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Recommend an upconverting DVD Player for new HDTV

P

Patt

Diamond Member
As stated in the title, I bought a 46" Toshiba LCD (REGZA 46LX177) this weekend, because I found a kickass deal ($1975 CDN marked down from $2699).

I am getting HD satellite soon, and would like to just get an upconverting DVD player for now, holding off a bit on splashing on a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player. Can anyone recommend me a relatively cheap upconverting DVD player that also plays DIVX?

Oh, and are there any free downloadable calibration-type DVDs out there?
 
If you have any type of dvd player now, I'd try it first. Recent TV's have gotten better and better at de-interlacing and converting standard definition to their native resolutions. An upconverting DVD player may not gain you much.

Besides, with HD-DVD players under $200 (and they upconvert better than almost anything), what's a reasonable price on an upconverting DVD player? It's not a good time to sink money into that technology.

 
I do have a Toshiba DVD player as well ... for things like Finding Nemo it looked OK, but not great. For The Matrix, it looked pretty terrible because of the lack of brighter/vibrant colours.

So ... upconverting DVD players don't do too much for the IQ of a standard def DVD?
 
There are varying opinions. I believe my Sony dvd player improves the picture when it upconverts. But I don't know if the improvement is worth a new player.

Besides, look at this deal:
$129 for an HD-DVD player and 7 high def movies

How can you justify paying $75-100 for an upconverting dvd player, when this one is going to be a BETTER upconverter for standard dvd's, AND you get 7 high def movies?

I just don't think the value is there for upconverting dvd players anymore. Stick with what you've got, or jump into HD.
 
Well, as long as you don't expect HD-DVD to be around very long (it won't).

I'd skip straight to the PS3.
 
Originally posted by: Patt
As stated in the title, I bought a 46" Toshiba LCD (REGZA 46LX177) this weekend, because I found a kickass deal ($1975 CDN marked down from $2699).

I am getting HD satellite soon, and would like to just get an upconverting DVD player for now, holding off a bit on splashing on a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player. Can anyone recommend me a relatively cheap upconverting DVD player that also plays DIVX?

Oh, and are there any free downloadable calibration-type DVDs out there?
Click to expand...


I got the baby sister to your TV over the last week (Toshiba 37HL67) for our bedroom wall and also got the following upconverting DVD player that plays DIVX on Newegg for at the time 60 bucks.

PHILIPS DVP5982/37 1080p HDMI DivX Ultra Upconversion DVD Player

Newegg

It is tiny and does everything I want to, has USB connectivity...plays .AVI files for tv shows I download.

I haven't seen a blue ray or HD-DVD on a high def tv so I can't comment but when when you put the DVD to upconvert to match your tv's resolution it looked great!

At some point I can't tell the difference, I am sure it looks better in blue-ray and HD-DVD but it also looks REALLY good on our TV just upconverting with a normal DVD.


Now if I could only find a solid way to tune the color, contrast, tint...ect I would be in business...



 
Originally posted by: Patt
That looks like a pretty sweet player leeland ... I can find it for $89.99 CDN ...
Click to expand...

When I compare it to our 4 year old progressive Sony DVD player which cost me 150+

It is so tiny, light...ect. like I said, I am sure there are a bunch of DIVX upconverting players around...I am happy with that one...

Until it breaks or stops playing DVD's...otherwise that TV and that HDMI player are fine for me.
 
Originally posted by: Rio Rebel
There are varying opinions. I believe my Sony dvd player improves the picture when it upconverts. But I don't know if the improvement is worth a new player.

Besides, look at this deal:
$129 for an HD-DVD player and 7 high def movies

How can you justify paying $75-100 for an upconverting dvd player, when this one is going to be a BETTER upconverter for standard dvd's, AND you get 7 high def movies?

I just don't think the value is there for upconverting dvd players anymore. Stick with what you've got, or jump into HD.
Click to expand...

agreed
 
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Originally posted by: Rio Rebel
There are varying opinions. I believe my Sony dvd player improves the picture when it upconverts. But I don't know if the improvement is worth a new player.

Besides, look at this deal:
$129 for an HD-DVD player and 7 high def movies

How can you justify paying $75-100 for an upconverting dvd player, when this one is going to be a BETTER upconverter for standard dvd's, AND you get 7 high def movies?

I just don't think the value is there for upconverting dvd players anymore. Stick with what you've got, or jump into HD.
Click to expand...

agreed
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that Amazon.ca has the same deal (or something similar). I'll have to check that out too ... thanks for all the replies.
 
I am not all that impressed with the Toshiba's upscaling. I have the Toshiba A-30 that has the ABT 1018 chip that does the upscaling and my Sony NS77 upscaling DVD player with the mediatech upscaler does a better job.
 
Yeah I'd either get a PS3 (because Blu-Ray looks like it's gonna win) or a Toshiba HD-DVD player (because it's cheap) instead of an upconverting DVD player.
 
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Originally posted by: Rio Rebel
There are varying opinions. I believe my Sony dvd player improves the picture when it upconverts. But I don't know if the improvement is worth a new player.

Besides, look at this deal:
$129 for an HD-DVD player and 7 high def movies

How can you justify paying $75-100 for an upconverting dvd player, when this one is going to be a BETTER upconverter for standard dvd's, AND you get 7 high def movies?

I just don't think the value is there for upconverting dvd players anymore. Stick with what you've got, or jump into HD.
Click to expand...

agreed
Click to expand...

second that.
 
I picked up the Sony upconverting DVD player from Costco this weekend for 99.99. It seems to do a good job - I am very happy with it.

Tim
 
Originally posted by: nycdude
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Originally posted by: Rio Rebel
There are varying opinions. I believe my Sony dvd player improves the picture when it upconverts. But I don't know if the improvement is worth a new player.

Besides, look at this deal:
$129 for an HD-DVD player and 7 high def movies

How can you justify paying $75-100 for an upconverting dvd player, when this one is going to be a BETTER upconverter for standard dvd's, AND you get 7 high def movies?

I just don't think the value is there for upconverting dvd players anymore. Stick with what you've got, or jump into HD.
Click to expand...

agreed
Click to expand...

second that.
Click to expand...

Thirded

For ~30 bucks more you can get a better upconverter and the ability to purchase true HD movies.

 
Originally posted by: Genx87
Originally posted by: nycdude
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Originally posted by: Rio Rebel
There are varying opinions. I believe my Sony dvd player improves the picture when it upconverts. But I don't know if the improvement is worth a new player.

Besides, look at this deal:
$129 for an HD-DVD player and 7 high def movies

How can you justify paying $75-100 for an upconverting dvd player, when this one is going to be a BETTER upconverter for standard dvd's, AND you get 7 high def movies?

I just don't think the value is there for upconverting dvd players anymore. Stick with what you've got, or jump into HD.
Click to expand...

agreed
Click to expand...

second that.
Click to expand...

Thirded

For ~30 bucks more you can get a better upconverter and the ability to purchase true HD movies.
Click to expand...

Fourderd!

My HD-A3 does an outstanding job upscaling. Granted the player has a few weird quirks that seemingly should have been worked out by now (no resume after stop, the well known long startup process, etc..), but from a PQ standpoint, you can't beat it.
 
Incidentally, I have been in the Blu-Ray camp for months. I only bought an HD-DVD player when it dropped to $99 at Wal-mart last year.

But you can't argue the value. $125 for one of the best upconverting players out there, plus the ability to play HD movies, PLUS 7 free movies, two of which are outstanding movies and come in the box.
 
Originally posted by: Rio Rebel
Incidentally, I have been in the Blu-Ray camp for months. I only bought an HD-DVD player when it dropped to $99 at Wal-mart last year.

But you can't argue the value. $125 for one of the best upconverting players out there, plus the ability to play HD movies, PLUS 7 free movies, two of which are outstanding movies and come in the box.
Click to expand...
I can't argue with the value, but who's going to win the HD format war has yet to be decided. HD-DVD dvd players could follow the Beta vcr into oblivion. Blu-ray has just won a couple of battles, so you may have chosen wisely, still too early to tell who the victor will be. Until then I'm waiting it out.

For the OP:
The Philips DVP5982 1080p Upscaling DVD Player is $59.99 shipped at Amazon.

 
Originally posted by: MadScientist
Originally posted by: Rio Rebel
Incidentally, I have been in the Blu-Ray camp for months. I only bought an HD-DVD player when it dropped to $99 at Wal-mart last year.

But you can't argue the value. $125 for one of the best upconverting players out there, plus the ability to play HD movies, PLUS 7 free movies, two of which are outstanding movies and come in the box.
Click to expand...
I can't argue with the value, but who's going to win the HD format war has yet to be decided. HD-DVD dvd players could follow the Beta vcr into oblivion. Blu-ray has just won a couple of battles, so you may have chosen wisely, still too early to tell who the victor will be. Until then I'm waiting it out.

For the OP:
The Philips DVP5982 1080p Upscaling DVD Player is $59.99 shipped at Amazon.
Click to expand...

Who said anything about winning the format war? There's a thread for that discussion.

My suggestion to buy an HD-DVD player had nothing to do with my belief on which format will eventually be the standard. That's an entirely different topic.
 
+1 for the Toshiba deal. Even if you don't "adopt" a new format, or pledge allegiance to one, you'll have 7 HD movies to enjoy. And I will tell you that Toshiba is seriously awesome at up-converting.
 
Does the Toshiba play back DIVX, as mentioned by the OP? I see no mention of it on the Amazon page, nor does it seem to have a USB port.

Anyhoo.. I still stand by the Oppo. I have a DV-980H and it scales both SD DVD's as well as USB media, which is really nice IMO.
 
Originally posted by: 43st
Does the Toshiba play back DIVX, as mentioned by the OP? I see no mention of it on the Amazon page, nor does it seem to have a USB port.

Anyhoo.. I still stand by the Oppo. I have a DV-980H and it scales both SD DVD's as well as USB media, which is really nice IMO.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately it looks like the Amazon deal does not extend to Canada 🙁 I haven't researched the Oppo yet ... but will do once I get a bit of time.
 
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