Just bought an upscaling player and I'm underwhelmed. Am I expecting to much from it? (1 Viewer)

[Jonathan Carter]

Well, I decided to replace my crappy Phillips 642 DVD player with a new upscaling one and decided on the Samsung 850 for a few reasons. I could get it locally for an easy return, it will have no issues with MB, which I would not be able to tolerate at all, and it will have no lip-synch issues, something I've very picky about.

Anyway, I hooked it up to my Sony GWIV (50WE655) via HDMI->HDMI and tossed in SW: AotC, The Matrix: Reloaded, Underworld, and a few others to put it through it's paces. While the colors seem fairly spot on, the rest of the pic doesn't look like a big difference from my 642. Yes, this one doesn't crush the blacks and the colors are good, but the picture isn't any sharper. It doesn't really "pop" like I thought it would. I have it set to a brightness level of 3, RGB (normal). and I've bounced between HDMI 780p and 1080i. I seem to give a very slight lead to 1080i PQ as far as I can tell, but the difference is truly negligable. I calibrated the player with the set via AVIA also.

So, the question is, with the TV set I have, is an upscaling DVD player even worth it or should I return it and get a real good 480p player instead. If an upscaling DVD player is worth it, but I won't buy an Oppo, Panny s77, or some of the other because of the MB, lip synch problems, and poor availability/long return process, are there any other options I'm missing in the sub $250 range that may be available locally (in Chicago)?

If an upscaling DVD player isn't worth it, what sub $175 480p player that is easily available at a B&M store would you suggest?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ronn.W]

Like a lot of people, I think you may have been expecting too much from an upscaling player. They can only do with what's on the disc, you know? They can't add resolution if it's not there, they can only fake it.

If the player can output 480p you might want to keep it to use the HDMI connection. It's possible you'll get a better picture that way than you would with a regular PS player doing 480p over component.

 

[Mort Corey]

If you want to give another shot at an upconverting player, this one had the highest marks on Secrets.
http://www.oppodigital.com/

Mort

 

[Jerome Grate]

I just started a thread that might be the alternative to what you want. I don't have it yet, but I found it to be very interesting.

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