Samsung DVD HD Upsampler?


Boy, and I thought the audiophile world was complicated!
As I roam this new jungle called home theater I ask my rep at Circut City about the playback quality of dvd's on a high def tv I'm close to purchasing.
Lo and behold, he showed me the Samsung dvd player that I guess will "transform" dvd's to hi def quality when viewing on a high def tv.
He also said a $130 cable-sorry, I didn't get the cable name but I will do that today-is also required.
Anyone have any experience with this dvd player?
Any recommendations, opinions etc.
Thanks!
greh
It is not possible to upscale any source to a higher resolution and get better quality than the software contains. Upscaling video can soften edges on VHS and CATV but but that relies on the scaler in the television. Your money is probably best spent on a Sony ES DVD player that only has component video output. Fancy cables are not in order either. If you have a local high-end shop you will get better advice than from Circut City. Good shops will let you take the player you are interested in home to demo.

Sony ES model 555 or 999 are both very good players ($600 and $1,000 respectively).

Good luck.
I believe you are refering to DVD-HD841 or HD941. The only differece between these two model is the HDMI output on HD941 and DVI output on HD841. I own HD841 to use while waiting for the Bravo D2 to return from firmware upgrade from the factory. To my surprise, the Samsung is a Gem in both audio and video not even considering its price.

In audio, its stereo output is clean and well detailed approaching the highend CD player but less defined bass. It must be due to its simple power supply. Video wise, it is an excellent unit for component output although I use its DVI output.

If your TV has no DVI or HDMI input, just use the player's component output. And no player can make HD out of normal DVD source. It is nice for TV or monitors that has fixed scan input and you can set the player to match the TV and not have to tinker with input scan frequencies.

Let me know if you have more questions.

Ki
THe 841 also uses the Faroudja DCDi de-interlacing chip set, the 941 does not. I had to go through 3 841s before I got one that worked properly. Kichoi is right, though, it is a great little player.
Greh,

If you are buying a fixed pixel microdisplay based rear projection high def TV; e.g., DLP, LCD, or D-ILA, then I would definitely consider an unconverting DVD player with DVI/HMDI output.

Results of DVI/HDMI connection versus Component vary by brand and particular microdisplay technology. Best thing would be to run a comparison between the two with the same DVD and DVD source and judge for yourself.

I can speak from personal experience that an upconverting DVD player using DVI/HMDI output produces a better picture on a Samsing DLP than Component.

$130 for a DVI/HDMI cable, IMHO, is a ripoff. If you look on the web; e.g., www.bluejeanscable.com, you will find more modestly priced cables that will work at least as well as the high mark-up brands typically sold in retail stores.

Bruce
I currently own a Samsung 5063 DLP TV. I use a California Audio Labs 2500 DVD player in conjunction with a DVDO iScan HD Video Scaler. To those who say "It is not possible to upscale any source to a higher resolution and get better quality than the software contains" (Bignerd100), I say WRONG!!!! (no pun intended Bignerd, but you gotta see this picture!) The difference made buy using this scaler is QUITE evident! I also use Voom (for as long as it may last...) which has many 1080i broadcasts. The picture produced using the DVDO is almost (depending on the quality of the DVD itself, i.e. which studio produced it)as good, PERIOD. I use the DVI output from the DVDO to the DLP. My next venture is to upgrade the video output of the CAL DVD to SDI (the DVDO already has the SDI input). By doing this the video information leaves the DVD in digital format and travels straight through to the DLP TV with NO analog converstion along the way. There is so much more I could say on this subject but I gotta get back to work here... LOL If you have any questions get back with me. I'd be glad to help!!
Thanks for your responses.
I'm leaning torward a new dvd player-LG or the Samsung-with HDMI capabilities.
Tahoe36, thanks for the offer.
I would certainly appreciate your feedback on a few items.
I'll talk to you soon.
Thanks!