Faroudja and DVD questions (1 Viewer)

[Bill Griffith]

So there's this thing out there on more and more DVD players called Faroudja or Silicon Image de-interlacer. While I understand what it does and how it does it, sort of.

If a DVD player says it has this DCDi technology is it the same technology you would find in more expensive models? In other words, DVD player A costs $250 and has this technology in it, DVD Player B Costs $600 and has this technology in it as well. Do they both do the same thing? Obviosly DVD B has some extra stuff in it as well (Hence the higher cost)but as far as the higher picture quality benefit DCDi gives you.

I have a Panny 47" HDTV Ready. Would there be a benefit, watching DVD's on this TV, using a player with the DCDi Technology as opposed to buying just a basic Prog Scan DVD player without DCDi? I haven't read anywhere that it uses different connections, so I am assuming that I could still connect with Component Video Cables. So, I'm assuming the Players with DCDi tech. don't require you to connect with a different style connecter to get the extra quality, ie DVI, firewire, Etc.

Last question what are some players that are multi regional and have the DCDi tech. in them (just for DVD movie watching, nothing fancy)? I'm in the process of looking some of these up but just figured I'd throw that last question in there.

 

[AaronJB]

The Philips 963 has Faroudja/DCDI and apparently, can be hacked for multi-region, although I've never tried it w/mine. It can be found in the $400 range.

 

[greg_t]

Different manufacturs can implement the Faroudja chip differently. For example, the Panasonic RP82 had the Cross color supressor feature disabled, but the Denon 1600, which was essentially an RP82 with better audio and a denon badge, had cross color supressor enabled.

A player with the Faroudja chip, which includes DCDI, will be an improvment over the deinterlacer in your Panasonic TV. Most dvd players have used the component outputs with the faroujda chip, but newer players can now also use it over DVI. You could pick up an RP82 or XP30 and use it's component outputs and have faroudja deinterlacing.

I have no idea if there are any multi-region players with faroudja. Some can probably be hacked to be multi region. Here is a great link that explains exactly what Faroudja and it's DCDI component do that makes them so good.

http://www.dcdi-video.com/technology...-overview.html

 

[Don_Berg]

There are also different chips from Faroujda and Silicon Image. The Faroujda chip in the latest models is different from the one in the older models. Also there are many other components in a DVD player besides the de-interlacer chip that can affect picture quality including the MPEG decoder and other circuitry. What was great about the top-rated players (like the Panasonic RP82,XP30,XP50,Denon DVD-1600) is it had great design in all the areas. Some of the other newer players have a good de-interlacer but poor MPEG decoder or other combination. The more expensive models usually add extra features like SACD, DVD-audio, etc. and higher quality audio DACS thats why they cost more. I got a top-rated Panasonic XP30 used on EBAY because it was as good or better than more expensive current models and I got it for a little over $200, a bargain!

 

[BeatCrazy]

False.