AVS Master Thread: Discussion of Blu Ray Player's Upconversion Performance - Page 5

All of my discs are standard-definition DVDs, but "thanks" to a burglary years ago I will be repurchasing some titles in Blu-ray. But will my regular DVDs still work?

And does the Blu-ray specification itself call for enhancing SD playback, such that Blu-ray players by definition upscale or otherwise output a better SD image somehow?

I'm not even sure what I'm asking; totally new at all this so all responses appreciated.

I ask because it seems from my casual perusal of some of the posts here that when it comes to Blu-ray players, you can get great HD or very good SD but not both...is that right??

Anyway, a few suggestions on $100-200 players would be welcome, too, especially if they are within an "HT-in-a-box" solution, which is probably the route I'll be taking in another two months (Presidents' Day sales or something)....

TIA

Yes.


No, when playing DVD a Blu-ray player is just like a DVD player.


No, the general forum consensus is that all BR players produce very similar images from BR discs. DVD performance is more variable just as it was with DVD players. Whether it matters depends on how particular you are.


You might peruse the recent responses in the "Help Me Buy a Player" thread.

-Bill

There is a huge difference in dvd performance on bluray players, some are very superior to others.
Search the web for winston's reviews and you can see how he ranked some of the players.

I would stay away from getting a bluray player in a HTIB in most cases. If it dies then your HTIB system is not as useful as if you had a HTIB with just a receiver - depending on which model you choose of course. Many have limited inputs.

I'm considering buying a blu-ray player for future use, but would use it primarily for DVDs for some time. Will a blu-ray player give me the same quality in DVD use as a full 1080p DVD player would?

(Looking at an LG BD570 or similar level blu-ray player.)

Thanks for helping me become less naive!

Regular DVDs are 480i, while BluRay discs are 1080p. When playing a regular DVD, a regular upscaling DVD player and a BluRay play would look the same (depending on the quality of the specific players) since they both will upscale that 480i DVD to 1080p. But, you need a BluRay player, playing a BluRay disc, for the best picture quality. "Full 1080p DVD players" is just marketing speak, meaning they upscale regular DVDs to 1080p, which, again, BluRay players will do as well.

Your TV also upscales to its native resolution and may do so better than many players. If you have a 1080p set, every source must be scaled to 1080p in order to be displayed. The scaling can happen anywhere along the way.

Any reason you'll be watching DVDs instead of Blu-rays?

Thanks (to BIslander, too). This will go to a front projector, which I realize makes it silly that I'm not capitalizing on Blu-ray. But we always borrow from the library to save money, and DVDs only there. But can also do streaming.

Does the projector have HDMI in?
Bluray players will only upscale dvd via HDMI, component is limited to 480p.

Yes.

You may want to look into Netflix. They rent both DVDs and BluRay discs at a very reasonable price (I can get approximately 6-7 discs, mostly BluRays, per month for about $12). Most libraries don't have the most recent releases.

I've settled on an ST30 for my television and I know that I'll have to upgrade to a good Blu-Ray/DVD Player to get the most out of my new TV.

I have a huge collection of DVDs that I don't want to repurchase because it will be so expensive. So DVD upscaling is really important to me.

If member's can contribute their comparison pix of upscaled and non-upscaled images from their different Blu-Ray/DVD Player's it will be a great help.

Wow.

I'm as surprised as you are that this hasn't been done before.

What he said.

depends on the quality of the replication whether or not its worth upscaling, from what I've seen seen upscaling on dvd is a pointless exercise to try for the simple fact you can't remove a 30fps buffer into 24fps, at best you can off of dvd media is 720p or 1080i trying to force 1080p or greater you may aswell buy the brd when it becomes available..

dvd's for the most part look shithouse over hdmi anyway....

from 150 disc's i've playrd through my brd player, let you know how i get on with the onkyo when i connect it up

Why not just read the threads. There's a whole sticky thread you're supposed to use to help you choose a player. For the money, it's hard to beat the Panny 110 or 210 (great PQ).

you can own a $5k brd/dvd player or a $100-1,000 dvd player, it don't on which upscaler you use, as it is the quality of the dvd you're watching to whether or not the upscale will be any good to begin with..

people buy oppo, denon, sony, onkyo or any other brand in the market because it is either cheap or expensive...

given my dvd collection is a mix of 50 and 60 hertz material, from what i can from my 300series sony brd player not every disc is suited for upscale process to 1080p/24fps given to either format or quality of the media being played in the player..

must try my onkyo cp-704 out 1 of these days since that is hdmi dvd player... but alas i concede i suspect the onkyo will be of the same quality within playback parameters when compared to the sony..


side by side comparison will only work if you got both versions of the said title on brd or/and dvd to do a side by side comparison for yourself, out of my 5,000+ dvd collection only got a few titles i can compare between brd and dvd... though once you start comparing s-video, component and hdmi, the res can be a bare min 720x576...there may be no difference in res....

pointless to debate the hardware wars..

While I am usually an early adopter, I still have not purchased a Blu-ray player. This is largely because I have a 42-inch, 720p display (Panasonic TH-42PHD8UK) and an Oppo 971H dvd player that does fantastic upconversion. I have been very happy with this combination and am not sure that Blu-ray discs will look significantly better on my display than upconverted DVDs.

But, prices are now so low for quality Blu-ray players that I am finally thinking of getting one. I look forward to listening to lossless audio and perhaps I will notice improved picture quality. I will also buy a player that has Amazon Prime streaming, which I can't get through my HDTivo or AppleTV.

So my question is this. Has technology advanced far enough that budget Blu-ray players like the Panasonic DMP-BDT110 can upconvert DVDs as well as my old Oppo? I will continue to watch a lot of DVDs. Will I need to keep two disc players in my home theater to get excellent upconversion?

IMO, the Panny will upscale DVDs as well as your Oppo. More importanly, BluRay discs will look significantly better on the Panny than upscaled DVDs on your Oppo (you can rent BluRays, so you don't have to buy/replace your large collection).

Significantly better? In cases where the DVD was not very good to begin with. However, you are dealing with a 720p display, so you won't be getting the full benefit of a blu ray.

Is there a blu-ray player which offers the same(or better) DVD upscaling capabilities as the now discontinued Oppo 983H at a price range of $500 and below?

Would appreciate some recommendations. Thanks.

OPPO's BDP-93 is $499. It uses a different chip set but I find the results comparable.

$500 is not usually called "cheap" in these parts.

-Bill

The Oppo BDP-9x. I have the BDP-93 which is right at your max of $500. It does a hell of a job on upscaling.

Also, for those of you looking for cheaper Blu-ray players and who like streaming. I'd suggest taking a look at the Sony BDP-S580. Not only does it play BDs and upscales DVDs, it also has many streaming apps including 3 HD that don't require a subscription, which is what I really like: Vudu, Amazon Video and Sony's Video Unlimited. I love Vudu and Amazon Video (Amazon was the reason I got the player actually). If you have at least a 6-10Mbps connection that's stable during streaming, you'll get a very nice HD picture with 5.1 audio. The Sony Video Unlimited has a great picture but only 2.0 audio for rentals (really stupid if you ask me).

The S580 is fluctuating between $100-$110 on Amazon.com. It also has other streaming services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, etc.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Please allow me to clarify. If I can obtain a decent DVD upscaling quality from cheaper players it would be great, but I do understand we get what we pay for. $500 is really stretching the limit but I would be glad if $200-300 can get me something decent.

The Oppo has always been in my shortlist but unfortunately I am not in the States. The BDP-93 sells for about $750 at where I live.

AYColumbia, does the BDP-580 comes close to the BDP-93 in DVD playback? Is the BDP-550 similar to the BDP-580?

The Denon DBP-2010 looks good on paper but is slightly above my budget($600).

Thanks.

By the way, I just recently bought a 51" Samsung full HD plasma, hence I'm looking for a decent blu-ray player to get the best out of my DVDs.

It depends on your eyes and what you notice. I'm very impressed with what the Sony puts out for $100 player and it leaves you with $400 to keep or spend on other equipment. Keep in mind too that you don't have to rely strictly on the player to upscale. You always have the option of sending the original resolution to the TV and let it do the upscaling. Depending on your TV, you may have a better upscaler in it than the player. So do some digging regarding your TV's upscale capability. I have a Mitsubishi 65" DLP TV (2010 model) and I'd give its upscaling, of SD material only, a slight edge over the S580. I couldn't really see any difference when going from 720p to 1080p.

I can only speak to the 580 which I really like as a secondary player that I mainly use for the streaming, however, you should be able to do a product comparison on Sony's site between the two models.

The S580 is loud when it's loading the disc but quiet during playback.

I currently use my laptop as my DVD player, and make sure to enable PowerDVD's TrueTheature features (HD, Lighting, Motion, etc.). To me, from a decent distance, it makes the video quality appear close to HD/Blu-Ray.

I'm looking for a Standalone Blu-ray player that has DVD upconversion to at least 1080i, that looks similar or better to PowerDVD's feature. I will be watching 95% DVD movies, and 5% blu-ray (at this price for now).

I'm looking at an LG Blu-ray Player BD630 and Samsung BD-D5250C, would either suffice?

Am I asking for too much or is this possible? I just can't find any reviews on DVD upconversion.

Thanks in advance!

Well, having actually used PDVD10 and seen this feature, I can say that it provides a very distinctive image. Not necessarily "better", or more "accurate", but rather , distinctive.. I haven't seen a standalone player that looks like that.

Specifically, the motion feature I haven't seen on another player. Displays have a similar feature in some cases, but not players. I currently own an Oppo BDP-93, and I'm happy with its image quality. I haven't played with the enhancements , such as auto contrast and such, but I'm pretty sure it won't look like PDVD. I leave it to you to determine if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

I figured not a lot of people even knew what I was talking about. When I found out about it it was like I struck gold, imo anyways.

In your opinion, how does an upcoversion player compare? I'm sick of running an hdmi cable from my laptop to my tv and want a normal hassle free setup..

THe BDP-93 is more expensive than I want to spend, is it work $500, or are there other players that have good video quality without all the extra features?

I hear good things from the new Panasonic players and their upconversion performance. The 110 seems like a good bet. I also own a samsung c6900 and it provides good upconversion as well.

However, if you are used to the PDVD enhancements , and actually like the picture I think you won't be completely happy unless you also own a display that has the motion processing feature and can enable it there instead.

The Panasonic players can be had for about $100, which is not bad.. check the "recommmend a blu-ray player" sticky thread for more info on those models.