Can anyone recommend one. I was looking at an LG DVB418 - DVD player with HDMI connection, but the literature says that it can not up-convert copy protected DVDs! This doesn't make sense, it won't play bought or rented movies above 480i? Does this mean it will up-convert my burned (and therefore unprotected) discs? Any info is appreciated.

Don't know anything about the player you are mentioning, but I decided to buy a Momitsu V880N DVD player. It has Macrovision turned off by default and has a DVI connection. So with my DVI to DVI setup I am pure digital and the PQ rocks. In addition, you can disable region coding easily. However, this is not an issue at my house. HDMI can be used with an adapter on the DVI, but of course then you need to use an audio cable to your amp. So maybe you don't want this.

It isn't cheap and it has networking capabilities that you may not want. There is a V880 model without networking for about 100 bucks less so it is about 250 dollars. You can access a "secret" menu with the remote that allows you to turn off Macrovision with this model.

Either player will take a normal DVD and output in 480p 720p and even 1080i to a capable display. It also has ED Plasma and HD 1024x768 settings for pixel to pixel mapping on 42" displays. Which is what I use. I like mine a lot and wont part with it -YMMV. Do a search on Google for the Momitsu and you can read the reviews and make your own decision.

Thanks, I'll look into the Momitsu.

No sweat happy hunting. If you find an upsampling player that you are happy with and purchase. Please add your experience here!

IMHO, upsampling is over-rated. Most HDTV monitors do this already, so there's not much point in it. It's still a 480i/p picture anyway. The only real advantage would be if you have a monitor that gains some little bit from using the DVI/HDMI input. But I seriously doubt you would see any difference on a DVD video unless, as I said, the monitor is not displaying component input correctly. (or you have the picture settings messed up)

As to the "protected DVD's" issue, I wonder if this is something to do with the DRM flags for digital content like HDTV has. They don't want you making digital copies. Could be that all DVD players will have this eventually.

Anyway, if you can see a difference between component input and DVI on a DVD video, you have better eyes than I do. I can just barely convince myself that there's a difference on HDTV sources. (there is, but it's small)

The advantage of upconverting players (good ones) over letting the monitor do it is realized if you are using component video connections since it is done at the digital level before conversion. If your DVD player has a DVI/HDMI connection to the monitor and the monitor is decent, there is really no advantage to letting the DVD player do it since you are still in the digital domain.

Yes, but it's still a 480i/p image. (if you're lucky) Pure marketing hype IMO.

The main purpose of a HDTV up-converter is to eliminate the analogue conversion by having the entire path from the DVD to the TV in digital such as using a DVI or HDMI cable. The up-conversion process also means that the player can work on TV's that cannot handle 480p or 480i, although most HDTV sets can perform the up-conversion.

If one connects a DVD player up to a HDTV display using a SVHS, RCA, component or SCART (in Europe) lead, the DVD player does a digital to analogue conversion to place the video out on the legacy video lead. However, a HDTV set must convert the analogue video signal back to digital in order to digitally resample (up-convert) the picture, especially when it comes to pure digital sets such as a plasma or LCD display that have a fixed native resolution. This digital to analogue and analogue to digital process both causes the picture to degrade a little. The same can be said for audio, for example an audiophile would not go about ripping a CD by playing a CD in a standalone CD player and recording it on their PC through their soundcard’s analogue line-in jack.

A DVD player with a built in HD up-converter overcomes this issue by resampling the image to a HDTV resolution such as 720p, which can be sent to the digital HDTV display using a DVI or HDMI link. This eliminates the quality loss caused by converting the picture to analogue using analogue video connections.

Note that even if your HDTV is a CRT set and you use analogue video leads, most HDTV sets will still convert a standard definition analogue picture to digital in order to perform the HD up-conversion process to display the image.

On the other hand, if your DVD player has a DVI or HDMI output connection and relies on the HDTV set to do the up-conversion, then whether the HDTV set or the DVD player does the resampling, there will be little benefit in the picture quality since the video will remain in digital from the DVD player to the TV in either case.

I came across an article on Howstuffworks.com that goes more in detail.

Yo-

I just tried the Denon DVD1910 upconverter on my Toshiba 57hx94 HD-RPTV and got these boxy bloches - almost like fabric in my picture - I took it back and reinstalled my good old JVC progressive scan player that gives a great picture and put the $250 plus tax back in the bank-

Have read some interesting stuff about the Panasonic S97 - but it is currently impossible to find one as the supply has been sucked dry-

Mike

Bought the LG DVB418 about a month ago and am very happy with it. Got an HDMI cable from Tigerdirect.com for $20, don't waste your money on a $100 Monster cable. It's not quite HD quality but very good. Noticeably better than my Toshiba progressive scan player on my 50" Sony HD LCD rear projection (the Toshiba was $130 new, not some cheap $50 deck).