Up-convert & component video

[rico1]

Hi Guys

Ny TV lacks HDMI, & I'm looking for a DVD player that will upconvert via component video cables. Currently I'm at 480p. If required I would 'hack' the firmware, provided i can look at instructions prior to purchase.

Kingwell HD1800 I know about, but seems difficult to get.

Thanks
Rico

[Eyedoctor2]

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=423609

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=609190

[JGDragov]

Rico,

Did you ever get a Kingwell? Did you see their newer model(KWHD-6900i)?

I just ordered two of them, one for me and my brother, and they should be here Monday. Very interested in seeing what they are like as they upconvert over component and VGA ports and are region free.

Jeff

[rico1]

Hello Jeff,

Great news! I'm excited to see/hear what you think. I never followed through, on up-converting via 'component video' as another forum advised marginal results. So I'm anxiously awaiting your reply. Also.

1. Do you have a way to compare the 480p to your 1080i up-convert?
2. Do/did you have to 'hack' the firmware <if so how & where did you get the software>?
3. Where did you purchase the Kingwell <link>?

Thanks & Take Care
Rico

[JGDragov]

Hey Rico.

I haven't received the units yet. They should be here Monday or Tuesday. Even though I don't have them, I can pretty much answer your questions.

1. The player supports both 480p and 1080i through component so comparing will be easy as all I have to do is hit the button. You can go back and fourth from 480p to 1080i or even 720p.
2. No hack code or firmware flash is needed. This player is an upconverting unit whose charm/appeal is that it upconverts through HDMI, VGA and component. It's a plug and play region free upconverting player.
3. Here is the link: http://www.kingwelltechnology.com/product/dvd/HD6900i/feature.asp

Like I said in my earlier post I ordered two of these units, one for me and one for my brother, but he has decided to get a Toshiba HD DVD player since his projector has an HDMI port. If you're interested you could have it for $100 brand new and unopened. Kingwell sells for $175 but they offer free shipping.

I would love to get Toshiba HD DVD player myself but my projector only has s-Video and component inputs so this player seems to be my best chance. I could always go out and buy a new projector but I love the one I have and I don't have an extra $1200 lying around.

Hope this helps you.

Jeff

[rico1]

Hi Jeff,

Thank you for the offer, but why don't you just return the player? They have a generous return policy.

Take Care
Rico

[JGDragov]

Hi Rico.

Returning it is something I'll probably end up doing. It's just that I have to eat the original shipping charges as well as the shipping costs of sending it back, plus insurance.

That and the fact that since the player isn't defective they charge a 15% restocking fee. I just figured if I'm going to take a hit I would sell it cheap to someone in the states. My brother is the one that is paying for it but he asked me to handle returning it for him.

Jeff

[JGDragov]

Just got the players yesterday. They were shipped on Friday and got here Monday from China. I have to admit that's pretty fast.

I played mine for a few hours yesterday and I was pretty pleased for the most part. To start, I just picked a DVD at random and came up with Godzilla(1998) which is rated PG. I got a "You Have Exceeded your Rating Limit" message."What the F$#@?" I thought. Turns out it's just a parental lock which I had to punch in the code(8888) and set it to play all discs.

Like the features say this unit plays everything. VCDS/SVCDS/CD-R/DVD+RW/MP3/CDS are all the formats I tried and they all played with no problem. This player is suppose to play quite a few more including Divix and Xvid just to name a few but I don't have the means to test this. It also plays a format called HVD also known as Chinese HD discs. I already had one HVD and they sent another one with the player.

This player upconverts via HDMI,component and VGA. I couldn't test the HDMI but I was able to confirm the other two. I tried all signals 480P/576P/720P/1080i and even 1080p which my projector is not suppose to be capable of. I even upconverted my VCDs which I was surprised it would do. The image quality was really good but I was hard pressed to notice a significant improvement from signal to signal. My brother says he noticed a big differnce but to be fair I did not.

The area where this player really blew me away is with the native 720p HVD discs. I have a HD reciever for my satellite that I watch on my projector and these movies looked just as good if not better than most HDNet movies.

The only thing I would knock about this player is maybe the price. But the fact that it is one of the few players(if not the only one now) with HDMI, component and VGA outputs and that you can upconvert over all three makes it a desirable unit. I'll post more info as I play around with it more.

[manono]

The Helios H4000 is another one:

http://www.helios-labs.com/us/products/H4000/h4000_overview.shtml

[edDV]

Try it with Star Wars II or III so we have a quality reference.

[JGDragov]

Yeah Manono, I was aware of the H4000 which is whay I said the 6900i was one of the few. I thought they might have stopped making the 4000 as it seems to have gotten pretty bad reviews from the most users I've talked to.

I didn't want to get one myself as I bought the HVD108, which was their first upconverting HVD player. It had audio sync problems and started to freeze up during playback on every other disc I put in. It stopped working after a month.

I'll see how the 6900i does after a few weeks. Right now I'm putting it through it's paces. So far so good.


ed, I did in fact watch Episode III which is part of the problem I'm having with determining picture quality. The image was spectacular. I would say HD quality for sure but it didn't seem to make much difference at 720p or 1080i. Truthfully, I would say that is a DVD that would have to be viewed at 480i to look lackluster.

[JGDragov]

One thing I can say I have noticed about this player is that it plays other region dvds, PAL in particular, better than any other DVD player I've had.

Maybe it just has a better PAL to NTSC converter than the other region free players I have but the images on my Region 2 Dune and Predator 2 dvds were much smoother and looked a lot clearer. That might be the best way for me to judge this player when it comes to seeing a big picture quality difference. The DVDs that have looked so-so on 480p might be more obvious in their image upgrade.

Like my experience with the Episode III dvd and the Pixar Special Edition dvds I've played, it's hard not to be impressed with the image as they really can't look bad. I'll try my dvds with the crappier transfers to see what I get.