Upscaling/HDef DVD Player merged thread (1 Viewer)

[Jay Blair]

I have a Panasoic RP91 and my Momitsu V880 at 1080i is significantly better on my 53" Sony RPTV using component.

 

[Andrew Beckmen]

I will be going from non-progressive S-Video (Toshiba SD-2800) hooked up to a non-flat 27" 4:3 TV to the DVB318 hooked up to a Sony 46" 16:9 HTDV (KP46WT510), connected via DVI. Hopefully.

 

[Andre Bijelic]

I have the same set and tested out the LG7832 (clone of the Zenith 318). The image at 1080i was an improvement over my Panasonic RP-56 at 480p, but I wouldn't call it a night-and-day difference.

The other problem is that the Sony locks into "full" mode with HD sources, so 4:3 material appears stretched. And the Zenith/LG isn't that great at 480p - there was noticeable colour bleeding, especially on reds. And there's no 480i mode via component - s-video or composite only.

If 4:3 material isn't much of a concern to you, check out the Zenith, but if you watch a lot of Academy ratio movies, you're probably better off going with a good 480p player.

 

[Don_Berg]

Andre how would you compare the RP56 and the Zenith both at 480p? Since thats how 4:3 titles must be used - thats important for me. Using 1080i only isn't an option.

 

[Nicholas R]

Andre the 56 is a very overlooked player. Wonderful PQ, built like a tank and has no reliability issues like the XP30 and the 62/82 etc. I bought mine for the bedroom system for $40

 

[Andrew Beckmen]

Andre, I own mostly Widescreen DVDs. I have a few FS titles like Clerks TAS, but I can turn something off or use S-Video (granted with quality loss) or whatever for the rare occasion I view those discs, right?

 

[NickSo]

Yeah, one way would be to use S-video, that is IF the sony still locks into 16:9 with 480p signals. But the 480p mode is flawed due to color bleeding at 480p and 720p.

However, if you rarely have any 4:3/nonanamorphic material, this player gives a great image, better than the XP30 (according to one ex-XP30 fanatic over at AVS) at 1080i.

EDIT: Thanks andrew for clearing up my Clerks confusion :p)

 

[brentl]

Don where are you Don;D

B

 

[Andrew Beckmen]

Clerks TAS=Clerks the Animated Series, not the movie. The animated series is in color.

Oh, yeah. I forgot about non-anamorphic material. If the Sony locks into Wide mode than discs like The Abyss or Armegeddon CC will be all warped. Crap! I can't hook up the Zenith via component and turn 3:2 off, thus getting a 480i signal that won't be stuck in stretch mode?

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Andrew,

What model display device are you using??

Sony widescreen tvs only lock into full mode for 1080i, all the stretch-zoom modes are available in 480p.

In addition, you can use the Zenith player for non-anamorphic widescreen dvds at it's 1080i scanrate even with a set that locks into 16/9 mode. The Zenith can do a vertical-only stretch. Press the zoom button 3 times, then the "up" button and the picture expands only in the vertical dimension. The expansion is infinite, not stepped, so it takes a bit of playing around to get just the right vertical size. I've watched Titanic this way on mine in 1080i and it was gorgeous--better than the scaling JVC players I've used. I put an anamorphic 2:35 movie on the player and marked the sides of my screen with tape to denote the proper top and bottom for my zoomed picture on non-anamorphic stuff.

This feature can also be used for 4/3 but there will be cropping at top and bottom. I haven't seen the bleeding at 480p but don't spend much time there.

 

[Andrew Beckmen]

This is all hypothetical at this point, I am months away (or more) from actually buying anything, I am just doing reasearch because HT stuff can be confusing and I want to familiarize myself with it.

The TV I am planning on buying (but might not if something better comes along from here and then) is the Sony 46" KP46WT510. I have heard mostly good things about this model other than this locking in thing. But if the Zenith will rectify it, I am happy. It's just that I want to be able to watch TV shows in OAR and non-anamorphic movies in OAR without picture warping such as stretching.

 

[Don_Berg]

I'd avoid the Zenith if your HDTV locks to FULL mode with 1080i - there are just too many 4:3 DVD video titles like TV episode boxsets that would be horribly stretched. These titles also need the Faroudja de-interlacer the most and using 480i s-video output doesn't use the Faroudja! I still think a top-rated progressive player like the Panasonic XP30 Faroujda-based player is the best overall for ALL aspect ratio titles unless your TV can adjust formats in 1080i mode (very rare). If Zenith would address this issue and/or improve the quality (eliminate color-bleeding issues) with 480p mode than it could be considered.

 

[Andrew Beckmen]

Well, if The Zenith can do a vertical-only stretch as Steve said, it's not a problem. Sure the TV will stretch the image horizontally, but then the DVD player can stretch it vertically and they will cancel each-other out and fix the problem. Right? It's like 12 - 12 = 0 + 12 = 12..

 

[NickSo]

Andrew: yes, that is exactly what the vertical stretch does/will do.

 

[Andrew Beckmen]

Good. Thanks. Now I will follow threads anmd see what other problems happen.

Now can someone go over to my Pioneer DVD-R thread and answer my questions about the DVR-510HS?

 

[Don_Berg]

NO - on a 4:3 title you will lost one-third of the picture if you stretch it vertically like that, thats unacceptable! The Zenith needs a pillar-box mode for 4:3 titles.

 

[NickSo]

The stretch is for non-anamorphic titles (not fullscreen 4:3 material), and it does work for 'unsqueezing' the image.

 

[Andrew Beckmen]

I don't get it. The TV stretches 4:3 to 16:9, then the DVD player stretches is vertically 16:9 back down to 4:3. Non-anamorphic DVDs are simply 4:3 material with letterbox mattes. The image is still 4:3 although the frame is 1.85 or 2.35 or whatever...So how could there be a differance here?

 

[NickSo]

because when you vertically stretch it, only the black bars of the non-anamorphic transfer will be cut off at the top and bottom.

But with 4:3 material where its full-screen, if you vertically stretch it, it will be part of the picture that is cut off at the top and bottom, and not the black bars that would be cut off in the non-anamorphic DVD.

Ill try to show it visually later when i get on my desktop with PaintShopPro...

 

[Don_Berg]

Its a zoom/crop operation, so you would lose 1/3 of the vertical picture from a 4:3 title. For a letterboxed widescreen non-anamorphic thats OK (you only lose black bars) but for full frame 4:3 videos like TV episode box-sets and if you convert VHS or record your own 4:3 video with DVD recorders you will lose 1/3 of the picture.