DVD player for video only / your opinions please!

[pearsall001]

Hi everyone,
I need a DVD player for video only, I have a 50' SONY LCD. I already have a dedicated CD player so CD playback is not a real concern. My budget is approx. $500, DVI, HDMI, SACD, DVD-Audio are also not a major concern. I like using my digital cable for audio & componet cables for video. I know at this price range I wiil probably get some of the above mentioned features whether I want them or not. I just want a player that will give me excellent picture quality. What are you guys using & what would you recommend? Thanks

[audiobliss]

Wow. I've always wanted to see a 50-foot LCD. You lucky person you. I'd also love to see the size of the room you have to justify such a large TV.

:D:D

[pearsall001]

Boy you guys are tough. That was just a test to see if anyone was awake. Apparently you were. By the way, what's your take on the DVD player info I am looking for?

[audiobliss]

If I could have offered any advice, I would have.

CD players? I actually know a *few* things about them.
DVD-A/SACD players? I've adopted some of the opinionated viewpoints I've read.
DVD and picture quality? Not only do I not know anything about it, I don't even suspect anything! :p

Sorry I could not be of any more assistance.

[*Seby*-Polk-]

Denon 2910 is an excellent option (i think the best) but i never tried one of them.

Other great player (i know it) is Yamaha DVD-S2500. one of the best picture quality i've ever seen in my whole life (rich, colourful hues, sharply defined edges and dense blacks - 720 HDMI) TERRIFIC !!!! :D

[bignorm]

Sony 3100ES will mate well with your Sony LCD
and lists for $499.00

[drew spelts]

I have the oppo digital DVD player and seriously I am so happy with the picture quality that I will never sell this player EVER. Its got near flawless picture quality. Look in to it by googling for reviews and you will be blown away with all the positive reviews.

[drew spelts]

BTW its abot $215 with shipping and everything.

[pearsall001]

I posted this same question on other HT forums. The over whelming response by a hugh margin was the OPPO over any other player based soley on it's video performance via the DVI hookup. CD playback is not an issue because I have a dedicated player. I am anxious to see what all the hype is about. My unit should be here on Wed or Thur. If all the reviews are as good as they claim this player will not be going back. For the money it sounds like a true winner.

[Pablo]

I have the Denon 2910 and I think it has a fantastic picture. The only other player I had on my set was an older toshiba (it got good reviews when it was new), and the 2910 really blows it away. I was amazed how much better it looked.

Heard good things about the Oppo, but have never seen one.

[peteran]

I have the Denon 2910 also. The picture quality is amazing almost HD like material. Because of this player I'm not planning on jumping to HD players for 2-3 years (2nd generation).
I know the 2910 had macroblocking issues with DLP tv's, not sure for LCD.
I personally use a CRT based RPTV.
Also noticed better dynamic and clarity on sound compared to my older players(Onkyo, Pioneer, JVC).

[shack]

I am also a big fan of the Denon DVD players. They seem to get it right IMO. I have NO macroblocking issues on my Panny 51" RPT with my 1910.

[drew spelts]

Glad I could convince you into trying this unit out. I am not trying to hype it up or anything but it is freaking fantastic value. When I was really young and dreamed about owning a DVD player I always imagined the picture would look like this player can reproduce. You seriously need to spend $500 or more just to get the same picture in my sole opinion and thats just not worth it to me. The only bad thing I have ever noticed about the unit are two things. When you turn it on you have to wait 3-4 seconds before you can press the tray eject button for it to work and the other thing only happened to me once but it was really weired. What happened was I put the movie on pause long enough to go do my business and when I got back the screensaver was working as it should. I then pressed play and the spot where the "oppo oval" was at now had a dark shadow on the picture in that exact spot. The only way I could correct it was to turn off the unit because even going to the main menue of the disc would not make the dark area dissapear. But like I said earlier this has only happened once and I believe if you turn off the screen saver it should never happen. Besides those two things you will not believe how many different things the Oppo remote alows you to controll its really fun to play with for about an hour. BTW, what player brand and model are you using for CD playback?

[I-SIG]

I have the Denon 2910 also.

I know the 2910 had macroblocking issues with DLP tv's, not sure for LCD.

It also does it with plasma's. Severely with the Panny, I've read. It's the Faroudja chipset apparently that does this. I'm not sure what macroblocking is, but they make such a huge deal of it on avsforum, that I'm avoiding players with the Faroudja chips. I'm looking at the Denon 2900 that has the Silicon Image 504 chip, also the 1600, I believe.

Despite the Oppo having the Faroudja chips, it seems that folks are getting good results with it on plasmas because the Oppo has so many user-adjustable features, that combined with a calibrated plasma, really minimizes it. I'm considering the Oppo 971H as well right now.

Wes

[Lsi9]

I was thinking of going Oppo myself but...
I am willing to hold out until maybe fall when hopefully a true universal player will come out, meaning it will do; HD Dvd, Blue Ray, SACD, Dvd-A and all the rest
HD Video is in the near future, I would wait for that and wait for the 2nd gen. Hybrid players also, which will play both HD disc formats.

[Toxis]

Go with quality. Denon.

There's a lot of reports out there of problems with the Oppo unit. Low build quality, audio syncing... I'll stick with a company with a reputation of quality.

I love my 2910...mmmmmmmmmmm

[pearsall001]

I can't wait to get the OPPO hookup up & running. My dedicated CDP is the Consonance Droplet5.0 tube output player. It is absolutely amazing.

[drew spelts]

Thats a funny looking player and really expensive.

[pearsall001]

The player is actually gorgeous looking when seen in person. The pics you see don't come close to doing it justice. When I first showed my wife a picture of it she thought it looked like a crock pot, women are unbelievable aren't they. I got her blessing to buy it & when she saw it for the first time she was very impressed w/ it's fabulous looks. She took back her crock pot statement too. The unit I have is the actual player my dealer shipped to Srajan Ebaen of 6 MOONS for his follow up review of the player. Srajan really fell in love w/ the Droplet, so much so in fact that he gave it their prestigeous Blue Moon Award that very few items receive. His praise & other reviewers praise of the Droplet are well founded, this things plays music like you've never ever heard before. As far as the price goes it retails now for $3500. That is way too rich for my blood too. However I got such a "GREAT" deal on the demo model that I just couldn't refuse. For the price I paid I'd be kicking myself now for not buying it because of how damn good this player really is. I guess I was in the right place at the right time. Needless to say there is no need for me to even consider a CD upgrade for many years to come, if ever!

[EricT43]

I had a Denon DVD-3800, which I loved. Picture quality was very good with my RPTV, and later with my projector. Unfortunately, it's crapped out on me twice now, and after the second time, I still haven't sent it in for repair.

I got an Oppo to tide me over until HD-DVD settles down a bit, and it seems like a decent player. Audio through the digital outputs sounds good. But, I got the Oppo at the same time as I got my Philips 50" plasma, and the picture quality is not so hot. I don't know if it's due to the Oppo, the TV, or both. I'm going to hook up my other DVD player this weekend (JVC 723, kind of a benchmark player) via component and see what the heck is going on. I watched Good Night and Good Luck the other night, and the PQ was terrible. Macroblocking everywhere, dark green and pink all over the place -- and this is a B&W movie.

[drew spelts]

OK for all you people saying that OPPO sucks and wont last because of poor build quality, I think Eric has brought up a good comment. Any player from any brand "can crap out on you" but to crap out twice..... WOW that sucks. Before I bought the oppo I had a 4 year old POS philips DVD player with progressive scan. Street value today is maby $9.99 However, this unit has never crapped out on me. So I guess I am just saying that it is not necessarily fair to just say its crap because it is very affordable. IMO Dennons are just not affordable.

Eric, there is a possibility that you can make some adjustments through the Oppo in order for it to look properly on your plasma so that is where i would start at. It seems to be that some of these displays make players look worse than they should for some reason. I am not sure why you are having this problem but it should be correctible. Let us know what you figure out. Thanks.

[polkatese]

I had a Denon DVD-3800, which I loved. Picture quality was very good with my RPTV, and later with my projector. Unfortunately, it's crapped out on me twice now, and after the second time, I still haven't sent it in for repair

Mine is forced into retirement due to the "possessed drawer" disease. However, it seems to play DVD-A and RBCD fine. DVD-Video is the main problem of not being able to play (several tries), but when it does, it looks great.