Need help with DVD player purchase

[JetSnake]

My Denon DVM1815 multi DVD player crapped out on me. Stopped picking up the disk. It's under warranty, looks like I will get $300 in-store credit at ultimate electronics rather then fix it. So, the question now is what to get to replace it?

I was looking at at getting a Denon DVD1940CI. Multi disk is not important. I had the thought of getting a HD or Blu-ray player, but feel it's best to hold off on those until they get hashed out.

My denon 3808 receiver has HDMI in and out, my 1080i rear projection TV only supports component input. I'm looking at updating the TV to a Mitsubishi XX733 or XX734, which both has HDMI. With this set-up, what type of resolution can I expect with the Denon 1940CI using standard DVD's? It says the 1940CI will up-scale to 1080p. Now, does that mean I can view standard DVD's at 1080p if I get the up-dated Mitsubishi TV?

 

[no. 5]

Now, does that mean I can view standard DVD's at 1080p if I get the up-dated Mitsubishi TV?

The TV will display only its native resolution and scanning, regardless of what the DVD player sends it.

So what that means is that if the TV is natively, say 720p, everything that is sent to it (480i, 1080p, etc...) will be displayed at 720p. If, however, the DVD player is better than the TV at scaling and de-interlacing 480i, than you could get a better picture with the 1940CI (or other up-scaling player).

 

[JetSnake]

As far as viewing pleasure, what is going to be the difference between a standard DVD up-scaler player and s HD-DVD?

 

[mfabien]

I have an HD-A1 and an Oppo DV-970HD, the latter bought recently.

Both upscale SD DVD to match my TV's 1080i resolution. The Oppo is a better upscaler, much to my surprise. Faces and foreground are better defined and background is improved. The Oppo decodes audio and delivers PCM via both HDMI and 5.1 multichannel analogs. Since I use multichannel analogs for both players, I prefer using the Oppo for concerts on SD DVD because of the greater speaker level trimming possibilities using the "TRIM" function. That provides subwoofer performance equal to SPDIF connection, when used.

In your case, you may consider the Oppo DV-980HD or DV-981HD for 1080p transmission.

Note: I love my HD-A1 for HD DVD playback.

 

[j_garcia]

I have talked to a few people about the upscaling of the Toshibas vs Oppos and all have said the same thing. The Oppos score high for a reason, so for a SD DVD player right now, Oppo is an no-brainer, safe choice.

If your budget is $300-500 though, I'd definitely be looking at a Blu-ray or HD-DVD player.

 

[fmw]

I have players to handle every kind of home entertainment optical disk ever made. All three of them upscale equally. The Sony S300 is a more expensive unit than the others. The Toshiba A2 cost me $189 as a refurbed unit. It not only upscales really well but it plays HD discs. The Oppo 980 plays everything except HD, upscales with the best of them and cost only $169. I think the A2 or Oppo would be the way to go. A2 if you want HD and Oppo if you're interested in all the other audio formats like SACD, DVD-A, HDCD etc.

 

[rnatalli]

Another vote for Oppo.