Progressive Scan vs. Upconvert (DVD-R)
GenePontecorvo
5,612 Posts
If I need a new DVD player, and I have an HD set, is it stupid at this point to by anything other than an upconvert player? My not-quite 2 year old TV only has one HDMI input. HDMI switches ain't cheap.How does progressive scan compare?Thanks for any thoughts.
Comments
If you want a standalone player, for the price and features the OPPO is pretty dope. It upconverts everything and plays PAL/NTSC/ALL REGIONS. It also has some nice internal settings. You'll need to play with the GAMMA a bit (+4 I think), but overall it's pretty good. The LG Players and some of the others won't upconvert protected discs, and more so you get all the region free stuff out of the box. The geeks at the avsforum are all over it, but I picked one up because my Malata died and 75% of my collection is either PAL or not region 1.
The other method (which I use now) is a HTPC. I have yet to find a stand alone that can fuck with the picture of a properly set up HTPC. Use that FFDSHOW along with a few other programs and it'll really impressive the hell out of you. It really does justice to films shot on 32mm when upconverting. Depending on what type of PC you have, you may only need a graphics card with HDMI out. You may also want to buy a video card that's HDCP compatible, and then one day throw a Blu Ray or that 360 HD drive they have now and play HD dvd's.
I actually did a flash demo on this subject not long ago if anyone's interested in learning more:
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/genericContent.do?oid=164117&target=3
Thanks MoSS and Zen. The above actually helps me a ton.
I actually think I'ma get this one. I need both a new DVD and some kind of sound system. Not really hung up on 5.1 w/ rears and what not. I also have space constraints. This is looking perfect actually.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?...d=1138086437442
Hate to be a company whore, but there are some other, cheaper options:
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Home-Thea...categorylist.do
Ultimately I couldn't give a fuck though, so good luck!
Just the fact that with hdmi you get uncompressed video and audio in one cable makes me want it. And knowing that there is so much growth in the standard. Single link bandwidth to 10.2 GBPS (NICE!). I know the average Joe shouldn't care, but if given the option of taking hdmi or component, there would be no question in my mind.