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Best sub-$150 upconverting DVD player?

Kingsly

Kingsly

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Aug 9, 2005
3,389
14
Either in front of a computer or behind a camera.
I am wanting to buy an up-converting DVD player to top off my über great DLP projector/9' screen/Bose 5.1 surround (Sorry, I feel the need to brag:p ;) ) home theater. I am waiting for the format war to end before sinking money into a Blu-Ray or HDDVD player and am looking for an interim setup.

Basically I want a decent HD up-converting DVD player (that outputs 720 or 1080 via Component video) for less than $150.

Help?
 
I'm 99.99999% sure he meant www.oppodigital.com .

You can not go wrong buying the DV-970HD. It's a FANTASTIC DVD player. One of the nicest ones on the market, period, regardless of price. And definitely better than anything from any other company in the sub-$500 range.

I don't personally have one, only due to the fact I have plenty of consoles and computers that play DVDs. Nevertheless, I'm certain you'll be happy with an oppo. Don't let the lack of brand recognition fool you, it is a great, solid, reliable product with accurate colors, and all around great picture quality perfromance.
 
oppodigital.com said:
(* Component output for CSS-encrypted DVD discs (almost all commercially pressed DVD discs) is limited to 480i/480p only.)
Click to expand...

Nooooo! Is that for this player only or all up-converting players? It doesn't even make sense.

Okay, new plan. Can I go DVI out to my MBP's DVI-VGA adaptor and VGA into my projector?
 
I have a LG DH100H. Plays divx, upconverts, has hdmi, and a usb port (can put avi files on a thumb drive). Works great and I think it sells for $A200 or less.

I just found out it can be set as region free, which is great because I just moved from Canada.
 
MiningGab said:
I have a LG DH100H. Plays divx, upconverts, has hdmi, and a usb port (can put avi files on a thumb drive). Works great and I think it sells for $A200 or less.

I just found out it can be set as region free, which is great because I just moved from Canada.
Click to expand...

From what I understand setting a DVD player to region free allows HD over component. Have you done this? Does it work?
 
Best upconverting DVD player for under $150? Easy. The original XBOX with dongle. If you're willing to chip it and install XBOX Media Centre, you'll have the best media center in the market until :apple: TV comes out
 
I can tell you you dont want one from Toshiba, anyway.

I bought one for about $80 a little over a year ago because it had HDMI out, upconversion, and came with the HDMI cable.

After actually using it, I discovered three things:

1) HDMI looks WAY better than component at least with my setup--the black level and color fidelity was visibly improved.

2) Its upconversion actually looks worse than what my TV does built-in; if I set it to 480p it looks significantly better than 720p or 1080i. Its upconversion also appears to do something funky with the aspect ratio, because the picture is cut off slightly on the right side.

3) Whatever boneheaded moron designed it decided that making the whole tray glow blue while in use was cool. Sure, it looks good in the store, but it's a giant blue glowing bar if you're watching a movie in a dim room.

I actually kept it because it was cheap and good enough for my purposes (I was just plain too lazy to return it and order something better), but I wouldn't make the purchase again if I had the option. It replaced a 5-disc Pioneer that I loved, but broke.

Actually, I really like the picture I get from my Mac--beautiful upconversion--so if I could afford it I'd get a Mini to use as a DVD player. That's well over $150, though.
 
suneohair said:
Just a note that is Chinese, so you got the Kanji part right, but no hiragana/kana to be had there :)
Click to expand...
Hey you're right. Weird though, last time I clicked it it took me to a different page than this time that definitely had hiragana in it.
Makosuke said:
Actually, I really like the picture I get from my Mac--beautiful upconversion--so if I could afford it I'd get a Mini to use as a DVD player. That's well over $150, though.
Click to expand...

I have decided to just go with a good 480p DVD player, since finding out that the scaler built into my projector is far better than any $150 up-converter out there.


I would *love* am Mac Mini setup, though. Maybe I can find room to put my eMac in there somewhere...
Any suggestions?
 
Makosuke said:
I

3) Whatever boneheaded moron designed it decided that making the whole tray glow blue while in use was cool. Sure, it looks good in the store, but it's a giant blue glowing bar if you're watching a movie in a dim room.
Click to expand...

Open it and cut the wire leading to the blue light. I've done that with a few things. I don't like lights poking at me when I'm trying to sleep or watch films.

re Xbox - I brought one with XBMC pre-installed. Hmm. A little complicated to learn how to use and tweak if you didn't set it up yourself. I have to say a lot of things about it baffle me, and strangely I haven't been able to find any manual or guide for it on the internet, just bunches of forums in leet-speak.

I have also noticed that DVDs look better when running it with the microsoft Xbox software, rather than with the XBMC application. (both are installed, powering it up via the eject button runs the microsoft software). This is through a hdmi to scart, to a 5 year old cheap standard TV.
 
get the denon 1730.. gr8 upconverting picture.. remember it also depends on your tv.. if the scaler in the tv is better than the scaler in the dvd player your wasting your money
 
SONY DVP-NS75H

$99-$129 depending on where. Out of stock a lot of places, I got mine from jr.com for $99 plus shipping.
 
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