MEJHarrison

That's true, but almost no one owns a set that supports 24fps. There weren't even many on the horizon at CES this year. Still, it's worth considering if you actually do own a set that will accept and display a 24fps picture. But I'd guess that doesn't apply in this case.

RocShemp

Yeah, I just got my LC52D62U so I don't see myself bying a newer set anytime soon. So 1080p/24fps is not in the cards for me.

truelies

So the conclusion is just buy an A2, if I don't need the 1080p dvd upscale and HDMI 1.3?

jigga6286

I was looking at these two as well, and what struck me was the audio options, hopefully someone can help me verify. I currently have a DTS/DD Receiver with a 5.1 analog input. But, the a-2 doesn't have a 5.1a output, whereas the xa2 does? So, if I wanted the new audio codecs like true hd and dts-ma, i will need to either spend the extra cash on the xa2 or buy a new HDMI receiver (i.e. Onkyo 605)? If true, I think I would end up going with the a2 and 605 for ~$700 rather than the xa2 for $600. Am I correct with all this info.?

jigga6286

Just to add in, where does the hd-a20 stand in regards to the question above?

XavierMike

Jigga you are correct in your plan. You would set up the a20 the same as the A2.

exm

Here's the short breakdown:
* A2: entry level HD DVD
* A20: Step above the A2, due to 1080p and better video (upscaling) chip
* XA2: top model: high end video upscaling chip, 5.1a output and some other improvements

The XA2 is about $200 more than the A2, but worth every penny IMO.

MEJHarrison

I've been trying to decide between the A2 and A20 myself. I was really leaning towards the A20 since it has a better upscaler than the A2. But then I started thinking about the situation a couple years from now. If Blu-ray wins, I'll be needing a new machine anyway so I can get new HD material. If neither wins, I'll probably want to upgrade to a dual format player in a couple years when the prices are better. And if HD DVD wins, I'll probably be able to get a much better player in a couple years for less than I can today and just move the A2 our bedroom or something.

So now I'm leaning towards going with an A2 at this point. My sound system needs a serious upgrade before I start letting that be a deciding factor. So with that said, it's still only a second generation player and I'm sure I'll want want to replace it sooner rather than later. So why burn extra money now for minor improvements? It's not like the A2 is a piece of crap. From what I've heard it's an awesome piece of hardware. It's just that there's two more models out there that are even better. I'm sure I can live with something "great" for a few years.

exm

If you don't have a 1080p display and you don't see yourself getting one in the near future, go for the A2, otherwise I would pick the A20. The A2 does an excellent job in upscaling; the A20 is just slightly better, which you may or maybe not (even) notice depending on your display.

Mopower

Would an extended warranty be a good choice for these players? Value Electronics has their 4 year warranty for $40. Seems like a good deal. I'm really glad I got the 2 year warranty for my 360 since it just went to crap. Do these players have a chance of the same since you can update the firmware? Can they be "bricked" by doing that?

truelies

But from previous discuss, if you have a 1080p display. You TV will convert the 1080i to 1080p without any different. Also I heard that those three players have same processor chip and have same picture quality.

exm

This is an excellent read:

High Definition 1080p TV: Why You Should Be Concerned

I am hopeing that the upcoming 1080p/24 update will get released soon!

The A20 uses the Anchor Bay ABT1018 chip for scaling/deinterlacing, the XA2 the Silicon Optix Reon chip. Both are superior to the chip used in the A2.

MEJHarrison

Yes, I have a 1080p set. And I believe that it doesn't matter that the player only output 1080i. Expect of course that you're doing more processing. But I think all three player convert to 1080i internally for processing. The A20 and XA2 will deinterlace that back to 1080p before outputting while the A2 relies on your display to do the deinterlacing.

Anyway, the players do NOT have the same chip from what I've read. The A20 has a better upscaler than the A2 and the XA2 has a better upscaler than the A20.

truelies

So the only difference in fact just the DVD upscale chip?

MEJHarrison

If you're talking about the A20 and XA2, there are other differences. The XA2 has the 5.1 outputs for sound (6 RCA jacks) and the A20 doesn't. There might be other differences as well.

I'm saying in my particular case, the upscaler is the only thing that matters to me. My receiver could take the 5.1 inputs and isn't HDMI compliant, but I have a piece of crap sound system anyway. So I'll just wait and update that with a better system later than can handle HDMI. So that doesn't matter as much to me. I'm not sure (don't remember) what other differences there are, but they don't apply to me or I don't care.

DVDGamer

Will it upscale for DVI as well?

lizard

^Yes, but only if the DVI is HDCP* compliant, otherwise HDMI to DVI won't work. Some early DVI displays were reportedly not HDCP compliant. You should be able to find out about this in your display manual.

*Abbreviations:
HDCP = "High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection"
DVI = "Digital Visual Interface"
HDMI = "High-Definition Multimedia Interface"

truelies

Finally I bought a sharp 42d64u, it's 1080p. But as I output from a2, the TV just show it's a 1080i source. I couldn't figure out if it's converted to 1080p buy the TV. Any idea on this?

Nugent

That is correct. The A2 is outputting a 1080i source and that is what your display is correctly indicating. Your TV is then upconverting the image to 1080p which is what you are seeing.

Supermallet

It's not actually upconverting. It's de-interlacing the signal.

truelies

Do you have any source on all 1080p TV will upcoverting the image less than 1080p? I want to learn how it works. Thank you!

lizard

As Supermallet mentioned above, the conversion of 1080i to 1080p is not "upconverting" but, rather, de-interlacing. This is described graphically here. It is also described at more length here. The same author takes a look at the problems that can be caused by incorrect de-interlacing in this article.

If the de-interlacing is done correctly, there is no loss of information when going from 1080i to 1080p. But some displays have been reported to do the de-interlacing incorrectly; whether or not your Sharp 42D64U is one of the ones that does it right, I couldn't say. However CNET reports that the similar 52D64U model DOES de-interlace 1080i inputs correctly. So, it is very likely that yours does also.

If you are really interested in "upconverting" SD DVDs to 1080p HD, that is another subject entirely.

truelies

I already have a cheap philips dvd to "upconverting" SD DVDs to 1080i. I think the TV will "de-interlacing" it to 1080p.

lizard

^Yes, your Sharp 42D64U should do a fine job of de-interlacing the 1080i output from your Phillips upconverting DVD player. (If I understood what you were saying correctly.)

truelies

The PS3 can output 1080p signal directly to the TV, the A2 can output 1080i and the tv will de-interlacing it to 1080p.

So which one's picture is better? or they are same?