naugem

Hi,

I have a 30 in. CRT tv that supports up to 1080i, but only through component.

Would it be worth to get an upconverting DVD player (Oppo 970)?, or should I just get a progressive scan one?

Thanks!

DVD Josh

Remember, Oppo only upconverts through the HDMI/DVI output.

RichC2

Naw, I have a Philips 30" CRT HDTV, upscaling to 1080i on it doesn't make a very big difference at all.

Mr. Salty

Until you hack the firmware, then it upconverts through component just fine.

Josh H

Best thing to do is just buy one from a store with a 30 day return policy and try it yourself. If the improvement on your set isn't worth the $$ to you take it back.

Circuit City and Best Buy has some up converting players on sale this week (pretty much all of them or on some degree of sale).

The cheapest name brand one is the Toshiba SD-5000 for $69.99 at Circuit City. I was going to get that one, but it lacked an optical out which I need (need to hook both HD Cablebox and DVD up to the one digital input on my reciever and the cable box only has optical out for Dolby Digital).

So I went with the Samsung DVD Player 1080p7 at Best Buy. I got it for $79.xx after a 12% Reward Zone coupon. Seems to be much better reviewed than the Toshiba player and came out to $10 more, so pretty good deal (though I don't need 1080p at the moment).

DVD Josh

Although not officially supported, it is possible for the DV-970HD to upconvert HD via component through this hack. This hack is not supported by HKFlix or Oppo Digital and may void your warranty. Use at your own risk. If you are unfamiliar with any of the following procedues, please do not attempt to perform this modification.

This firmware will allow you to alter any DV-970HD firmware to allow for component based upconversion (720p and 1080i) and the removal of HDCP compliance.

1. First, go to http://www.box.net/shared/gkelmelv83 and download and extract the program called 970FMT.

2. Go to the OPPO Digital Site and download the latest Official firmware Release. Save the *.ISO in an easily accessible location.

3. Use WinRAR, ISOBust or other program which can extract the *.ISO. You should have a file called "935.BIN".

4. Open 970FMT and click the folder under the option Original Firmware. Search for the "935.BIN" file.

5. Click Start.

6. Use Nero Burning Rom or other burning program where you can force a new CD compilation with "ISO 9660 Only (non-Joliet)" CD mastering. For Nero, follow these instructions:
1. Open Nero and create a New Compilation.
2. Click on CD-ROM (ISO) and then select the ISO tab.
3. Ensure DATA mode is Mode 1 and that the File System is "ISO 9660 Only".
4. Click New.
5. Drag and drop the 935.BIN file. Now burn it.
7. Put the CD into the DVD and follow the onscreen instructions.

Your DVD player now no longer supports CSS and HDCP encryptions. Enjoy component based upconversion and the ability to use the DV-970HD on non-HDCP compliant displays such as LCD PC monitors.

pro-bassoonist

Josh:

Can you elaborate a bit on your experience with it. I have the lattest Oppo machine but am planning on picking one extra unit.

I would love to read your thoughts on it.

Pro-B

Josh H

Will do when I get a chance to hook it up. Got the HDMI cable from Monoprice today, but I'm going to wait until I finish the 100 hours on the break in DVD before hooking it up (no sense in putting the extra wear and tear on the new player).

Will be done with that over night tomorrow, so will try and post impressions on Friday.

mrhan

Your receiver doesn't have a coxial digital imput option besides the Toslink?

Josh H

Its a crappy, 7 or 8 year old Sony 5.1 receiver.

It only has one digital input, and that one input takes either coaxial or optical. You can't use both (if something is in the optical plug on that input, the coaxial one doesn't work).

My Comcast box only has optical output, while the dvd player has both--thus toslink with switcher is the way to go for me.

pro-bassoonist

Great! Looking forward to your comments!

Pro-B

Josh H

Ok, I got the Samsung DVD Player 1080P7 hooked up today.

It's definitely a big improvement over my old Sony in 480p. Tested it several times and compared using The Incredibles. Huge difference. Also tested 720p vs. 1080i, and as with the Comcast HD box 720p looked better on my 42" Vizio.

Also seemed like the sound was better than on the Sony, but maybe just that it was louder.

Was definitely worth the $80 or so I spent on the player and HDMI cable.

But of course, results will vary, as some TVs have very good scaling chips and thus you don't really need and upconverting player.

I'm sure the one in the 42" Vizio isn't very good (though the newest 50" model supposedly has a top of the line scaler in it).

Josh H

OK, the Samsung is going back. Something screwy with it where it won't save setting changes in the options.

I.e. i defaults to PCM audio out, so I changed it to Bitstream to get Dolby Digital/DTS through my recevier via the optical cable.

Worked great, until I turned the player off. Everytime I turn it back on it's defaulted back to PCM (tested video settings etc. and everything goes back to default if you change it and turn it off).

Will report back later with what I get.

Josh H

Ok, read on AVS that there were a lot of problems and complaints with the Samsung player (though I didn't see the one above specifically).

I took it back and picked up the Sony NS75H which several people in the AVS thread noted was a highly regarded player for $30 more.

It works perfectly. Pic quality as good or better than the Samsung (hard to tell without doing side by side) and it saves the fucking settings!

mrhan

That's odd. I was assuming you can assign a different name for each imput. I have an older Pioneer 7.1 and it has 2 toslinks and 2 coaxials. I have set it up to where the Comcast box is using the toslink and the DVD player is plugged into the coaxial. On the reciever I'm able to assign TV/SAT for the STB and DVD/LD for the DVD player which is using the coaxial. I've tried several combinations and I've got it to work.

Try assigning the coaxial to "DVD" on the reciever and "TV" to the toslink and see if that works. I can't believe that Sony would defeat one just because your using the other.

Josh H

See, the problem is the Coaxial and the Optical are on the SAME input. i.e. the DVD/LD input, they just give you the option of using either one. If I had two different inputs with coax and optical like you do it would work fine just as you say.

At any rate, I got my 3 way switch from monprice today, and it works fine. Slightly inconvenient, but not big deal since I have to walk over there to put in a dvd or take it out when done anyway.

mrhan

Gotcha. Sony sure knows how to cut corners.

pro-bassoonist

Josh: Thanks for the comments. I am just going to pick a second Oppo if needed then, this player seems to be a genuine duff.

Pro-B

Josh H

Yep. I'd probably went with Oppo as well, but I wanted to get something locally, and use my Best Buy coupon etc.

The Sony seems fine, only gripes I have are minor. It's a bit slow loading when you put a DVD in, and it doesn't handle layer changes very well sometimes, with the sound dropping out of dolby digital for a second or so etc.

EDIT: I'll take back the gripe about the layer change. It's been very good on 2 or 3 dvds I've watched since the first one. Guess it just didn't like the change on Pan's Labyrinth for some reason.

Josh H

Man, I feel like an idiot now. Just noticed this afternoon while hooking up the Wii component cables that my receiver actually as 3 optical inputs.

The problem I had before was that the TV/Sat one wasn't working (I had just forgotten as it had been 3 years or so since I'd messed with it). Still had that problem but played around a bit and figured out that it was just that the input was set to analog and needed switched to optical.

Anyway, my hometheater is now free of manual switchers, after years of having at least one for video game consoles etc., so I'm a happy camper.