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Progressive Scan Now or Wait? (1 Viewer)

Brent Hutto

Supporting Actor
Joined
Aug 30, 2001
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532
Last September, we hooked a DVD player up to our 27" Trinitron. A month later, we added five Polk speakers, a Velodyne subwoofer and an Onkyo receiver to create our "home theater". We have thoroughly enjoyed 70 or 80 movies in that time. The sound experience is really enjoyable but the weak line is that small TV screen which really gets in the way on wider aspect ratio movies like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" or "O Brother Where Art Thou?", for instance.

So we've taken the big plunge and ordered up a 36" HD-ready Sony XBR (36XBR800). At our normal viewing distance of six and a half feet, that should be very impressive. I have a copy of Fellowship of the Ring that I'm saving to inaugurate the new, improved theater.

At some point, I want to replace the Panasonic RV31 DVD player with something like an RP62 progressive scan one. I don't have a good feel for the qualitative differences between a progressive scan player versus letting the Sony's deinterlacer and 3:2 pulldown work from a 480i source. I'm quite sure that comparing one to the other there is a difference, just not "how bad" the picture will be with the TV doing the work.

My question is, will I be substantially diluting the "Oh, Wow" experience of our first movie on the bigger screen by using the RV31 and letting the TV handle the pulldown, etc.? The budget for this project was $2,000 and I'm already approaching $2,800 without adding a $180 DVD player. OTOH, in for a penny in for a pound. If the 36" HD screen is going to show obvious shortcomings in the interlaced source material I'll bite one more bullet and get an RP62.
 

Scott Shanks

Second Unit
Joined
Mar 10, 2001
Messages
380
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Louisville, Ky
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Scott Shanks
Thanks for asking this question Brent because I have the same question. I just have different equipment than you (Toshiba 50HX70 instead of the Sony). Hope this thread gets lots of responses.
 

John Garcia

Senior HTF Member
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Jun 24, 1999
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11,571
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Probably better off asking this one in the audio/video sources area.

IMO, it's DVD, and unless you are ultra critical, it isn't going to be a huge deal, especially since you haven't been watching with progressive scan to date. Yes, the larger screen will probably show some flaws a bit more readily, but it's not like you are going from a higher image quality back to interlaced. I simply don't think it's something to worry about at all, just use it the way it is now and get a progressive scan unit in a while, when you feel your budget is more suited to it.
 

nousername

Supporting Actor
Joined
May 26, 2001
Messages
614
I have the Sony KV-36XBR450 (last year's version of your TV) and a Panasonic DVD-RV31. You can read about my experience here.
If you do get a progressive scan DVD player, I'd recommend the RP82 over the RP62. The RP82 has better picture quality and does not suffer from the flicker bug. Also, it has the same MPEG decoder as the RP91. I might be getting one myself to give progressive scan DVD players a second chance with my TV... I've heard from some people here (and other forums) that the RP82 actually has a slightly better PQ than the RP91.
 

jeff lam

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 4, 2001
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Location
San Jose, CA
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Jeff Lam
Buy the RP82, try it out for yourself. If you feel it's worth it, keep it. If not, then return it. A DVD player isn't hard to haul home and hook up. Use good component cables and do a test between the progressive player and interlaced. Sure the progressive player will yield a better picture than the TV's deinterlacer but wether it's worth the extra expense, only you can decide that!
 

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