HDMI Upconverting DVD Player

[htsteve]

I am about to take delivery of a Sony 50" SXRD TV. :T I'm also looking at replacing my current DVD player (Rotel RDV-1060) with a HDMI upconverting player. I'm looking a several players with Faroudja processing, amongst others. I've been reading about a macroblocking problem with Faroudja based players. Can someone explain that issue for me. How concerned should I be?

Also, does anyone have a Faroudja based player and SXRD? If so, how is the performance?

Finally, any recommendations on HDMI, upconverting DVD players?
Budget could be up to about $800. Not overly interested in DVD-A or SACD at this time, but I know many players come with one type or both of these.

[Azeke]

My quick thoughts for consideration, the Panasonic AVi59 (which I own), currently listing around $650.00, the Panny Avi79, and the new Oppo DVD player, model number uncertain, but I am sure others will elaborate here.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[peterS]

since you are interested in movies it seems, wait for the new sxrd that will take native 1080p, which i have been told is very soon
in the next few months hddvd and maybe even blueray will have rolled out too

personaly i have noticed more macroblocking do to a hdtvs processors than any dvdplayer, as for the Faroudja being problematic i have only read about it
cheapo upconverts can be spectacularly bad with fast motion too

[JonMarsh]

The Oppo DVP971 is a very good performer at $200; I bought one when first introduced. Plus, it's DVI without HDCP, so you can use it with any DVI or HDMI display. It uses the Faroudja chipset, but on my CRT projector, as long as you have brightness and constract calibrated correctly, I've never had issues. Very good de-interlacing even with video source material. (I watch a lot of video sourced DVD). Calibrates most accurately with player brightness set to the first notch up from neutral.

~Jon

[Shane Martin]

The Oppo is what I'd lean towards. It is the current top model on the Secrets test. It puts many more expensive players to shame.

[aud19]

The Oppo is what I'd lean towards. It is the current top model on the Secrets test. It puts many more expensive players to shame.

Plus it's cheap :B

[brac]

Wow, you guys never say anything good about gear I own, lol Yea I gotta say I bought the OPPO because of the price but I'm really impressed with it.
Brac

[comeup]

Never heard of a Oppo player where could you buy one?

[brac]

they are sold online mostly . go to http://oppodigital.com/

Brac

[comeup]

Thanks Brac I'm going to buy one and compare it to my Denon 3910 plus I need a good player in my bedroom, I have a (298$) RCA 27' HD in my bedroom that has a great picture for the price the Oppo should be a perfect match.

[Shane Martin]

Keep in mind that the Oppo will not pass 480P via Component. It's HDMI/DVI only for progressive scan.

[htsteve]

Contenders

Thanks for the feedback everyone. The process continues. The models I'm evaluating are these:

Pioneer Elite DV-79AVi (the 59AVi doesn't seem avialable at the dealers
I have visited. Is is still available/in production?)
Yamaha DVD-s2500
Denon DVD-2901

One dealer has an Arcam DVD unit. I think it's the Diva DV79, about the same price as the 79AVi. Appears to be a good unit. However, it doesn't appear to upconvert. Anyone have experience with this unit?

I'm leaning toward the Pioneer and Denon at the moment.


Azeke,

You have the 59AVi. What display do you have? How is the performance? Any issues with it?


Thanks,

Steve

[aud19]

The Yamaha 2300 was a nice unit I'd imagine the 2500 is it's replacement?

[htsteve]

Replacement

Yes, it appears the 2500 is the replacement to the 2300. Biggest difference is the HDMI output on the 2500.

[Azeke]

Azeke,

You have the 59AVi. What display do you have? How is the performance? Any issues with it?


Thanks,

Steve

Steve,

I've actually had this player for a while, even before I upgraded to HD. It was a good performer then, but now I can upconvert to 720p via HDMI only, it's well worth the investment, a beautiful thing to behold. I've read that the 59AVi can be bought for around $650.00, and does video better than the 79AVi, but I can't substantiate that fact. I recently saw it at BB, in the Mongolia (sp) Theater section. The only issue I had was the DVD drive motor was faulty, but it was replaced and has performed flawlessly since then. AVS forums has a thread dedicated to this DVD player, you may want to check it out. It contains a plethora of information.

Hope this helps,

Azeke

[LEVESQUE]

One big advantage of the 59AVi and 79AVi is that they can pass 480i over HDMI. So if you ever want to use an external scaler or simply let the SXRD internal video processing do all the job, then you need 480i over HDMI.

The upcoming Oppo 970 will pass 480i over HDMI. It's a player done for people with scalers.

The new 1080p SXRDs are able to do true per-pixel motion adaptive de-interlacing to 1080p. Something all the Faroudja and Sil players and scalers can't do (they can do 1080p, but it's Bob/weave only). So a 480i over HDMI player is nice with that kind of internal video processing the upcoming SXRDs will be able to do. I have a Sony Ruby VPL-VX100 and the internal video processing bringing everything to 1080p is really impressive with a 480i over HDMI player directly.

But right now I'm using a 79AVi at 480i over HDMI to a Gennum VXP scaler at 1080p and there is nothing on the market now that can do what the Gennum and Realta chips can do with a 480i or 1080i signal.

[htsteve]

Good Info

Levesque,

Thanks for the information. This is good to know since I may at some point get an outboard scaler. However, I thought the SXRD only could not upscale 480i, just 480p, 720p and 1080i. I'll look into this.


Anyone,

The native resolution of the SXRD is 1920 X 1080. I assume I would want to set the DVD player to 1080i going to the SXRD. Or should I use 720p from the DVD player. Help is appreciated.

Also, it appears I will get the SXRD next week. :B

[peterS]

Levesque,

Thanks for the information. This is good to know since I may at some point get an outboard scaler. However, I thought the SXRD only could not upscale 480i, just 480p, 720p and 1080i. I'll look into this.


Anyone,

The native resolution of the SXRD is 1920 X 1080. I assume I would want to set the DVD player to 1080i going to the SXRD. Or should I use 720p from the DVD player. Help is appreciated.

Also, it appears I will get the SXRD next week. :B

it performs better when upconverting 1080i broadcasts vs 720p
so id assume the same is true for inputs via hdmi

[ktaillon]

I have a question about the upscaling from 480p/i to 720p/1080i. I have a samsung HD-941 dvd player which upscales through HDMI either 480p, 720p, 768p or 1080i. I'm feeding a Panasonic AE-900 projector, but changing from 480p to 720p or 1080i, I can't see any difference.
Is this because the projector is doing the upscaling even if I send a 480p signal? I did try using the component connection using 480i and 480p, but I liked the picture using the HDMI better.

[coolmonk]

htsteve,
I recently just got the 60" Sony KDS-R60XBR1 SXRD along with the Denon DVD-2910 and the picture is amazing via DVI and HDMI (DVD output at 1080i). At 720P, the picture is still incredibly smooth but a little less detailed (only visible to trained eyes).

I also tried the DVD-3910 and to be honest, the picture was no different (in fact, it was slightly more appealing on the 2910). The video performance of the 3910 is not worth double the price tag....however, the audio is substantially better on the 3910. For some reason (and it may just be my unit), the 3910 when output at 1080i seems to reveal very faint horizontal lines accross the TV but when set to 720P the lines disappear. It's only noticeable on darker scenes, but this problem does not exist on the 2910 at 1080i. I believe I've read somewhere else online about this exact issue but I don't remember if the user had a 3910 as well. In any case, the 2910 and SXRD is a decent combination and should satisfy all your videophile needs.

[willng24]

Does anyone know of a player that does upscaling through the component? Noticed everything is through DVI/HDMI

[peterS]

Does anyone know of a player that does upscaling through the component? Noticed everything is through DVI/HDMI

what tv that is hd doesnt have hdmi/dvi ? a projector?
i believe lg's upconvert does it through component but we are talking a $100 player here
i am sure there are more too

[Shane Martin]

what tv that is hd doesnt have hdmi/dvi ? a projector?

Most sets prior to 2002/2003. HDTV sets are not "new". I'd say the # is in the several millions sets range.

[Azeke]

Does anyone know of a player that does upscaling through the component? Noticed everything is through DVI/HDMI

I believe this one does, the Zenith DVB318 1080i Progressive-Scan DVD Player.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[eddiem67]

I have a 60" SXRD with a Denon 3910 set at 720p (give the best picture), when I set it to 1080i, quality deteriorated. The new Denon 3920 will have the same chips the DVDO scalers and 5910 have.

[willng24]

Does anyone know if you can ONLY upscale through HDMI? Can this be done through component or DVI?

thanks

[Shane Martin]

Some can do DVI and HDMI, some can do component.

There are a few that can do component. The Samsung 850 is one of them.