... except hirez DVD-Audio

HAHA true... but u buy DVD player not really for its audio properties... good enough kua... for movies (DTS & DD5.1) and enough for easy listening...

but u can bunk tons of MP3/WMA on a DVD and the "philips" will play it... or for that matter... just leave it in your external drive. SUPER JUKEBOX

though a dedicated CD/SACD player is better in its audio properties/circuitry...

This post has been edited by edwin74: Dec 27 2006, 05:27 PM

Well, nothing is perfect, some players support DVD-Audio only, some just SACD, some both formats, some doesn't support both. There's a huge difference listerning to DVD-Audio or SACD and recently, I managed to buy Bon Jovi and Daniel Powter on dual disc format (yeah, DVD-Audio on one side, cd on the other side), the sound quality blows me away, I've played them on my Pioneer 989 and wasted that these high resolution audio formats failed to make an impact after so many years, they sure do sound better than ordinary cds. You don't have to get a seperate SACD or DVD-Audio player, high end dvd players use high end audio components like Burr-Brown, most commonly used in high end Pioneer and Denon dvd players so you're still getting audiophile quality sound from a dvd player. It's cheaper to get all in one than to buy them seperately.


The upscalling is only done via HDMI and not over component video. Yeah, I know it sucks for those who bought the first generation Plasma tv without DVI or HDMI. I guess only the XBOX 360 outputs games in HDTV resolution via component video, no such luxury from PS3, component video is restricted to 480P only including games and Blu-Ray movies.


This post has been edited by sunauto: Dec 27 2006, 05:35 PM

guys, there's something i don't understand.

currently i'm having a panasonic dvd player and a philips hd lcdtv. the highest video resolution the dvd player can go is 480p.

a dvd disc only can go up till 480p max, no? on the other hand, i'm thinkin does a hdmi dvd player that does 720 or 1080p can play or upscale the dvd at 720 or 1080p?

i'm getting confused. how bout upscaling that you guys are talkin about? does it really improve the quality? if that's it, how about mp3 and etc? a low bitrate sucky quality mp3 played is still poor even it's encoded at a a higher bitrate.

Well, dvds actual resolution is 480p, upscale resolution is to convert 480p to 720p, 1080i or 1080p to fill in the pixes of your hdtv panel because with 480p of resolution, the picture pales in comparison when you output it to a hdtv capable panel. On CRT tvs, 480p is perfect but less perfect on a hdtv panel so that's why we need an upscale dvd player for this purpose, to make the picture optimized for hdtv panels and yes, upscaled dvds look a tad nicer but not as nice as HD-DVD or Blu-Ray lah but by comparison, the picture quality is much improved and sharper, less noise too due to hdmi output. It's like a whole new experience to watch your old dvds on an upscaled dvd player.

OK... went shop around last few days.
Mideaplex selling it for RM2100 (Denon 1930). A shop in SS2 PJ selling it for RM16xx. and another selling it at RM1550. Anyway, brought 2 of my worst DVD collection to test it in the SS2 shop which were plugged onto a 50" Pioneer Plasma.

Donno whether they did not do the setting but it seems like the picture output was lousy. Then, when they tried my super warped Die Another Day DVD, the picture quality was good. But it stopped playing after few chapters.

I tried the disc again on a Philips (non HDMI) and it finished the whole disc until subtitle come out. So, I guess Philips does earns the King Of All Players title.

I also tried on Samsung 950 HDMI on a Samsung R7 40" LCD. I'd say... what a crap!!!Ha! Ha!...

But after trying on other LCDs using component... comparing frame by frame... This is my conclusion on playing HDMI output using demo DVD.

-->You will notice grainy pictures. Very obvious when it comes to shades of black. The Demo DVD was playing a clip from I,Robot and it was bad. When I switched to component video onto another LVD display, it seems like that particular shade is soften where as for the HDMI, it is sharpen.

But of course, you will notice that component output was more boxy...(notice the pirated VCD) but on the HDMI, u actually get cleaner picture.

Conclusion, overall HDMI does make the picture sharper and cleaner in term of frames, no jaggy edges but I just hate the noise...
I should have brought my camera to take some pics.



Anyway, so, I guess I'll still wait for my Oppo 981. Hopefully I will be able to get it by early next month. And I will do a thorough review here.

By the way, anyone of you using Xbox 360 to upscale DVDs? I mean it has HD-DVD built in and DVI output... how does it perform in upscaling to 720p or 1080i? May be... instead of getting a HDMI DVD, I can get the Xbox 360. 1 stone kills 2 birds...what u guys think?

I guess I can answer this question since I have a XBOX 360 and the HD-DVD add on, the answer is no, the XBOX 360 doesn't upscale standard dvds and that's the same goes for PS3 too. I know it sucks but it's true. The XBOX 360 seems to play warped dvds pretty well but just that it doesn't upscale them.

Regarding the Denon dvd player, you need to set it to Auto 1 and do some tweaking with the colours with a DVD Essentials dvd, straight from the box, the colour tones are slightly of but if compared with my Sony 76H, I prefer the upscale picture on my Sony, it's smoother and sharper. You gotta try to give Sony 76H a test drive before getting the Oppo. No lah, I'm not stopping you to get an Oppo, just wanna make sure you won't regret mah since you have already test Denon, Philips and Samsung, no harm giving Sony a test drive lor, right?

Seriously... I am thinking of the Sony 76H. The problem is... I have no place to test it. Arrrgghhh... All the sales staff so sucks when its time to test. They never bother you. Even Sony Wing.

I think this weekend I will go to Sony Wing in the Curve again. If OK, I'll buy it. Its seems like every shop also selling at RM590 and retail price is RM599.00. Why aren't there any shop throwing price for this model? Arrggh... I go KL test tomorrow. Ha! Ha!.

It's because Sony doesn't allow them to give any personal discounts, my friend could only sell it to me slightly cheaper but the receipt must show RM599.00 (like the actual retail price). It's crazy but that's what Sony is doing, they want to avoid their dealers from doing a price war.

You can try going to SenQ or HSL, they have a few units on display, in Penang of course but I'm pretty sure it's the same in Klang Valley area IMHO. Just give it a try, if you don't like it, then go for the Oppo as no two people agree on the same thing so it's perfectly alright with me if you felt that Sony's 76H is not your cup of coffee.

Actually, I have not tested Oppo as well. But I have tested Samsung 950 and Denon 1930.

I think any HDMI DVD Player might give my projector a good outcome as long as there is no problem with the player like conflicts and things like that. Yeah... I will go for a try.

TOMORROW....

From my personal experience, the 92V from Sony has a shifting issue when upscaled to 1080i via the projector and some HDTV panels, the problem has been corrected with the 76H model and picture quality wise, both models are comparable, the only difference is 92V plays SACD and 76H does not, it plays them but you won't get SACD sound quality, if you can live with that, 76H is a good choice but if you want all in one, then Denon 1930 is your best bet but Denon's 2930 is the main star as it pawns most high end dvd players costing twice its price but now worth buying that now, with the price, you can get a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player, why bother getting such an expensive dvd player, right?

Arrgghh...

Talk about Denon again. The problem with Denon is, there is no standard pricing. Their list price for 1930 is RM2350. And those AV Shops just simply bang a price thinking people these days don't do research. But I believe many rich buggers do that. They'll go to an AV shop and say... "oi... I have RM1mil... I want buy home theater. I want big big speaker, big big sub, big big amplifier, and big big TV. "

Then the shop will just sharpen their knifes and start giving you all the craps until you confused and buy everything.

For example... GOLD PLATED HDMI cable. He! HE!.

Anyway... I think I will go for the Sony until better players come out. (only if my testing is good)

from what is see. why would u want to bring both of your worst dvd to test out the players. aren't u supposed to test out the dvd outputs? not the issue of can play or cant playing any disc. from what i see, not all players are perfect. what i believe its just hard luck. u might find problem playing some disc on the philips u mentioned ealier on where some other player can play. funny but true. not just bout between other brands. it can be the same brand but on diff model. anyway i can see the other disc u brought (devils wear prada) was working perfectly fine. though the picture output is a bit crappy good luck on your search. cheers

To tell you the truth, there are many importers importing Denon so each importer will have a different price mark up strategy and the pricing is not standardized unlike other brands like Philips, Sony, Pioneer, Panasonic, etc ..... they have only one authorized importer. For Denon, one shop might quote you this price, the other will quote you another but if you ask, warranty claim from who? They will give you different names. Spare parts for Denon is pricey too, I owned one before and I wouldn't wanna own another in the future unless there's an authorized Denon distributor in Malaysia. The optical lens worth RM200 plus are sold to you at RM300 plus and that's excluding labour. Really cut throat prices. For Pioneer, I can drive to their service centre in Penang and get the pickup lens for my Pioneer 989 at RM180 and I can DIY myself easily. Just plug and play, no soldering needed.

The pickup lens for Sony 76H is even cheaper, only RM145. Hahaha. The spare part shops do sell them and yes, it's a genuine Sony pick up lens made in Prai.
Anyway, just hope that you managed to get a chance to try Sony 76H. I know not many places are selling it but it's indeed a decent player.

Good news! I found a website that hack Samsung HDMI player to upconvert over component video:
http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/2/147226.html

If anyone go to shop, please try this hack! I want to know also

Sorry to spoil the fun but Samsung's HDMI player has the worst upscaling picture quality for standard dvds and it suffers from macroblocking issues. You wouldn't wanna buy that. Honestly, component video can carry up to 1080i hdtv signals (like XBOX 360) but is prone to distortion and interference since it's analog and not digital. But if you're not picky then it's okay lah but the problem is Samsung's HDMI dvd player ain't cheap and with the price you can get better players in the market. Just my 2 cents.

Guess what guys? I bought the Sony 76H. Ha! Ha! Ha! Went to a Sony Wing in Paramount PJ. Sold it to me at RM575.00 using credit card. So, I guess its ok. I know after new year the price gonna drop. But heck, the guy was accomodating, helping me trying the player with 3 DVDs I brought. Couldn't play 1 of it. Ha! Ha!

Anyway, I believe even if you have HDTV, be careful. Different TV might give different output. And until to date, all LCDs I tried (just now Sony, day before Samsung), they all sux.

So, I am going to try it tonight using my projector. And most prob I will take picture and post it up here. I will compare S-Video and HDMI-Same player, S Video and HDMI-different player and compare each shot. I will make sure it is on the same screen and the picture is taken with the same aperture and speed.

So, no more Oppo.

Anyway, based on the testing at the shop just now, I think Sony is still more sensitive than the Philips. He! hE!

Wah, RM575? That's a good price because the lowest I can get is RM590. They gave you discount even you paid it with credit card? That's great.

Huh? Cannot play any of your ahem dvds? That's strange, I had no problems with my poor quality ahem dvds. This is something strange but did you test other movies on it? I'm sure you'll love the picture quality especially if it's hooked up on a Sony Bravia (the normal type S or V series). Honestly, the Sony 76H looked nicer on a Sony Bravia, Panasonic Viera, Toshiba Regza than Samsung's R7 LCD tv. That's based on my personal observation.

Yeah, yeah, do post some pictures here. Does your projector support component video too? If yes, do include it as a comparison with HDMI output but do take note that 76H only upscale to 720P or 1080i resolution via HDMI only and you must check the maximum resolution that your projector can support as some projectors only support up to 720P resolution.

Anyway, congratulations for getting a 76H, I have three units in my house, one in the living hall, one in my room and one in my gf's house (she's using it to watch those ahem Chinese and Korean serials on dvds)

Wah... gila one... 3 units???

Anyway, tested it and its superb on "Cars". It looks flawless. But on other moview, yeah... I still see the noise. Its not because its not good but because basically 720p or 1080i, the details is higher compared to 480... so, you see the shades in grain instead of a patch...

Anyway... will post the pics later. Still testing it...

I've been busy checking the latest price. My primary usage will be for HTPC and regular TV programs. Below ar emy findings. Sharp is using their own ASV panel, Sammy is their S-PVA whereas both LG and Toshiba are using LG-Phillips panel. all are 768p panels. I'm not too sure if the VGA port of Sharp and Toshiba can take 1360x768 or 1368x768 from PC.

Sharp 42" 42BX5M. Best Quote RM 7,500

Samsung 40" LA40R71B. Best Quote RM6,950

Toshiba 42" 42WL66E. Best quote RM 6,800

LG 42" 42LC2R. Best Quote RM6,000

what do you say??