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Which DVD Player are you using for your HDTV?

14K views 69 replies 41 participants last post by  s21477 
#1 ·
I am thinking of upgrading my Samsung HD841 DVD player. It has served me well after almost a year especially after I upgraded its firmware which fix a variety of bugs. However, I feel its time to try a new upconverting DVD player which hopefully will give an even better PQ. This will probably be the last DVD player I would buy until new Blu-Ray or HD-DVD players get released.

Anybody have any comments on the following upconverting DVD Players?

1. Oppo DV971H
2. Panasonic S77
3. Samsung HD950
4. Denon 1910
5. Denon 2910
 
#7 ·
I am not a believer in there being much difference in PQ between DVD players.
My cheapie JVC 480p player delivers images through my PJ onto a 100" screen that seem fine to me.

The high-end Denons are a poor allocation of funds IMO. Way too expensive for hardware sure to be made obsolete in the near future. I could care less about their build quality. It will hardly matter when it is moldering away in a closet within two years, having surely been replaced by an HD machine by that time.

I think this is a very poor time to throw money at a DVD player, allowing one has a proper functioning unit going for you.

Wait.
 
#8 ·
dawziecat said:
I think this is a very poor time to throw money at a DVD player, allowing one has a proper functioning unit going for you.
To be honest, I sort of agree with you on that, and I'm a huge Denon fan. If I didn't already have my unit, I too don't think I could justify the cost of an admittedly superior player at this point in the game.

The Denon's listed above are definately a better machine than the Panny, not only in build quality, but picture rendering capability, (and not knocking Panasonic here, it's simply a different class of machine, I've owned lots of Panasonic stuff and been very happy), but I don't know if the cost, at this point, is really justified.
 
#9 ·
Dawziecat I see your point but after having bought a bunch of Superbit DVDs (they are on sale at FS @ 2 for $15), I am beginning to wonder if I am squeezing all the PQ I could get from these using my Samsung HD841 ;)

IMHO waiting for the next gen HD players is a good strategy if you are sure when these devices will come out. With the increasing mass penetration of DVDs, the ongoing standards battle between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, plus keeping in mind the SACD / DVD Audio debacle, those who decide to wait might be doing so for a long time.
 
#11 ·
D@mn, how come I can't edit what I posted just a few hours ago? Anyway I did a typo on my post above... that is 2 Superbit DVDs @ $25 at FS.

With regards to the Oppo, it seem to have generated quite a buzz early on but lately the buzz appeared to turn somewhat negative as more owners seem to be complaining about lipsync problems. Oppo's website acknowledges the existence of this problem in this FAQ although it appears to shift the blame to DVD mastering and to the Faroudja deinterlacer/scaler that the unit uses.

Interesting because I believe the Denon and the Panasonic also use Faroudja chips although there seem to be less complaints about lipsync problems with those units.
 
#14 ·
I just bought a Pioneer DV-588a about a month ago. It doesn't have a HDMI output but the picture from the component outs are spectacular on my DLP set.

If you just want something in between while you are waiting on the HiDef Player wars to end, I highly recommend this one, and it won't break the bank.

It also plays DVD-A and SACD if you're into that.
 
#17 ·
RobZie said:
Do any of those players upconvert through component?
Most players do not upconvert through component unless they have been "flashed" or put into a special mode since Macrovision protection prevents upconversion over component.

My DVD player is a PC, connected by component to my current HDTV, so Macrovision isn't a problem for me. And once the BluRay / HD-DVD war is settled, I'll just pop in a new drive and be compatible.
 
#20 ·
jvincent said:
My DVD player is a PC, connected by component to my current HDTV, so Macrovision isn't a problem for me. And once the BluRay / HD-DVD war is settled, I'll just pop in a new drive and be compatible.
Hope you have a 3+ghz processor in that PC for HD :)

I use my modded Xbox, which upconverts, depending on the dvd software I use. Unfortunatly, it will not play back any sort of HD media (wmvhd, divxhd, etc) reliably, too much for the poor p3 733 inside it.

As with a lot of others, I'll be buying a xbox360 only once it has been cracked for mods. My Xbox is 200 times more useful now with the mod then without.

protovision
 
#22 ·
ag76 said:
Feedback? Comments?
I've taken the Sony DVP-NS70H DVD Player for a test drive over the last few days now. In comparison to my 2 year old Sony DVD player, the NS70H is much better at picture detail. This is probably due to the upconvergence and the HDMI ability. There are lights on the front of the unit to let you know if progressive scan is operating and if the HDMI connection is too. Also, some other added features in regards to slow and fast motion play. It's even easier to find the right spot on your DVD by forward or reverse motion. And the step-by-step play is fun as well.
 
#23 ·
protovision said:
Hope you have a 3+ghz processor in that PC for HD :)

I use my modded Xbox, which upconverts, depending on the dvd software I use. Unfortunatly, it will not play back any sort of HD media (wmvhd, divxhd, etc) reliably, too much for the poor p3 733 inside it.
HD playback is fine on my 2.4G P4. Note that there's no need to upconvert HD. It's already high res enough.

Also, a lot of the actual upconversion work and mpeg/wmv decoding is handled by the newer graphics cards. So depending on how post-processing intensive you want to be a relatively modest PC can do quite well.
 
#24 ·
If I recall correctly, the Panasonic S97/S77's (with the Faroudja DCDi chip) causes macoblocking to occur on the set. I have not witnessed this myself as I do not own this player, but I have a friend who does and it didn't show on his player/set (52HMX84). This is just what i've read on other forums.

Has anyone heard any news on the new upconverting Toshiba SD6980? MSRP: $269.00

Here's a short feature list:
Single Disc Tray
Progressive Scan
HDMI™ Output (720p/1081i) Upconversion
DVD-Audio/SACD Playback
DVD/DVD-R/DVD-RW/CD/CD-R/CD-RW/VCD/MP3/WMA
HD JPEG Viewer
DivX Playback
Universal Remote Control with TV Controls
24 bit/192KHz PCM Audio Compatibility
10 in 2 Card Slot Supports: Memory Stick/Memory Stick Pro/Memory Stick Duo/SD Card/Mini SD/Smart Media Card/Multi Media Card/Compac Flash/Micro Drive/XD Picture Card

It's not available at BB or FS (at least not on their website yet). Looks to be a worthy contender to the Panny/Denon now, since the previous model Tosh DVD Players were sub par and had poor PQ from many user reviews. I'm doing research now as I am planning to purchase the 52HMX85 end of this year and need a good upconverting DVD player to go with this set after I buy it.

Thanks all!
 
#25 ·
I'm in the market for a new DVD player for my Christmas gift (Front PJ). I'm looking at the Panasonic S77, Sony DVP-NS70H, and the Samsung HD850. I have seen the 850 in action and it looks great, but I have not seen the Panny or Sony in action. I have heard great things about alll of them.

Right now Its a toss up. I guess I have to do some more reading on it...
 
#26 ·
Im also looking at a new dvd player.. and I need some recomondations...
Requirements are
-Up convert to 1080i, tv only suppots this format for some reason :(
-The up converting needs to be threw the componets
-The player needs to be within a reasonable price..
- perfer one that can up convert all material, and with no firm ware updates but can do the firm ware if needed

The componets upconverting can be changed if some one knows if i can display 1080i threw the bell high def reciver 6100 without the HDMI output

BtW this new restrictions on newbies creating a thread is wierd, wondering if this will ever be read and responded to.
 
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