Newbie needs help

[dazednconfused]

Hi guys,signing on for the first time & already asking for help....sounds bad I know,but if you were aware of the depth of my technophobia you would hardly be surprised. My prob is,I have been pondering recently about the value of upscaling and the various other video processing technologies built in to modern DVD players--i.e was it worth buying a player to upgrade s/d dvd`s and other video footage to h.d or near quality(as claimed by manufacturers??) in order to best display it on my proposed new h.d plasma screen.
I was quite convinced by the claims of the various dvd player manufacturers,such as how "their "chip(Faroudja,Silicon optix,etc.etc.)would transform even poor quality s.d video into splendid virtual h.d--in fact,I was on the verge of buying a player (I have a Philips DVDR dvd recorder,but this has no scaling abilities)
Now however,I have seen various opinions stating that the improvement in picture clarity,noise reduction etc. imparted by these numerous devices is way overated ,and in fact can sometimes be detrimental,as it can come into conflict with the sceens inbuilt scaling/processing capabilities .
So,now I am even more confused than ever--would some kind soul with a functioning brain please explain these things to me in simple(VERY simple) terms please?.
Does it work or not? To buy or wait for Blue ray/hd dvd?(it was meant to tide me over until the advent of one or the other,and in case they did not include capability to play my old library).
I apologise sincerely for the length of this question,but I am desperate
Many thanks in advance,cheers,dave.

 

[jcPanny]

DVD upscalling

Is your current DVD player progressive scan (480p) at least? If not you definately need an upgrade.

Concerning upscaling, all new HDTVs must upscale the video signal to their native resolution (720p, 1080i, or 1080p). If you buy a high end Sony XBR set, then it probably includes a pretty good scaler. If you buy the cheapest 42" plasma you can find, than the internal scaler is probably not so good and you might benifit from an upscalling DVD player. For video quality, the $200 oppo digital is a good option. There are also some cheaper Toshiba players that have gotten OK reviews.

It will probably be a while before reasonable (<$1000) priced HD-DVD and blue ray players and media are readily available, so the new DVD player might be a good investment.

 

[dazednconfused]

Hi JC,thanks for the prompt reply.Perhaps I should have pointed out that I live in the U.K,so U.S model numbers frequently are different to ours.
I have no idea if the dvd recorder I use (for play back as well as recording) is prog. scan or not-when I look in the owners manual under "technical data" section,it proudly tells me the weight and dimensions of the player,its max. working temp. ,voltage etc.,but not much else-usefull huh?
The screen I had shortlisted was the pioneer PDP436XDE,which is H.D ready,has a resolution of 1024x768,has digital tuner etc.,and is widely recommended by our A/V press as the best available here,though I doubt you recognise the mod. numbers over in U.S-why oh why do the manufacturers have to play about with mod. no`s when shipping to various countries??
Do you think that the video enhancement and scaling chips in modern players are truly as good as claimed? Is the old addage "crap in=crap out" no longer quite so valid?.
H.D t/v is due(possibly!!!)to start over hear sometime in the new year,so we are WAY behind you guys,hence my lack of knowledge and dozy questions!!.Cheers friend,my thanks to you,Dave.

 

[w.e-coyote]

I can appreciate your problem dazednconfused. I have for myself come to the conclusion that it is best to leave each device to do the thing it does best; let the TV do the video, the reciever do the audio and the DVD player decode the disc.

Because of this I am sorry to have to disagree with jcPanny's first statement to at least get a progressice scan DVD player. In my experience the de-interlacing performance (because that what's being discussed here), is quite often inferior to the de-interlacer in the TV (plasma in your case?). Two reasons for this:
* good de-interlacers cost money and only do a part of the job, so you can be quite sure that any sub 100 GBP DVD player will be relatively poor in this respect,
* the TV's are designed to do this (de-interlacing) in combination with a number of other video processing tasks. To throw in a few technical terms; scaling to display resolution, scan rate conversion, probably some filtering and color management as well. In the TV architecture there is a defined sequence and process for doing this and (provided they do their job right) this all tuned to the diplay. Inserting a video stream midway in this process does no do the TV any favors.

By the way, most TV's have either a Faroudja or some other good de-interlacers on board. As an alternative to the Pioneer you could consider Philips; very good video perfomance typically.

I wouldn't worry about HD broadcast or BD too much. If the TV has the appropriate inputs (analog [component video that is; NOT SCART] or digital [HDMI]) you will be able to enjoy it.


Bottom line; pay a lot of attention to the video performance of the TV and choose one you like. Go to a few dealers with own DVD's (not animated ones because those will look good on any flat display) and just compare what they look like. Tell them to turn on and demonstrate analog broadcast and satellite (Sky in your case) and compare these. See for yourself what you like best.

Happy hunting...

 

[dazednconfused]

Hi w.e-coyote,thanks for your reply and help.
The actual DVD player I was considering was in fact not sub 100 GBP,though it could hardly be deemed top end either!
The player in question was the Denon DVD 1920(250 GBP,scaling from Faroudja).
This is supposed to have onboard some relatively sophisticated video processing(considering the price point),but still in a lower league entirely to the likes of the Denon DVD-A1XV(2500 GBP,scaling from Video Optix,processing from Teranex),let alone top-enders such as the Arcam Diva and beyond.
Sadly ,these latter machines are way beyond my means.
The question is,will a player of the standard of the Denon 1920 be good enough to dramaticaly improve or upgrade standard deff. DVD`s picture quality to "near high deff.",as stated by the manufacturers ,or not???-Or as I wondered in my first post,is it all a tad overated altogether,even in the "top-enders"???.