Upscaling DVD players

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turb

802 posts

Ultimate Geek

#24886 5-Aug-2008 20:37

Hi Everyone.

I'm about to take the plunge and get one of the new 32" Full HD Sony Bravia integrated Freeview TVs. I can't afford a Blu Ray player yet, but as a compromise I've been looking at upscaling DVD players. Will I notice a difference or should I just stick to my current not-quite-the-cheapest Sony DVD player (DVP NS51P)?

Interests: HTPC, Web App authoring.

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142 posts

Master Geek

#154467 5-Aug-2008 21:17

Suggest to stick with the DVD player for now, and use the scaler in the TV, quite a few more $$$ went into the TV scaler, just feed it 576p, and let the TV do the work.

turb

802 posts

Ultimate Geek

#154565 6-Aug-2008 10:02

I love answers that mean I don't have to spend more money! Cheers mate.

Interests: HTPC, Web App authoring.

geekiegeek

2421 posts

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#154567 6-Aug-2008 10:07

I disagree. I have a Sony upscaling DVD player plugged into my V series Bravia and there is a very good improvement in picture with upscaling and the use of HDMI instead of component.

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nav2u

42 posts

Geek

#154617 6-Aug-2008 12:33

geekiegeek: I disagree. I have a Sony upscaling DVD player plugged into my V series Bravia and there is a very good improvement in picture with upscaling and the use of HDMI instead of component.

I second that... I havn't used a Sony upscaling DVD player but have seen a few others in action and they do a great job. The picture is so much more crisp and clear with minimal pixelisation(spellings?).

old3eyes

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#154618 6-Aug-2008 12:45

But if Turb is only getting a 32" set will any upscalling be noticed??

Regards,

Old3eyes

James Bond

912 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#154669 6-Aug-2008 16:04

I have an upscaling Sony DVP NS78. Very happy with it. Good alternative for now until I get a Blu ray player.

turb

802 posts

Ultimate Geek

#154738 6-Aug-2008 19:42

Hey thanks guys, I reckon I need to "Love the One I'm With" (at least until Blu Ray gets into my range!).

My current DVD player does have a wee button on the front called "Progressive" and in the manual it has a table showing different settings to use with different cables (I'm currently using AV which is the only one my sad old TV has!):

Line out/S video out - to use with AV or S-video cable

Normal (interlace)    - to use with component cables

Progessive Auto       - to use with component cables

Progessive Video      - to use with component cables

So to get the best performance with my whizzo new Sony Bravia I'm guessing I should go for Progressive Auto or Progressive Video?

Interests: HTPC, Web App authoring.

richms

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#154796 6-Aug-2008 22:22

the cases I have seen where the upscaling player looked "better" were just excessivly sharpened so all the edges had ringing all over them.

If there was some proper post processing going on then yeah, it could look ok, but I found it awful to look at and went back to the 480i output and left it to the TV.

Richard rich.ms

Radiotron

142 posts

Master Geek

#154802 6-Aug-2008 22:38

Agree with richms, have seen similiar results myself, hence my earlier suggestion to leave it all to scaler in the TV.

BazNZ

258 posts

Ultimate Geek

#154824 7-Aug-2008 06:38

How does the Playstation 3 look on a TV playing DVD's? Has anyone here got one? I presume this upscales to 1080p? I'd like to know what the quality is like? I feel if I make a jump to Blu-ray I also want something that will play DVD's at excellent quality. I think the PS3 is my best option to do both. What do others think?

Cheers
BazNZ

tchart

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#154841 7-Aug-2008 08:29

IMHO upscaling DVD players are worth it just for the HDMI output. I picked up (and dont laugh) a S&V one from Countdown. All I was really after was a DVD player that had HDMI output as my one component input on my 32" LCD TV is taken by Sky. Amazingly it also plays all manner of DivX off DVD+RW too.

That said I actually run it at 576p over the HDMI and let the TV do the rest. For me this gives a better picture than running at 720p or 1080i.

When its upscaled any higher than 576p it tends to create some blending "artefacts". A prime example of this is that the players on screen logo is red writing on a black background. When I run the player at 720p or 1080i the red tends to smear into the black and creates a kind of green edge along the border of the red writing. I can notice this in movies too where there is a high contrast.

When I run it at 576p its less noticable - but heck thats what upscaling is (ie guessing to fill in the missing pixels) so it really is asking a lot.

Or maybe (just maybe) its just due to my $99 DVD player!

Trevor

richms

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#154997 7-Aug-2008 16:33

PS3 is one of the better ones.

The thing is, the picture should be soft, the detail is not in the source, and to synthisize it in a manner that doesnt look like crap is not something I have seen done well. As things move the amount of enhancement that can be applied varys, so it makes loads more motion artifacts then having it off. If you cant handle seeing a grey edge between black and white, then you should get a lower resolution screen, or stop buying SD content. It is the way the content is and its the only viable way of presenting it that doesnt create a hell of a lot more artifacts around the edges of things.

Richard rich.ms

grolschie

684 posts

Ultimate Geek

#155006 7-Aug-2008 17:17

Line out/S video out - to use with AV or S-video cable

Normal (interlace)    - to use with component cables

Progessive Auto       - to use with component cables

Progessive Video      - to use with component cables

So to get the best performance with my whizzo new Sony Bravia I'm guessing I should go for Progressive Auto or Progressive Video?

Yup. :-)

Pomphobetus

21 posts

Geek

#155033 7-Aug-2008 18:58

Hello everyone,
My first posting!
I have recently been lucky enough to upgrade my home theatre after spending at least a year looking around for what I thought was the best bang for buck. I have a Panasonic 50 inch PY700AZ 1080p plasma screen attached via one HDMI cable to a Yamaha RXV3800 amp. This amp can upscale to 1080p EXCEPT through the HDMI inputs. Into the amp I chose an Oppo upscaling DVD player connected via HDMI. I also have got MySkyHD upgrade installed last week, also connected by HDMI, which replaced the old MySky connected via RGB three cables. I have a PS3. The last of 4 HDMI inputs is a home theatre PC, which has problems.
So I have been able to compare picture on MySky1 (non HD with analog connections and upscaled to 1080p by the Yamaha amp), My SkyHD in 1080i unable to be upscaled by the amp because it is connected by HDMI, Oppo upscaling DVD upscaled by the DVD player to 1080p, PS3 BluRay (Harry Potter at 1080p), and PS3 upscaling DVD.
The Oppo upscaling DVD appears to give a crisper picture than the PS3. It appears more responsive than the PS3 for DVD playing. Of course the Oppo cannot do BluRay. The PS3 seems to do a better DIVX than the Oppo, and it can pick a Divx off the home network to play it too.
My big surprise is that MySky1 non HD channels (on the old non HD MySky) connected to the Yamaha amp and upscaled to 1080p by the amp is clearly superior to the picture on MySkyHD for non HD channels. This may be due to the amp passing through an HDMI connected MySkyHD signal at 1080i, but there must be more than that I suspect. It appears that the Yamaha amp does a better job of upscaling than the MySkyHD box. Of course the HD channels on MySkyHD are great. My wife though cannot tell the difference between upscaled DVD on the Oppo and MySkyHD channels.
So, what I am saying is that the Oppo upscaling DVD gives a brilliant picture and is cheaper than PS3 for DVD playing. If you want BluRay dont go past the PS3. If you want a good quality picture on a 1080p TV with MySky or standard Sky (non HD) then get the Yamaha amp and connect MySky to it by analog connections which will look better than MySkyHD connected by HDMI for non HD channels.
Haven't ventured into Freeview yet. Waiting for the hardware to develop more and get a great PVR.

AncestralGeek

91 posts

Master Geek

#155113 8-Aug-2008 08:23

So, what I am saying is that the Oppo upscaling DVD gives a brilliant picture and is cheaper than PS3 for DVD playing. If you want BluRay dont go past the PS3. If you want a good quality picture on a 1080p TV with MySky or standard Sky (non HD) then get the Yamaha amp and connect MySky to it by analog connections which will look better than MySkyHD connected by HDMI for non HD channels.

Hopefully your reciever has multiple component inputs. From reading your posts this is a combination that does not seem to have been reported on. Connect the MySky HDi unit to your reciever via its Component out, with output set to 576i, or other settings, and compare that to the MySky unit for SD channels. Interested to see if the improvement is coming from the reciever or the MySky unit.

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