Does having a DVD player with HDMI make a big difference?

[Mike71]

Just curious if anyone has a TV and DVD with HDMI hook-ups and if it makes a major difference in picture quality? From my understanding DVD's are at a resolution of 480p but HDMI upconverts the signal to 1080i or something like that. Also from my understanding its a pure digital signal and component cables convert from anolog to digital at the TV. I guess DVI is the same as HDMI except that DVI is just for digital video and HDMI incorporates audio and video(newer technology) Someone who has a DVD player with DVI could give me an answer as well cause they are the same thing. If someone knows more about this feel free to correct anything here that I have written. I just did some brief research. Bottom line question if you have a high end TV will you see a major difference with HDMI/DVI than you would with component. Also will the players play back-up DVD's and -R/-RW/+R/+RW/CDR/etc? What about DMCP, anyone have solid info about how that works? After thinking, this might be better in the hardware forum. Mods, feel free to move if neccasary :)

[Mike71]

Hmmm, no videophiles here at RFD? Off to the A/V geeks at avsforum then! :cheesygri

[666]

DVI is digtial video signal from dvd player to your tv.
hdmi is just the same thing except with digital audio too.

in general, DVI or HDMI cable will give you slightly better picture than component, but NOT big differences. (in same resolution, say 480p)

the only differences is the dvd player's upconvert feature. this makes your dvd looks better! but the only problem is it depends only the "upconvert" chip set of the dvd player. that makes some dvd players has better "upconvert" quality pictures.

so which one is the best "upconverter"? well, it depends on your preferences and you need to look for yourself. some are very expensive and some are decent price.

[j3fan]

I'm looking at getting a dvd player that upconverts as well....

i'm debating whether i should get the panasonic s97s or samsung hd941....according to folks at avsforum, the samsung model has problems....so leaning towards the s97s....

i also heard that denon makes good dvd players, was looking at the denon 3910, but that thing is over $1000...unless it blows the pansonic s97s dvd player out of the water, i won't be getting the denon 3910....

and to answer your question about playing backup dvds...that really depends on the player, some players will support while others won't...

[Furkmyster]

I have the Panasonic S97 upconverting DVD player connected to a 53" WS CRT RPTV through HDMI directly, and the picture is absolutely phenomenal at 1080i. I read at AVS about some problems with the S97 with macro-blocking, but I didn't see any evidence of it. There are also picture problems (black crush or white crush) if you need to use a DVI-HDMI dongle, which I didn't have to. I just got them this past weekend, so I haven't done any testing to see it 480p is just as acceptable from the player.

[DavidY]

I believe that the best two upconverting DVD players with HDMI are the Panasonic S97 and the Sony 975. I am pretty sure that there are no macroblocking with the Sony 975. Not sure if there are any other issues. No DVD player is perfect. So far, I have been very happy with my LG 7832 at 1080i via component...MB hasn't been an issue yet with me.

Dave

[porphyra]

Essentially you want a DVD player which has the Faroudja DCDi chip to upconvert. This is by far better than any other chips out there, and the inherent algorithms in the chip offer a result that is head and shoulders over the competition at this moment.

Do a search on Google to see which DVD players are avaliable with the Faroudja DCDi chip. Also, a DVD player with DVI output will yield slightly better results (albeit for DVD players, component video pretty much matches the results).

The real distinction will come with the next generations of HD-DVD's. Until then...I think you will be trying to squeeze 99.9% out of 99% already achieved.

[warpdrive]

I have the Panasonic DVD-S97, but I have a problem where my projector is displaying random noise (sparklies)

But otherwise, the picture is definitely cleaner and overall more detailed/smoother compared to my top rated Panasonic RP-82 (which was a great player). I think the upgrade is worthwhile.

[warpdrive]

So I inquire around and it seems my problem is the connection, I'm getting sparklies at 720P mode. I'm using the freebie HDMI cable that came with the DVD player and a Monster HDMI-DVI connector

Anybody know where I can get a HDMI to DVI cable?

[Beradon]

Why not consider a HTPC? I heard with the right videocard and software you can run circles around these upconverting DVD players.

[Mike71]

Thanks for your replies guys. Pretty much what I was thinking but its always good to have some second opinions. I'll probably wait a bit until HDMI DVD players come down in price or until HD-DVD's come out. An HTPC is an excellent idea and one I am considering very strongly as well. :)

[warpdrive]

Here is a bookmark to a thread that one guy explained very well

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=477740&perpage=20&pagenumber=1

[j3fan]

i'm prob gonna get the panasonic s97s from http://www.jr.com/

they are offering free shipping for the xmas holidays....don't need (or want) a HTPC.....

[666]

how about the samsung hd941? it uses Faroudja DCDi chip. i don't know if sony use it? but i doubt sony will. mostly sony will use its own chip. people saying that hd941 had problems. but i will verify myself.

[j3fan]

how about the samsung hd941? it uses Faroudja DCDi chip. i don't know if sony use it? but i doubt sony will. mostly sony will use its own chip. people saying that hd941 had problems. but i will verify myself.

many ppl have sad bad things about hd941 from the reviews i read on avsforum.com

hd841 had many problems, but only outputted dvi, and when then released hd941, which outputted hdmi, it carried the same problems over to hd941...they didn't fix many of the problems that were found in hd841...

gonna get the panasonic s97s unless someone convince me to get the denon 3910....

[666]

many ppl have sad bad things about hd941 from the reviews i read on avsforum.com

hd841 had many problems, but only outputted dvi, and when then released hd941, which outputted hdmi, it carried the same problems over to hd941...they didn't fix many of the problems that were found in hd841...

gonna get the panasonic s97s unless someone convince me to get the denon 3910....


don't believe others. only believe by your own eyes as I stated in my previous post.

i myself has a hd841 with dvi out and i experienced NO problems. very nice pic quality, especially at 1080i. that's why i want to try the hd941 with Faroudja DCDi chip (which everyone says it is good).

hd941 may have problem though since it uses different chip. that's why i said i will verify myself.

[OntarioAcoustics]

Hey 666,

Did you experience any black crush with your HD841? I wanted to run DVI from my DVD player to my projector but the black crush was too bad. Also, the HD841 will not upconvert over component, only DVI.

I ended up choosing the LG 7832. It was a toss up between the two but they were both nice DVD players. The LG also had it's downsides though. For me, it chopped off about 10-15 rows of pixels down the right hand side of the screen and about 5 rows of pixels along the bottom of the screen.

The HD841 had some nice features that the LG didnt have. For instance, you could use the remote to change from 720p to 1080i on the fly. Whereas the LG you have to stop the movie and press the upconvert button on the DVD player. This doesnt bother me too much because I always upconvert to 720p and I just leave it. Also, when I upconvert to 1080i on the LG it shows a row of white dots at the top of the screen.

Anyways, these are some of the pros and cons I found with the HD841 and the LG7832.

Jeff