Hi all, I am a very pleased owner of a Panasonic 37PV500 but now I want to see how it performs with hi definition. I dont want to fork out ?00 and an extra ?0 for Sky's limited channels, but I am interested in a low cost upscaling DVD player. I have been looking at the Toshiba, Denon and Samsung players but have a simple question. Would forking out between ?00 and ?50 on one of these players (depending on model) greatly enhance by current component connected Sony 710 playing my standard DVDs? Revciews on these players appear to be all over the place. Some saying fantastic, others saying all it does is makes the pic a bit darker! Has anyone got an upscaling DVD connected to a PV500 plasma? Would be very greatful if someone could tell me ince and for all, worth the purchase or not? Especially given that I dont intend to join the initial HD DVD rush or Sky HD. All I want is an improvement , visually noticable one that is, over my current setup.
Many thanks all.
Chris
hornydragon
08-04-2006, 1:43 PM
low cost upscaing dvd player will not improve your PQ significantly and more likely worsen it (you do of course know your TV already up scales DVD from your Sony dont you!)
ChrisJones
08-04-2006, 2:14 PM
Thanks for the reply. I did think that upscaling was being done in the TV but thought it would not be as good as a dedicated upscaling DVD player. Also, no way that the Panny is providing anything even close to high def. I assume that I have to admit defeat and if I want hi def or close to, go sky HD or wait for the true HD DVD players. Thanks again
hornydragon
08-04-2006, 2:25 PM
these players (upscaling DVD) are 99% marketng BS to sell more DVD players!
these players (upscaling DVD) are 99% marketng BS to sell more DVD players!
Putting scaling aside- is it not true that hdmi/dvi >comp>scart with respect to siganal quality
I always found there to be a big jump from scart to component but little if not worse via hdmi but i have not tried the denon
azz
hornydragon
08-04-2006, 4:27 PM
well i am yet to see digital YCbCr or RGBHV look significantly better than analoge YPbPr or RGBHV (this does depend alot on the display)
RGBcvS (RGB scart) can look as good if not better than YPbPr its all down to how its implemented and cheap HDMI implementaions are poor but it depends on many factors.
The key thing is that HDMI has no god given reason to look better it may do in a small % of cases.
Sluggster
08-04-2006, 7:27 PM
Does this mean that a good ?00 to ?000 DVD player outputting in 720p to a Pioneer 436XDE via HDMI will not show a significant inprovement over my 3 year old ?95 Sony's output in progressive over component?
Gordon @ Convergent AV
08-04-2006, 7:36 PM
You need to understand that before the scaling comes de-interlacing. The de-interlacing of film sources in the media box of Pioneers plasmas is actually pretty good. Certainly better than that in the sub ?000 dvd players I've seen.
Panasonic is different though as it's de-interlacing of film source material is non-existent, so a half decent progressive DVD player could prove a good investment with it. Decent doesn't always mean expensive and expensive doesn't always mean decent. Have a read about what what de-interlacing is then find a few discs that are mentioned in reviews and use them as reference to do some demo's of some products partnered with your own display. Unfortunately there is no "magic" solution that fits all scenarios
Now, if you want to improve all sources, not just DVD then why not look at a good affordable scaler..... ;)
Gordon
Quizza
08-04-2006, 8:02 PM
I have a Sony NV92V DVD player connected by HDMI to a Hitachi PJ TX200 projector. Blowing the picture up to six feet in width is a real test of picture quality and many DVDs look terrible blown up to that size, whether upscaled or not.
However, a good quality DVD original can look excellent on the big screen. I viewed DVDs on the Sony with a component connection to begin with and was pretty impressed. But switching to an HDMI connection, upscaled to 720p, made a significant improvement, yielding a more detailed and pleasing picture.
The Sony upscaling player is good value at ?50 inclusive from Superfi, multiregion out of the box. It is also an excellent CD/SACD player. See the long NS92V thread elsewhere in this forum for more opinions on this DVD player.
I think youve hit the nail on the head . the acid test of many upscaling solutions is big screen " projector" pictures.
Also expensive and good dont always follow as Good can be inexpensive and expensive mediocre.
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