Upconversion: Oppo 980H vs. HD-A3?
 

I'm set to get a player to pair with my new 37" 720p LCD for the bedroom. I'm wondering if anyone out there can do a direct comparison of the upconversion quality of the Oppo 980H vs. the Toshiba HD-A3 for SD DVD and let me know the results.

(NOTE: I already have an HD DVD player in the home theater room, so the ability to play HD DVDs is not that important to me. This tv/player will primarily be used for watching my still extensive SD collection, which is why I care most about the upconverting quality).

In order to continue beating this horse:

The Video difference in negligible (especially @ 37").

I believe the Oppo plays a lot more formats, and is easily made region free.
The A3 will probably cost less, especially when factored with a handful of free titles, but isn't as versatile as the Oppo.

The choice is yours...

I'd say base it off of having more discs from other regions vs more HD DVDs or what do you plan to acquire in the future.

I can't speak directly, but the general feeling is the A3 (and other generations of Toshiba's low end HD DVD players) do as good a job as an Oppo.

MOD's..quote this and sticky it in it's own thread.

I have the A3 and the A1. I briefly had the Oppo 981. IMO, the A1 outperforms both of the other players in terms of upconverting dvd. The A3 and the Oppo are about equal.

Is that what you care about most? The upconversion quality? One may be better than the other, but it will be difficult to measure.

The start up time, on the other hand, is painfully slow on the A3 (or A1 or A2) compared to any DVD player.

yeah, i do care most about the upconversion quality, but only if there is a noticeable difference. i suspected at my screen size that there wouldn't be much of a difference, but i wanted to see if anyone could verify. i'm aware of the start up time, as i have an A35 (in the home theater).

I own both and give the edge to the Oppo, although it's close (using a 50-inch Sony SXRD). I do like the fact that there are no visible layer changes with the Oppo.

It sounds like, at best, it's a wash as far as the upconversion is concerned. That being the case, I will probably go with the Oppo, mainly to play my other-region DVDs upconverted on the new TV.