How does it compare to the HDMI 1080i?

I find the picture is skewed at the top with some DVDs. I only checked a few and about half had the problem. The picture over HDMI does not have the problem.

Chris

[bioman35]

Chris - What produces a better picture - 1080i or 720p mode?

Btw, I have a Samsung HLR4667 HDTV DLP. Does anyone know if this TV does upconversion?

[Chris Gerhard]

Originally Posted by bioman35

Chris - What produces a better picture - 1080i or 720p mode?

Btw, I have a Samsung HLR4667 HDTV DLP. Does anyone know if this TV does upconversion?

I am very happy with the 720p picture when used with my 720p LCD projector but I find the 1080i picture unusable over component. The picture is fine at 1080i over HDMI to my XBR910.

Chris

[Foxbat121]

Originally Posted by bioman35

Chris - What produces a better picture - 1080i or 720p mode?

Btw, I have a Samsung HLR4667 HDTV DLP. Does anyone know if this TV does upconversion?

Your TV is 720p native. Everything send to it will be upconvert or downconvert to 720p.

[bioman35]

So how can I change it to 1080i? The signal from my HD STB is outputting 1080i, so does that mean when it gets to my TV I am seeing a downgraded 720p signal?

[Foxbat121]

Yes. Your TV as well as many other digital TVs (LCD, Plasma, DLP) only has one native panel resolution. You can't change it. Especially not to 1080i which is only possible on CRTs.

And convert 1080i to 720p does not mean downgrade.

[adavis720]

i read alot about people having problems with the 841, and i had some intial issues as well. The DVI out would not work at all and other small issues with sound. After upgrading the firmware, it is like a different player. Upconversion though DVI works flawlessly and i can see a marked difference between 1080i and 480p and a huge difference between 1080i and 480i. As far as high res music is concerned, i honestly could not tell the difference between the samsung and my pioneer 579. I got the 841 from refurb from amazon, you cannot beat the price (although they sent me a set of plates instead of the player the first time). So that my 2 cents.

[adavis720]

sorry,the Pio is the 563-a, not 579 . brain fart.

[hfelsh]

Originally Posted by brian32672

Personally I would stay away from the 841. I have had 3 of them, all with the same problems.

Anyhow my suggestion is NeuNeo. I had the 2081 for quite some time and had no issues with it (other than the 1 firmware upgrade)
I sold that one to a fellow, who has since said it is better than his 700.00 HTPC.
So he was going to sell that.

I have the latest model the 2085. And as of now it has played flawless.
It may be something that you should look into.
Here is a direct link. - http://www.neodigits.com/body/produc...85/feature.asp...

That's $75 more than the Samsung HD950. The Samsung HD850 seems to have gotten better reviews than the 841, and is only marginally more expensive ($99 refurb'd at Amazon, or $129.99 new), so that's what I'm going to try I think. Then again, I see on the link you provided, the "Holiday Specials" has it for $225, which isn't terribly bad...

Originally Posted by Foxbat121

Yes. Your TV as well as many other digital TVs (LCD, Plasma, DLP) only has one native panel resolution. You can't change it. Especially not to 1080i which is only possible on CRTs.

And convert 1080i to 720p does not mean downgrade.

My 50" plasma HDTV displays 1080i great.

[Schwingding]

I have been playing with the 850 for about a month now. I'm pleased with it but I have no frame of reference other than the HD signal from my sat and OTA. No other upconverting DVD players for comparison.

The very first thing I watched on it was the latest Star Wars flick. My jaw dropped as I played the various scenes over and over, flabbergasted by the visuals. But that was my first experience, and rather like a fresh prescription for my contact lenses. The picture looked impossibly clear.

Last evening I experimented for an hour or so with different settings with "Nemo" as my subject.

The difference between the HDMI and component outputs is dramatic, with the HDMI providing a much improved picture. I realize the TV may have something to do with this, but I have no other way of comparing the two. Even my wife, who is generally unimpressed by HD, notices the difference.

The black adjustment is a very nice feature. I turn it all the way down and let the settings determined for the TV with the "DVE" do that work for me.

I could not discern (nor do I know which I should be using) a difference between the various output methods available (RGB-normal, RGB-expanded, YCR 4:4:4 or YCR 2:2:1 (I think I recall that correctly), but I _think_ 4:4:4 displayed more vivid, but not necessarily accurate colors.

I find the interface to be slightly annoying, but not unusable.

I'm using the optical audio output, so I don't care about the HDMI audio, but I do see a message on the screen with every disc that says "HDMI audio unavailable". I don't know what that is all about but I'd probably be curious if I wanted to use HDMI audio.

I like this player for what it is - inexpensive and much better than my standard def DVD player.

[Foxbat121]

Originally Posted by hfelsh

My 50" plasma HDTV displays 1080i great.

Your 50" plasma's native resolution is either 720p or 768p (old ones even lower @ 1024x768). 1080i is converted into native resolution. Fixed pixel panels can not display interlaced singals natively because its pixels can not shift half lines between frames.

[Chris Gerhard]

Originally Posted by hfelsh

My 50" plasma HDTV displays 1080i great.

Is the resolution 1024x1024?

Chris