Advice needed - RP91 or 1600??? (1 Viewer)

[David_D]

After existing for a while with an interlaced player feeding my HDTV ready set, I'm about to buy a progressive scan player. However, I'm torn. I can get either the Denon 1600 or the RP91, but I'm having trouble evaluating the tradeoffs.

RP91- Deinterlacing not as good as the 1600, but has the wonderful scaling to feed my TV that locks into full with a progressive signal.

1600- DCDI interlacing should yield better detail and less combing, but no scaling. To get something approaching the correct aspect ratio for 4:3 or non-anamorphic titles, I'll have to switch back to interlaced.

Advice or experiences in making this choice are most welcome.

 

[Dan Driscoll]

If you need scaling, there are really only 3 choices: the Panasonic RP-91; the Denon 4800; HTPC.

The 4800 is an RP-91 with upgraded audio DACs and op-amps and sounds pretty good for CD, HDCD and DVD-A playback. Video quality is the same as the RP-91, it has the same MPEG decoder and de-interlacer. However, a new 4800 typically costs 2-3 times as much as the RP-91.

If you decide you can suvive without scaling, the 1600 is a good player and also has good Audio op-amps and DACs. I don't know much about HTPC's so someone else will have to help you out there.

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

I've found out (while looking for an RP91 replacement) that the Bravo D1 DVI Player will windowbox (put black bars on the side) 4:3 content. I'm not sure how it will handle non-anamorphic 16:9 material yet, but i can let you know in a few days.

 

[Andy_A]

Yeah, I was having the same problem with my Samsung 30 (locks into full mode)--I finally have thrown my hands up and decided to go with an rp91 and a dvd-1600. I was going to keep just the rp91, but I found out it has no bass mgmt. for dvd-audio, which was disappointing. I have a lot of non-anamorphic dvds, though, so the rp91 will come in handy. If I had to do one or the other, though, it would be the 1600 hands down. I'd just look at gradually replacing my non-anamorphic dvds with anamorphic. Hope this helps

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

I'd definitely be willing to replace my non-anamorphic dvds w/ anamorphic ones, but to date only 3 movies i've owned have been re-released in an anamorphic version (Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger). All three were paramount, so hopefully they'll get a clue and atleast re-release Top Gun and Days Of Thunder lol