Currently I've got an inexpensive Upconverting Sony DVD player hooked up via HDMI to my Samsung HLS-5086w DLP Projection TV.

I'm thinking of getting a Toshiba HD-DVD player not for the HD-DVD movies (selection is still pretty poor) but in the hopes all my regular DVD's will look better than through my current upconversion player.

Will the HD-DVD player upconvert standard DVDs up to 720p or 1080i on my Samsung DLP? I thought the max resolution for standard DVD's is supposed to be 480p?

How much better will my regular DVD'S look if at all?

Thanks.

The DVDs may look better. But if you're buying ONLY for upconversion and not for HD-DVD, buy the Oppo 971 - currently the best on the market for upconversion (through DVI) or the 981 for HDMI.

http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h.html
http://www.oppodigital.com/dv981hd/index.html

I wouldn't buy a Toshiba just for upconversion. Save your money and buy a next-gen player summer of next year. By then the selection should be much more appetizing.

I agree with The Bus, and at the same time disagree with Blake. If you are thinking of spending on that Oppo, you'd be crazy not to just buy the A1/A2. Why spend $200 now and then $400-$500 later?

I'd say save your cash until the titles are out that you can't live without (could be on BD instead of HD DVD) and then grab a player.

Well, $200 now for a player that some believe to be the best at upconverting and $300 in the future for an older A1 or even an A2 in a year or two (could be that cheap) makes more sense to me than an A2 at full price now when you aren't even going to be using the HD-DVD functions which is what the player is made for...

Well I had the Oppo before buying my A1 and feel that the A1 is a better player for upconversion. Picture looks better in my opinion. Now if you want region free and you dont feel you will be getting any HD discs for a while I guess go with that, but I do think its kind of silly at this point to be buying a new upconverting player for $200 when you could go HD for a little more, but wouldnt also wouldnt buy now if you strictly want to use an HD player for upconversion. You just have to decide whats more important for you at this point.

Agreed. I've seen the Oppo head-to-head with the A1 and I felt the A1 was (slightly) better.

Not enough of a difference to, by itself, rationalize the extra cost. But when you throw HD-DVD capiblity into the mix, the choice becomes a no-brainer. That doesn't even take into account what a fatastic audio CD player the A1 is...



Like others have said, I wouldn't spend the $400 just for the upconversion. But if you are considering getting a *better* upconversion player or are at all interested in HD content, I'd definitely plop down the cash rather than spend any more $$$ on a standard def player.

I would have gotten the A2 if it was a multi-region for standard DVDS. 80% of my collections are non-region 1. I chose Oppo for $150 now and wait until more combo players that can play multi-region SDVDs. Besides, I can play HD-DVD on my xbox.

Another thing the Oppo can do, like Engel mentioned is multi-region, pal, and other "odd" DVDs that aren't Region 1.