Anyone used these cheap DVD/DIVX Players that Upscale to 1080i? (1 Viewer)

[Stephen Hopkins]

When looking on ebay for a replacement for my brother's busted region free apex dvd player i came across a few different players whose features caught my attention. The main one is the Liteon LV-2001. It boasts progressive scan w/ 3:2 pulldown, plays CDs and DVDs w/ DIVX and XVID encoded Files, and here's the kicker, upscales to 1080i OVER COMPONENT VIDEO.

I'm sure that being Liteon (known for cheap CD-R and DVD Drives) that the build quality won't be the most robust, but I'm really curious about how the PQ. Does it actually convert up to 1080i over component? I know the new Bravo D1 and the Samsung 963A upconvert to 720p and 1080i, but only over DVI. And how would one of these players compare to my current RP91 in PQ w/ the 1080i upconversion?

Anyone w/ any experience or input on this or any similar player please let me know because i'm intrigued enough by the ability to play DIVX movies, but the upconversion to 1080i REALLY has my attention.

 

[Brajesh Upadhyay]

This player interested me as well. Unfortunately, there isn't enough info on 1080i upconversion.

Here's a nice review of the LVD-2001. Reviewer mentions 1080i output, but it doesn't look like he tried it himself.

Here are other players similar to the LiteOn:
- Neuston Maestro DVX-1201
- Momitsu V-880

 

[DanielSmi]

It may only output 1080i on DVD that aren't copy protected.

Daniel Smith

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

I was thinking that at first, but the fact that the ones on ebay (and some on yahoo shopping) are both region free and have macrovisoin disabled, they may also pass a 1080i signal over component video cable for copy protected dvds. If i had some solid info I might consider keeping my RP91 and adding one of these players for DIVX/XVID playback instead of upgrading my RP91 to a Denon 4800 which would only yeild improvements in DVD-A and CD which are very low on my priority list. If the PQ ended up being better than my RP91 and the 1080i upconversion worked on copyrighted discs, I would even consider using it as an RP91 replacement.

 

[Brajesh Upadhyay]

Looks like all these players are basically the same-- they're based on the EM8500 chip. From what I've read @ avsforum about the Bravo's & Momitsu's 1080i playback via component output, the picture is soft & nowhere as good as DVI (those players that do have DVI). I'm going to pass on these for now.

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

Anyone done or read about a Bravo/RP91 comparrison? I'd be really interested in the results

 

[JosephLD]

Here's the relevant part from the article that might answer your question.

The EM8500 supports 480p, 576p and 720p, although it is limited to 480p for copy-protected DVDs, unless DVI/HDCP or HDMI/HDCP is used. The EM8500 can output up to resolutions of 1920x1080i or 1280x720p. Other resolutions are also possible since the scaling is programmable. However, the resolution is limited to 720x480i, 720x480p or 720x576i for copy-protected DVDs, unless DVI/HDCP or HDMI/HDCP is used.

As for macrovision and region coding, both can be disabled through a menu via the remote control.