Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Upconverting DVD players

I am a real newbie in the audiophile area, but have been a "wannabe" videophile for awhile now.

For those of you who have HD capable tvs and don't have an upconverting player, you need to get one soon. They are relatively inexpensive, usually $200-300. They are quite remarkable. A solid DVD transfer played on an upconverting player is I would say, about 75-80% of what a true HD image looks like. I throw in the Star Wars trilogy (granted three of the best transfers out there) and I simply sit there in amazement. It looks fantastic! In comparison a 480p signal is perhaps 50% of a true HD image, so there is a definite increase in PQ. Even with my small 36" tube tv, I notice a significant difference in PQ via the component connection on my Zenith 318 upconverting DVD player. Those with plasmas, DLPs, and LCDs will notice a big improvement with a DVI/HDMI upconverting player.

Now I just need a nice home theater system to make the audio as good as the video.

FWIW, the players I hear about as having the best reputations are the Momitsu 880, Sony NS975, and the Panny S97. I personally would like to try the Panasonic eventually, I have heard it is an excellent player. I thought about going with the Momitsu as I have heard it has tremendous PQ, but I was a bit wary of the build quality. The Samsungs don't seem to get good marks, but I have not seen any personally.

Yes I realize this, the problem is that previous versions of Samsungs, 841, 931, had a black crush problem, curious if the 941 suffers from this also.

Some of the Denons 1910, 2910, supposably had issues with no option to watch 4:3 material without it being stretched.

I'm with you TNTguy, my problems is that some of the players you listed have compatiblity problems with some Front Projection systems. For ex, the 318 is know for cropping pixels around the border of the screen. Also, it used to be region free, but is no longer, only Momitsu and Bravo have this option. The Samsungs have had a bad black crush problem, which is not good when your trying to get good blacks/contrast. I'll just have to do some testing soon and pick up one of these babies, as the word is that they are tremendous if you find the right model...

Quite true. If you can match a player that works well with your particular type of display, the results are awesome. For me, I have been told with my direct view tube tv, going the DVI/HDMI route won't give me improved results over a component connection just because my display will have the digital-analog-digital conversion regardless. But for those who have digital displays, DVI/HDMI will improve the picture much over a component connection. Good luck in your search.

Thanks TNTGuy

Anybody on this website using the Panasonic S97S Upconverting HDMI player? Based on current information I'm following on a few AVSforum threads, it sounds like this player does not suffer from the black crush, pixel cropping, macroblocking, etc...problems that Samsung, Zenith, Denon, etc. have experience with some of their models? Even the people with DVI front projectors that use HDMI > DVI adapters have experienced flawless performance, unlike some of the other brands....

Hey Sirquack, if you wait a good month, I am hoping to have my Z3 and the S97. I have heard very good things about this combination as well so I thought that I would give it a whirl...

It all comes down to tax return funds. My wife started her own business last year, so doing our taxes is taking forever, but I am hoping to get them done tomorrow night and get them sent out, then it is just waiting for the check in the mail, which should come about the same time as my bonus from work (found out that I am, because I am a manager, getting 14.8% as a bonus). I've never worked at a place that actually gave out bonuses, so this is awesome! Between thge two, I can pay off all of my debt (except house), get the Z3 and S97, and have money left over for vacation and Christmas. It is about time too. I am tired of paying credit card bills. I've had significant debt since 1993, so this will be a nice change.

If I happen to get everything before you end up buying, I will let you know and set up a quick demo. If you end up getting the S97 first, let me know your thoughts as well.

cool nick that sounds good, yep I've been studying up on all the upconverting DVD's and the S97S has performed as well as some costing close to a grand, for $300 or less, you can't beat that deal. I'm trying to find out who has it locally though. Where are you planning on getting your Z3 from, I got my Z2 at a place near Chicago. I'm still considering the Z3 also, as I have a buddy interested in my Z2 as it is still like new. A demo at some point would be cool, as I could see if my Axioms sound better than yours

We could test the Axioms to see just how good their manufacturing process is.

Of course, we would have to ignore room differences, receivers, source media, who serves the best snacks and drinks, and so forth...

I just got done reading Projector Centrals review of the Z3, and they are basically saying the onboard scaler on the Z3 is so good, that you don't need DVDO or an upconverting player. Hmmmm, maybe just finding a nice DVD-A, SACD DVD player and letting the Z3 do the scaling will do the trick.

Well, it happened. Sony came out with a 400 disc upconverting DVD player. Saw it over at AudioHolics web site...

Sony DVP-CX995V
http://www.audioholics.com/news/pressreleases/SonyHDMIDVDplayers.php

Uses HDMI for upconverted image. Looks like it will run about $385 street price...