Upscaling DVD Player for £150 to £200

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I am looking to buy a DVD player with good picture and sound quality. I currently own a Samsung DVDHD-860, which I am disappointed with. The sound quality is poor and there is a distinct softness to edges in images. However my main concern is the very obvious motion blur. Could this be because my 1080p TV is having to de-interlace the 1080i signal output from the DVD player, incurring a time delay in some scenes? Via 1080p signals output from my PS3 this is less noticeable therefore would a good upscaling DVD Player with a 1080p output rectify this?

Sound quality is also very important, as the DVD player will be connected to a NAD stereo amplifier and I am hoping to use the DVD player to play DVD-A and SACD discs in stereo. Therefore a high quality DAC is essential as is good two-channel downmixing. I am particularly interested in the Denon DVD1940 and the Yamaha DVDS1700. The latter model has not been reviewed by WHF and is available for £159 at a reduction from £399 at this site: http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/3083 I am sceptical about the reasons for this discount, as I have not been able to find a review for this product anywhere and none of my local stockists have one for demonstration. However Yamaha's track record of building DVD players is impressive and even if this model is a 'flop' would it represent good value for money at this new price and against the '1940?

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Any advice or further recommendations are very welcome,

Regards, Lewis.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Lewis, I recently bought the Toshiba EP-30 and have been very impressed with its upscaling. Due to the demise of HD-DVD this player has been massively discounted and has been available from Amazon for just £49.99 with 2 free HD-DVD disc's thrown in. The EP-35 is also heavily discounted and is generally a higher spec player though I have no idea if would be any better than the EP-30 for upscaling ordinary DVD's. Hope this helps.

Mark

 

[Anonymous]

Totally agree with mark 1, I don't think you can go wrong with either of the two Tosh HD-DVD players. There price drop has made them an extremely attractive option for upscaling and with the price of HD-DVD's dropping around the £5 mark it's a no brainer

I bought an Oppo DV-981HD player 18 months ago and it's excellent but its £180 compared to the EP-30's £50 and don't rule out another price drop as people clear stock of them.

 

[ianr23gp]

Hi Lewis. You have an interesting dilema. I've just bought a Samsung HD870 and am using a Chord HMDI Silver Plus 1.3 to output the picture in 720p onto a Philips 32PFL9632D. Have to say that I'm quite impressed with the smooth, detailed picture / sound for the £47 I paid!!

However, I think you have worked out that the 1080i option on the Samsung isn't good enough for your 1080p TV. The reason progressive scan is a better option over interlaced is smoother motion handling.

Also agree that if you want a cheap stop gap buy the Tohiba EP30 is one to consider. However, on picture alone I'd go for something like the Denon DVD1940 which won a solid 5 stars and picked up a 2007 WHFSV award - not an easy feat and you can pick one up for around the £150 mark. However, if sound is your main concern then I'd consider something else... Perhaps the dilemma isn't over after all : )

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your reply, Mark. That does sound tempting, but I was really hoping for something with SACD and DVD-A playback.

 

[Anonymous]

I will add that this DVD player is to be connected to a Samsung screen (LE40M87) and have read a number of posts related to juddering caused by the combination of a Samsung TV and Denon DVD1940. I am swaying toward the Yamaha. Can anyone please give their opinions of this product?
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/3083

 

[Anonymous]

I have a Samsung PS42Q97HDX plasma now 6 months old as is my DENON DVD 1940 and never had a problem with this combination.

Correct me if I am wrong but I believe the problems you refer to appear to have occured with Samsung LCD TV's and the DENON DVD 1940