HDTV and DVD player help

vanos

Member
We just ordered a new 42" Hitachi plasma TV which we will receive in October. I would like to replace my 1999 Pioneer dvd player with a new one that has progressive scan and digital outputs. i.e. dvi or hdmi.
Does anyone have any experience with hdtv's and dvd players? Progressive scan vs an older dvd player? Composite video cables vs digital? Is the picture and sound significantly better? Any model recommendations? Thank you
 
I know the blue wave? and hd dvd players should be out there. As far as the cables you need to find out what your tv has. Whether dvi or hdmi no big deal. The only difference is the hdmi carries the audio signal as well. Haven't done much research on them. Been wanting to upgrade myself(I have a 55" sony grand vega rear proj. lcd) I just haven't had the extra $$$ so haven't looked that hard.
Rich
 

rs1831

Active Member
I have a sony bravia lcd and a toshiba dvd player with hdmi. The picture is amazing and the dvd player was only 80 or so dollars. You don't have to spend a ton of money anymore on dvd players. I believe that all dvd players are now progressive scan but there is a new high definition players but I've never used one of those but I believe that there overpriced. They run along the lines of $500-1000 for the players but in a couple of years they will be the $80 players.
Good luck
 

tangman99

Active Member
Just bought the new 60" Sony XSRD which is 1080P. I am using a Sony DVD NS75H upscale player (rated one of the best upscalers) that I output 1080i through HDMI. The picture quality is very close to HD. Don't spend the money on an HD DVD player right now as they are all overpriced and will be coming down soon. BluRay is also having some issues. BluRay also does not output true 1080P as they claim. From what I understand, they store the media in 1080p on the disk, convert it to 1080i and then upscale it back to 1080p. Something about protecting the original source of the media from copying. I don't understand it all but have been reading about it on some HD sites.
The thing you want to do when you get an upscale DVD (if you get one) is decide if the DVD or TV does a better job of upscaling. My SXRD has an incredible upscaler in it. If the TV does a better job, you will want to pass the signal natively to the TV. Depending on what equipment you have, you want to try to configure it to passthrough or enable all resolutions. Especially if you have a cablebox. They do an incredibly poor job of upscaling signals to HD.
If you have HDMI, get a DVD player with HDMI connections. You can put both sound and video through this connection. At the minimum, you want to use Component (not to be confused with composite which is the old red, white, yellow).
One last thing. If you have a Surround sound reciever, connect your video signal directly to your TV. Don't go through your receiver. Some receivers cause video quality to be compromised unless you can configure it to pass through the video unaltered. There is a small chance that you may get synchonization issues where the sound may lag behind the picture, but not usually.
Good luck and enjoy your new TV!
 

37g joe

Member
Originally Posted by lobstergrabber
I know the blue wave? and hd dvd players should be out there. As far as the cables you need to find out what your tv has. Whether dvi or hdmi no big deal. The only difference is the hdmi carries the audio signal as well. Haven't done much research on them. Been wanting to upgrade myself(I have a 55" sony grand vega rear proj. lcd) I just haven't had the extra $$$ so haven't looked that hard.
Rich
I think you mean blue ray
 

vanos

Member
How do you connect the video signal directly to the tv? I've always connected it to my receiver using s-video inputs.
 

stacyt

Active Member
You could always look at the oppo digital DVD player. When I ordered mine over a year ago it included the cable, your choice HDMI, or DVI. Picture quality on my samsung is amazing at 1080i.
If you want to connect the video through a receiver using HDMI, or DVI be prepared to spend some serious cash. Most receiver's that I have seen where in the $1000+ range with only 1-2 DVI/HDMI inputs, and 1 output. For now I would plug directly from the DVD to the TV. Video signal to the TV, audio to the receiver.
 

oceanists

Active Member
your going to use HDMI to hook up to your plasma its takes care of pic and sound and also enable you to upscale... i also have a 42 inch plasma and a phillips dvd player with upscaling and it makes a huge difference
 

tangman99

Active Member
No need to invest in a receiver to hook up HDMI. The only reason you would ever need to run HDMI through your receiver is if you are limited on the number of HDMI inputs on your TV and need a receiver to send a single HDMI output to the tv from multiple sources. Receivers are for sound, not video. Spend that extra money on a receiver with better sound capabilities.
 

vanos

Member
Thanks for all the help. We should be getting the tv today due to a surplus in inventory and plan on buying the hdmi cable this weekend.
 

vanos

Member
The new tv is great but the cable card isn't working so the tech is coming back on Monday. Any suggestions on why it may not be working? It doesn't even register on the tv. Thanks,
 

piscesblue

Member
Cable cards are crap at the moment. Hopefully they'll get the bugs worked out in the future. I'm waiting for the HD-DVD drive for my XBOX 360 to be released this holiday season, much cheaper than buying a stand alone player.
Also, your TV is going to scale the image no matter what you feed it since it is a plasma like mine and has a fixed resolution which isn't to true 1080 specs. I'm not sure when the true HDTV's will begin hitting the market, but it should be soon and expensive. O yeah, every pixel on your plasma is refreshed every frame so don't get too caught up in the 1080p hype, all plasmas are progressive all the time. There is also a huge debate raging at the moment about the quality difference between HDMI and component. A lot of industry people will tell you (and sometimes show you) that component is equal and in some ways superior to HDMI. They consider HDMI as a copyright protection scheme that is being forced on consumers even though it provides no added benefits. I personally use HDMI for my cable and component for 360 and my DVD player. The only difference I've noticed with the HDMI (i've swapped the cable to component many times to compare) is the sharpness and color. HDMI is crisper, but the colors are washed out. If you have ever had a Trinitron tv, you know what I'm talking about. If you like more vivid colors, red push etc., then component is the way to go. It really comes down to personal prefs.
The absolute best thing you can do for yourself and your TV is to get a calibration disc and use it every few weeks for the first year. Also, limit your videogame playing to 20min uninterupted sessions for the first 6mo until the plasma is broken in. Never leave the plasma on when the game/movie/cable menu is paused for the first 6mo or you will see ghosting and maybe permanent burn-in. After the plasma is broken in, you'll see ghosting after an extended session of surfing the cable menu, but it disappears after 30secs of moving video.
Enjoy your new toy!
 

vanos

Member
I have some high quality component cables hooked up and the picture is excellent. A big improvement over s-video. I also bought a new denon dvd player with hdmi hookups. I ordered an hdmi cable from crutchfield over the weekend and looking forward to comparing both. Thanks for the help,
 
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