Edison151

I just purchased a Sony KDS60a3000 hdtv. From what I have read the TV itself is capable of upscaling standard dvd content to 1080i. I have an Onkyo dvd player whose best video output method is component(I think, I have not used in over a year). I have yet to hook it up yet because i just moved and it is still at my old house. My question is would I be better off using my standard dvd player and letting the Sony tv do the upconverting, or would purchasing a quality upconverting dvd player produce better results. I know that this can vary by model because not all hdtv's upconvert equally, however I know that this tv has sold well, and I was hoping someone has already had and solved this problem? If not any general opinions would be appreciated.

CDan

You have to decide this for yourself. You monitor will upscale all inputs to it's native resolution, whatever that is. The only way to know is to buy a player and try it.

As a very general rule, monitors are fair at upscaling and fair to poor at de-interlacing. But unless you're willing to spend the money for an Oppo player, or an HD or BD player, it's not worth considering an upscaling player as these are the only players that are really good at it. There are far too many DVD players that upscale poorly, most of them in fact.

Edison151

If I were to buy a new player it would be the oppo dv-981hd, as I have saw nothing but great reviews for it. Supposedly the chip in the a3000 series of tv's is excellent, but I have yet to find actual posts about it in comparison to a high quality upconverting dvd player. Thank you for your input.

bigmike7

Yo-

Buy a Toshiba HD - A3 to do your upconverting instead of the Oppo - reason = Toshiba A3 does a great job of upconverting @ about $80 and the Oppo goes for about $230-

Yes - I know that the Toshiba is discontinued - but its benefits for upconverting standard DVD's alone - is worth far more than the selling price - especially if you have HDMI connection on your HDTV-eh!!

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Edison151

That is not a bad idea. I read a couple of reviews and it looks like a sound option if I need to purchase a new player. That being said I guess the only input I still need to make my decision is someone that has an a3000 tv that used a standard dvd player. If the picture quality produced by the tv's chip itself is similar in quality I will hold off untill blue ray players drop in price. Let me rephrase that... Untill Blue Ray burners and media drop in price lol.

CDan

The only real issues with a HD-DVD player is that you must update the firmware for best playback, and they lack most of the common convenience features like zoom and disc memory. But for value as an upscaler, they can't be beat.