Samsung DVD-HD941

[rgriffin25]

I am in the market for a new universal DVD player. The Samsung mentioned above is slated to be released 9/30/04.
Samsung DVD-HD941

It seems like it would be a pretty decent choice with all the features it touts.. Faroudja DCDi-enhanced HD component-video, HDMI (DVI-D w/ HDCP), SACD/DVD-A, and HD upconversion to name a few.

I have very little if any experience with Samsung products. I know its a bit early to speculate but I would like to know if this player will be worth the wait?? Any comments would be appreciated.

 

[Mort Corey]

FWIW, I've had mixed results with the quality control on Samsung electronic products over the last eight or so years. They either work or are a continuing source of problems....YMMV

Mort

 

[TT-]

A friend of mine own the Samsung DVD-HD841, and he absolutely love it. I went to his place couple of days ago to see how the up-conversion really look on the screen, and to my amazement.. it really eliminates a lot of jaggies and other belimishes of the 480p. He up convert it to 1080i and he got a 42" Sony Plasma TV.

I got a Samsung 567W DLP TV and I'm planning to get the HD841 as well. I think the HD941 will be better since it uses DCDi by Farouja. Judging by HD841, HD941 will be a step up (though, how much better is another question).

 

[tec]

i was doing research on this item. it is really hard to compare it to anything since there are no dvd players out there that have an up conversion to 720p/1080i. if picture quality is a main concern then i definitely think it is worth the wait! i did'nt see anything regarding a release date, so i am interested to know where you saw that. i thought it was already out. and for the price and upconversion feature alone , i think it is a bargain

i was looking at getting this player along with a new tv. my current one (sony 40xbr800) does not have an hdmi or dvi input only component. so i will have to upgrade my tv just to try this dvd player!

 

[docferdie]

Folks remember up conversion is nothing more than the ability to do proper scaling. The image you see still has a color resolution of 720x480. Jaggies have just become more prominent because today's HD displays are fixed pixel displays whose resolutions don't match the image being displayed.
However I do think this DVD player has great features for the price.

 

[rgriffin25]

Good Point

I don't have a dvi connection on my HDTV. So I will have to leave the scaling to my TV. I guess I was wondering if this player will be like the pioneer players and "down" convert DSD to PCM? Or is the technology finally cheap enough that we will see more players with "true" DSD?

 

[tec]

???

doc...i am a little lost with your post...i know that the up conversion on most receivers that convert to component is just scaling...but on this player, when i read the link below, i got the impression that this is blu-ray/hd-dvd stuff. the actual output is at a higher color resolution

http://www.samsung.com/Products/DVDPlayer/Pro_EndDVD/DVDPlayer_Pro_EndDVD_DVD_HD1000.htm

 

[Unregistered]

Up-convert

I have a 50" LCD projection HDTV. I have a progressive scan DVD player. Will this Samsung DVD player really make a difference in picture quality?

Thanks for your help.

 

[tec]

???

doc,

i take it back...i reread the link and it is probably just a video scaler. one thing though, on the link it refers to copyrighted dvds playing back to 480. i wonder if you would have to burn your own dvd's and in the process stripping the copy protection. this way you can have the upconversion work...

 

[rgriffin25]

I have a 50" LCD projection HDTV. I have a progressive scan DVD player. Will this Samsung DVD player really make a difference in picture quality?

Thanks for your help.

Yes it will if you have a DVI connection and set the dvd players output setting to the native resolution of the TV (which I am assuming it is 720P).

I have read that these new HD upconvert DVD players are not supposed to improve the quality of the picture (ex.convert to true 1080i or 720p). They are designed merely to do a better job of scaling the dvd picture to the native resolution of your TV.

 

[mike_p]

I used to own the HD-931, Samsung's last generation player with DVI and upscaler. Then I upgraded to a Denon DVD-2200, which doesn't upscale and doesn't have DVI.. the picture looks much better on the Denon via component. The Samsung always had this graininess to it, the Denon picture just looks cleaner (slightly softer, but more movie like) more 3 dimensional. Then again, I don't even have a widescreen TV, but a Sony 32" /w DVI that does the anamorphic deal, so it does support 720p and 1080i (/w bonus black bars).

My understanding is that most "digital" TVs already have upscalers built into them, isn't that the only way to fill up all those pixels anyway? If you've got a BIG digital set that has a crappy upscaler, then the Samsung makes sense.. do your research first.

Another thing, the audio wasn't too hot on the Samsung.

mike

 

[TT-]

I finally got the Samsung DVD-HD841 and plug it into my Samsung 567W DLP, and I gotta admit, it does make a difference. The DVD scaler scale it up to my TV native 1280x720 (That's 720P), and wow... I watched a few ones like Starwars eps 2, LOTR, Monster Inc., Shrek, etc.. all I can say is... WOW!
The HD841 comes with a DVI cable, so that's such a plus of not having to get a separate DVI cable like other units. I'm very happy with the purchase and the improved video quality that I've seen so far.

 

[Unregistered]

i was doing research on this item. it is really hard to compare it to anything since there are no dvd players out there that have an up conversion to 720p/1080i. if picture quality is a main concern then i definitely think it is worth the wait! i did'nt see anything regarding a release date, so i am interested to know where you saw that. i thought it was already out. and for the price and upconversion feature alone , i think it is a bargain

i was looking at getting this player along with a new tv. my current one (sony 40xbr800) does not have an hdmi or dvi input only component. so i will have to upgrade my tv just to try this dvd player!

the tv you have DOES have DVI input. No need to buy another TV to test out the samsung dvd player.

 

[docferdie]

Sounds like by the time this samsung model is actually out, the new Denon's will be out as well. I wonder how many purchase decisions will be swayed by the new Denon line-up?

 

[rgriffin25]

I know I have decided to go with a Denon over a Samsung. For the price I think the choice is simple.

 

[Kilwox]

Does anyone know what the difference is between the DVD-HD841, and the DVD-HD941? Here in Canada, I believe that we can only get the 841, but I don't know if there is any difference.

I'm intrigued by this product because I innitially wanted an inexpensive way into the hi-res music scene, and this seemed to be a future proof product that will offer even more benefits to me when I get an HDTV. If anyone can comment on the SACD and DVD-Audio quality from this machine, I'd love to hear it.
Thanks.

 

[Unregistered]

hd 841

hi,
i own the hd 841. It uses a different chipset from the 941. it doesnt use the farjua with dcdi. It only upscales via the dvi connector not the component. component out is 480/525p. I use it in conjunction with my sony 34xbr910, and these are my opinions. With well mastered DVDs I prefer the upscaled dvi at 1080i, but with poorly mastered bad looking DVDs I prefer the component 480p to look better as the image is a little softer and blurred, masking the bad encoding and artifacts a little better. I think it would be better to wait for the 941 as its only a month away.

 

[Unregistered]

I'm ignoring the Denon comments

I'd ignore the Denon comments and judge for yourself.

I see the same comment on several pages, and it likely is a Denon employee.

 

[post2338]

I just recently picked up the HD 841 and have connected it to a Sony KV34HS510 using component video (am using the one DVI input for sattelite/OTA). So far, I have been impressed with the picture, but this is compared to my older 480i DVD player with an S-video cable. Reading the post below, it states that I am only getting 480/525P when using component video; if this is the case, am I better off returning the unit and just getting a decent quality 480P DVD player? My main reason for going with this unit was the upscaling. Does anyone know if the soon to be released HD 941 will upscale when using component video connections?

 

[Jondice]

DivX support

It would appear as though the HD941 has MPEG4 (DivX) support also! It seems to have everything I want(HDMI, upscaling, DivX) for only $300 MSRP, although I'll just have to see whether or not my JVC HD-ILA based TV I'm getting or this player will perform the better upscaling ...