Does "upconverting" DVD players matter?

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

What is the benefit of upconverting a dvd to 1080p/i over watching it on 480p on a 60" + HDTV?

 

[cubby1223]

Much better picture quality. Take your lcd computer monitor and set the system resolution down to 640x480 and play a dvd. Then compare when the resolution is set to 1280x1024, or whatever your monitor's native resolution is.

 

[paulxcook]

Regular DVDs + upconverting player like an Oppo = no need for expensive blu ray or hd dvd.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
What is the benefit of upconverting a dvd to 1080p/i over watching it on 480p on a 60" + HDTV?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=18

There is a raging debate on this topic. The hot thing when I quit the industry was to take a DVD player that could spit 480i out of an HDMI port and feed that directly to your display device.

This essentially ripped the native video bitstream from the disc (like using a digital audio cable for the sound) and let the display device's video processor work its magic. I've seen it. It's real. The best video I ever saw (outside of HD-DVD) was 480i through HDMI into a video procesor, upconverted to 1080p and shot on to a 100" screen.

 

[Blayze]

Originally posted by: paulxcook
Regular DVDs + upconverting player like an Oppo = no need for expensive blu ray or hd dvd.

Wouldn't say that. HD DVD/Blu-ray will still give you a better picture than an upconverting player. It really depends if you want to buy into a format that might be dead in a few years.

Upconverting also depends on the DVD transfer. A horrible transfer isn't going to look that great upconverted. Where something like Star Wars Episode 3 looks great on an upconverting player.

On a 60 inch HDTV I would get an upconverting player, if you don't plan to buy into one of the HD formats. The Oppo 981 is a great choice, but isn't recommended for DLP sets.

 

[JasonCoder]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
What is the benefit of upconverting a dvd to 1080p/i over watching it on 480p on a 60" + HDTV?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=18

There is a raging debate on this topic. The hot thing when I quit the industry was to take a DVD player that could spit 480i out of an HDMI port and feed that directly to your display device.

This essentially ripped the native video bitstream from the disc (like using a digital audio cable for the sound) and let the display device's video processor work its magic. I've seen it. It's real. The best video I ever saw (outside of HD-DVD) was 480i through HDMI into a video procesor, upconverted to 1080p and shot on to a 100" screen.

Saweet. Can I do this with my xbox360? (Component only)

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: JasonCoder

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
What is the benefit of upconverting a dvd to 1080p/i over watching it on 480p on a 60" + HDTV?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=18

There is a raging debate on this topic. The hot thing when I quit the industry was to take a DVD player that could spit 480i out of an HDMI port and feed that directly to your display device.

This essentially ripped the native video bitstream from the disc (like using a digital audio cable for the sound) and let the display device's video processor work its magic. I've seen it. It's real. The best video I ever saw (outside of HD-DVD) was 480i through HDMI into a video procesor, upconverted to 1080p and shot on to a 100" screen.

Saweet. Can I do this with my xbox360? (Component only)

I think you need to use the VGA on the 360 to get upconversion.

 

[LordSnailz]

hrmm, interesting question. I recently got a upconverting dvd player, philips dvp5960 but I'm going to pick up a xbox360 as well. Does that mean I should get rid of my dvd player?

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: paulxcook
Regular DVDs + upconverting player like an Oppo = no need for expensive blu ray or hd dvd.

Not quite.

I built up a computer to upscale the dvds to 1080p, and even that was lacking. So I picked up a PS3 for the blu-ray player. There is no question blu-ray movies are better than upscaled dvds. Not enough to replace movies you've already got to hd-dvd or blu-ray, but enough to want all new purchases to be hi-def.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: LordSnailz
hrmm, interesting question. I recently got a upconverting dvd player, philips dvp5960 but I'm going to pick up a xbox360 as well. Does that mean I should get rid of my dvd player?

Yes.

Edit: As long as you can connect the 360 via the VGA cable. It doesn't upconvert through component.

 

[irishScott]

Couldn't you just convert and burn via computer? Would take a while, but since most movies are just upconverted and burned anyway...