[jbeef86]

I have a Panasonic 47" HDTV (1080i, 480p & 480i) and now I have the Samsung HD841 connected through the DVI port. I honestly cannot see a difference from this player and my other one which is a Philips DV642 running in 480p progressive connected with the component cables.


I have tried the Samsung HD841 in 1080i mode and it doesnt even look as good as the 480p mode on this player. I tried a couple of different movies and I am stumped because I liked watching the movies better on 480p compared to the 1080i.


Could I possibly be doing something wrong where I cant see any of a difference? I figured I would see some better results with this player considering I dumped $200 on it compared to my $60 Philips but I cant. This just seems a bit odd because I have heard people talk about this player and they say the picture is great....even though alot of people have some problems with it......


I guess the question can be this, is anyone using these upconverting players that used a progressive scan dvd player that was connected using component cables and seeing a difference? Now dont get me wrong the picture is very nice but just not nicer and thats what I wanted...

 

[slick316]

i wasnt impressed with the Denon 1910 either. saw it at a local shop, hooked up to a sony DLP projector, and when i switched from 480p to 720p to 1080i, i saw no difference. it all looked the same to me.

i thinkt the picture from my dv6400 is great and dont see the need to get an upconverting, but i am still wondering if its me or is there not a big difference?


maybe the upconversion looks better on a small tv rather than a 55"+ screen?

 

[jbeef86]

Hi Slick,


Thanks for the reply. Its good to see that someone else couldnt tell the difference. On my setup the 480p looks better on my television than the 1050i and that is whats getting to me. Its kinda funny but maybe this will save someone else the headache of picking one up and then having to return it like I am going to do. I dont really understand why I cant see a difference though. I mean why even make this type of dvd player if there isnt a noticeable change? I was hoping to see near quality of an HD digital cable broadcast of a football or baseball game or Discovery HD channel or any of the specialty channel broadcasts on HD but I am not seeing it. Oh well....at least now I know.

 

[slick316]

i'm sure it has something to do with the fact that dvd's are 480i, so i cant understand who an upconverting dvd player is getting 1080i out of it, sounds like its going to look bad without even trying it.

i was going to buy the 1910 and see how it works on my dvd, but i'm not going to bother anymore, i'll stick with what i have.

 

[andyfleisher]

I'm kind of in the same boat. I have a Samsung HLN507W and was going to purchase one of the up-converting players. Now I know my TV has the Faroudja DCDI chip already so would an up-converting player really make that much of a difference besides using the DVI connection? I had an old SONY DVP-S360 which died so I bought a POS Coby player from Fry's in the interim. The picture seems to look better over an interlaced component signal rather than progressive most likely because the TV has a better deinterlacer than a very cheap player. Of course it is so cheap it somehow loses the video signal when outputting interlaced video, so I use progressive anyway.


Anyway Should I even bother with an up-converting player? Or just get a decent 480p player and let the TV do the work. I was thinking of buying one of the Samsung players for the audio playback as well, might as well get a universal player while I'm at it. Well, I think I will start to confuse myself if I keep asking questions, so if anyone has any insight I'd appreciate it.


Andy


_________________________

Samsung HLN507W (television)

Denon AVR 3801 (receiver)

Coby DVD player (for now)

Sony SVR-2000 (TiVO)

Sony VCR

XBOX

B&W 602, 302, CC3

Velodyne CT-80

 

[jbeef86]

Andy,


I cant see any difference and you may want to hold off or do like I did and grab one test it out and if its crap and doesnt improve video quality then return it. I was using progressive with my Philips 642 and component cables and the Samsung looks no better. I am going to go home tonight and screw around with it more but I am not holding out any hope that I have missed any settings I needed to make. The one thing I do like is that it seems faster on the commands than the Philips like forwarding through chapters and scanning. The Philips 642 drives me crazy on those things. But I dont think the Samsung is worth the $200 for that.

 

[ewclam9]

I recently got a Momitsu 880DX player. At first, I can not see major difference when playing the most popular hollywood movie like Lost in Space, Terminator 3, LOR, Matrix, and more. However, when I play a China made DVD (Hero), it gave me a big suprise. The picture quality from China is usual much worse than USA movie. I see many problem when playing it on my JVC progressive player. When I play it in on my 880DX player, it is almost as good as the Hollywood movies and most of the problem are gone. Notice that I am playing it on a 120" screen so I can easily tell any problem on the image if there is any.


If you are trying to do A/B comparision using good source, our eyes may not tell the difference, it is better to use the AVS Home Theater disc to compare the video pattern. Or you could try some poor source like me.

 

[mdrums]

Hey don't feel bad I bought an expensive Denon 5900 and can't see a differance between DVI upscaling to 720P or regualr component. I will say 1080i looked worse but not by much. Motly 1080i did not have the great clor saturation that compnent or 720p had. this was through my firends BenQ 8700+.

 

[bigbasin]

I have a sony 960 and a four year old s-video panny dvd. I compared it to a denon 1910 and saw NO improvement with the denon. I think the better displays have built-in upconverting which make buying a mid-level dvd moot.

 

[King of Pain]

I have my HD841 connected via DVI to my HLP5663W. I also have a HTPC connected via VGA. I must say the HTPC looks better. I got the HD841 as a freebie so I guess I can live with it.

 

[coati858]

Quote:

Originally posted by King of Pain I have my HD841 connected via DVI to my HLP5663W. I also have a HTPC connected via VGA. I must say the HTPC looks better. I got the HD841 as a freebie so I guess I can live with it.

I decided to enjoy my "free" HD841 over component to my HLP4663 rather than DVI. The picture detail in dark areas was better.

 

[Harold Southard]

Wow, I thought the picture would be better with these new dvd players. I was holding off untill HD DVD came out, but saw the LG DVB418 (HDMI) was only $200. I was thinking of going ahead and getting one instead of waiting, now from what I read here I believe I will just wait on the HD DVD's. I would love to see some screen shots of both side by side of a plain ps dvd player and a dvi or hdmi player.

 

[slick316]

i too would like to see some screens showing the difference between the different modes, maybe there is something to be seen in a still rather than in motion (i wasnt able to see anything different).

but i still think that it might look good on a small tv like mine, i might just try it out if funds permit.

 

[AngelDriver]

So it now seems like I will be researching a good 480p player now. Im so undecided.

 

[DaveInBerlinNJ]

You need to match your DVD player to the needs of your display.


Generally speaking, upconverting players work better when:

-providing a digital signal to a digital display (avoid D-A, A-D conversions)

-matched to a digital display's native rate (avoid additional scaling)

-connected to displays with "suspect" de-interlacing/scaling (avoids them)

-on larger digital displays (improvements more obvious)


Upconverting players are not a panacea... if they were, every player would do it. It is very display-connection-output-player dependant.

 

[Harold Southard]

Quote:

Originally posted by DaveInBerlinNJ You need to match your DVD player to the needs of your display. Generally speaking, upconverting players work better when: -providing a digital signal to a digital display (avoid D-A, A-D conversions) -matched to a digital display's native rate (avoid additional scaling) -connected to displays with "suspect" de-interlacing/scaling (avoids them) -on larger digital displays (improvements more obvious) Upconverting players are not a panacea... if they were, every player would do it. It is very display-connection-output-player dependant.

With that being said, Would someone with a crt rptv see a difference? I have a 53" Panasonic rptv (crt), PT-53WXD63. I have HDMI. "connected to displays with "suspect" de-interlacing/scaling " , where can someone find this out? Thanks for your input.

 

[HDTVFAN0001]

Quote:

Originally posted by Harold Southard Wow, I thought the picture would be better with these new dvd players. I was holding off untill HD DVD came out, but saw the LG DVB418 (HDMI) was only $200. I was thinking of going ahead and getting one instead of waiting, now from what I read here I believe I will just wait on the HD DVD's. I would love to see some screen shots of both side by side of a plain ps dvd player and a dvi or hdmi player.

I wouldn't judge all upconverting DVD units by the Samsung 841. It had many shakey reviews ever since it was released.


My Zenith (LG) DVB318 clearly has a superior image production compared to 480i/480p units costing 5 times as much. I have done at least 6 comparisons with other units, and nothing has been able to touch the upconverted imagery of the DVB318. All for $160.


There is a whole new generation of upconverting DVD players coming out 4Q 2004. The only problem I have with the "second generation" is that they seem to be highly overpriced.

 

[DaveInBerlinNJ]

"Would someone with a crt rptv see a difference?"


Maybe. And I'm NOT trying to be evasive. Theorectically, you might see some advantage of avoiding one A-D conversion. With a new Panasonic (has HDMI, I'm assuming its newish), I doubt it'd make much difference... but I could be WAY off base. I just don't know.


Personally, with a CRT RPTV, I'd start with 480p players in my price range that scored well in Secrets review, and are easily returnable. Unless I had good reports on a player from other 53WXD63 owners... then I'd start there.



"where can someone find this out?"


I wish I knew.


That's part of the problem... there is nowhere to find this info (about displays) that I'm aware of... we need a Secrets review of displays. That ain't gonna happen though. They're too numerous, too big, too expensive.


Unfortunately, it seems to me that the only way to find out is when you connect a new DVD player to it, and things improve (or don't).

 

[Harold Southard]

Thanks for the fast reply. My rptv is less than a year old. I have a Sony PS dvd player that has a pretty good picture. At the time I just could not see spending $400+ for a dvd player that is not very much better. Do the new dvi/hdmi players do a better job with the layer change? If they do and have at least a little better picture it would be worth an upgrade, to me anyway.

 

[DaveInBerlinNJ]

Secrets reviews list layer change times, next to last column:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-b...deInt=0&mpeg=0


Please note, I'm a fan of upconverting DVI/HDMI players... I'm not trying to dissuade you. I have a Momitsu for my Z2, and like it. It makes a real difference for me.


If I was looking for an inexpensive DVI player right now, I'd start with the 318 and the Denon 1910. Both have their plusses and minuses, but thats were I'd begin looking. If I was spending a bit more... then I'd start with the Momitsu and the pricier Denons. Again, there are plusses and minuses.


Just beware that your new "better" player doesn't do something else that you don't like.


best,

Dave