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HD-XA1 as a SD DVD player

901 Views 11 Replies 9 Participants Last post by yellowlt4, Jan 14, 2007

yellowlt4

Discussion Starter · Jan 12, 2007

I am trying to stay neutral as far as the format war goes. I am however in the market for an upconverting SD DVD player and with everything I have read regarding the upconverting of the A1 and XA1 players I am very tempted to purchase one of these units.

For those who have used these units how would it work on my 65HX93 Toshiba RP HDTV via DVI? How would this unit compare with other upconverting players ie; OPPO, Denon and Marantz.

Keep in mind this would mostly (for now) be used as an SD DVD player has I see very few titles from HD DVD that interests me at the time.

I truly appreciate a well built machine so the XA1 is very tempting in my $400 budget.

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videonut

· #2 · Jan 12, 2007

I think you've nailed it; the XA1 is a steal at these price levels. And its upconverting ability is awesome to say the least. I have an A1 and an XA1, and they both do a great job with my SD DVDs.

I would advise not to go to firmware 2.0 if you're using DVI, as this may introduce a problem concerning loss of detail in dark areas. With any firmware but 2.0, you can roll back to Firmware 1.2 0r 1.3, as these do not suffer from this bug. I also understand a fix may be coming next week that should make all of this a moot issue.

Good luck!

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kevink109

· #3 · Jan 12, 2007

I have both the Oppo 970 and the Xa1, I find them very comprable on SD DVD upconversion, which is to say excellent. I use HDMI so your experience my vary.

You did not mention if the anolog outputs were important- but for $400 I would also look at the A2. I have not seen or touched the A2 but it would be worth a look- most impressions are favorable here on the board.

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yellowlt4

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 12, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by kevink109 /forum/post/0

IYou did not mention if the anolog outputs were important- but for $400 I would also look at the A2. I have not seen or touched the A2 but it would be worth a look- most impressions are favorable here on the board.

I would only need the analog out to take advantage of the new DD/DTS formats correct? I will take a look at the A2.

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DougPr

· #5 · Jan 12, 2007

If you're not in a hurry, you could wait until the XA2's come down in price to sub-$500 levels. Supposively the scaling chip used is so far beyond any other upconverting DVD players out there, it almost looks like HD.

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YONEXSP

· #6 · Jan 12, 2007

Is the XA2 leasp & Bounds btter than the HD-A1 at scaling SD DVD's?

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Stevevideoman69

· #7 · Jan 13, 2007

My XA1 arrived this week and its an amazing machine at the $400 price level. I did have a few glitches but found out it was my Pitch Black HD DVD disc. Ive since watched 4 HD movies and 3 SD movies with no hiccups or glitches.

I also own a PS3 and Sony S1 BD player and the XA1 kills both on SD DVD. When I read the XA2 was so amazing on SD I posted here trying to see if anyone compared the XA1 and XA2 with SD DVD (I own 1200+ SD DVD's) and so far no one has I guess.

The XA1 can be had for $400 NEW in box. The XA2 is $900-$1000 - Can the SD playback be $600 better? I do know the SD playback on the XA1 is superb and the best I have seen these SD movies look. I also own a 1080P TV (SONY 70" XBR 2) and my HD DVD's are cleaner and sharper than my Blu Ray movies (but I feel the BD movies have deeper, richer color)

In any case, Id like to hear from someone who has had the XA1 and XA2 and how they differ with SD playback.

On a side note, I did try an A2 before I had the XA1 and to me, HD playback looked slightly better on the XA1, plus the build quality is amazing on the XA1 as well. I returned the A2 and now Ive been tempted by the XA2 for its supposedly superior SD playback!

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HPforMe

· #8 · Jan 13, 2007

Just finished watching 'The Devil Wears Prada' on sd with my A1. What a beautiful upconverting player. Just spectacular clarity and saturation of colors. If I get the XA2 fine but if not this will always be my premiere sd upconverting player.

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yellowlt4

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jan 13, 2007

You guys are making it hard for me to resist.

Are there issues with the XA1 when going from HDMI to DVI on a Toshiba RPTV?

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underdog57

· #10 · Jan 13, 2007

I have the A1 , and some of my sd's that are copied or do not have copy guard , End up getting a smaller picture at 1080i . That does not fill the screen like the 480P does .

I use component to a Barco 1208/2 .

Does the xa1 or 2 upconvert and maintain the picture size at 1080i ??

Not sure what it would take to upconvert the a1 and resolve this . A scaler ? or hdmi ?

Thanks

Bob

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goldielox

· #11 · Jan 13, 2007

To me, the "selling point" for the HD-DVD players is their upscaling of SD material. If HD-DVD fails, you will at least have a great upscaling player. Yes, even better than the Oppo 970 IMHO and I own both.

With great SD movies selling for $6 to $10 nowadays, it's hard to beat their picture quality using a great upscaling player. BR and HD-DVD versions of the same titles sell for $20 to $30+

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yellowlt4

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jan 14, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by goldielox /forum/post/0

To me, the "selling point" for the HD-DVD players is their upscaling of SD material. If HD-DVD fails, you will at least have a great upscaling player. Yes, even better than the Oppo 970 IMHO and I own both.

With great SD movies selling for $6 to $10 nowadays, it's hard to beat their picture quality using a great upscaling player. BR and HD-DVD versions of the same titles sell for $20 to $30+

The SD-upconversion is the only selling to point to me at this point, I own over 500 DVD's (most of wich will not be replaced with BD/HD in the near future).

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