Best upconverting DVD player - no stinking HD!

dkg999
dkg999 Posts: 5,647
edited January 2008 in Electronics
I have a new Panasonic 50" plasma on the way to replace my ailing Sony 34" Widescreen CRT. I'm not going BD until a good spec 2 player is on the market and relatively trouble free. The Panny has a native resolution of 1080p (the PZ700U). I have a Cambridge Audio 540Dv2 here, but it upscales to 1080i, and there seems to be an opinion that 1080i on a 50" screen isn't optimal. So two questions:

What's the downside of using the CA 540Dv2 with upscaling to 1080i?

What's the best upscaling DVD, keeping in mind I don't care about BD or HD-DVD at this point?
DKG999
HT System: LSi9, LSiCx2, LSiFX, LSi7, SVS 20-39 PC+, B&K 507.s2 AVR, B&K Ref 125.2, Tripplite LCR-2400, Cambridge 650BD, Signal Cable PC/SC, BJC IC, Samsung 55" LED

Music System: Magnepan 1.6QR, SVS SB12+, ARC pre, Parasound HCA1500 vertically bi-amped, Jolida CDP, Pro-Ject RM5.1SE TT, Pro-Ject TubeBox SE phono pre, SBT, PS Audio DLIII DAC
Post edited by dkg999 on
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Comments

  • AsSiMiLaTeD
    AsSiMiLaTeD Posts: 11,728
    edited January 2008
    The Toshiba A30 that Amazon has for $170 is hard to beat as an upconverter. Yeah it's HD_DVD but even if you never use that it's worth the price aloen easily as an upconverter...
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  • Sami
    Sami Posts: 4,634
    edited January 2008
    Don't waste your money on another upconverting player. 1080i to 1080p display is perfectly fine, nothing wrong with that. You won't gain anything by going to 1080p upconverting player.
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  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,545
    edited January 2008
    Sami wrote: »
    Don't waste your money on another upconverting player. 1080i to 1080p display is perfectly fine, nothing wrong with that. You won't gain anything by going to 1080p upconverting player.

    I agree 100%. This format war is going to air out, very soon.
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Source: Rotel CD14MkII CD Player - Speakers: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
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  • dkg999
    dkg999 Posts: 5,647
    edited January 2008
    Sami - thanks! That would be the easiest and most convenient answer. My audio pimp back in IA became a CA dealer and needed to turn over some of their initial order, so I got a fantastic deal on the new 540Dv2.
    DKG999
    HT System: LSi9, LSiCx2, LSiFX, LSi7, SVS 20-39 PC+, B&K 507.s2 AVR, B&K Ref 125.2, Tripplite LCR-2400, Cambridge 650BD, Signal Cable PC/SC, BJC IC, Samsung 55" LED

    Music System: Magnepan 1.6QR, SVS SB12+, ARC pre, Parasound HCA1500 vertically bi-amped, Jolida CDP, Pro-Ject RM5.1SE TT, Pro-Ject TubeBox SE phono pre, SBT, PS Audio DLIII DAC
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  • dkg999
    dkg999 Posts: 5,647
    edited January 2008
    Steve - I agree! I'm waiting for the Panny BDK50 BD player coming out in hopefully a few months. If the reports are good, that will be my BD player. The kids want me to go with the PS3, but I have a principle issue in why they didn't make it fully backwards compatible with the PS2 games we already have. That makes it a financial proposition of epic proportions!
    DKG999
    HT System: LSi9, LSiCx2, LSiFX, LSi7, SVS 20-39 PC+, B&K 507.s2 AVR, B&K Ref 125.2, Tripplite LCR-2400, Cambridge 650BD, Signal Cable PC/SC, BJC IC, Samsung 55" LED

    Music System: Magnepan 1.6QR, SVS SB12+, ARC pre, Parasound HCA1500 vertically bi-amped, Jolida CDP, Pro-Ject RM5.1SE TT, Pro-Ject TubeBox SE phono pre, SBT, PS Audio DLIII DAC
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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited January 2008
    :eek: You mean you don't want to go out and spend more money buying new versions of games you already bought for your PS2???:eek:

    Whasamata wit you??? That's positively UnAmerican!!!:eek::p;):D

    I agree with you 1000%!: :D
    dkg999 wrote: »
    Steve - I agree! I'm waiting for the Panny BDK50 BD player coming out in hopefully a few months. If the reports are good, that will be my BD player. The kids want me to go with the PS3, but I have a principle issue in why they didn't make it fully backwards compatible with the PS2 games we already have. That makes it a financial proposition of epic proportions!
    Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
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  • dkg999
    dkg999 Posts: 5,647
    edited January 2008
    Cfrizz - LOL! Count me out on Sony's plan to have me single handedly improve the economy ;) And after looking at the price of the PS3 games, my children are going to have to give me the bad parent award for depriving them of the PS3! They'll just have to keep playing with their lowly PS2 and PSP's. I'm sure other better parents are taking a different approach :confused:
    DKG999
    HT System: LSi9, LSiCx2, LSiFX, LSi7, SVS 20-39 PC+, B&K 507.s2 AVR, B&K Ref 125.2, Tripplite LCR-2400, Cambridge 650BD, Signal Cable PC/SC, BJC IC, Samsung 55" LED

    Music System: Magnepan 1.6QR, SVS SB12+, ARC pre, Parasound HCA1500 vertically bi-amped, Jolida CDP, Pro-Ject RM5.1SE TT, Pro-Ject TubeBox SE phono pre, SBT, PS Audio DLIII DAC
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  • ViperZ
    ViperZ Posts: 2,046
    edited January 2008
    Surprise, surprise... IMHO, the best upscaling player is Toshiba HD-XA2 with Reon chip in it! :eek:
    Panasonic PT-AE4000U projector for movies
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    Sony XBR-X950G 55" 4K HDR Smart TV + PS3 in the living room
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  • billbillw
    billbillw Posts: 7,448
    edited January 2008
    ViperZ wrote: »
    Surprise, surprise... IMHO, the best upscaling player is Toshiba HD-XA2 with Reon chip in it! :eek:

    Or anything with the Reon/Realta chip. So, the Denon 5910, 3930, 2930 models all have this great upscaling. In addition the new Denon 3800 Bluray will have Realta upscaling too.

    Aside from Denon, Samsung uses the Reon in the BD1200 and UP5000 models, but they are so damn buggy, I wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

    Apart from the Reon/Realta players, Oppo is coming out with a new player that will be equipped with ABT (same as DVDO) upscaling and deinterlacing chips. This is supposed to equal or better the Reon in image quality. The model is the 983HD and its supposed to be out in February. HometheaterHiFi already made it a product of the year for 2007, even though its not out yet. Go figure?
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