Th0r S1mpson

I've been on the fence, off the fence, and up against the fence in this stupid format war, but I'm so close to finally getting an A2 with the new low price at Amazon.

But looking at the release calendar, I see that I'll probably fill out the form for the 5 free DVDs, buy 4 movies when I purchase and then only have 2-3 titles to purchase that will interest me well into the summer.

So, I'm also really counting on upconversion of my existing titles and SD titles that the "other side" has an exclusive on to make me feel better about my purchase.

Is it genuinely noticeable... something that will truly enhance my movie watching experience while I wait for more titles in HD? Or is it more of a subtle improvement that only an owner would appreciate and would have guests patting you on the back saying "Yeah, I think it looks better. I can sort of tell."

Are there any screen captures or online demos showing the difference between an upconverted SD picture and standard?

Thanks again... I know it's largely a personal judgment call and nobody can tell me the right or wrong decision when it comes to jumping in, but the comments here about personal observations have always helped me make a good decision.

fryinpan1

Are you currently using an HDMI connection? You should see a big improvement using the A2 connected with an HDMI cable compared to a regular DVD player with component cables.

Drexl

It will depend on the quality of the scaler in your display. On a fixed-pixel display, something has to scale the video to its actual resolution, so if the scaler in the display is poor, the player will do it better. With HDMI you'd also get a purer signal since it's digital, but that may or may not make a noticeable difference.

Th0r S1mpson

I am connecting to a Samsung 46" DLP. Edit: A few searches lead me to believe this set already has a pretty good scaler.

I currently have a regular DVD player with component cables, not HDMI. I would obviously use HDMI with an HD-DVD player.

dizzlle01

I have a sony 40v2500 and was wondering if my tv is built in with a good scaler.

fryinpan1

I also have that TV and it is 1080p and the built in scaler is excellent.

fryinpan1

When I had a regular DVD player with component cables, the picture quality sometimes looked like watching a movie on a computer and was too digital. The A2 and HDMI connection will correct this. Also, the 1:85 ratio movies will fill the screen and 2:35 ratio movies will fill most of the screen (you will still have the black bars on these, but not as big as with your standard connection).

Drexl

Why? Overscan?

Th0r S1mpson

16x9 movies already fill my screen and I don't see any "digital looking" images with my component cables... things look great and even my other friends with HD sets marvel at the picture when they come over. They probably don't have their screens calibrated properly but I'm wondering if the scaler in my set helps with this as well.

I don't know how good the encoding of "Bad Boys" is on Comcast HD cable, but we couldn't tell much of a difference flipping between that and my DVD player playing the same movie in SD. I haven't compared with any other movies in HD yet going between a TV broadcast and DVD, and I also don't know how good broadcast HD is compared to HD-DVD, but broadcast HD looks pretty darn sweet on Universal HD.

If a set already has a great scaler built in, am I likely not going to see much of an improvement for SD's going HDMI with an HD-A2?

I can't say I have many complaints with my current set-up. While watching HD content on television is clearly a step up, SD DVD's still look great as it is.

I'm wondering if they will get noticeably better with an A2, and it sounds like this might be hard to determine unless someone with a similar set has tried it?

kvrdave

It's the look and feel of almost perfect.

Mr. Cinema

If you were to rank the players' scaling ability, it looks like this from many users:

1. XA2
2. XA1, A1
3. A2

Th0r S1mpson

That's good info indeed, and I have come across that in other threads. I'm still looking towards the A2 for its other improvements.

The question I guess is, how much greater is the A2 scaling over HDMI vs. the scaling that may already exist in a given set. That would obviously vary by set so that makes it hard to anwwer, but I'm hoping to nail this down for my set somehow.

The Edit King

I'm not sure this'll help, but I've got both formats/systems, and my XA1 up-doodies some of my SDs so nice I forget they're not HDs. I would presume that the XA2 would up-doodie even better.

I've also got a reasonably priced, KDS50A2000 that produces a beautiful picture and I'm as pleased as a young lad on a summer day with his first slip & slide.

-THEEK!

Th0r S1mpson

Are you pleased because it's your first slip and slide at all or because you previously tried using garbage bags and they leaked and tore, giving you burns on your belly? What if you previously had rigged up something somewhat reliable with a tarp that everyone could play on, but you then got the slip and slide which everyone loves so much. Would it have been worth getting the slip and slide even though not many disks were being released for the... slip... and... slide?

Th0r S1mpson

Let's say I do get this and I want to post the results for you all... other than subjective comments about looking at the screen, is there a recommended way to get shots showing the detail difference between the two sources on my screen? I figure since I can't seem to find this anywhere online currently, I might as well at least do the community a favor and show my own results. But I'm not sure what techniques, if any, people are using successfully to demonstrate such things.

Th0r S1mpson

Okay, I caved. I'll have a player on Monday. I'll let you all know what I think. Do the HD-DVD banners turn off on this site by default for me now?

bunnydojo

Here's your "someone with a similar set."

I've got a 46" 720p Samsung DLP and an A2 (via HDMI) and have to say that I haven't noticed much difference for DVDs between it and my previous DVD player (via component) -- and my previous DVD player had a lot more features to it. Will you notice an improvement? Very likely. Will it be a major one? I didn't feel as though it was. With that said, though, there are a times when watching an HD DVD that makes the player feel like it was worth every penny.

If you've got the money (I'm still not sure if I did ), I'd say that it is a satisfying purchase. It will very likely make your current collection look a little better (I'd keep the old player around for non-anamorphic discs, as, from my experience, the A2 only plays them "framed") and the 10-15 HD DVDs will likely turn into many more after you see the quality some of them have.

It's one of the wiser purchases I've made.

(And I should've hit "refresh" before I looked to post, as I'm a little late. )

cultshock

On an HDTV, 2.35:1 transfers should have practically the same size bars regardless of if you use a regular DVD player through component, or an upscaling one through HDMI.

cultshock

I think those SXRDs do a pretty nice job of upconverting standard DVDs on their own too (one reason why I haven't purchased an upconverting player yet). Nice analogy though.

The Edit King

For it has been said,

"Life is short. Be wise and take all that is perfect while the sony is still shining."

-The Edit King Master

The Edit King

It kicks the Bullcorn outta my crops!

NitroJMS

Since I play around with this stuff all day, I've noticed that if you have a better HDTV (Samsung, Sony, Panasonic), the TV generally scales the images better than any upconverting player can possibly do. If you're getting a cheaper TV (Magnavox, Olevia, etc.), it's probably worth getting an upconverting player.

Th0r S1mpson

So you are saying that I will essentially see zero effect since my television may scale better than the HD-A2 any way?

Or is your experience with non-HD players that have upconversion?

When you play around with them do you use HDMI or swap out component cables?

naitram

From what I've been reading over the past 6 months, if you're going to buy an HD player for primarily upscaling, fork out the extra dough for the XA2.

That's probably going to be the route I go when I can afford it. When I got an HD television (51") in January, I bought a supposedly good Sony upscaling DVD player, and hooked it up through HDMI. The picture was actually worse than my Panasonic progressive player (Faroujda chip) running through component. I took it back, of course. I just assume the upscaler in my television is already pretty good.

Don't know if that helps you.

Th0r S1mpson

I'll know on Monday. It better not be worse.