Upconverting DVD player worth it?

[Macguy59]

I have an 52" LCD TV with DVI and Component inputs but no HDMI. Is it worth it to buy an upconvert player?

[Reid Kistler]

I have an 52" LCD TV with DVI and Component inputs but no HDMI. Is it worth it to buy an upconvert player?

Maybe.

Here is what (I THINK...) I know:
Your tv is already "upconverting" - presumably you have a 720P/1080i/1080p set, so everything you view full-screen is shown at the native resolution of your set.

It achieves this by Scaling / (De)Interlacing the source - and an upconverting dvd player does the same. So the question becomes "Will an upconverting dvd player do a better job of scaling / (de)interlacing than my tv?"

And the answer is "Maybe..."

This is made more complicated by the fact that there appears to be 1) distinct differences between the capabilities of Upconverting DVD Players, and 2) the potential for INcompatibilities between certain upconverting chips and certain tvs.

For example, I was Strongly Warned NOT to buy certain upconverting dvd players for use with my Panasonic plasma tv, as they were KNOWN to cause picture problems.

No. 1 Son, who makes a study of this stuff, ran through 3 upconverting dvd players before finding one that provided a consistently better picture than his (LCD) tv did. Fortunately he bought at a local store that permitted returns.

Not only that, but he has demonstrated PQ differences based upon type of connection (HDMI vs Component - and not always in favor of one type over the other!), as well as Individual DVDs: some simply work better than others. ("Anamorphic" (?sp) is apparently a key feature to look for, but it is also true that some dvds are simply Better Made - mastered / remastered / whatever - than others.)

We have two copies of The Matrix - an early copy of the first movie, as well as a boxed set that supposedly was "remastered": there is a noticeable difference in favor of the 'remastered' version, and that difference is heightened when played on our Toshiba HD-D3.

Best analogy I can think of is the old DBX tape noise reduction system: Given a VG-Excellent source, the results could be stunning - but given a Good-Poor source the results simply magnified the problems inherent in the source....

....................

There are a lot of other factors that can enter into the picture here (pun?!?) - but the upshot is Buy From A Store With A GOOD Return Policy!

(Do you Happen to NEED a new dvd player? How sensitive are you to PQ differences? How close to your TV do you sit?............)

Good luck with your decision -

rk / se mi

ps: FWIW: Our Panasonic tv does a very good job with standard sources ("Excellent," per Consumers Reports): std-def dvd PQ is much higher than on our Pretty Good Toshiba FST 36" std-def tube tv.
But the Toshiba HD-D3 consistently provides a small to moderate improvement on std-def dvds (over and above the same dvd played on an older player), and another distinct up-tick when playing HD DVDs.

Going from a std-def on the Toshiba Tube TV to a HD DVD on the Panasonic can indeed be a "WOW!" - but the impresssion is (generally) of a "lesser Wow!" when switching between upconvert & HD both played on the Panasonic.
Sure, still an improvement, but simply no longer night-and-day.

No 1. Son has both the Toshiba HD-A3 (same as the HD-D3, but different retailer), and an Oppo upconvert player: The Oppo is the better upconvert unit, but the difference is (Consistently...) so slight that that unit is gathering dust at the moment (due to a lack of sufficient inputs between dvd / cable / Several game boxes) as the Toshiba does ALMOST as well - AND plays the handful of HD-DVDs he has on hand....

[Macguy59]

Thanks. I purchased a Phillips upconvert player that was on sale. I also bought an HDMI to DVI cable (male/male) off of ebay. The picture quality does seem slightly better but honestly without having a side by side comparison I can't say for sure. The new player and cable together was only $40 so it was worth the experiment. I will look for DVD's that use anamorphic to see if I can tell the difference.