Another "taking the plunge" post....help appreciated. (1 Viewer)

[Andrew Bunk]

I'll apologize in advance for any redundancy here.

I am strongly thinking about getting an HD-XA1 and the Samsung BDP1000, as there are pretty great deals around on both at the moment.

I was originally thinking about waiting for the 1.3 equipped players, and I realized I would spending nearly twice the money to get 1.3.

Some background:

I have a Toshiba 57H83 display, which has two component inputs and one DVI-HDCP. My receiver is an Onkyo TX-NR801. It does not have HDMI.

My first question is-what specifically would HDMI 1.3 be able to improve for my current setup? I expect to get at least 2 more years out of both my display and receiver.

Also, were there still issues with BTB being clipped over HDMI? Either way, I will likely be using component for both players.

Next, assuming I get these two specific players, since the Samsung does not have multi-channel analog outs, I would likely hook up the Toshiba to the analog and use optical or coaxial for the Samsung. Is one better than the other for the Samsung? I assume the Samsung will have to downconvert any audio for the optical/coaxial out. Does this still sound better than what is on an SD DVD?

I held off getting the Samsung player due to the reports I had heard regarding filtering of video being handled improperly. I thought I had read this can be corrected only at a service center, but now it appears it's being fixed by a user-installable firmware upgrade. Just wanted to verify that info.

On the HD-XA1, firmware upgrades on that should make it a more stable than it was at launch I assume. I'm not really too worried about the load times, as I generally warm up my RPTV for 45 minutes before viewing anyway.

Is there anything I missed?

I'm still very unhappy about the format war, but I do want to get into the next gen stuff.

Sounds like I'll have a lot of work to do figuring out which WB and Paramount titles to get on HD DVD vs. Blu-Ray. In most cases I would guess HD DVD, but it depends.

Thanks for reading-I look forward to comments.

 

[Dave_P.]

The Samsung does have multi-channel outs. You have to use them for the PCM uncompressed tracks if you don't use the HDMI out. Firmware upgardes have fixed the video issue as well as others.

You will need an HDMI 1.3 compatible receiver to go with the player if you want to go that route. Not sure if there are any of those out yet, though.

 

[Andrew Bunk]

Thanks Dave.

A picture I saw of the back of the Samsung unit at onecall.com does not show multi-outs. Is the picture out of date then?

 

[Dave_P.]

Yeah, the picture you saw must be a pre-production pic or something . I have the player and they're certainly there. I use the HDMI though. Here's a pic of the back panel that I found, the analog outs are to the left.

 

[Andrew Bunk]

Thanks!

I might have to get a switch box if I get both units.