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High-end DVD up-scalers - a great alternative?

by Matt Burns posted Jun 21st 2006 at 10:26AM Featured Story


Does this Blu-ray/HD DVD war scare you a bit? That's cool, we still here to make sure that you get the very best picture quality on your HDTV. There are some very nice DVD up-scalers out there that have ether very good up-scaling ability or audiophile grade components. There has always been a good rule of thumb that your HDTV doesn't need the help of a DVD up-scaler if the HDTV has a good processor in it. Well we got news for you. As the price of the TVs drop, so does the quality of the processors. Some are great, some are not and the best way to figure it out is with your eyes. We have to warn you though that some of these aren't that cheap and in fact, cost more then the Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray player. But some people want need that high-end audio sound that the initial HD DVD and Blu-ray players are simply not going to provide. It will be awhile till you see Onkyo or Marantz get into the high-def media format for the same reason a lot of you are wait...you don't want to make the wrong choice.

Follow the link for a nice sampling of mid-range to high-end DVD up-scalers.

Continue reading High-end DVD up-scalers - a great alternative?

The best explanation of a DVD up-scaler

by Matt Burns posted Apr 26th 2006 at 1:52PM


DVD up-scalers have been everywhere lately. We have done tons of posts about them the last few months and even an in-depth review of one of the newest ones on the market. But they can be confusing. We have located the best explanation of what they do and why they are good. While we are not as excited about them as this author is - he presents it like it is a gift from God - they do work good sometimes. Before you get out your pocket book though, many high-end HDTVs have great scalers built in so you might not see any improvement over your current progressive scan DVD player.

Panasonic now offering $100 DVD up-scaler too - DVDS52

by Matt Burns posted Apr 16th 2006 at 10:32AM


The boys high up at Panasonic must have read our post about Samsungs $100 DVD up-scaler last month. (we can dream can't we?) Even if the previous statement isn't entirely true, this one is. Panasonic now has a $100 HDMI equipped DVD up-scaler just like Samsung named the DVD-S52. Truthfully, there isn't much else to say about. Just another 100 dollar DVD player that takes the 480i signal and scales it up to ether 720p or 1080i.

Interesting enough though, this model is not listed on Panasonics website. While the MSRP is $100, Froogle pulls it for well under that.

Sony taking the DVD up-scaling market by storm

by Matt Burns posted Apr 6th 2006 at 9:02AM


When Sony does something, they go all out. Check out their current selection of DVD up-scalers. Well, you really cannot browse all of them at one time 'cause the players span a couple of US markets. But just from two major websites, Sony.com and Cructfield, they have a total of eight DVD up-scalers! Talk about jumping on the bandwagon.

DVP-NS9100ES - $1,299
RDR-HX715 - $699
DVP-NS3100ES - $499
DVP-CX995V - $399
DVP-NS90V - $199
DVP-NC85H - $149
DVP-NS70H - $149
DVP-NS75H - $129

So it seems that if you are looking for a DVD up-scaler, you will probably see a Sony in your price range.




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