Upscaling/HDef DVD Player merged thread (1 Viewer)

[Scott_D_S]

Me again:

I hate to sound like such a newbie (but I am one) - but here goes:

Hypo: I get my new Sony R60XBR1 - which comes with two HDMI ports....I also get my new DVD player (as discussed above) - which has an HDMI connection. Therefore, hypothetically, I can connect my DVD player right up to the TV. But, here is my question: Why would I want digital audio to go to the TV???? Wouldn't it be better to have the digital audio go to the Receiver? I have an older Marantz receiver which has one digital audio connection. I don't get how the whole set up goes from the DVD to the TV to the Receiver? Doesn't it sound backwards to have digital audio input into the TV, and then another digital audio output to the receiver?

With the OPPO, at least, I guess I can get the DVI to HDMI connector for the TV and use the digital output on the Oppo to connect to the receiver?

Am I missing something? Thanks again for dealing.....I do appreciate it.

 

[Jongyoon Lee]

Using HDMI doesn't mean you can't run separate S/PDIF digital audio to the receiver. In many cases you still run S/PDIF to the receiver for DD and DTS handling.

The thing is S/PDIF does not support high definition audio, such as SACD or DVD Audio, and the future Dolby HD and DTS HD used for HD-DVD. The audio channels in HDMI support multi channel audio up to 24/192 in resolution, and it can carry uncompressed high def audios.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Scott,

As Lee explained, for current DVD players you can use the HDMI for just video, which is how anyone who doesn't use their display for audio would choose to do.

As for the upcoming players that will include the new HD audio formats, I suspect that they will have either have two HDMI outlets, or will have a dedicated audio output for external audio systems. After all, consumer electronic manufacturers understand that the target market for these new HD audio formats are not likely using their displays for audio, especially for all the front projection HT systems, so it would be very unusual not to see support for these types of systems.

If not, you still have options. First, if you want to decode these new HD audio formats, wait to buy a processor or receiver, which includes HDMI inputs and an HDMI output. This may be the best choice, as it would allow you to have a single HDMI cable to the display, and allow you to use the receiver as a convenient switching device.

Another option, which is already available, is the use of an HDMI switcher. Besides several HDMI inputs, some models also have multiple HDMI outputs.

 

[Julio Trujillo]

Nils, Panny's S97 and S77 let you choose if the HDMI connection will be used for video only. So, the option is already available in a reasonably priced product.

I suppose on more expensive machines the option exists too.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Actually as far as I know all current DVD players allow you to use the HDMI for video only, and send the audio signal through a different output, but none of these are using the new HD audio formats, which currently will only be fully supported via HDMI, thus if you want HS audio you'll have to connect the HDMI from the player to your receiver or pre-amp with HD audio processing. If this is the case, then you'll either need two HDMI outputs from the player, or a HDMI switcher with two HDMI outputs, or a receiver/pre-amp that has an HDMI output.

With all of those options, I'm sure there will be a solution for every need.

My best recommendation is to not buy any new audio equipment until both HDMI and HD audio standards become widely accepted so that you not only limit the chance of investing in a piece of equipment that quickly becomes obsolete, but if you can wait, you’ll also avoid the high cost of being an early adopter.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

I used one of the early Zenith DVB-318 players to upconvert to 1080i over component for my crt based Sony KP57hw40, which is component-only, and bought a Samsung 850 yesterday afternoon.

The hack for the Samsung worked the second time I tried it--I skipped the tray open-close cycle on the first attempt.

I did have to do a bit of recalibrating for the Samsung, as I've had to do for every new dvd player I've used.

The Samsung is a tad less sharp than the Zenith, but not excessively so imho.

If your widescreen set is like most in that it locks into 16/9 aspect ratio with HD scanrates the Samsung more than makes up for the slight softness with it's "EZ-view" feature.

This feature allows one to pillarbox 4/3 material and also will compensate for non-anamorphic widescreen dvds with a few presses of the "EZ-view" button on the remote.

The Zenith has a variable vertical-only zoom for non-anamorphic dvds, but it's infinitely variabe so a little fussy to get geometry exactly right, and it is no good at all for 4/3 material.

The Samsung seems to be a bit better built, is quicker to load and respond to commands, and mechanically quieter.

It has one quirk that you need to be aware of--it has a dynamic range compression feature for the digital output, and it ships with this compression turned on so you need to go into the audio menu and turn it off. I suspect a previous poster was unaware of this when he complained about it's audio in comparison to his high-dollar Cambridge Audio player. It also ships with it's digital audio set to output PCM only, you need to enable DTS and DD bitstream in the audio menu as well, which that previous poster may also have missed hence his complaints of poor directional differentiation.

I suspect it ships this way so the digital audio out via the HDMI connnector will be readable by tv sets, so people who just buy the player and hook it to their sets via HDMI with no audio system won't return it because there's no audio output from their sets.

With the proper audio setup the player sounds no differnt from any other I've tried running digital audio to my HK AVR-635.

I have a Sharp Aquos 26" lcd flat panel in the bedroom which does have HDMI, and have tried the Toshiba 5980 and Sony DVP 70NS on it. The Toshiba just doesn't like to shake hands with the Sharp, The Sony is ok in this regard and has far better picture quality--a well mastered dvd looks very like HD on the Sharp. I have not tried the Samsung with the Sharp yet, as I purchased it mainly to do the upconversion over component for my main set.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I didn't have the time to read this entire thread, but I just popped in to ask a quick question, I want to purchase an upconverting DVD player but don't know which to get.

Here is what I am going to connect it to and which interface i'm going to use...

I'm connecting it to an Infocus 4805 projector via a DVI cable.

Can anyone recommend a player or two that will perform well and of course be compatible with the 4805's DVI interface?

Thanks.

 

[MatthewA]

One thing I'm wondering about these upscaling players:

Will the first Blu-Ray players be backwards compatible, and will they upscale DVDs?

Anyway, I've been eyeing the Marantz DV9600. It looks good but costs a little much for a DVD player. I've seen no reviews of the unit so far, but the ability to go to 1080p attracts me.

 

[Jongyoon Lee]

Sony BDP-S1 will, according to sonystyle web site. I bet most of the future models will upscale DVDs, maybe except for the entry level models.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Any model numbers at all?

 

[Julio Trujillo]

MathewA, I would say that probably all will do both, backwards compatible and upscaling. An interesting study would be how PS3 goes about that. Does PS3 upscales?

 

[Chad R]

I bought the Samsung DVD-HD850 and have had the worst time with it. Although I have a Samsung TV, I couldn't get the player to work on it. Whenever I would engage the 1080i upconversion, it would induce wavy lines into the picture. Odder still, it would do the same to the 1080i signal coming from the cable DVR.

I took it back and had to go to a different dealer to get the DVD-HD845 and the same thing happened. If I just hook it up via component cable instead of the HDMI to DVI cable, it still caused the cable box to be wavy. In fact, if I unplug all of the cables to the TV, and leave the player plugged in to the power strip, the Hd picture is still wavy. I just don't get it.

What I liked about the Samsung was that it would pillarbox 4:3 material since my TV locks into 16x9 whenever a progressive or HD signal is sent to it.

Has anyone else experienced this? Should I try to get another brand?

 

[Brian D H]

Anybody have any experience making any of these players region-free or changing the region on them? I'm guessing that quite a few of them can be changed with a few buttons on the remote?

 

[DaveGTP]

The Zenith 318 has a very easy region-free mod. You have to download a small file, burn it to a CD, and then put it in the player. Then you set the region to 0 with the remote.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Following are instructions for region-free and component HD scanrate hack for Samsung 950, should also work with the 850. I don't have any non-region 1 discs so can't vouch for this.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/print...5755&p=7260104

 

[Vader]

Now that both the BR and HD camps are allowing full-res over component (pending ICT, of course), what are the odds that unrestricted upscaling of SD (at least to 1080i) may be in the cards?

 

[Scott_D_S]

Just wanted to let you all know that the Oppo Digital DVD is working great with the Sony KDSR60XBR1. What a picture.

 

[Rich Allen]

Walmart had an RCA upconverting DVD player for $49.86 on their website. The model number is DRC255N. Has anybody heard of it before? It's not on RCA's website, but is pretty inexpensive for an upconverting player.

 

[MarkHastings]

Scott, obviously everyone has commented on the obvious fact about turning the audio off (on the HDMI cable) and running optical audio to the receiver, but this may be interesting to you (and others).

NOTE: I've only experienced this with HD cable boxes and not HD-DVD players, so I can only assume the same applies...


Anyways, my cable box doesn't have HDMI outs, so I use component for the video. I hook my HD cable box audio directly to my TV (as well as running optical to the receiver) and I notice that the audio (when listening to the TV speakers) is considerably lower than the non-HD channels. When I put the receiver on, everything is at a great level, it's just the analog audio is extremely low.

When I hooked up my brothers cable box (he has HDMI outs), I hooked up analog audio (to the TV) because I didn't realize that the HDMI also carries audio.

We noticed the same effect where the audio (on HD channels) was really low, but once we got into the HDMI setup and switched it over to 'digital', the audio was just as loud as the other channels.

I guess there is a HUGE difference in sending analog audio and digital audio directly into your TV.

I don't know how much of a revelation this is to most here, but I never thought that you'd notice such a huge difference when running audio directly into the TV.

So while the differences (between DVI and HDMI) may seem like no big deal (because the only difference is that DVI doesn't carry audio)...if you don't use your receiver and use your TV's speakers, that HDMI cable (with the digital audio) makes an enormous difference.

 

[Tim-H.]

I just picked up a Samsung HD845 player & can't seem to get the HDMI set-up right. My TV is a 4:3 Sony WEGA KV-32HS420, and HD cable channels via HDMI look great; widescreen letterboxes perfectly.
But as soon as I try to go above 480p with the HD845, the image over-squeezes and I can't get the correct aspect ratio. (Like it's letterboxing the letterbox!) At this point, I feel like I've tried every possible combination of TV/player settings. Any ideas? I must be missing something fundamental here. Thanks!
EDIT: I'm wondering if I may need to find a player that upscales over component...which was my original goal!