[ckolchak]

i was just wondering- all the talk about the samsung player that upscales 480 dvd material to 720p.


does it really make that big of a difference in the image.

is it akin to going with something like 1080i Dvhs?

i would assume 1080i amounts to 540p (if there is such a thing) -yet thats really only 60 lines more than a regular progressive scan dvd, isn't it?

seems to me 1080i (or 540p) would still have a bit more... substance... than 720p which contains 240p lines that are being processed or interpolated- or am i off base here?


i saw a Dvhs deck playing ID4 the other day, and while it certainly looked nice, i don't know if it was all that.


i'm really intrigued about the notion that i could squeeze a little bit more from my current dvd collection, but $1500 is a big investment and would go a ways towards the fund for my next pj in a couple years.

i would expect a newer pj to have hdcp and dvi, which means i would most likely find 720p upsampling on a considerably cheaper deck in the future also.


if this is going to give me just shy of HD quality now, i just may bite- or do you think waiting for better faster cheaper is a more sound strategy for budget minded person.


the other thing i'm considering is the Dvhs decks, now that the prices have fallen.

although i would still be waiting for the software libray to bulk up a little before that becomes a serious option-

hence the idea of maximizing my dvd library holds alot of appeal for me.


btw, i realize i could build an htpc and accomplish this, but i have 0 interest in going the pc route.

 

[mnilan]

ckolchak:

I think you are really talking about two different things. The D-VHS content is high definition and there aren't very many pre-recorded titles out there (and the ones that are out aren't my idea of great flics ). But it is HD.


Upscaling DVDs to 720p (e.g., through the Samsung HD931 via a DVI with HDCP) is taking a standard definition image and upscaling it to the native resolution of your fixed pixel display entirely in the digital domain AND upscaled from 480p to 720p. It appears (from looking at the discussion surrounding the Samsung HD1000) that this does indeed result in improved PQ which is entirely due to the image remaining in the digital domain. You have only to look at your own DVD collection to see how this could be a significant advantage over any solution that requires digital-to-analog conversion in the player to send the signal over component to the display where it is re-converted into digital again (for fixed pixel displays). In most setups, the scaling of DVDs is limited to 480p whether it is done in the player or the display.


So, I recommend that you spring for something like the Samsung HD 931 (currently at a LIST price of $299 per Samsung) and get the advantage of an all-digital singal path to your display PLUS upconversion to 720p. The issue of an HD source (and don't forget recording HD) seems to be worth waiting for - at least for me - until the HD-DVD and HD recording equipment gets a bit further along in its development. Right now, D-VHS doesn't seem worth it.

 

[maximum360]

There's also the Bravo D1 player that got released earlier this week as well. Reviews should be popping up today or tomorrow.

 

[ckolchak]

mnilan,

i was really wondering about the hd1000 ( assuming i could still even get one) since i don't have a pj with dvi .

since that unit is upscaling thru the component connections, with all the d/a a/d conversion that that entails, are you saying the quality improvement won't be all that noticeable?


i thought there was more to it than that.

 

[Segaboy]

ckolchak,


I recently purchased a Samsung DVD-HD1000 from Harvey Electronics in Eatontown and it is quite a formidable machine. I currently have over 350 DVD's on my collection, so the investment was well worth it.


I have been using the player on a Toshiba 34" HDTV that has been ISF calibrated and it is rather amazing.


I believe this unit (with the firmware update) is going to be a rather rare bird. Although this unit may go nationwide, it will not feature the all important firmware update.


So, my advice to you is: Get while the getting is good!


There may indeed be more machines in the future that have this feature, but few (if any) will have the build quality of the DVD-HD1000.

 

[faithfoo]

I am thinking of outputting video via a ATI Radeon via DVI to my DVI input on projector Panasonis AE 300 ( with the help with POwer strip )



1) ANy views if there have been problems with the output ...this is technically better than outputting via VGA ( as can scale up to 720 p )



2) ALso for video sources, Cable TV ( analog sources) ..I heard that D scaler scales up such sources such that my analog sources also gets outputted at 720 p ..


GIVEN THE BENEFITS ...b4 i go ahead to make all the becesssary purchases , can I confirm if the scaling up of the analog sources makes at least 40% better in terms of resolution


any problems faced ?

 

[ckolchak]

Segaboy,

i'm sure the player is a substantial machine.

what i'm looking for is a more quantative assesment of 720p upscaling.

are we talking the equivilent of going from the first edition of The Fifth Element to the Superbit-

or maybe the increase in quality looks akin to

going from an interlaced to progressive feed on a good quality pj.

see what i'm getting at?


no matter how nice the machine is as a piece of player, $1500 is still a lot of money to outlay to derive only a 'slightly noticable' finer picture.


right now, on a good quality disc on my panasonic rp56, i can get an image that is very, very nice. any complaints i would have would seem to be with the pjs scaler or screendoor.

and this was for under $250.


i don't think i can expect a 6 fold increase in picture quality w/ the HD1000...or can i ?

 

[mnilan]

ckolchak:

Alas, I cannot comment on the PQ improvements over component that you would get with the HD1000.

 

[zoro]

Give us some JPEGs lol, from 480p and 720p or 1080i input..thnx

 

[Huey]

Supposedly, Bravo D1 will do 720p and 1080i via component if you first set the unit on 480p, play the DVD, and then switch resolution on the fly. The player will switch the resolution from 480p to 720p or 1080i via component even with copy protected DVD (bypassing the HDCP/DVI requirement). You're fooling the player (kinda like a loop hole clause in your contract ). I found 480i component->720p component clearly much better than Panny RP62's DCDi 480p using my AVT-3700 external scaler for my LT150 (I believe you have the same PJ). It's better than going from nonspuperbit to superbit. Thus, I assume that 720p via component out of the HD1000 or Bravo D1 will be clearly and noticeably superior to 480p from your DCDi RP56 (very similar to my RP62). This is because it nearly bypass the mediocre scaler of LT150 (720p is very, very close to native XGA resolution). Other PJ may do better with scaling and has less improvements but for LT150 the difference is clearly seen. 1080i is also clearly better than 480p via DCDi, but not as good as 720p for XGA PJ again due to less scaling on 720p. 1080i appears softer and has more jaggies on text (interlaced nature).

 

[ckolchak]

Huey,

once again you've provided me with the exact info i was looking for.

i'll be reading up on the Bravo.


right now i am frequently quite happy with the pic i am getting on the LT150 w/ just the panny, but if i had the ability to see a noticeable improvement on my 500+ dvds, that would certainly be something to think about.


edited to add:


i see that you are thinking about getting one of the Bravos to use with your LT150-

what about the several posts (and S&V review) that have said that the component outputs are sub-par?

seems all the great feedback so far on this is based soley on using the dvi.

Quote:

Note to fence-sitters: if they fix this in future runs of this machine, you'll kick yourself -- maybe: the differences between 480p and 720p were so small on my projector that I'd still love this player. The key is that the unbroken digital chain via DVI at 480p or 720p is so much better than analog component, that I would think any display with a decent digital scaler will benefit, even if restricted to 480p output from the Bravo.

i wish someone else who had an LT150 could hook it up and check it out ( maybe Alan?).


otherwise, i'm also a little cautious when i read that that they had to check to see if the player was in fact outputting @ 720p.

i'm sorry, but if you can't tell by looking at the picture that its improved- why bother getting excited when it's verified to be 720p?

i'm not completely sure i understand the excitement here.

 

[SteveHarvey]

I find that on a good video source that is 720p native, such as many plasmas, the difference when using the Samsung is rather noticeable, I can see it without having to watch a "reference dvd scene" or whatever. I've also found the colors to become better in some cases.


A lot of the love for the samsung has been based on its build quality. . . it is a legitimate brick truck, all 37.5 pounds of it. It's not a flimsy POS, it's similar to some of the older pioneer elite DVD players in that respect.