I hope you have better luck with the 3930. My 3910 actually did better with component video than with upconversion via HDMI.
While I have yet to get to a store and buy an HDMI cable,I'm pleased to report that I'm starting to get better performance from my DVD-3930ci.
With the unit's settings as they are(Straight out of the box),the unit was showing DVD's in too much details, exaggerating grain, and showing too much MPEG artifacts, artifacts that were not visible,or far less visible on $500-$600 machines.
I have now used the "Picture Adjust" mode,and created and stored some settings in the first(of 5) memory postions.I've turned on both video noise reduction modes(MPEG noise reduction "on",and "DNR" at +3),and reduced sharpness at the mid & high video frequencies to "-2").This is producing more satisfactory results when playing discs with less than ideal MPEG encoding,or (somewhat) grainy videotaped productions shot at night(I've been playing "Pink Floyd-Pulse" & "Kraftwerk-Minimum Maximum")
DVD is a medium quality convenience format. It wasn't intended for real videophiles, and can't withstand the scrutiny of being shown in a super- revealing way, like the DVD-3930ci's fresh from the box factory settings will show it.
The stock, fresh out of the box settings,are simply too revealing. I was feeling really down while watching the DVD-3930ci during the first four days that I owned it. Gadget freaks will appreciate that there are so many(seemingly hundreds) of user adjustable parameters in the DVD-3930ci, but for the average person,a cheaper player is a quicker route to a good, clean satisfying picture.
I'm not criticising the DVD-3930ci's craftsmanship.Of course,as reviews have indicated, the build quality is superb.