Expert: Bob Z. - 10/4/2004

Question
Hi, Bob Z.

My internet searches on google, alltheweb, about, etc., have been fruitless in trying to find a web site that has reviews on "HD-Upconverting DVD Players."

Would you please be so kind as to provide me with any information you might have on obtaining reviews for HD-Upconverting DVD Players.

Thanking you in advance for your kind consideration and expert assistance in this most important matter.

Sincerely,
Angel

Answer
Hi Angel.  There are not too many DVD players with built in scalers.  There is one I know of, called the Bravo D1, which will output 1080i or 720p over a DVI connector.  (I don't know if its scaler will output over the analog Component Video connections)  Take a look at this article-
http://www.projectorcentral.com/bravo_d1.htm

All HDTV's (except for CRT-based displays) will "scale" the video source to fit the screen correctly.  The issue comes down to "is the scaler in the DVD player better than the scaler in the TV."  If the TV has a good scaler (such as a DCDi scaler) there is no advantage to an outboard scaler.  

A high end scaler, can take an input from your DVD player (and any other video source) and upconvert it to HD resolution. That does not mean that the DVD-sourced picture will look like a HDTV signal. Scaling improves the picture, but it does not "add" additional resolution pixel data that was not there in the first place.  

Here are a few scalers-
http://www.immersiveinc.com/products.html
http://www.keydigital.com/items.asp?CartId={30D56715-0C40-4A5C-BF61-A0B01EE7640E...

For example, I know the Key Digital HD Leeza costs about $5000.