I am stuck with enough TV series and favorite films that are unlikely to come out on Blu-ray. I have an okay Blu-ray player. I'm wondering if there are any upsampling DVD players I've missed that might reduce the visual difference between the formats.
Unless I'm mistaken, every Blu-ray player has the upscaling option and can deliver from acceptable to very good quality for DVDs that are being watched on a modern TV.
What he said. I bought a £30 DVD player from LG at the start of the pandemic and that has upscaling so I would imagine the BD player would do fine.
If you need all-region dvd playback and don’t mind buying used, an Oppo player is a good choice. I use the Oppo BDP-93 and happy with it. If no all-region playback needed an inexpensive Sony Blu-ray player should be fine. What are you using now? You won’t find any player that makes DVD look like Blu-ray.
What are the best upscaling DVD settings when going via HDMI to LG 1080 TV? Or will they automatically select the best option on Auto?
I'm currently using a Sony UHP H1. Certainly blu-ray discs look better. I guess I was hoping to improve the look of my DVDs to match the HD shows on Prime or Netflix. I know there's more to it than just format. Hence my question. I appreciate all answers so far.
I have the Sony UHP-H1, my opinion it is an excellent DVD player, no reason to look further for Region 1 DVD playback.
Thank you. I realize I spend a lot more time educating myself and trying out different audio players than video playback devices.
You most likely have three choices: 1. Set the player to output the disc’s native format, forcing the display to do any scaling. 2. Set the player to output at the display’s native resolution, forcing the player to do any scaling. 3. Set the player to Auto, and then check the stats for that input on the display to see which of the two above things it’s doing. And be aware that it may potentially do different things for different source material. (Technically, you also have the ability to have the player output at a resolution other than the display’s native format, which would be a terrible choice, as some material would be scaled once by the player and then again by the display. The whole reason “Auto” exists is that it helps ensure people don’t accidentally do this.) My recommendation is to compare output from methods 1 and 2 to determine which device has the better scaler, and leave it set at that. I should also add that you might want to consider a 4K Blu-ray player, even if you only have a 1080p display right now, as they’re likely to have better scalers than any device that only works up to 1080p.
Also, this thread might really belong in the hardware forum, even though it’s called Audio Hardware...?
After some research and even a few recommendations on SHF, I settled for the Panasonic DP-UB420. I know there are better, more expensive units out there, but I am on a budget and this was only about $200, which was doable for me. The uptick in quality from my $50 Sony was immediately noticeable. My Aquaman 4k disc looked downright stunning, even on my cheap-ass Insignia TV and the upscaling of standard dvd's is impressive. For those, like me, who really can't afford to Go Oppo, this one is a good option.
I should also mention that if the difference between 1 and 2 is minimal, choosing method 2 will probably result in fewer HDMI resyncs, since the player will be outputting a constant resolution. (You will still have resyncs when the frame rate changes, unless you also have the player output a constant frame rate, which I don’t recommend—frame rate conversion should generally be avoided.) Also, everything I said goes for any video source that offers you these options, not just DVD/Blu-ray players.
I do apologize for this. I realized it too, unfortunately after I published here. I'm happy to accept the Gorts' decision to move it if they wish.
Think about this: back in the day, the line doubler/quadrupler by Yves Faroudja was around 15k dollars for a black box. Now it is a chip that is in relatively cheap consumer electronics. Trickle down technology does exist in video. Too bad it has gone in the opposite direction in audio.
By the way, to answer the question in the title, the best currently available DVD player is probably the $1000 Panasonic DP-UB9000 4K Blu-ray player. If your budget is around half that, look at the Sony UBP-X1100ES or the Panasonic DP-UB820-K. At $250, look at the Sony UBP-X800M2. And for $100, the Sony BDP-S6700. All of these are 4K players (and all but the last with HDR), and as such probably have better scalers than most 1080p displays.
I’d have put that on my list above, except that Panasonic’s own webstore currently lists it as “not available.” Not sure if that’s temporary or permanent, but it is still available at Amazon and Best Buy.
That's where I got mine - Best Buy. They just had a pile of them on the shelf. Maybe Panasonic is about to come out with a new model or something.
If your shopping for a Blu ray, get one that plays SACD's. I think a lot of Sony's do play them, but not sure.
Maybe... but I also wouldn’t be surprised if they never come out with a new model of optical disc player ever again. We are definitely on the downhill slope there, with the pinnacle having been the Oppo UDP-205, which has already been out of production for about 2 years. I think the Panasonic UB-9000 is likely going to be the world’s last high-end consumer optical disc player.
I think Pioneer has withdrawn from the market, leaving Sony as the last option for SACD, and for DVD-Audio too.
i've played a lot of movies on my Toshiba player throughout the years, making sure to run a cleaner disc on it from time to time, and it's performed beautifully.
If you don't need the better DAC and XLRs of the UB9000, I'd say that the best player that'll get the most juice in the PQ department is the Panasonic UB820, which has the exact same engine as the UB9000. Those two, I can't think of any player with all film formats that is better. Now the DVD playback is crap, though, when compared to the Oppo BDP-83, which is about the only player to get de-interlacing correct without being too soft or too sharp.
I should rephrase this when I realized that it sounds like I already have the Oppo BDP-83 in my possession. I do not. I have one coming way, but I don't have it yet. Sorry if I was unclear.
The UB820 is a great player. I bought mine after OPPO announced they were shutting down and wanted to prolong the life of my UDP-203. I can't tell much difference between the video quality between the OPPO and the Panasonic. The OPPO functions better and and has a far better remote. I might get another 820 just in case, there's not too many companies making quality UHD players these days.