# DVD Upconverter question



## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

This may have been covered before but I didn't see it. The DVD upconverting players I see at BestBuy - are they worth it? I just bought an HDTV and was wondering if getting a hundred dollar upconverting DVD player is something I would enjoy. I don't watch a ton of DVDs but since these aren't too expensive I wanted to get some opinions.

Thanks


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## majones (Sep 6, 2001)

Hi Bob-

I recently purchased a Sony (DVP-NS75H) upconverting DVD player to go with my new HP 1080P television. It has an HDMI connector and I must say, I was very impressed with the quality of the picture. Not quite HD quality of course, but much, much better than I've ever seen a DVD before.

I got it at CC for around $139.


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## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

majones said:


> Hi Bob-
> 
> I recently purchased a Sony (DVP-NS75H) upconverting DVD player to go with my new HP 1080P television. It has an HDMI connector and I must say, I was very impressed with the quality of the picture. Not quite HD quality of course, but much, much better than I've ever seen a DVD before.
> 
> I got it at CC for around $139.


Question - my TV has 1 HDMI connector on it and it's being used by my HD Tivo. Could I use a HDMI to DVI cable for the connection (I have an empty DVI slot on the TV)? I assume the DVD player has an optical audio cable? thanks


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

I have the Sony DVP-NS90V and am also very happy with the upconversion. Yes, you can use an HDMI to DVI cable to connect to a DVI input.


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## majones (Sep 6, 2001)

Bob_Newhart said:


> Question - my TV has 1 HDMI connector on it and it's being used by my HD Tivo. Could I use a HDMI to DVI cable for the connection (I have an empty DVI slot on the TV)? I assume the DVD player has an optical audio cable? thanks


Yes, as Steve said, you can use HDMI to DVI to connect. And yes, the Sony DVD player does have an optical connector.


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## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

OPPO OPDV971H 720p/1080i Up-Converting HDTV-Ready DVD Player all the way. http://www.oppodigital.com

I love mine...


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## reh523 (Feb 28, 2006)

Bob_Newhart said:


> Question - my TV has 1 HDMI connector on it and it's being used by my HD Tivo. Could I use a HDMI to DVI cable for the connection (I have an empty DVI slot on the TV)? I assume the DVD player has an optical audio cable? thanks


As said before yes you can DVI is fully compliant to all the copyright junk.. The only difference is the audio signals are missing. Just don't get the converter at B.B. or it will cost half as much as the player. I have seen these at Walmart


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## Ein (Jul 7, 2004)

reh523 said:


> As said before yes you can DVI is fully compliant to all the copyright junk.. The only difference is the audio signals are missing. Just don't get the converter at B.B. or it will cost half as much as the player. I have seen these at Walmart


He doesn't need to buy any DVI-HDMI cable or adaptor. He has a HD Tivo which means he also has a spare HDMI to DVI cable.


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## Robert Spalding (Jan 12, 2001)

Ein said:


> He doesn't need to buy any DVI-HDMI cable or adaptor. He has a HD Tivo which means he also has a spare HDMI to DVI cable.


ah , good point, thats an expensive cable that they give you for free. I got a 7' HDMI to HDMi and a 7' DVi to HDMI cable with mine.


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## itsmeitsmeitsme (Nov 13, 2003)

tazzmission said:


> OPPO OPDV971H 720p/1080i Up-Converting HDTV-Ready DVD Player all the way. http://www.oppodigital.com
> 
> I love mine...


These have been getting rave reviews(best bang for the buck) at Avs Forums. I don't have one but when I get a new player, it will most definitely be this one.


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## pesos (Mar 23, 2003)

the oppo is good but you can actually get far better uprezzing from the toshiba hd-a1... of course it's 2.5x as costly  but you get hd-dvd playback for your money... I love mine and both hd-dvd and standard dvd titles look incredible on my z4...


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## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

pesos said:


> the oppo is good but you can actually get far better uprezzing from the toshiba hd-a1... of course it's 2.5x as costly  but you get hd-dvd playback for your money... I love mine and both hd-dvd and standard dvd titles look incredible on my z4...


I'd skip any HD or Blue Ray players until we see who wins the format war. My guess is HD-DVD will win out.


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## pesos (Mar 23, 2003)

there may not be a clear winner in this one. at least not for some time. but yes, hd-dvd has a big jump and sony just keeps seeming to come out with more and more bad news for beta, err, i mean blu ray. interesting commentary: http://www.projectorcentral.com/blu-ray_2.htm


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## LlamaLarry (Apr 30, 2003)

Bob_Newhart said:


> Question - my TV has 1 HDMI connector on it and it's being used by my HD Tivo. Could I use a HDMI to DVI cable for the connection (I have an empty DVI slot on the TV)? I assume the DVD player has an optical audio cable? thanks


I just bought a 5 port HDMI switch from monoprice. Seems to work quite well and AVSForum folk seem to like it.


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## pesos (Mar 23, 2003)

I'm using the JVC 401s receiver, has hdmi switching (2 hdmi inputs, one hdmi output). it can also output all your analog sources over hdmi. comes in handy, i only have to run one cable to the projector.


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## technojunkie (Mar 15, 2000)

Popular Mechanics had an article last month where they did a survey on viewers of upconvertered DVD and the new HD/Blue-Ray. Their finding was that upconverted players were well worth the money. On the other hand they found that while the HD/BR players were noticeably better they weren't so much better that they justified the price premium. 

I've had one from Toshiba for over a year and the picture quality is much better than my progressive scan SONY. So yes it does help.

Is it as good as HD/BR? No, but where can you readily get the discs for those machines? These upconverting units do a nice job for the money.


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## pesos (Mar 23, 2003)

absolutely. i was getting ready to spend $200 on one. but i figured for $500 (that includes 2 free hd-dvd titles) I would go for the tosh hd-dvd player since its uprezzing of standard dvds rivals dvd players costing even more...


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## Anubys (Jul 16, 2004)

tazzmission said:


> OPPO OPDV971H 720p/1080i Up-Converting HDTV-Ready DVD Player all the way. http://www.oppodigital.com
> 
> I love mine...


another vote for the OPPO...it's fantastic...very smooth...great picture...


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## RunnerFL (May 10, 2005)

I bought a Sony DVP-NC85H and love it. Didn't exactly need it to be a 5 disc changer but for only $10 more than the single disc I went for it.

Picture looks amazing...

As for HDMI switcher I'm looking at getting the Octava from the link I've pasted below. A bit more than other HDMI switchers but it also switches Optical Audio as well.

http://www.octavainc.com/HDMI switch 4port_toslink.htm


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## ebockelman (Jul 12, 2001)

tazzmission said:


> I'd skip any HD or Blue Ray players until we see who wins the format war. My guess is HD-DVD will win out.


But if you want a great upscaling DVD player, why not get one of the HD-DVD units? They beat any other player I've seen (even the Oppo) hands down. The HD-DVD playback becomes a bonus at that point.


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## Anubys (Jul 16, 2004)

ebockelman said:


> But if you want a great upscaling DVD player, why not get one of the HD-DVD units? They beat any other player I've seen (even the Oppo) hands down. The HD-DVD playback becomes a bonus at that point.


an HD-DVD player is not an upscaling one...it plays DVDs that are already HD...the problem with it is:

1. they are very expensive. 
2. there are studios that will never release their movies in that format (they have alligned themselves with Blu-ray) 
3. each HD-DVD movie is about $25 to $35 
4. the selection is pretty meager

an upscaling DVD player, on the other hand, will play any movie currently out on DVD...


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## gkacher (Jan 10, 2003)

If you don't have an upconverting DVD player doesn't your TV do the upconvert for you? Isn't it just a matter of whether the DVD player or the TV upconvert the picture more cleanly? Help me understand.

-GKacher


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## vikingguy (Aug 12, 2005)

Anubys said:


> an HD-DVD player is not an upscaling one...it plays DVDs that are already HD...the problem with it is:
> 
> 1. they are very expensive.
> 2. there are studios that will never release their movies in that format (they have alligned themselves with Blu-ray)
> ...


The current toshiba HD-DVD does upscale and according to many people it does it better than anything else in the price range. Go read the avs-forums many people who nitpick every little artifact rave over the upscaling of the toshiba HD-DVD player. If these players ever drop in price I will pick one up just for the oustanding upscaling ability. The HD-DVD play back is just a bonus I will just netflix HD-DVD movies and not purchase till the war is over. Even if HD-DVD loses I will still have one hell of an upscaling DVD player.


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## RunnerFL (May 10, 2005)

gkacher said:


> If you don't have an upconverting DVD player doesn't your TV do the upconvert for you?
> 
> -GKacher


No, TV's don't handle upconversion the DVD player does and only if you are using an HDMI connection.


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## ravonaf (Sep 2, 2003)

What's the difference betwen progressive scan and up converting? I thought that was the same thing. My $50 divx/dvd walmart player does progressive scan and I thought the dvd playback was great. What am I missing with up converting?


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## Anubys (Jul 16, 2004)

ravonaf said:


> What's the difference betwen progressive scan and up converting? I thought that was the same thing. My $50 divx/dvd walmart player does progressive scan and I thought the dvd playback was great. What am I missing with up converting?


DVDs are 480i, a progressive scan DVD player converts it to 480p...which is a much better picture...

an upscaling DVD player takes the 480i and converts it to 720p or 1080i (i.e. converts it to high definition)...


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## sharpmibo (Aug 5, 2005)

Look at the Toshiba XA1 HD-DVD player or the less expensive A1. This is the best upconverting player I have ever seen, better than my Denon 2910, plus HD-DVD. I love this thing.


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## ravonaf (Sep 2, 2003)

I'm picking up an Upconversion player tonight. I considered the HD-DVD players but I'm also wanting a divx player and I don't see one that does both. I'm thinking either the LG DN191H or the Philips DVP5960.


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## SeanC (Dec 30, 2003)

If one were to watch a dvd on an HTPC running MCE with a desktop resolution of 1280x768, would that be considered upconverted?


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## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

majones said:


> Yes, as Steve said, you can use HDMI to DVI to connect. And yes, the Sony DVD player does have an optical connector.


Actually, I was wrong about my HDTV having only 1 HDMI input, it has 2. 1 is being used by my HR10-250. The other is available. The HR10-250 came with 1 HDMI to HDMI cable, and 1 HDMI to DVI cable (which I'm not using).

Question: I've been looking at various upconverting DVDs (specifically Sony DVP-NS75H), and they don't come with an HDMI cable. What options do I have here? The cables are so doggone expensive. If I'll have to buy a cable, where's the cheapest place to go? And is there any way to use the extra HDMI to DVI cable I have?


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## Slikkster (Jul 30, 2006)

You'd have to prove to me that my HDTV's (Panasonic Plasma) built-in line-doubling (aka progressive scan) doesn't look as good as these up-converting players.

Seriously, they have to add content where there is no content to begin with to achieve this conversion. I think it's more gimmickry than anything else right now. But to each, his own. I personally have to run my dvd players in interlace mode so the Panny can do the progressive routine. It's that much better than the DVD players' progressive modes I've used.

Side note: Anyone looking for good-but-cheap cables (HDMI, DVI, etc.) or even very inexpensive HDMI switch boxes should go to www.monoprice.com.


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## cheer (Nov 13, 2005)

Slikkster said:


> You'd have to prove to me that my HDTV's (Panasonic Plasma) built-in line-doubling (aka progressive scan) doesn't look as good as these up-converting players.


A good upconverting player (one that uses the Faroudja scaler) absolutely looks better. Go pick one up at an electronics store that'll take a return and try it -- you'll see the difference.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

Some inexpensive HDMI cable sources: cyberguys.com, monoprice.com, acousticimpact.com


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## jcricket (Sep 11, 2002)

My TV only has one DVI input (which I'm using for the HD Tivo right now). My progressive scan DVD player is connected via component video cables. 

If I bought an upscaling DVD player, and used the DVI input for that, would I get the same quality picture using the component video cables on the HR10-250?

I know there were threats of downrezzing video sent out via component cables, but that never happened, right?


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## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

jcricket said:


> My TV only has one DVI input (which I'm using for the HD Tivo right now). My progressive scan DVD player is connected via component video cables.
> 
> If I bought an upscaling DVD player, and used the DVI input for that, would I get the same quality picture using the component video cables on the HR10-250?
> 
> I know there were threats of downrezzing video sent out via component cables, but that never happened, right?


Could you get an HDMI switch box and use both from DVD and HD DVR?


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## yunlin12 (Mar 15, 2003)

ravonaf said:


> What's the difference betwen progressive scan and up converting? I thought that was the same thing. My $50 divx/dvd walmart player does progressive scan and I thought the dvd playback was great. What am I missing with up converting?


This article was a very good starting point to understanding progressive video.


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## yunlin12 (Mar 15, 2003)

RunnerFL said:


> No, TV's don't handle upconversion.


That's probably not true for HDTV's. Most HDTV's have built-in deinterlacers/line-doublers that converts whatever video input to the native resolution of the TV. I have 3 of those in my home:

1) My 1080p HDTV has a built in one Genesis deinterlacer.
2) My computer can play DVD, and upconverts it to 1080 to output to my TV vs VGA, I imagine the video card handles the deinterlacing.
3) My XBox 360 can also upconvert to HD (1080 or 720) when it's using a VGA output.

It all depends on which one is better. I honestly can't tell the difference when I play a DVD on my computer -> VGA (1080) -> TV, or when I play the DVD on my DVD player -> component (480i) -> TV. And yes I said 480i. I find the de-interlacing functionality on my DVD recorder (also double as player) to be lacking, and prefer to let the TV handle the task.


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## majones (Sep 6, 2001)

Bob_Newhart said:


> Question: I've been looking at various upconverting DVDs (specifically Sony DVP-NS75H), and they don't come with an HDMI cable. What options do I have here? The cables are so doggone expensive. If I'll have to buy a cable, where's the cheapest place to go? And is there any way to use the extra HDMI to DVI cable I have?


You'll need to buy an HDMI cable.

I purchased a 6 ft. HDMI cable for around $40 online. It was the Acoustic Research PR-186. Here's the link to that cable on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006AYZRS/ref=sr_11_1/102-3035656-6825736?ie=UTF8

Belkin and Monster also make them, although I've found the Monster are quite expensive.


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## yunlin12 (Mar 15, 2003)

Check http://www.monoprice.com/ for cheap but good HDMI cables, < $10 for the short ones.


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## Sknzfan (Jul 23, 2006)

Is their an Upconverting DVD RECORDER ?
That would be what I would be interested in.....Maybe..


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## majones (Sep 6, 2001)

yunlin12 said:


> Check http://www.monoprice.com/ for cheap but good HDMI cables, < $10 for the short ones.


Thanks for that site, yunlin. Wish I would have known about it before I spent $40 on a six-footer.


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## cheer (Nov 13, 2005)

jcricket said:


> My TV only has one DVI input (which I'm using for the HD Tivo right now). My progressive scan DVD player is connected via component video cables.
> 
> If I bought an upscaling DVD player, and used the DVI input for that, would I get the same quality picture using the component video cables on the HR10-250?
> 
> I know there were threats of downrezzing video sent out via component cables, but that never happened, right?


Never happened. Component from the HR10-250 looks (as near as I can tell) identical to HDMI.


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## yunlin12 (Mar 15, 2003)

majones said:


> Thanks for that site, yunlin. Wish I would have known about it before I spent $40 on a six-footer.


I went down to Best Buy before I knew about this site, just to get a HDMI cable for my new HD DVR installation, don't even ask what I paid there.


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## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

yunlin12 said:


> I went down to Best Buy before I knew about this site, just to get a HDMI cable for my new HD DVR installation, don't even ask what I paid there.


Was it in the upper $90 range?

I did the same last weekend when I bought my HDTV and HD DVR. The salesman told me "You gotta have one of these new-fangled cables". So I bought one - it was an open box item so I paid "only" $90 for it.

I get home, open the DVR box, and find an HDMI cable inside. So the next day I got to return that cable to BB, luckily. I also got to return the $30 OTA antenna also since I discovered in my attic an old, huge antenna that I was able to hook into and get great signal strengths.

The only cable I did get from BB was an optical one, which I saw later at Lowes for $10 cheaper.


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## RunnerFL (May 10, 2005)

yunlin12 said:


> That's probably not true for HDTV's. Most HDTV's have built-in deinterlacers/line-doublers that converts whatever video input to the native resolution of the TV. I have 3 of those in my home:
> 
> 1) My 1080p HDTV has a built in one Genesis deinterlacer.
> 2) My computer can play DVD, and upconverts it to 1080 to output to my TV vs VGA, I imagine the video card handles the deinterlacing.
> ...


Your #1 point would be the first TV I've ever heard of that can upconvert a signal once it's already been input into the TV.

Ummmm, your points 2 and 3 aren't TV's.

I'm talking the TV itself handling the upconversion, not another device upconverting and sending it to the TV.

For instance say you have an SD-DVR80 hooked up to your HDTV. Your TV isn't going to take the 480i signal and make it a 1080i signal to display on the TV.


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## chris_h (Dec 17, 2003)

RunnerFL said:


> Your #1 point would be the first TV I've ever heard of that can upconvert a signal once it's already been input into the TV.
> 
> Ummmm, your points 2 and 3 aren't TV's.
> 
> ...


My TV is a Hitachi 53UWX10A, about 4 years old. It converts everything to the native 1080i, no matter which input it came from.


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## A J Ricaud (Jun 25, 2002)

Bob_Newhart said:


> Could you get an HDMI switch box and use both from DVD and HD DVR?


I found that my HD Tivo and upconverting Denon DVD player look entirely different from one another on my TV, which has only 1 HDMI input. So, unfortunately, an HDMI switcher won't work for me.


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## gio1269 (Jul 27, 2006)

Are these cables that come with the Tivo units any good?
Is it worth it to go with Monter cable HDMI?

The MC HDMI cablesare priced pretty good on ebay with Audio Crunchers.
well below prices on-line or @ CC/BB.


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## tekgeek (Feb 8, 2006)

Go for the up converted DVD player.. I have a 60'' HDTV with a Samsung upconverted DVD. At the time Samsung was the only company that made one. It makes a huge difference. You can hook it up with a DVI cable of even the Component outputs with zero signal loss.

The matrix never looked so good


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## A J Ricaud (Jun 25, 2002)

gio1269 said:


> Are these cables that come with the Tivo units any good?
> Is it worth it to go with Monter cable HDMI?
> 
> The MC HDMI cablesare priced pretty good on ebay with Audio Crunchers.
> well below prices on-line or @ CC/BB.


The cables that come with the HD Tivo are fine. I wouldn't spend money on cables unless you need more length. If so, look at monoprice.com for decent prices.


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## gkacher (Jan 10, 2003)

I'm still not buying this upconverted stuff. The DVD has 480 lines whether it comes from an upconverted player or a progressive DVD player. My Fujitsu plasma has 768 lines. With an upcoverted DVD player it interpolates to create 720 lines. With my progressive DVD player it outputs 480 lines and my Fujitsu converts it to 768 lines. There's no difference in these processes other than where the upconversion is done. Why am I wrong?


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## hijammer (Aug 27, 2003)

Sknzfan said:


> Is their an Upconverting DVD RECORDER ?
> That would be what I would be interested in.....Maybe..


The only one I have seen is a Samsung DVD-R135, that is advertized in this week's BestBuy ad.


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## rifleman69 (Jan 6, 2005)

gkacher said:


> I'm still not buying this upconverted stuff. The DVD has 480 lines whether it comes from an upconverted player or a progressive DVD player. My Fujitsu plasma has 768 lines. With an upcoverted DVD player it interpolates to create 720 lines. With my progressive DVD player it outputs 480 lines and my Fujitsu converts it to 768 lines. There's no difference in these processes other than where the upconversion is done. Why am I wrong?


Just take a look at the picture between a non-upconvert DVD player and one that does upconvert. There definitely is a difference...it's not like SD and HD on your tv, but there is difference.


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