Has anyone compared any Oppo DVD player with a Blu Ray or HDDVD ?

Question

Oppo 970HD with Toshiba HD-A2 perhaps ?
Just want to know if
a SUPERB upconverting DVD player will be close to or equal to a HD-DVD player...

Will the difference be as dramatic as VHS vs DVD

Answer 1

Well the short answer is that NO DVD player can match an HD player. No matter how well it upscales. All upscaling does is, the DVD player takes its best guess at what the missing scanlines should be showing. As you know, DVD's are fixed at 480 lines of resolution while HD is at 1080. So there's a lot of lines that get guessed when a DVD play er upscales.

Now, the Oppo players and the higher-end Denons are among the best upscalers around. They use different algorithms and motion detection programs to more accurately guess what these missing lines should be displaying. But despite this, it is no match for a true HD source.

The best upscaling player I've ever seen... was probably only halfway between DVD and HD DVD / BluRay. The worst upscalers are indistinguishable from standard DVD's in the first place.

If you have a smaller TV, the benefit of HD will be less apparent so it will seem as if the upscaling DVD player is producing a picture quality closer to that of true HD. but the larger the screen size gets, the more obvious the improvement is between HD and an upscaled DVD.

As it happens, the Toshiba HD-XA2 contains an upscaler that is considered better than even Oppo's or Denon's. And even that is no match for true HD. Is it still a great picture? You bet. But it's not as good as the real thing.

Answer 2

If you're comparing just the upconverting capabilities only, the Toshiba HD-XA2 is generally considered the best. The lower end Toshiba HD-A2 is considered about equal to the Oppo, some saying the Toshiba is better, others saying the Oppo is better. Basically, it's close.

The only Blu-Ray I've looked at for upconversion/upscaling is the PS3. I think the HD-A2 is better, but again it's close. So the PS3 may be a little below the Oppo, but not really a ton of difference. Probably comes down to individual opinion. Other Blu Ray players may be better that the PS3, I can't really say.

Answer 3

I have all three (newer OPPO model HD981). HD and Blu-Ray beats regular DVD - upconveted or not - hands down.
I like upconvertor in HD-XA1 better than the one in OPPO.
The difference is not like VHS and DVD - more like between 128kbs MP3 and CD.
Just updated PS3 with upconversion for regular DVDs, but did not have a chance to play with it.
If I would be buying a new DVD player now - I would get either HD-A2 - steal for $299, or Sony bd-s300 for about $450 plus 5 free BD movies.