CarlosGH

Difference between DVD Players

If you a perfect system (example: best HDTV, best Reciever, and best Monster Cables and Power Center) is there any difference between an expensive DVD player versus a cheap Cyberhome/APEX DVD with Progressive scan? Is the video better in expensive units? The audio better?

FeisalK

IMO the fact that a Denon 2900 is rated better than a Pioneer 563A would suggest that there would be a difference. I guess you would get to the point where the improvement in performance is not outweighted by the increment in cost.

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DVD-A registry for hirez/surround audio
Bluray, DVD-Audio, DAD/HDAD, DualDisc, MVI
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ChrisWiggles

Absolutely. The best system wouldn't even be using a DVD player as a source, it would be undergoing very heavy scaling. DVD player outputting even 480p sucks compared to processed video up to much higher res.

The better the system, the better the source needed. The poorer the system, you may likely not see any changes at all, even with tens of thousands on the worlds best source and processors.

CarlosGH

Well what should I look for when selecting the best DVD player? I know that some have an HD upconvertor and DVI output, but is this better than an external scaler? I don't have the perfect system, I don't even have an HDTV, but I wanted something that if in the near future I got an HDTV I would get the most for my money. Many of the DVD players (the ones $90+) have things like Pure Cinema and 128Khz(?) D/A convertors. Those this make a difference in picture and sound quality?

ChrisWiggles

I have no idea. I don't follow DVD players at all. I know so little about them nowadays it's pathetic :b .

I use an HTPC to feed a CRT projector for the reasons I mentioned, so I'm a bit higher up the line in performance. You should probably read/search hunt around the A/V Sources section here, lots of info there.

JeremySt

If picture quality is all you are looking for, (no interest in things like SACD or DVD-A) you may want to have a read through websites like hometheaterhifi.com and their benchmark review process. Also, just lurk through the DVD player threads on this forum. Youll start to get an idea of what players people like. If you have an HDTV, youll want a progressive player. I am a Denon fan. Most players in the Denon line, expecially the DVD-2200 and 2900, are considered top-of-line at the moment, although there are several players from other manufactures the hold op quite well. The DVD-910 from denon is one of the cheapest players to offer quality video scaling (about $300) There are $60 dvd players that claim to offer progressive scan, but on any self respecting HDTV, they wont hold a candle to something like a Farudja or Silicon image based player.

If your TV has DVI inputs, a player with DVI outputs may interest you. THe best picture I have seen so far came from a Denon 5900 feeding DVI into a DLP projector.