TV/DVD Help

[phibacka31]

Ok so I'm really looking into either upgraging my Tv to a better and larger tv(1080 the works) or upgrading to a HD DVD player possibly recorder. I was just asking for any advice on this. Which would be smarter to purchase first and why. IF you own any and have comments great. I'm confused on the DVD "upconverter" for certain HD DVD players. Do I want a blu ray DVD player? I'm just all ears on this topic. Also where to buy the product and why? Thank you so much in advance:approve:

[Cosmo]

yes, you want a blue ray player. Probably wise to get a PS3 for the job, as stand alone players still cost 60-80% the cost of a PS3.

As for a TV, you can't go wrong with a Sony. :)

I'm in a rush out the door, but if others dont give you more info, i'll be back with more knowledge later.

[Broncos24]

How about Tivo? Is it worth it to get one? Can I record the games recorded on tivo to a dvd disc?

[Rigs11]

Meh..wait til bluray prices come down.You can get hd content from your cable provider. As for a tv, if you have a light controlled room such as a basement go with a high def projector and make your friends jealous with envy. 100" plus screen!

[SleepingTiger]

my sis just picked up a 67" samsung LED rear projector for less than $2000 delivered from amazon. the prices went back up, but keep an eye out and it should drop again in the next month.

the picture is beautiful. i would just go with tivo rather than a dvd recorder IMO

[wolf754life]

this is the best tv you can buy for your money............

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-LN40A650-40-Inch-1080p-120Hz/dp/B0014175NE/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1215369757&sr=8-2

check out www.vanns.com

no sales tax, fast shipping..............

[Fedaykin]

Samsung is the best (picture quality/$$$) if you are looking for flat panels:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889102198

Their 650 series have all the goodies:

* 1080p
* 120 Hz
* Auto Motion Plus (smooths out fast motion, like Cutler's lasers)
* High contrast

The 550s are cheaper but only 60hz

[Fedaykin]

Also, if you buy an LCD or plasma, you do yourself a great service by buying local. They are still a fairly new technology, and have a pretty high failure (or picture quality problem) rate (every manufacturer). Also, you may decide you don't like it. This is not uncommon as flat panels have fundamental problems like poor contrast ratios and motion reproduction compared to regular TVs

You'll pay more, but if you need to return or exchange it's worth it.

[phibacka31]

Ok so I pretty much know nothing about tvs. Do I wanna make sure it's 1080p? I got a buddy who works at Sears I just wanna know if I need to do the 1080p for a smarter invertment for down the line. Thanks!

[Fedaykin]

If 1080p is in your price range then yeah, get it. Otherwise, most people can't tell the difference between 720p and 1080p. Most broadcast (NBC, ABC, etc.) is in either 720p or 1080i.

The reality is you can't get a set with the nice features (120hz, etc.) that isn't 1080p.

The best advice on whether you want 1080p, 120hz, etc.) is to go to your local Best Buy or whatever, and take a look at the sets. I suggest this even if you are buying from Amazon.

[BroncosinDC]

Ok so I pretty much know nothing about tvs. Do I wanna make sure it's 1080p? I got a buddy who works at Sears I just wanna know if I need to do the 1080p for a smarter invertment for down the line. Thanks!

You may be able to tell the difference in the store between 1080p and 1080i, but I doubt it at home. No one broadcasts in it.

I just bought a 42" Samsung plasma for $900 at BJ's for work. I have a 42" plasma monitor at home. I saved like a hundred bucks by skipping on a built in tuner...don't need it with the dish/cable.

I have a 106" HD projector at work its a pretty sweet picture if you have the space for one.

All plasma and LCD's have effing amazng picture quality, even the 20 something inch LCD I paid like $200 for that I put in my bathroom is amazing.

[montrose]

My two cents:

The TV: Obviously the biggest investment, don't be hasty and make sure to shop around for the best deal. Most people won't tell the difference between 720p and 1080p for TV's under 40", especially considering not many programs are even broadcasted in 1080p or 1080i. That's an immediate way to save on some money if budgeting is important to you. Over 40" you may see a slight improvement on a 1080 HDTV or 720, but it's not drastic at all, IMO. As far as brands go, I don't know much about the cheaper brands like Vizio other than the fact they have much lower contrast ratios (makes your blacks blacker, reds redder, blues bluer, etc.). From pure window shopping I believe Samsung has the best quality HDTV's, but I have no evidence to back that up. I've got a Toshiba Regza 37" 720p HDTV and I love it - and I'm a tech geek so you don't HAVE to have the highest end stuff at all to enjoy the experience. I would recommend going with a flat screen, LCD monitor as my preference. I believe they have the best picture quality (I'm looking at you DLP) and the least chance of burn in or burn out (hello Plasma). So if you're like me and looking for a long-term investment, I'd go LCD. Just be sure to shop around for the best deal but remember that if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

The DVD Player: HD DVD is going to be dead if it isn't already. Blu Ray will be the preferred format so if you want to get a DVD player for HD - that's the direction to go. PS3's are generally the best option to go here. If budget is a concern, I'd personally wait on purchasing this now as a nice, Progressive upconvert DVD player using an HDMI cord will get you a very good picture as is and you won't need to replace your entire DVD library at this time. Pretty much every newer DVD player will upconvert, so that shouldn't be a problem for you to find at a very reasonable price. As of now, Blu Ray players are still considered a "rare, high-end" product that should come down in price a bit in a few years. Again, it's a budgeting thing.

Video Games: If you're going to get a Blu Ray DVD player, obviously PS3 will be a great fit for you. If you want to play games but aren't sold on an DVD format, or budgeting is an issue, I'd suggest looking to the Xbox 360. The 360 is an upconvert DVD player that works very well and has many HD movies able to download from the Xbox Live service. It's just a personal preference on my part but I like 360 a lot better than PS3 and now the newer 360 models have HDMI capability which improves everything.

Accessories: I've been referring to HDMI through this post. In case you're not familiar, it's the highest-end cord to plug in your HD outputs (Cable Box, 360, PS3, Blu Ray, etc.) to your HDTV. Most of these outputs will come with the HD component cables which are like the old red, yellow and white A/V cords but include a Red, Green and Blue instead of yellow. These cords will still get a very good picture but spending a bit more for the HDMI cord is worth it for me. Some outputs will come with an HDMI cord, I believe the new 360's do and your cable/satellite installation guy may hook you up. Otherwise you can get for under $100 at Best Buy depending on how long you want.

HD Service: The most critical of the decisions, IMO, this is largely dependent upon where you live and what your options are. Currently I live in an apartment where cable is my only option and stuck with Comcast's HD service - it sucks. The picture quality is HD and I have no complaints there, but the channel lineup is skimpy with only a few HD channels. To compound matters, it's very expensive. I don't know much about Dish so I won't comment there but I give my highest recommendation to Directv which I had before moving. For less money than Comcast, you get slightly better quality and a huge difference in HD channels. Also, you can get NFL Sunday Ticket and get all of the Broncos games - so if it's available I'd suggest Directv.

[watermock]

My Olivia 1080p/42" for 800 is great, no problems so far. (5 mo) Office Depot

[Cosmo]

A side note:

If you decide you want to go with a Blue Ray player (e.g. PS3), then you'll want a TV that has 1080p.

If you do not want Blue ray, and only want HD tv, save yourself the money and go 720p.

Dont spend lots of money on an HDMI cable, people think they need to, this is untrue. HDMI is the first true digital cable, and unlike analog component cables there is no better picture with a superb cable. Think of digital as in binary, its 0 or 1, not .5. Whereas analog is about signal transfer/loss. So, save your bucks on the HDMI cable when it comes to that.

Here's an article that may help.

http://www.lcdtvbuyingguide.com/lcdtv.shtml


Also, there are tons of forums that are all about TV's. Search for them on google and you'll find so much information you wont know what to do with it.

If you have a Costco membership, I recommend buying from them. They have a 90 day return policy. They Double the manufacturers warranty and take care of the warranty in store and if you use an american express with Costco, your warranty is tripled. o.0

[KipCorrington25]

Don't buy Sharp they are garbage. They will hand grenade and they won't fix it.

Yes I'm bitter, can you tell?

[Cosmo]

Heres the TV i'd recommend if you have the cash:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11281246&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|79|2341|3316|74672&N=4018657&Mo=16&No=4&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=74672&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&hierPath=79*2341*3316*74672*&topnav=

[broncsyanks]

the track record on panasonics are not that good. but those were the begining models. honestly the best is sony then i would look into LG they are great and cheaper. dont waste your time with 720p . just get 1080p. i agree with the other people regarding a blue ray. get the ps3. you get more downloads and you get ,ore use for your money. now in regards to cables. DO NOT GET BURNED HERE! you do not need monster cables like everyone tries to sell off to you. the basic 6-8ft cable for $25 works well. no need to pay 100 for hdmi. also i would also reccomend a surge protector. there are a lot of people here who dont use that. to me that is silly. why spend over 1000$ then you should protect your equipment for an extra $50. you should.. just my 2cents. i have a sony xbr3 52"LCD with 80g ps3 surege protector, 2 hdmi cables and of course surround sound. also regarding DVR's - GET IT! its one of the best things i ever bought, no longer on TV's schedule and no more dvd's or VHS tapes to set it up. make sure its a HD DVR. if its direct tv they now have it so if you run a ethernet cable into the back of it video on demand is then free. no more trips to anywhere for old movies for me. also if you order the superfan package in HD all the bronco games are in HD :D . works for me

[PaintballCLE]

the samsung tv's are the best out there......series 5 are great, series 6 are even a tad bit better (but probably not worth the difference in price from the series 5 to 6) i would deffinately wait on the blu-ray prices on those keep falling every month. As for the upconvert......they really aren't that great. You really wont notice thatmuch of a difference between a regular dvd palyer and an upconvert (remember regular dvd's are not made in HD) So i would get the tv now, but wait on the dvd palyer.

[PaintballCLE]

also keep in mind as of right now (and for years to come) the ONLY thing broadcasting in 1080P is blu-ray movies. All cable/directv etc are all 720p or 1080I (720p is actually better than 1080I) P stands for progressive....and I for interlaced.....Ie a 720P uses all 720 lines at the same time......where the 1080I used everyother line (so 540 of them), switching back and forth really fast so 720 lines all the time is better than 540 at a time so hence why 720P is better than 1080I

[Bronco_Beerslug]

the samsung tv's are the best out there......series 5 are great, series 6 are even a tad bit better (but probably not worth the difference in price from the series 5 to 6) i would deffinately wait on the blu-ray prices on those keep falling every month. As for the upconvert......they really aren't that great. You really wont notice thatmuch of a difference between a regular dvd palyer and an upconvert (remember regular dvd's are not made in HD) So i would get the tv now, but wait on the dvd palyer.I have a Toshiba DLP that has awesome picture quality and just bought a Samsung 32" LCD that blows away other LCDs picture quality IMO.

[BroncoBuff]

I'm not sure I'll ever buy a Blu-Ray player. Atlas started that "how many movies do you own" thread, and I realized that I never watch ANY of the 100 or so DVDs I own. No, the future is On Demand and Pay-Per-View. In ten years, you'll have hundreds and thousands of movies available On Demand, many of them free. And the ones that they charge for will cost only a fraction of the purchase price of a Blu-Ray DVD.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

I'm not sure I'll ever buy a Blu-Ray player. Atlas started that "how many movies do you own" thread, and I realized that I never watch ANY of the 100 or so DVDs I own. No, the future is On Demand and Pay-Per-View. In ten years, you'll have hundreds and thousands of movies available On Demand, many of them free. And the ones that they charge for will cost only a fraction of the purchase price of a Blu-Ray DVD.They will be 1080p soon :) so a 1080p TV would be desirable. Blu Ray players are getting cheaper and cheaper every day (http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=blu+ray+players).



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[phibacka31]

So what is the head's up thing to do. You guys all talked me into the TV first, now i'm very back and forth when it comes between 1080p and 720p. I know 1080p costs quite a bit more so what is the smart thing to do. If I did get a 720p tv would I be mad in like 2-3years that I didn't get the 1080p?

[Bronco_Beerslug]

So what is the head's up thing to do. You guys all talked me into the TV first, now i'm very back and forth when it comes between 1080p and 720p. I know 1080p costs quite a bit more so what is the smart thing to do. If I did get a 720p tv would I be mad in like 2-3years that I didn't get the 1080p?It depends on whether you think you might want to watch 1080p movies or not.

To see the difference (and there sure is one) in pic quality go to Best Buy or CC, etc... and have them put in a 1080p movie for you.

[Fedaykin]

The thing to do is buy a 720p if you are happy with the quality/$$$ of it.

In 2-3 years the prices of all of these current televisions will be a fraction of what they are today and there will be newer, shinier versions that completely blow away what is available today. LCD and plasma are very new technologies and they are improving by leaps and bounds. Also, other technologies such as OLED (organic LED) are emerging which are very promising. So no matter what in that time period you will be pissed =)

[Cosmo]

All of us will not like our TV's in 2-3 years anyways. Laser TV's are coming out soon.

Laser TV's use 1/2 the energy, 1/2 the cost to build, have 2x the colors and can match any contrast a Plasma can put out.

So, spend as much as you can afford now, and hate yourself later like the rest of us :)

Dont worry though, you'll have plenty of friends drooling at your tv for at least a few years still :)

[Cosmo]

So what is the head's up thing to do. You guys all talked me into the TV first, now i'm very back and forth when it comes between 1080p and 720p. I know 1080p costs quite a bit more so what is the smart thing to do. If I did get a 720p tv would I be mad in like 2-3years that I didn't get the 1080p?



As Beerslug said, its about blue ray movies or not. Broadcasting in 1080p is said to be an expensive endeavor, so you dont have to worry about HD TV changing what it broadcasts in, it'll be 720p or 1080i for a while still. Personally, I can see a tiny difference between the two, but most people can't tell at all. Best thing you can do is find the make & size you want, and compare the price between the two. E.g. 46" Sony 1080p - $1899, 46" Samsung 720p - $1299. Make sure they both have 120Hz and decide based on the difference. I did the same, and I had to go with 1080p for the blue ray. I love my blue rays :)

[watermock]

http://gizmodo.com/photogallery/lasertv/1000437297

[ØrangeÇrush]

With the TV, go with Samsung. I bought the HLT6176S and love it. 1080p and it has the 3d jack for the future 3d movies that will come. Plus with 1080p you will still have a Television that is relevant in 5-10 years, since it supports a format that isn't even being broadcast yet. As for DVD's if your going Hi-Def just get a PS3.

If you are looking to get a good upconverting DVD player, than check this out


Oppo DV-981HD Universal DVD Player with HDMI, 1080p Up-Converting, DivX & SACD

Amazon.com Product Description
The DV-981HD is the latest incarnation in Oppo's highly aclaimed line of upconverting DVD players. It offers an HDMI interface (HDMI Specification 1.1), with HD upconversion ouput resolutions of 720p, 1080i, and full 1080p. This is Oppo's most full-featured player yet, and as such, it's not a DVD player for people with regular analogue sets. While the DV-981HD doesn't offer component output, and doesn't output standard or native resolution, it does represent one of the best (if not the best) upconverting DVD players out there, and it's perfect for people with HDTVs up to full 1080p who aren't ready to jump on the HD DVD or Blu-ray bandwagen. In addition to excellent upconversion, the DV-981HD offers playback of a whole host of formats including DVD-Audio, Super Audio CS (SACD), Audio CDs, HDCD, WMA, Kodak Picture CDs, all version of DivX including DivX6, as well as Xvid, .SRT, .SMI, .IDX, and .SUB file formats.

Audio Features
The DV-981HD outputs audio in stereo or in 5.1 channel surround, either via HDMI, or through the included 5.1 analogue outputs. Other connections include S-Video out, and digital coaxial and optical audio outs. It features 24-bit, 192 kHz high resolution audio D/A converters, supports virtual surround in six settings, and has built-in equalizer, channel trim, and channel delay functions.

Farudgja DCDi Technology
Rather than trying to build their own upconversion technology for this machine, the Oppo DV-981HD the DCDi Faruja technology from Genesis Microchips. In addition to upscaling a DVD's native 720x480 interlaced video to 480p, 720p, 1080i, or 1080p, Farudja technology also detects content that has gone through 3:2 pull down to convert film content to NTSC for video, and recreates the original frames by blending the fields back together. It then processes for any edit mistakes and reconstrucs an accurate signal, producing an image free of motion artifacts. The unique DCDi algorithm can also identify moving edges within an image and adjust interpolation at a pixel level to create smooth edges for on-screen objects, eliminating the jaggy edges that commonly result from other upconversion techniques. Farudja processing also uses a proprietary "TruLife Enhancement" technology to identify transitions in the image considered to be details such as skin texture, freckles or hair, and enhance those to bring more detail in an image to life on the screen. This approach avoids image artefacts common with the peaking filter approach used by other systems for detail enhancement. The Farudja system uses temporal filtering for noise reduction, and can achieve 6 to 10 dB of Noise reduction without introducing artefacts or losing sharpness in the image.

Connections:

* HDMI - High Definition Multimedia Interface: 1
* Analog Stereo Audio (Mixed 2-Channel Left/Right): 1 group (2 connectors)
* Analog 5.1 Channel Audio: 1 group (6 connectors)
* S/PDIF (IEC-958) Coaxial Digital Audio: 1
* S/PDIF (IEC-958) Optical Digital Audio: 1
* Composite Video: 1
* S-Video: 1
* No Component Video (YPbPr/YCbCr) on the DV-981HD model. This model is designed for use with a display device with HDMI or DVI digital video input.

Compared with Other Oppo DVD player models
At the time of this writing, Oppo also has the DV-970HD upconverting player, and their original OPD971H model. Of these three models, the DV-981HD is the only that upconverts to full 1080p, the other models offer upconversion to 720p or 1080i only. Both the DV-981HD and the DV-970HD offer Super Audio CD (SACD) playback, the OPDV971H does not. The other major difference to consider is that the DV-981HD and the OPDV971H both use Farudja processing for video upconversion. The DV-970HD uses a different upconversion system that may not be as full featured as the Farudja. For this reason Oppo recommends the DV-981HD, or the OPDV971H for use with larger screen HDTVs 50 inches or greater, while the DV-970HD is only recommended for HDTVs smaller than 50-inches. Oppo recommends the DV-970HD for use with external video processors or scalers, and suggests careful calibration of both the DV-981HD and the OPDV971H when used with DLP HDTVs. Both of these players are good for use with DLP HDTVs, but for the best picture, some setup time is required. For disply with a DVI input on your HDTV, an HDMI-DVI adapter is required with both the DV-981HD and the DV-970HD models.

What's in the Box
Oppo DV-981HD upconveting DVD player, a High-quality certified HDMI cable with gold-plated HDMI connectors, Remote control with "glow in the dark" keypad (batteries included), Stereo audio cable, Composite video cable, and User manual and warranty information.

Product Description
The OPPO DV-981HD is the upconverting DVD player for the ultimate home theater experience. Built upon the highly regarded OPPO OPDV971H, the DV-981HD is ideal for high definition TV's and home theater projectors. The DV-981HD excels at making standard definition DVDs look great at high definition resolutions through the use of advanced upconverting technology that outperforms most TV's built-in upconversion capabilities. The DV-981HD makes it possible for you to enjoy your existing collection of DVDs as well as new DVD titles that will continue to be released for years to come.

http://www.amazon.com/DV-981HD-Universal-Player-1080p-Up-Converting/dp/B000LU8A7E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=audio-video&qid=1215399600&sr=1-1

==============

I love this upconverter, it was the best we found when we bought ours.

[Rigs11]

Go with a higher end 720p rather than a lower end 1080p. Trust me, it's not all about the resolution. You need to take contrast into consideration,connections etc..

[BroncoBuff]

What's with this "120hz" I keep seeing ... is that a refresh rate?

I bought a very nice 46" 1080i LCD a year and a half ago ... but now I want to know what I'm missing with this new "120 hz" business. If it is a refresh rate, how much better is its picture?

[Fedaykin]

What's with this "120hz" I keep seeing ... is that a refresh rate?

I bought a very nice 46" 1080i LCD a year and a half ago ... but now I want to know what I'm missing with this new "120 hz" business. If it is a refresh rate, how much better is its picture?

It's the refresh rate. 60 Hz is the usual refresh rate of LCDs and Plasma screens, but newer sets offer 120hz models. For regular TV you won't notice much of a difference, but for films you will because 120hz refresh rate allows better conversion of films (recorded at 24fps) to be displayed on your screen. 120 Hz is a even multiple of 24 (5) whereas 60 is not which means when your tv translates the 24fps source into it's native frequency it can display each frame for the exact same time.

The following gives a decent summary of why 120Hz is better.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDTV_blur#100_Hz_.2B

[phibacka31]

So I'm going today to look around and I was just going to ask more about the 120 hrz. I understand that I want it I was just gonna asak if this is what a new TV usually has or am I gonna have to make sure to ask if it has it. Also, I was wondering if I am going to need to buy anything else to get my HD channels when I go back to college. We have cable there. Thanks again!

[phibacka31]

Another quick question. Where would I be wise to purchase my new item?

[cmhargrove]

Another quick question. Where would I be wise to purchase my new item?

I have made some of my best local purchases from Best Buy lately using their rewards program.

It's cheap to join, and they send you a 12% off coupon about each quarter.

I used it to get 12% off my last HDTV for the bedroom.

[Rigs11]

So I'm going today to look around and I was just going to ask more about the 120 hrz. I understand that I want it I was just gonna asak if this is what a new TV usually has or am I gonna have to make sure to ask if it has it. Also, I was wondering if I am going to need to buy anything else to get my HD channels when I go back to college. We have cable there. Thanks again!

if you buy a tv with a built in hd tuner then you can simply plug your cable into it. best thing to do is go to your local best buy or circuit city and look at the models. Pick out three and write down the model numbers. Go online and look at other people's reviews. Then when you decide on which one you want, you can order online and get it for cheap, or see it best buy or circuit city will match the prices.

[Cosmo]

Costco, seriously, if you buy the TV using your costco american express, they triple the warranty which they honor in store. Even without the american express they still double the manufacturers warranty. Plus the price cannot be beat.

[Hotrod]

Samsung is the best (picture quality/$$$) if you are looking for flat panels:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889102198

Their 650 series have all the goodies:

* 1080p
* 120 Hz
* Auto Motion Plus (smooths out fast motion, like Cutler's lasers)
* High contrast

The 550s are cheaper but only 60hz

Post of the thread. I have a Samsung 46" in the 550's series (dont remember the exact # 5565???

Anyway I love that bastage.

[PRBronco]

Awesome thread :) Something I've never been able to get a straight answer on though:
Say I want to buy a sweet LCD HD capable tv, like 37"-42" range, but the HD box and subscription are still out of my range. Can I watch regular tv on it without it looking retarded and stretched? What about playing my Wii on it?

[Cosmo]

Awesome thread :) Something I've never been able to get a straight answer on though:
Say I want to buy a sweet LCD HD capable tv, like 37"-42" range, but the HD box and subscription are still out of my range. Can I watch regular tv on it without it looking retarded and stretched? What about playing my Wii on it?



Regular TV doesn't look great, but if has a built in ATSC or Clear QAM (digital) tuner, you can get all the local channels in HD when its broadcast. If you live in Colorado, that means broncos games in HD. Yes, you can play your Wii on it, a Wii only connects on a 480i or 480p connection so its fine.


Does that answer your questions?

[ØrangeÇrush]

Another quick question. Where would I be wise to purchase my new item?

Find a store that will price match, and will price match an internet price from a legitimate dealer. I bought mine off of amazon, and it was absolutely fine. No bowing whatsoever, no lines, no rainbows.

[ZONA]

I have 2 large screens (Sony and Hitachi). Both are great. LCD rocks.


One thing I will say that most people don't even think of, don't just get a surge supressor, get a line cleaner also. You can notice a difference in how clean the image looks when the current going into your devices is regulated, not just going up and down.

Oh, and I have seen 3 movies on "upconverted" and they don't look any better then normal DVD. Nothing close to true HD DVD/Blueray. Just save your money until you get a Blueray. The upconverts are a joke.

[ØrangeÇrush]

Oh, and I have seen 3 movies on "upconverted" and they don't look any better then normal DVD. Nothing close to true HD DVD/Blueray. Just save your money until you get a Blueray. The upconverts are a joke.

It mostly depends on the upconverting dvd player and the algorithms they employ to upconvert the video. No upconverted DVD will be as good as HD DVD/Blueray, but they can be very good and they cost less than a BlueRay DVD's and you most likely already have an extensive library at home.

The Complexities of Deinterlacing

Since DVD video is stored on disc in an interlaced format, in order to view this material on a progressive scan screen the separate fields must first be combined into whole frames through a process called deinterlacing. In order to achieve this result, two interlaced picture fields are merged into a single progressive frame. This may sound simple, but in actuality turns out to be surprisingly difficult to do well. Poor quality deinterlacing results in "jaggies" and combing artifacts when interlaced fields are not matched together correctly. U nfortunately, deinterlacing can be easily complicated by the nature of film-based, video-based, or mixed-source content.

Take the example of a DVD movie that was originally produced and released on 35mm film for theatrical release. Film-based motion pictures are photographed at a rate of 24 picture frames per second (fps). When the film is scanned into video to be released on DVD, the publisher has to convert 24 film frames into 60 interlaced video fields because the DVD must produce a rate of 30 frames per second in order to be displayed on a television. In order to achieve this, the conversion needs to produce 5 video fields from each 2 original film frames. The first film frame produces 3 video fields: a field of the odd numbered scan lines (1, 3, 5, 7, etc.), a field of the even numbered scan lines (2, 4, 6, 8, etc.), and a repeated field of the odd numbered scan lines. The second film frame produces 2 video fields: a field of the even numbered scan lines, and a field of the odd numbered scan lines. This complicated conversion process is known in the industry as 3:2 pull-down.

When the DVD is played on a regular Standard Definition TV, due to the interlaced nature the picture quality is as good as SDTV can get. However, when a progressive scan or upconverting DVD player deinterlaces the video, it becomes tricky to accurately reproduce the original film frames. An unsophisticated DVD player simply combines each two video fields into a progressive frame. This resulting first frame may be the same as the original film frame, but the second frame will be a mix-up of the odd numbered scan lines from the first original film frame and the even numbered scan lines of the second film frame. Although the two film frames are only slightly different, this error is enough to produce visible artifacts such as blurry pictures and jagged lines. A good progressive scan DVD player must detect that the DVD is mastered from a film source and use intelligent deinterlacing algorithms to accurately reconstruct the original film frames.

Another deinterlacing challenge is the playback of TV shows or other content originally shot on video. When a video program is recorded, the video camera records 60 interlaced fields per second. Between each field there is a 1/60 second time delay. When the scene in the video changes quickly, the time delay is enough to make two fields belonging to the same frame look very different. If simply combined together, the resulting video frame will look blurry. As if that weren't difficult enough, many programs available on DVD contain a mixture of film and video cadences. Some TV shows are shot on film but include video-based overlays such as credits or visual effects that greatly confuse unsophisticated deinterlacing algorithms. Good progressive scan DVD players such as the OPPO OPDV971H have a feature called "Directional Correlation Deinterlacing", or DCDi. With this feature, the DVD player can detect, adapt to, and compensate for the motion in both film and video scenes, and will produce smooth and stable pictures no matter the content.

The Benefits of Upconversion

After deinterlacing, the Standard Definition DVD video must then be scaled (or "upconverted") to the higher resolution of the HD display. The standard DVD resolution is 720x480 pixels, or 345,600 pixels in each frame. The 720p HD resolution is 1280x720, and the 1080i HD resolution is 1920x1080. In order to produce an HD video signal suitable to be displayed on an HDTV with the higher resolution and best picture quality, an upconverting DVD player must scale up the video frames.

Scaling involves creating new pixels by selectively copying pieces of the surrounding pixels using various mathematical techniques to interpolate what the video signal would look like at a different resolution. A good upconverting DVD player scales the DVD video using fast processing electronics and intelligent algorithms. It can detect and compensate for motion, scene transitions, foreground and background objects, and noise from video in real time and handle each situation intelligently. The scaled-up video is rich in detail, with little or no visible artifacts introduced by the upconversion process.

There are some upconverting DVD players on the market that cannot do the job well. Perhaps they employ low-quality detail enhancement circuitry to simply enlarge video pixels from the original DVD to fill up the HD screen, or perhaps the electronics and algorithms used to handle the tasks are not adequate. Viewers will notice artifacts such as v isible pixelation, color shifting, jagged lines, and "ringing" borders introduced by the poor upconversion. These artifacts are often mistaken for digital compression flaws in the DVD itself, when in fact the DVD player and/or display may be causing them. The high-quality upconversion performed by a player such as OPPO OPDV971H makes certain that what you see on screen accurately represents what is really on the disc.


http://www.oppodigital.com/Getting-Most-out-of-DVD-on-HDTV-Display.html

[chawknz]

Awesome thread :) Something I've never been able to get a straight answer on though:
Say I want to buy a sweet LCD HD capable tv, like 37"-42" range, but the HD box and subscription are still out of my range. Can I watch regular tv on it without it looking retarded and stretched? What about playing my Wii on it?

Standard TV looks like crap on LCDs. Period. Some may say theirs is okay quality, but they are just measuring in different levels of crap. I have my standard tv to display at its actual size, so I have big black bars on the sides of my screen. I could always stretch it out, but.. i'd rather see it in its intended ratio.

Your Wii will be fine, but you'll want to get Component cables to allow your Wii to display in 480p. It may not be a huge improvement over 480i, but it'll be a tad more smooth.

[cmhargrove]

Awesome thread :) Something I've never been able to get a straight answer on though:
Say I want to buy a sweet LCD HD capable tv, like 37"-42" range, but the HD box and subscription are still out of my range. Can I watch regular tv on it without it looking retarded and stretched? What about playing my Wii on it?

Remember that the best broadcasts available are still free. Your local networks have been broadcasting in HD for years, all you needed was an antenna to receive them.

When I first set up my projector 6-7 years ago, I bought an HD receiver from Sony, a big antenna, and then starting watching great HD for free. If you need help you can got to: www.antennaweb.org Plug in your address, and they will tell you exactly where all your local HD feeds are coming from. You can then aim your antenna in that direction and BAM! Free HD.

About the Wii. All video games and Disney/Pixar movies always look great on big HD TV's. Just get decent cables and you will be really happy with the result. Now, my XBOX 360 in HD is pretty sweet on my 100" screen, but all video games have looked really good.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Remember that the best broadcasts available are still free. Your local networks have been broadcasting in HD for years, all you needed was an antenna to receive them.

When I first set up my projector 6-7 years ago, I bought an HD receiver from Sony, a big antenna, and then starting watching great HD for free. If you need help you can got to: www.antennaweb.org Plug in your address, and they will tell you exactly where all your local HD feeds are coming from. You can then aim your antenna in that direction and BAM! Free HD.

About the Wii. All video games and Disney/Pixar movies always look great on big HD TV's. Just get decent cables and you will be really happy with the result. Now, my XBOX 360 in HD is pretty sweet on my 100" screen, but all video games have looked really good.Yeah but there HD broadcasts are nowhere near Discovery HD Theater and some others in quality (I use DirecTv which has superior quality compared to cable IMO).
I
Oh, and I have seen 3 movies on "upconverted" and they don't look any better then normal DVD. Nothing close to true HD DVD/Blueray. Just save your money until you get a Blueray. The upconverts are a joke.I have Samsung 841 upconvert DVD players that are awesome ( I find them on eBay for under $40 usually). No, they don't give true HD video quality but they definitely improve on the standard DVD picture. These players also play SACDs, DTS and MLP audio which sound awesome!

[PRBronco]

Regular TV doesn't look great, but if has a built in ATSC or Clear QAM (digital) tuner, you can get all the local channels in HD when its broadcast. If you live in Colorado, that means broncos games in HD. Yes, you can play your Wii on it, a Wii only connects on a 480i or 480p connection so its fine.


Does that answer your questions?

Thanks for the reply! Could you explain more about this tuner though, if I have that, why do i need the HD box the cable company wants to sell me for 300 bucks?

[Hotrod]

Thanks for the reply! Could you explain more about this tuner though, if I have that, why do i need the HD box the cable company wants to sell me for 300 bucks?

Most new big screens have the ability to bring in the free over the air channels for free in HD depending on the programing. Like 4, 7, 9 etc. The cable company will give you the ability to get SOME cable channels in HD

[cmhargrove]

Yeah but there HD broadcasts are nowhere near Discovery HD Theater and some others in quality (I use DirecTv which has superior quality compared to cable IMO).

I'm not going to argue about the quality of the show - I love me some Discovery HD also. I am referring to the actual broadcast. I would need to re-check my facts but I believe the off air antenna signal is an uncompressed HD signal, while all cable and satellite signals use some form of compression.

Once again, I think it is an indistinguishable detail, I was just bringing up the fact (if it still is a fact)...

[Sir_Robin]

My old (really old) Sony 27 inch crt passed away last evening. May it rest in peace.

It has now been replaced by a Samsung 46inch 650 series. Long live the king!

So, I need to upgrade my directtv to take advantage of HD. When I call to ask about it they inform me that I'll need to cough up 200 bucks for the HD DVR.

My questions: were any of you able to avoid this fee? If so, how? Also, do I need to upgrade my sunday ticket to get games in HD? Lastly, will any antenna do for picking up local HD or do I need something special? Thanks!