I agree with both of you. My A1 outperforms the Oppos by a mile. Also, I've seen the second gen A2 and the very impressive XA2 in action and these will knock your socks off when it comes to upconversion. The Reon chip in the XA2 is nothing short of a miracle worker. No wonder the high-end makers like Denon, Marantz and Onkyo have abandoned Faroudja.
The Faroudja chip on the Oppo exaggerates the macroblocking bug on some displays. I've also heard of complaints regarding vertical edge enhancement - also display dependent.
I have an a1 and smokes my 2 other upscaling players and a semi calibrated htpc. The reports tha I have read said the a2 is even better
It's not as if there's much of a real price difference between regular DVD players and upconverters these days, anyway. However, do upconverting players only send the upconverted signal through the HDMI connection... or do they also send it though component cables as well? Because I'm not sure I know of any CRT HDTV that even has HDMI input. That said, I personally feel that CRT is still the only way to go for real quality at this point. Flat-panel displays still have far too many drawbacks, and they're too expensive relative to their CRT equivalents. The only real advantages they have are lower energy consumption and taking up less space (if space is even at a premium in most peoples homes; it isn't in mine). And I suppose they're flashier, and give suburban guys with oversized egos a bigger boost, proving "oh, I have so much case I can afford to waste five or six grand on a massive TV that we barely ever watch!"
As bad as the quality is on an LCD, a rear projection is that much worse... and I'd never want to own one, personally; even if they were under $500. What I look for in TVs is image quality, exclusively... I don't care how thin the form-factor may be, or how light the TV is; I can't say space is at a premium in my house, nor am I interested in moving the TV around frequently. As of now, CRT is still the best choice for superior picture quality... end of story, as far as I'm concerned. I'd consider a true 1080p plasma or LCD, but the prices for a high-end model are ridiculous. Yeah, you can large a large screen for $2000 or less, but the picture is awful... which makes the whole "HD" thing kinda useless. Personally I feel the point of HD is improved image quality, but for most people it seems to be going out and buying the biggest TV they can afford, and then boasting about it... and these kind of people usually couldn't care less about actual picture quality as long as its MASSIVE. And 56" is excessively large... too large for home use, IMO. I'm almost tempted to call it decadent.
If you had that side-by-side with a 1080 HD CRT, there'd be no comparison in quality; but I'm sure on its own it looks perfectly good, of course. There's no doubt it's miles behind the archaic large-screen TV of the 90s... but it still hasn't reached the actual image-quality potential of a good, HD CRT. Maybe in 6 or 7 years flat-panel technology will be more mature, but it was never really ready to bring to market at such large sizes. I know that for me, personally, the thought of a 60" display with a resolution of only 1920x1080 is terrifying; even 40" is pushing it if you're not sitting well back. For me, the pixels are just too noticeable. I've spent too long getting accustomed to high-resolution computer displays. 1920x1200 seems perfectly fine on my 24" LCD monitor, but I don't understand the point of a display nearly 3x the size with a lower resolution.
Have you actually seen a 50"+ 1080p with a real 1080p source (ie: xbox360 dashboard is an easy test)... something tells me you haven't.
Yes, I have (various models and brands of TV, in fact), and for now I ultimate prefer a CRT with 1080p capability to any LCD, plasma or rear-projection display also capable of 1080p. Have you actually seen an 1080p capable CRT display with a 1080p source? You may have, but I assume not, as it isn't that common a setup; and certainly wouldn't be on display in any electronics store. Any CRT HDTV has to be special ordered these days, although they're all considerbably cheaper than flat-panels. I'm not saying they don't look good in general, but they're not quite there when compared to a CRT with the same resolution capability. LCDs are the worst, but all flat-panel technologies are still to relatively new, IMO. I'd never own an LCD as a television... the contrast, colour reproduction are too poor, and the pixels are too large on screens higher than the mid 30" range. On top of that, they're all just too expensive for what you're getting. Most HDTVs being sold today aren't 1080p... which is inexcusable. 1366x768 doesn't even make sense, as the TV would need to scale ANY video signal it receives, causing a quality degradation right off the bat. All non-1080 HD sets should've just been 720p native. The extremely expensive 1080 flat-panels are watchable, and quite nice when there's no CRT sitting beside it with the same source to compare it to. Personally, I just feel that it's a better idea sticking to the more refined technology while it's still available. Also, not everything I watch is HD... in fact, the majority isn't. My cable service isn't HD (I only watch 6 or 7 hours of broadcast TV a week, so it's not really worth doubling my bill to subscribe to the 8 or 9 channels that are sending in HD). In that respect as well, a CRT HD set is the better choice. Regular broadcast looks terrible on any flat-panel, no matter how good it is. In fact, the better it is at HD the worse SD or ED look. At least a CRT is capable of changing its resolution to match the signal, as opposed to scaling the signal and causing quality loss. I have no doubt I'll pick up a flat-panel TV in 4 or 5 years, but even then it won't be any larger than 40". I'm not the type of person who needs a massive TV to show off to my neighbours, or family. I'd rather watch a higher-quality image on a 34" TV than a lower-qualilty image on a 60".
Actually, I have only seen a 1080i CRT HDTV. I assumed the only CRT that could do progressive scan were computer monitors.
No consumer level displays, no; unfortunately, IMO. Generally, if I want to watch something in HD I do use my CRT computer display, which except for the size (although size isn't that important to me, personally) is worlds ahead of any flat-panel (particularly LCD) TV I've ever watched. However, I'd still rather watch one of the various 1080i CRT HD models available than the vast majority of flat-panels currently being sold... especially considering 90% of them are probably still only 1366x768. Even the 1080 models still share the same disadvantages; poor response time relative to CRT, etc. I suppose people are working to minimize those disadvantages, and they've come a ways so far, but it's by no means perfect... and the flaws are still pretty noticeable. I've seen a couple 1080p-capable CRT displays in professional use, though, and I very much regret the electronics industry decided to push flat-panel displays before the technology was matured. As for myself, the only LCD I intend on owning for a while yet is my 24" secondary computer display, which is capable of 1920x1200 (which seems about perfect pixel-size for a 24")... that will do will enough as an HDTV if I need one full-time in the future. You're entitled to think what you want, of course, but personally I just can't justify spending the amount of money it would take to get a flat-panel 1080p display when it will become obselete so fast, yet the damn thing will last so long. If I could get one for $1000-$1500 and only keep it around 3 or 4 years, I probably would go for it. As it stands, I'd rather wait until more advanced flat-panel technology is on the market... I've heard that FED displays come closer to matching the advantages CRT has over current flat-panels. Until then, my computer monitors will do... both are a bit larger than average, anyway; and I suppose the resolutions I've used them at has spoiled me to the idea of only 1920x1080 pixels on such larger panels.
Hi Dinobot, I've been observing your exchanges with D1CK1E regarding CRT vs. Flat Panel technology HD. I have a 1080i CRT HD set and am very pleased with the PQ when viewing HD programming. I also have an upconverting DVD player hooked up via HDMI to DVI. The PQ with the upconverter is also fabulous. Other memebers of the forum have weighed into this discussion regarding upconverting and CRT HD sets indicating minimal improvements over a standard progressive scan player. All I can speak to is my own personal experience and the results for me have been excellent. Hopefully in a few years the cost of either BR or HD-DVD players will drop enough for me to add one to the stable. I have no plans to buy a flat panel at this time and am very happy with my setup. I suspect a lot of the newer buyers never had a chance to see HD on a CRT set as they are pretty much extinct at the big box electronic stores these days. Perhaps if they did have a chance to see and compare they would feel as we do. G.
I have a quick question if any of you guys can help me out. I was planning on getting the xbox 360 hd-dvd. does anyone know if that upconverts regular dvd's? ... i've been searchin the web and cant find any info...
NO it doesn't , you will have to buy a upcoverting dvd player like the Oppo http://www.oppodigital.com/products.asp
Rico, I'm about 99% sure that the xbox 360 hd-dvd drive has no upconverting at all. There are other hd-dvd drives out there that can I think.
Get the Toshiba HD-A1. It's available for as low as $320 - $370 online. You not only get a great HD-DVD player but also a better upconverting DVD player than the Oppo.
Up-conversion DVD players 101: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/283440 Make sure you understand how up-conversion works and does before judging different systems! Ced
I understand DVD upconversion. From a side by side comparison of the HD-A1 and the Oppo 981 on ISF calibrated XBR1 SXRD 60" and XBR3 Bravia 46" - the HD-A1 still looks better. Regarding the 360 HD DVD add-on: If your display has a VGA input which supports 1280x720 or 1920x1080 you will get a very good upconverted picture thru that connection. Just set the VGA output as close as possible to the native resolution of your set. From the avsforum 360 Add-On FAQ: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=748740
