Are upconverting DVD players worth the money?

[3db]

Does the saying, "its only going to be as good as its source" apply to upconverting DVD players? Assuming I had a HD TV capable of 1080i or 1080p,
would I notice an improvement in the picture of a regular DVD that has been upconverted to either 1080i or 1080p over a regular progressive scan DVD player?

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Upconverting DVD players have gotten so cheap these days that you might as well try one and find out. They rarely cost over $50 or so more than their non-upconverting cousins.

 

[avliner]

From my own experience, gotta tell you that I haven't seen any improvements whatsoever, so the best feature for me on these upcoverting players is their ability in tweaking the contrast, gamma, hue, etc, without touching those on your display.

Bottom line, IMO, if you have a TV with a good scaler (my Panny does), there's no reason for another scaler in the chain at all.

That might be different with HD players, though

My $ 0.2

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

IMO:

If the original DVD is very good, then the upscaled 1080p will look GREAT.
If the original DVD is very bad, then the upscaled 1080p will look WORSE.

480 bad lines will become 1080 bad lines of resolution.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Something else to consider: If you have an older TV, make sure it has HDMI. Mine does not, and I have not run across an upconverting player that will send >480p signals over component.

 

[3db]

My current TV has componet video and not HDMI

Something else to consider: If you have an older TV, make sure it has HDMI. Mine does not, and I have not run across an upconverting player that will send >480p signals over component.

plus the face that is an 4:3 aspect ratio TV keeps out of the market for now. I can't even use the progressive scan feature from my current DVD player

I asked only because the big box stores are really flogging them but my thinking is, if a regular DVD doesn't for eg, show the texture of animal fur, how can the upconverted picture show the texture?

 

[GlocksRock]

I have the first Oppo upconverting player, which is regarded as one of the very best upscaling dvd players on the market due to it's Faroudja DCDi chip, but I didn't see much improvement over my current Panasonic DVD player, so for now, I would just reccomend getting a decent progressive scan dvd player, that way if the tv does a better job of deinterlacing the picture, you can turn off the players progressive scan feature.

 

[mike c]

i find the cheap upconverting players to be worth it (pioneer). but you can't force me to buy some expensive denon players.

 

[UFObuster]

i find the cheap upconverting players to be worth it (pioneer). but you can't force me to buy some expensive denon players.

Ditto on price...unless you're getting into the used market and finding some 1-2yr old products at 1/4 to 1/3 the price like I did.

Another important issue is how the player may fit into your system. I started but never pulled the trigger on an oppo...then found the Denon 3910 used for a REAL bargain. It's SACD,DVD-A, and CD analog playback is fantastic and it has lots of built-in audio and picture control...ie, great features. Bottom line...it improved a range of weak spots for me: up-converting, better cd, better multi-channel playback, no need for a dedicated cd player. For just up-scaling alone...the other posters make some really good points.

 

[Bloodstriker]

I find that when I play DVDs on my PS3 (which upconverts/upscales - conncted via HDMI), the image is a lot better than with my DVD player (which doesn't upconvert - connected with an RCA cable).

But I think Sony LCDs are really bad at this.

 

[jostenmeat]

I think the Denon's look best, not just the expensive ones though. I think even the entry-level ($150) are very good. My friend bought a 981 Oppo on my rec, and I think mine might look better. However, I believe there is something about Faroudja not being good with Dlp's or something...

A different fellow also finds the same experience with the TV's scalar being good enough (sxrd).

If the original DVD is very bad, then the upscaled 1080p will look WORSE.

Good point, and I don't think I've read that stated before...

Something else to consider: If you have an older TV, make sure it has HDMI. Mine does not, and I have not run across an upconverting player that will send >480p signals over component.

I believe its the Oppo 970 that can be hacked to allow 1080i upscaling by way of component. Oppo states that this voids the warranty. But, who cares right? Sure beats having to buy a new tv....

 

[3db]

I find that when I play DVDs on my PS3 (which upconverts/upscales - conncted via HDMI), the image is a lot better than with my DVD player (which doesn't upconvert - connected with an RCA cable).

But I think Sony LCDs are really bad at this.

I'm thinking your picture is better because of the HDMI input and from what I reading, your using composite video in which is poorest quailty video input you can have. If your dvd player has component or S video outputs and your TV has component or s-video inputs, I would use those instead of a single composite video connection. You will see a big improvement in picture quality.

 

[3db]

Does upscaling add more info to an existing picture?

Thats the only way I can understand that upscaled video from a regular DVD would look better than from a regular DVD. If it doesn't add info, how can it possibly look better. Again I go back to the point of your only as good as your source. Whats missing from this equation?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Just forget about the Upscaling business and buy a true 1080p HD player!

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Thats the only way I can understand that upscaled video from a regular DVD would look better than from a regular DVD. If it doesn't add info, how can it possibly look better. Again I go back to the point of your only as good as your source. Whats missing from this equation?

No, it doesn't add information (in fact, it cannot.) What it does is increase the number of pixels/square inch, making the picture appear smoother.

 

[3db]

I tend to agree with you.

Just forget about the Upscaling business and buy a true 1080p HD player!

So whats the justification for these beasts then? Is it just to pull more cash out of victims' pockets?

 

[solomr2]

Can you still buy 480p or 480i DVD players? I don't think I've seen any currently available DVD players that do not do upscaling of some kind. Most may only upscale to 720, but newer ones upscale to 1080.

From what I have seen, upscaling can be good if you have a very good source DVD with a good transfer. But if it was a poor transfer in the first place, upscaling sometimes makes compression and other transfer artifacts more noticable.

But this is all unavoidable anyway because your TV will automatically upscale the image to its own native resolution.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

So whats the justification for these beasts then? Is it just to pull more cash out of victims' pockets?

They figured that since most people will not buy HD DVD or Blu-ray, they will just settle for an upscaling DVD player. People will think, "Hey, I can get 1080p from ALL my regular DVDs! I don't need a HD player!"

I bet most people think that HD = 1080p, Upscale DVD = 1080p, therfore Upscale DVD = HD!

 

[bigbangtheory]

What we could really use is some A/B'ing between a good upscaler and an HD or Blu Ray player, using movies we all know well...to see where we should put the money!

 

[3db]

Good point!! I like it!!

What we could really use is some A/B'ing between a good upscaler and an HD or Blu Ray player, using movies we all know well...to see where we should put the money!

Maybe audioholics should do a shootout kind of thing getting together a bunch of upconverting DVD players and the winner go against a Blu-Ray and HD DVD. I think that may shed some light on this.

How about guys? Does it sound interesting enough to take a bite?