DVD Players

Wait and see how the current DVD looks. I also have a 4 year old Sony DVD player (component out - no HDMI) and think the picture looks great. It'll do until the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray format is settled and prices come down.

Wait til the Oppo 983 comes out--it should be the last greatest upconverting non-HD player bang for the buck of all times!

Well...I had an older Toshiba DVD player (5 disk changer) that only did SD at 480i....it look great on my Sharp LC42D72U....but I was curious to see how much better an upconverting DVD player would be (I want to wait until they get the standards sorted out for HD and Blue Ray)....anyway, I ended up getting an Oppo DV-980H and I am very happy with it...the up conversion to 1080p is excellent....if you want to spend a bit more the DV-981HD is supposed to be even better at up converting....The trick with an up converting DVD player is to get one that has a good up converting processor....the Oppo DVD players have great processors......as Artwood mentioned the 983 is coming out soon and it is predicted to do an even better job at up converting...not sure if you have any supper audio CDs or Audio DVDs...but the 980 and 981 does play back those formats as well...

The actual model of your Sony, would be helpful.

That player doesnt seem to be so hot.

I think you would do good with getting an Oppo, the 970 or the 980. Or you could get a Philips 5982, which has good video processing, excellent universality, and sports a USB port to boot, all for just over a half a ben. It uses very similar MediaTek chipsets with Faroudja DCDi alogorithms as the Oppos. The Oppos have a little better universality with DVD-A and SACD both supported, a little better implementations of video processing and scaling, and more features within the user interface and ease of use(they are slicker functioning and with nicer user interfaces). The Philips gets you a USB interface to use with your set, which can be handy, and saves you a few bucks.

I have an Oppo 970 and a Philips 5982.

With all due respect to the OPPO recommenders, the OP said he didn't want to spend the extra money for HD or BD. I don't then see why he'd want to spend between $200 & $350 for the OPPO. I agree with the poster who said see if you like the picture you get with your current player. Your display is doing the deinterlacing and scaling anyway. If you want to see if there CAN be an improvement, try something like the $60 Philips 5982.

Sharp video processing hasnt been extolled far and wide. I think you will do better with a good processing DVD player. The Philips 5982 is a steal. The Oppos are worth it. If you want more used recommendations to search for on ebay, let me know.

PS - The Oppo 971 isnt a universal player like the newer players including the 970.

The Oppo DV-980H also has a USB port in the front. This allows for DVix movies and JPegs to be viewed from devices like USB Keys.....The Philips is definately worth a look as it is half the price of the Oppo players

Yup, and if you want to move up from old Faroudja DCDi, go with HQV, either Realta or Reon. The top end HD-DVD player (XA2) has Reon. The PS3's cell apparently also does very good upconversion.

The XA2 is over $500. But it is the best thing out there for SD DVD and HD DVD.