Upconverting DVD players
by Philip Chien
If you have a high definition television set you may be tempted to get a HD DVD or Blue-Ray DVD player. Your existing collection of DVDs are just recorded at ordinary NTSC 480i resolution, the same quality which has been around since the 1950s. They just don’t look any better on your fancy high def TV. HD DVD and Blue-Ray players have come down in price, but once you get a new high definition player you’re going to have to replace your entire DVD collection if you want to see the movies in high definition. In addition, there are no consumer units which will record high definition or true digital signals.
A very reasonable compromise is an "upconverting" DVD player. The DVD player has a specialized computer which enhances every frame before it’s sent to the television set. It isn’t true high definition, but to the eye it appears far better than normal NTSC resolution. The key advantage is it works with every DVD in your collection. The best news is the price, as little as $50 for an upconverting DVD player. Some upconverting DVD players can also record video to DVDs, but only in standard DVD resolution.
The upconverting enhancement works by ‘interpolation’ - averaging the values between two sets of graphics to make things seem smoother. It’s easy to do with graphics programs on your computer when you increase the size of a graphic; upconverting DVD players do it in real time. The quality of the upconverting signal does vary from brand to brand. There are many different ways of interpolating signals and no perfect way to do it. You should try a playing a favorite DVD on couple of units before settling on which one to buy.
Upconverting DVD players connect to the HDMI jack on your high definition television set. HDMI cables reduce the spaghetti mess of having as many as five separate cables connecting your DVD player and television set by combining all of the signals into one standardized cable. An HDMI cable includes both video and stereo audio signals. Most upconverting DVD players also have standard video outputs for backwards compatibility and many have coax digital audio outputs to connect to a home theater system or computer.
HDMI cables can be extremely overpriced. A typical electronics store charges as much as $99 for a 6 foot HDMI cable, a discount store charges about $39. But you can easily find HDMI cables on the Internet for as little as $2! Salesmen will claim that their $99 cables are better built and better shielded so there’s less interference. That’s a load of bull. HDMI cables carry digital signals so interference is a non issue. Either the cable works perfectly or it doesn’t work at all.
So how well does an upconverting DVD player work? If you do a side-by-side comparison with an ordinary DVD player you’ll think you’re watching a far better image. In a side-by-side comparison with a true HD DVD or Blu-Ray player the upconverting player will certainly come out second best, but it’s not as much of a difference.
In terms of real-world evaluations when I’m watching an action film it’s amazing. You can see the wavy air caused by heat waves from a flame thrower. When watching beauty shots of landscapes you can see individual blades of grass. It really looks far better than an ordinary DVD player.
Certainly at some point I expect to get a Blu-Ray player, after more titles are available. But right now I’m extremely happy with my upconverting DVD player.
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upconverting DVD players
About the author
Philip Chien has always been into high technology toys.
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