Upscaling question - the ongoing saga!

[admin_exported]

Hello

My question is this - Not wanting to upgrade to Blu-Ray just yet (too expensive especially as ive just bought a new TV)... so... do i buy an upscaling DVD player in the mean time, or do i just stick with my old Sony non-HD dvd player and let my new TV do the upscaling?

I seem to have recently got myself very confused with regards to upscaling dvd players. And opinion from what i have read seems divided on the issue....

Ive just bought my first HD television - the Panasonic TH-37PX80..... and ive been VERY happy with it... all i want is to get the best picture i can from it without yet spending out to get Blu-Ray.... I'm looking at a maximum budget of £100 for the DVD player, preferably less...Is this enough to get an upscaling DVD player that will do a better job in upscaling than my new TV?

Any help and comments would be greatly appriciated....

 

[VoodooDoctor]

I'd stick with the TV and put the money into the pot for a Blu-ray player.

 

[nads]

stick with what you have.

and save a bit more and pick up a sony or a panna BD player for about or less than £200

 

[professorhat]

I do agree with the other guys, especially since you can pick up a Sony BDP-S350 for £170 from Amazon at the moment (and potentially cheaper at other stores - I haven't looked that hard). This is by far your best option if you can spare a bit more cash, even if it means putting it off a couple of months.

However, if you absolutely, positively can't spend more than a £100, I'd recommend the Toshiba XD-E500 which can be picked up anywhere between £80 - £100.

 

[Dan Turner]

The only reason to get an upscaling DVD player is if the scaler in said DVD player is better than the one in your TV. If you're only spending £100, I doubt it will be, so I definitely agree you should stick with what you have (even if it's not that good) and save the (little) extra you need to in order to get a Blu-ray player (which will also upscale DVDs).

 

[Anonymous]

I have to agree with all the others. I only bought a blu ray player as my non upscaling dvd players had died and i couldnt see the point in spending 50%+ of the price of a blu ray player on something i would probably want to upgrade in the near future (ie a couple of years).

Yes blu ray is great, but i wouldn't say the picture on my g/f's upscaling dvd player through a 50" sony rear projection tv was much better than my toshiba into an h56 projector.

Save your money and make a bigger jump when you can afford it.

 

[Anonymous]

Well... that all seems unaninmous... into the piggy bank the money goes... for now...

 

[Peter Larsen]

My Denon DVD-1940 can upscale to 1080p. I use it with my Panasonic PT-AE900 projector, and have made several comparisons. To me the picture is best if I let the DVD output 576p and let the projector do the upscaling to 720p. The picture has more depth and colors and contrast is much better this way. The picture looses its 3-dimensionality when the player upscales to 720p. Rather impressive since the projector is rather old.

 

[Anonymous]

Just another thought on this...

I realise that any budget dvd player would be unlikely to upscale to the same quality to my TV... but... if i buy a dvd player with HD output, but set it to standard output, but connected through HDMI... would it end up giving me a better picture than i currently have with my old Sony connected through a scart lead?

If that makes sense?

 

[VoodooDoctor]

It probably would, yes.

 

[professorhat]

nevermore80:I realise that any budget dvd player would be unlikely to upscale to the same quality to my TV... but... if i buy a dvd player with HD output, but set it to standard output, but connected through HDMI... would it end up giving me a better picture than i currently have with my old Sony connected through a scart lead?

Well, I'm not 100% sure your TV will be better than the Toshiba I mentioned above, I have heard marvellous things about it. However, on the last statement about HDMI vs Scart, the HDMI will undoubtedly give you a better picture.

 

[Anonymous]

I thought so but ive been getting myself all confused on the matter... lol

 

[Anonymous]

hmm... if the Toshiba XD-E500 was out of the question (im sure you'll call me fussy but i really want 'resume play')... what would people recommend?

Is the new Samsung DVD-1080P8 as good as the Samsung DVD-HD870 was meant to be? Then there is the Sony DVP NS708....? Ideally id like the Panasonioc DVD-S54 to go with my Panasonic TV - but it seems to get the worst reveiws... would i notice the difference? Even if im letting the TV do the upscaling?

 

[VoodooDoctor]

If it's getting consistently bad reviews then it'll probably be noticeable. Honestly, save the extra money up and get a cheap Blu-ray player. Then you'll at least have the option of getting HD stuff on your TV.