[mike1234]

I have read many posts on several forums and the answer seems to be a HTPC over a stand alone DVD player. My question is how much of a better picture will i get with a HTPC over a DVD player. Will it be a night and day differance? Will my family/friend really see a differance? Is the differance like VHS to DVD.


I have a Toshiba 61hx70 HD-RPTV. This tv only does the squeeze on 540P/1080I inputs. With a stand alone PROG-DVD unit it will downconvert the picture. I bought a Toshiba SD3750 and watched several movies (Patriot - 5Th Element - Gladiator) and

I was pretty impressed with the picture quality. I have 30 days to return the unit ....IF.... going the HTPC would give me a REALLY noticable differance in picture......Please help me decide......thanks

 

[Huey]

For that small size of an image, Prog. DVD player will be just as good as HTPC. For large image like FPTV then HTPC will be visibly better although not "night and day" compared to prog. DVD player via component. Prog. DVD player will do better at video source movies like Friends on DVD, etc. and at Anime like Akira or Pokemon. HTPC will be slightly better on film based movies like Hollywood blockbusters. Since the difference is slight, you'd only see it at larger screen size IMHO. Another thing to keep in mind is most set top box DVD player will pass better sounds into your DD/DTS receiver and more stable/compatible with movies than HTPC. Thus, I'd stick with your Prog. DVD player if I were you.

 

[mike1234]

Thanks a lot for your comments. I guess i will keep the 3750 for regular DVD movies and get around to building a HTPC when i have some extra time/money. The only thing i was really concerned about was the downconversion. I know i lose about 20-25% resolution because of the tv not doing the squeeze on DVD, but as i understand you the picture quality loss won't be that noticable to me right??????