DVD player for HDTV?

[Scott Shepherd]

My father just purchased a HDTV. HDTV service is being hooked up later in the week, but for now, I hooked up his normal satellite connection and normal DVD player.

I was in a store this morning and thought I would look at some of the other equipment. I came upon DVD players that said they are 1080p/i converter units. I understand the whole 1080 thing, but what's the 1080 DVD converter player? I notice they can be bought for about $100 while the DVD HD players are 3 times that.

He's not a tv or tech junkie, so does he need one of those? What will the 1080 converter player not do that the DVD HD player will?

I don't have a HDTV so speak slowly so I can follow you :)

Thanks!

[Gary Keedwell]

I bought a 1080P up-conversion for $100. I figure no need for a HD DVD player until I decide which format to buy. Blu-ray or the other one.....hoping the market will decide for me.

:mad::mad::mad: Just when I got a good VCR collection...I had to start the DVD collection.....and NOW they want me to start another one?????:confused::o

Gary

[Scott Coffelt]

Not that I am a technical wizard, but the upconverter will take the format of the regular disk and upconvert that to it's format for the HD TV. I recently bought a Toshiba (I think R400 or something like that) and so far have been real happy with it. I thought about getting a HD or a Blueray, but decided I would wait for those to come down in price, besides I don't have any of those movies.

With mine I needed a HDMI cable to get the full 1080p, I found a place on line that sells them for $10. I had to wait a couple of days, but from all I read there is no visual difference in a $10 cable and a $70-100 Monster Cable. That's where BB and all the rest really make up the money is on cables. Do a search for HDMI cable and you'll find places that sell for a reasonable price. I am sure there are folks who can prove me wrong, but the quality I am seeing is just fine for 99% of the TV goers out there.

[Jim Becker]

The up-conversion feature is to provide a better quality display of "regular" DVD material on the more capable displays available today. Through a variety of techniques, including pixel interpolation, standard definition material on the disks will look better than it will from a non up-converting deck. The player actually adds information so the picture renders in "near HD" quality. This is especially true of 16:9 (wide screen) SD movies, but new displays with intelligent stretch features will also benefit. IMHO, unless you are absolutely dying to pay a lot of money for a BluRay or HD-DVD deck (or one of the about three models available that play both...), an up-conversion DVD player is a great alternative and good investment to go with your new TV.

[Scott Shepherd]

Thanks guys! Sounds like all he needs is one of those! Good to know. I'll pass the info along.

[Tim Morton]

Thanks guys! Sounds like all he needs is one of those! Good to know. I'll pass the info along.

Before you buy this unit...can you tell us what it is? LOTS of players claim to be upconverting. Also, you can now buy a true HDDVD player for under $200, so that might be another option for your dad.

[Scott Shepherd]

Don't know Tim. I have no plans of buying it for him and I had only mentioned it on here because I happened to walk by them in the store and notice the tag line on them all as saying "1080p upconverting".

I didn't look at any specific models or units.

Is there something specific that causes you concern? If so, I'll pass that on to him so he can make an informed decision.

[Alex Berkovsky]

If you can afford to spend $170, OPPO (http://www.oppodigital.com/) upconverting DVD player is one of the best around.

[Pat Germain]

I'm currently playing regular DVD's on my Sony progressive scan player and displaying on a 50" Plasma HDTV. The resulting picture is barely distinguishable from the true, 1080i HD programming I get on my satellite box. Thus, I'm wondering how much of a difference an "up-converter" would make.

One issue I'd like to mention here is that the type of connection from a DVD player to a TV makes a very big difference. I've learned this through trial and error as well as research. People sometimes disagree with me on this. Feel free to do so, but I stand by it. The level of picture clarity from connections is as follows with 1 being 'best'.

1. HDMI: Digital connection with sound and video

2. Component: 3 RCA connectors for video (Red, Green, Blue). Two more required for stereo sound. 1 fiber connection or 1 digital RCA connection required for surround sound

3. S-Video: 1 multi-pin cable for video. Two more required for stereo sound. 1 fiber connection or 1 digital RCA connection required for surround sound (some people claim S-Video is superior to a component connection. I disagree)

4. RCA: 1 RCA connectors for video and two RCA connectors for stereo sound

5. Coax: 1 coax connector for video and sound

I think a lot of people could improve on their picture quality from a DVD player by using component connectors instead of just RCA connectors or, good-golly, a coax connection. Not long ago, only higher end DVD players had the component connectors. Now it seems all but the lower end models have these connectors. Certainly any progressive scan player will include component connectors. Of course, the HDVD and Blu-Ray models have a HDMI connector.

As mentioned, there's no reason to by "monster" cables which are ridiculously priced with a huge markup. The mid-grade cables you can buy at Target and other department stores are just fine. Let Best Buy soak other people to boost their profit margins.

[Gary Keedwell]

HDMI....The way to go.....
Gary

[jeremy levine]

The real question was what will an HD(or Blu Ray ) do that an up converter won't.

While they both might out put the same signal 1080i or 1080 p ( or 720...). The converter is guessing about the rest of the image while the two other formats have it on the disc. Current DVDs have the image at 480i and can de-interlace to the actual ( not really but never mind) image .


In SMC terms a 40 tooth blade might look like and 80 tooth when spinning but there really are only 40 teeth.

[Bob Rufener]

We just bought a Sony 46" LCD unit that was delivered on Wednesday. The TV includes a Blueray DVD player. I haven't received it as they were out of stock but they will deliver and set it up. Our son works for Dish Network so he gave us an updated receiver for Xmas which will be installed as soon as the snow is off of the roof (maybe May???) According to techno son, Blueray is good. Supposedly, it will play non Blueray discs at an improved quality. I hope he is right......

[Tim Morton]

We just bought a Sony 46" LCD unit that was delivered on Wednesday. The TV includes a Blueray DVD player. I haven't received it as they were out of stock but they will deliver and set it up. Our son works for Dish Network so he gave us an updated receiver for Xmas which will be installed as soon as the snow is off of the roof (maybe May???) According to techno son, Blueray is good. Supposedly, it will play non Blueray discs at an improved quality. I hope he is right......

Blu-ray players will not upconvert or improve the quality of a standard dvd.

[Mark Rios]

Here are a couple of links that some folks may find useful on this subject.

http://www.komando.com/buyguide/index.aspx?id=2947

http://www.komando.com/buyguide/index.aspx?id=3336


hth

[Mike Heidrick]

Blu-ray players will not upconvert or improve the quality of a standard dvd.

Why would you make that statement?

If I was a betting man I would think that Bob is getting the Sony Blu Ray BDP-S300 with his KDL-46W3000 Sony LCD ;) I jus got the KDL-52W3000 and will pick up my Blu Ray player in the morning actually from BB. Bob, check out AVSforum LCD threads for info on calibrating your new TV. It will look even better once you complete that step!!

Here is the upscaling info of the BDP-S300 from its feature page.
DVD Upscaling to 1080p via HDMI

Get the most out of your existing DVD collection by having them upscaled to 1080p quality. Your DVD's will look and sound better than ever when you play them back on your new Sony Blu-ray Disc Player.

[Jim Becker]

If you can afford to spend $170, OPPO (http://www.oppodigital.com/) upconverting DVD player is one of the best around.

Thanks for that reference, Alex. It could "be the one" for our new HT setup...I'm not going to buy BlueRay or HD-DVD just yet.

[Pat Germain]

There is only so much information on a standard DVD. Therefore, there's really no way a Blu-Ray player can "improve" the picture. Yet, since a Blu-Ray player is a high-end machine and it uses an HDMI connection to the TV, I can see how it could indeed make the picture look better.

It will be very interesting to see what happens in the Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD war. I don't think it's quite like the VHS vs. Beta war. Back then, video tape decks were a lot more expensive than a DVD player is today. Pre-recorded movies on tape were also much more expensive.

Thus, I think a lot more people (but not Jim ;)) are OK with jumping in and enjoying a particular Hi-Def format while everything shakes out. By the time the war is over, it's likely time to buy a new deck anyway. Since lots of media in each format is selling, I doubt either one will become completely obsolete. Beta tape decks were used commercially many years after they disappeared from the consumer market.

[Tim Morton]

Thanks for that reference, Alex. It could "be the one" for our new HT setup...I'm not going to buy BlueRay or HD-DVD just yet.

FWIW Jim for another 20 bucks you can purchase a true HDDVD player that will do everything the OPPO will do and do it better, PLUS it will play hd-dvd's:D

[Jim Becker]

FWIW Jim for another 20 bucks you can purchase a true HDDVD player that will do everything the OPPO will do and do it better, PLUS it will play hd-dvd's

Yes, but only HD-DVD format, which leaves out a lot of movies/studios at this point. I'd rather wait on picking a choice from the Toshiba's HD-DVD vs Sony's BlueRay "race" and $700+ for one of the about three units that play both formats isn't going to get my investment right now. (I was a Beta believer for a long time and you can see how that turned out...ATM vs Ethernet is another one that frustrated me!)

[Brad Bartley]

Another alternative for dual format HD playback is to drop this $299 LG drive into your PC. In addition to Bluray & HD-DVD, it will also reads DVDs and music CDs. Great for a home theater PC.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136133

Playing the movies will require PowerDVD Ultra 7 ($72)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681565108SF

Another option is to copy or back-up you movies to you hardrive for convenient playback. Backing up HD-DVDs and Bluray disks requires an application like AnyDVD HD (due to the sinking dollar, they switched over from dollars to euros as of Jan 1 - so it's quite a bit more now)
http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvdhd.html

Right now, it's difficult to find HD-DVD and Bluray titles at rental stores, especially if you live in a smaller market size, so the best thing to do is to use a service like Netflix.

Along with my 60" Sony, I also use the computer to share photo's I've taken and for browsing the internet.

I know it's not a solution for everyone, but if your not intimidated by computers it works great.

[Tim Morton]

Yes, but only HD-DVD format, which leaves out a lot of movies/studios at this point. I'd rather wait on picking a choice from the Toshiba's HD-DVD vs Sony's BlueRay "race" and $700+ for one of the about three units that play both formats isn't going to get my investment right now. (I was a Beta believer for a long time and you can see how that turned out...ATM vs Ethernet is another one that frustrated me!)


well Jim it looks like you can choose blu-ray with confidence now that hd-dvd has officially lost the war:(

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/technology/05disc.html?ref=business

[Jim Becker]

Thanks, Tim...I'm actually glad that this issue is accelerating as it will be good for the (consumer) market to have the confusion reduced.

[Pat Germain]

Wow, thanks for the link, Tim. I had not heard that news.

I figured Sony got a big boost when Disney went with the Blu Ray format. Family and children's movies are a very large part of the DVD market and Disney is a very large part of the family and children's market. Many of the best selling DVD's of all time have been Disney titles. I guess Warner Bros. made it pretty much final.

I understand Blu Ray has the ability to use Java code, which is nice. That opens up a lot of possibilities.

I'll have to start watching Blu Ray prices; for the discs and the players. LOML currently balks at the price of Blu Ray discs. Since she doesn't care about difference between standard and high definition, she'll be a tough sell.

[Tim Morton]

Apple computer is expected to announce blu-ray support next week at MacWorld....and yes Jim. even though I have been HDDVD for over a year now...I am glad to move on. I will pick up a Blu-ray machine after I see what apple is doing....:D