jackwanders Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 ...yeah, I know. I was just doing this a few months ago. :pinch: I've had my Samsung HD850 since January or February, and while bangbang warned me against the software issues, I went and bought it anyway. Well he was right. While it's nothing horrible, there are some issues. It doesn't remember my settings, such as hiding error messages. So every time I play a DVD, I get the "HDMI Audio not supported" message when it plays, or switches to the other layer, or when any number of things happens. There are also some region-free DVDs that it won't play. Also, if I pause a movie for a while, when I hit play it can take up to a few minutes to start up again, but it starts up as if it had been playing the whole time, so I'll have to rewind to get back to where I was. I've been thinking of getting a DVD player for my bedroom, but instead of buying a cheap model, I think I might just move the HD850 to my bedroom and upgrade the player for my living room. That said, any recommendations for a new upscaling DVD player? Other than what I mentioned above, the Samsung is pretty good, so does the HD950 have those issues too? For that matter, what upgrades are in the 950 that aren't in the 850? Either way, I'll take any recommendations for a solid DVD player that will upscale to HD resolutions (and has an HDMI connection). Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted August 27, 2006 Veteran Share Posted August 27, 2006 I haven't heard as many complaints about the 950, though the 850's issues have backed me off Samsung's units a bit. The mid range player I currently recommend is the Sony DVP-NS75H. It has a good price with excellent image quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackwanders Posted August 27, 2006 Author Share Posted August 27, 2006 Well, seems like outside a few 2:3 pulldown issues the Sony's a good unit. Anything else to compare it to in the $130 range (give or take twenty bucks)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted August 27, 2006 Veteran Share Posted August 27, 2006 Well, seems like outside a few 2:3 pulldown issues the Sony's a good unit. Anything else to compare it to in the $130 range (give or take twenty bucks)? Most people won't notice the issues once the signal passes through the TV anyway. The key is, it works lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TruckWEB Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 I'm now using the Sony DVP-NS75H with my 4:3 standard def TV. I'm gonna play with the upscaling tomorow with the new TV. But right now, I can say that this Sony player is better than the Panasonic DVD-S35 that I had before. The final picture is smoother with this player. I'll give more feedback tomorow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackwanders Posted August 27, 2006 Author Share Posted August 27, 2006 I actually picked up a DVP-NS75H this morning. I'm running it through the gauntlet, so to speak. So far, so good. Good picture, plays the discs the 850 wouldn't, remembers my settings, etc. Even has a nice resume function that stores a 'bookmark' for up to 6 DVDs. I like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted August 27, 2006 Veteran Share Posted August 27, 2006 I should talk to Sony about giving me a commission :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerzdawg Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 another vote for the Sony here too... have it running through HDMI(hate that blue light coming from the player though.... same thing on my receiver with 5.1/6.1).... whats up with sony and their blue lights... lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackwanders Posted August 28, 2006 Author Share Posted August 28, 2006 another vote for the Sony here too... have it running through HDMI(hate that blue light coming from the player though.... same thing on my receiver with 5.1/6.1).... whats up with sony and their blue lights... lol I set my display to 'Auto-Dark'. After a second the light dims to a reasonable level. Either way it's better than Samsung's "ring of light" that surrounds the power button. Overall, I'd say I'm pleased with the purchase. Another big bonus is that the Sony let's you proceed frame-by-frame through scenes (which I love doing with cheesy fx shots). I could not find any way to do that with the Samsung. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galley Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 Oppo makes the best upconverting players. http://www.oppodigital.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TruckWEB Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 Never heard of OPPO before! Never saw that in store. So must not be THAT good....?? Anyway, I can safely say that the Sony player do a fantastic job with DVD. Some look better than others, but they are all better, sharper. It's a new experience to look at my DVD with the upscaling on my HDTV. Very happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted August 28, 2006 Veteran Share Posted August 28, 2006 Never heard of OPPO before! Never saw that in store. So must not be THAT good....?? Anyway, I can safely say that the Sony player do a fantastic job with DVD. Some look better than others, but they are all better, sharper. It's a new experience to look at my DVD with the upscaling on my HDTV. Very happy. Now all we need is your address and times when no one is home. :whistle: I'm glad you're enjoying it all man. Definitely try to catch some sports events in HD and try to watch some discovery HD if you get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flare Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 What is an upscaling dvd player I know makes the 640x480 format and spits it out on to the screen with 1336x768 but is there any difference if you use a non upscaling dvd player on an HDTV? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted August 28, 2006 Veteran Share Posted August 28, 2006 What is an upscaling dvd player I know makes the 640x480 format and spits it out on to the screen with 1336x768 but is there any difference if you use a non upscaling dvd player on an HDTV? Yes, there's a noticeable difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Caro Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 I'm using the HD850 here. My only complain is the aspect ratio in some movies, but the results are excellent. There's a noticeable difference between upscaled and regular. My TV won't let me change the aspect ratio for things that come in 720p or 1080i. And the HD850 wont let me change use the EZVIEW function with divx movies. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted August 28, 2006 Veteran Share Posted August 28, 2006 You shouldn't be resizing the picture, anyway. It just takes away from the quality you're trying to gain by upconverting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Caro Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 It's not resizing, but some movies use an aspect ratio that is "thinner" than 16:9 and they look really weird because they are expanded or something. I dont usually resize anything, just change the aspect ratio when it's not 16:9. Yesterday I came up with two conclusions: most spain's digital SD broadcasts are hypercompressed (they look like poor quality mpg files), but sometimes they quality is supberb. They air 24 in a 16:9 letterboxed in a 4:3 thing, so I zoomed it to match my screen. And it looked better than the DVD, or almost the same. And it was zoomed! I guess the quality is good because the tuner is integrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TruckWEB Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 Yeah, I've noticed the same thing with the Sony player... Movies with 1.85:1 fill the 16:9 screen and look very good. Movies with 2.35:1 are wider than 16:9 and gets black bars on top and bottom. It's not as good and do look expanded. With my TV, I can change the display mode, but nothing gives a good picture. That's a problem i've never saw on my 4:3 TV, sure the black bars where bigger, but the picture seem to look right. I hope that their's not too many movies in the 2.35:1 wide format.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackwanders Posted August 29, 2006 Author Share Posted August 29, 2006 That's odd. I didn't notice any difference in picture quality when viewing 1:85-1 or 2:35-1 movies. Sure, you get black bars wth 2:35-1, but that's expected. What do you mean it looks "expanded". Are you zooming the 2:35-1 image to fill your screen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TruckWEB Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 That's odd. I didn't notice any difference in picture quality when viewing 1:85-1 or 2:35-1 movies. Sure, you get black bars wth 2:35-1, but that's expected. What do you mean it looks "expanded". Are you zooming the 2:35-1 image to fill your screen? When you look at the movie, people seem smaller/fatter, you know, like a stretch picture. But only a little bit, not by much. It's worst in some movie than others (look good in Matrix VS worst in Halloween H20). Both are 2.35:1 and both are Widescreen DVD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackwanders Posted August 29, 2006 Author Share Posted August 29, 2006 Hmm. Well I watch all my SD TV stretched from 4:3 to 16:9 (partly because of my TV's geometry issues with 4:3 images), so perhaps I just wouldn't notice if people seem slightly fatter and shorter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 When you look at the movie, people seem smaller/fatter, you know, like a stretch picture. But only a little bit, not by much. It's worst in some movie than others (look good in Matrix VS worst in Halloween H20). Both are 2.35:1 and both are Widescreen DVD. That's anamorphic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galley Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 Never heard of OPPO before! Never saw that in store. So must not be THAT good....?? Well, it's number one on this benchmark. My friend has one, and it's well worth $200. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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