Anyone have an upconverting DVD player?

[hancox]

Mine is on the fritz, and these caught my eye anyway. Probably down to:

BravoD2
Zenith DVB312
Samsung HD941

Yes, I have DVI, but only 1 input, and it's used by my Dish811. Of these 3, the Zenith is the cheapest, but doesn't do DVI. The 941 isn't out yet, but the Farjouda is tempting. Bravo appears to update the firmware most often, so take that at face value


Would be interested if anyone has some insight...

 

[mini1]

the Zenith is nothing more than a progressive scan DVD player, why do you ask about it? you only have 2 choices there. Don't buy one now, wait unitl the next round comes out later this year. I am waiting for the Sony HD DVD up-converter player coming this september if I remeber correctly. a round of others will be introed then also.

 

[Mark_AR]

I've got a Zenith DVB318 and it upconverts to 1080i with DVI out.

 

[Cyclone]

I've been working with a friend's dad's friend and helping him design a Home Theater. Tomorrow we hook up his new DVB318 Zenith to a 50" Panny Plasma. I did a bit of research and the DVB318 has a pretty good rep.

If I could, I'd get one for myself. Its supposed hard to obtain at this time.

 

[Mark_AR]

I got mine from Wildwestelectonics.com for 199.00.

It took about 2 1/2 weeks to get a tracking #. I am very pleased with it and it was a breeze to set up.

Mine even plays copy protected DVD's at 1080i. Zenith deny's this feature. I won't flash the ROM just in case they decide to disable it.

Just FYI, the manufacture date on my unit is Dec 2003.

 

[Carl B]

I have a Sammy HD931 and it does a great job of up-converting DVDs to 720p on a Sammy DLP. However, it has a reputation for not playing well with LCD/RP DTVs; not sure about w/ plasma.

When I got my DISH811 I switced the HD931 to component cables and used my lone DVI for the 811. On component, you don't get any upconverting, but the 931 does perform as well as any progressive scan DVD player on component cables. I'd love to get a DVI switch if the price ever comes down to around $100. Until then, watch a lot more HDTV than DVDs so the DVI stays on the 811.

 

[hancox]

Just to ammend - I've heard of build quality issues with the Samsung units - fantastically long thread on AVSForum

 

[Carl B]

There are more build-quality issues with the Bravo units as evidenced on the AVS Forum.

 

[hancox]

Agreed - that kind of stuff scares me

I'm thinking about the HTPC route too, but it could end up being an immense PITA (the WAF would go down big time too)

 

[dfergie]

I'm running a htpc with power strip etc... but on my X1, I need to get one of those ati dongles to try it with my hitachi. Only thing I have not gotten to work is dolby5.1 sound on it. Actually my replay has a better picture, but I am watching downrezzed hd on it. But I will probably end up with an upconverting dvd player for the hitachi.

 

[DarrellP]

I'm waiting for the Bravo D3 in Q3, it also plays WM9 encoded DVD's and has custom resolution scaling for only $349.

 

[InSync]

I have the Samsung 931 connected via DVI and it does a nice job. Nice, not great. The picture was slightly better that my Sony dvd player and the picture was certainly not anywhere near the quality of my Direct HDTV. The remote is really cheap and limited in function and it looks like something from an "off brand" dvd player.

 

[DarrellP]

I just read in one of my HT rags that Sony has one coming in September for $300.