Home audio & video forum: DVD player - Which one?

I have a Sony DVP upconverting player and I am very satisfied with it. I don't remember the model number off the top of my head but look in my cnet profile under what I own and that is the one.

It is only $130-$150 and really does make DVDs look a hell of a lot better than what they would look like in normal 480i or 480p.

I am not familiar with either of the DVD players, but unless one of them will up-convert over component, which I doubt, it probably will not make any difference which one you use.

Dan,

The difference you see, if any, can be affected by the TV you are using. For example; if you have a 720P fixed pixel TV and you de-interlace the 480i from the DVD to 480P in the DVD player the TV will scale the image to 720P. If you scale the image to 720P in the DVD player the TV will still display a 720P picture, the difference being where the scaling took place, the DVD player or the TV, and the quality difference between the two (if any).

If you scale the image from 480i to 1080i in the DVD player the TV will scale the image to 720P. Since this involves scaling twice I would think that this would be the least preferable.

Assuming that the scaler in the TV is as good as the scaler in the DVD player, passing the original 480i signal to the TV would probably look best, but most up-scaling DVD players will not pass the 480i signal over HDMI. I think I read that you (Dan) have an Oppo DVD player and I believe that the Oppo can pass the 480i signal over the HDMI.

I've been recommending this player to countless people (not sure how many online have actually listened to me as I don't follow-up) but w/o a doubt, you can't go wrong with the Oppo @ http://www.oppodigital.com/

For reasons why, visit www.avsforum.com and check out the dvd player forum and search for Oppo and also check out the Secrets' DVD benchmark at http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all&type=&manufacturer=0&maxprice=0&deInt=0&mpeg=0

Now, if you just want a cheap budget player and would never even think of paying $200 for any dvd player when there are countless cheap ones out there that "work fine." then thats your choice but why skimp ?? You've put together a nice HT setup already, why skimp on your dvd source ?? THe Oppo is a great unit, fast navigation, seamless layer change, easily hacked into region-free, upconverts (which I dont' see much of a difference of on my CRT but flat panel users would benefit from it), it can play div x and wma files, dvd-r, etc. etc., does PAL conversion, comes with a HDMI cable and as said before, displays a great picture !! Get what informed home theater enthusiasts have known for a long time. Some people have complaints about the Oppo but they're just nit picking (and no the tray isn't as flimsy as it looks, I've had a cheap player that had a similar tray and when the unit is turned on its side, next thing you know the dvd is out of the tray and inside the player, not so with the Oppo).

Just my 2 cents... I'm happy with my Oppo that I've had for almost a good 2 years, never had a problem with it. To add another thing, recently I was helping my friend get a cobweb out of his CRT with the Oppo playing a dvd, as I was attempting to get up from behind the tv,the Oppo fell a good 3 feet down onto my back and everyone who was watching the dvd exclaimed at how the dvd didn't skip at all, just kept on playing as if it hadn't fell and hit me. I was impressed with that as I've never dropped mine while it was playing.

As far as your 2 players, if you're keeping them after all I've said, well... why are you asking us ??? Use them and see which you like better. Btw, I have a Hitachi 57" CRT and a Pioneer 1014, as well as some internet speakers (Onix Rockets and a SVS sub if u must know), so I do appreciate great value and good price to performance ratio and the Oppo is definately one.

The DVD Benchmark shootout (which I place a lot of trust in for their highly technical reviews) and other high-end DVD review sites, compared the 971 to the 970 and the 971 had only marginally better tests that an accurate eye might see on TVs larger than 60". The 970 without the Faroudja was considered equal, especially since the one issue found with Faroudja chip sets is their issue with Macroblocking and the 970 had none of this. Oh, the Oppo also comes with a very high quality 6' HDMI cable, so that's got to be worth something. Check out this link for an indepth review of the 970HD: http://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/tech-review.php?rev=99