upscaling xvid and divx files

[doitnow]

Hi everyone

being a new soul here (sorry newbie) I'm not sure if this is the exact right place for this post so please move if inappropiate.

I play mostly xvid and divx files burnt to dvd on a HD tv using an old yamada dvd player (5 years old)

are there any new dvd players out there that are recommended to use that will provide a better picture ( upscaling etc) to my new plasma hd tv or should I just stick to the yamada which I must say has been a good servant over the years

any opinions much appreciated

thanx

edit: sorry the dvd burner is a liteon, the player is a yamada dvx6700[/b]

[jagabo]

The Oppo players are reputed to have good Divx/Xvid playback. http://www.oppodigital.com/

The Philips DVP 5990 and 5992 are among the best affordable Divx certified DVD players.

They probably all do better than your Liteon but whether you'll find the difference is significant I don't know. The 5990 is a little better than my old Liteon LVD 2002.

[guns1inger]

I know it is a more expensive option, but the PS3 over HDMI does an excellent job at upscaling most sources. That said, your standard 700MB - 1.4GB download AVI is still going to look like it have been over compressed and badly treated.

What is the TV ? All HDTVs have at least a basic upscaler built in, and the better TVs have reasonably decent ones. These are often as good as or better than the upscalers in cheaper DVD players, so you may not gain anything over what you have now.

[doitnow]

Hi

thanx for the replies

the tv is a panasonic th-37px80 plasma

[jagabo]

How is your current player connected to the HDTV? HDMI? SCART (RGB or component)? S-video? Composite?

[doitnow]

How is your current player connected to the HDTV? HDMI? SCART (RGB or component)? S-video? Composite?

its connected by scart (no hdmi available on the player, yamada dvx6700)

[jagabo]

SCART supports RGB, s-video, and composite. Do you know which you are using? If composite I think you'll see a fair improvement going to a new player with HDMI. If s-video you'll see less improvement, RGB even less.

[doitnow]

SCART supports RGB, s-video, and composite. Do you know which you are using? If composite I think you'll see a fair improvement going to a new player with HDMI. If s-video you'll see less improvement, RGB even less.

it's just a scart lead, is there a way to tell?

[jagabo]

The TV's "display" (or whatever they call it) option may indicate the source format. The DVD player's manual might say.

[doitnow]

i've gone for the philips dvp5990, its got the usb facility which is an upgrade for me so..

I'll post back once Ive tried the player

thanx for your interest

[jagabo]

I'd like to hear what you find. Be sure to try an HDMI cable. You shouldn't have to pay more than the equivalent of about US$10 for a 6 foot HDMI cable.

Consider this 3'rd part firmware update: https://forum.videohelp.com/topic355675-600.html

[doitnow]

Got the player yesterday

early impressions are generally good (hdmi)

better pq for standard dvds and divx dvds over the yamada ( scart rgb)

usb connection works well ( playback is smooth)

one small problem noticed when watching nypd blue ( region 1) season 1

the camera work shifts about very quickly with this program and this makes the picture stretch at the horizontal edges ( like funny mirror images)

this is not apparent using the old yamada dvd player so unless there is a setting which needs to be applied on the philips then this is definitely a downside

re firmware: the player has the most upto date firmware according to the philips support site

what advantage does the suggested 3rd party firmware offer?

Thanx

[jagabo]

one small problem noticed when watching nypd blue ( region 1) season 1

the camera work shifts about very quickly with this program and this makes the picture stretch at the horizontal edges ( like funny mirror images)

I've never seen anything like that from the player. Are you sure this isn't a setting on your HDTV? Many have a nonlinear stretch mode that does what you are describing. And they remember that setting for each individual input. So the fact that your old player hooked up via SCART doesn't do it doesn't mean it's not the TV.

re firmware: the player has the most upto date firmware according to the philips support site

what advantage does the suggested 3rd party firmware offer?

The most important are longer filenames and better looking subtitles. I think they also have the ability to go directly to the main movie when a disc is inserted (press the menu button if you want to go to the main menu). Personally, I hate having to wait for the FBI warning, a distributor logo, a studio logo, ads for other DVDs, a long boring menu intro, then a long boring menu outro after pressing play, every time I put a disc in the player.

[doitnow]

Stretching effect: I tried another standard shop bought dvd and noticed a similar effect.

There didn't seem to be any specific settings on the TV but in the player via setup - video setup page - tv display- there is 3 choices

4:3 Pan Scan (default)

4:3 Letter Box

16:9

Choosing 16:9 the problem was eliminated on the 2nd shop bought standard dvd disc, but remained on the NYPD Blue dvd.

I played a couple of other standard dvds, all seem ok without the stretching effect

I guess its a disc specific problem, if so its something I can live with

Firmware: will the firmware work on a 5990/05 bought in UK, only it seemed specific to the 5990/37 in the thread

do not wanna fry the new machine lol

btw, kwym about the menu fbi warnings etc, a right pain

[jagabo]

I found the setting you need to change. In the video section select HDMI Setup. Go to Wide Screen Format and change it from Super Wide to 4:3 Pillar Box.

4:3 Pillar Box: keeps 4:3 material at the right aspect ratio and displays it pillarboxed on the widescreen TV. This could cause burn-in problems on a plasma TV though.

Super Wide: stretches the 4:3 frame non-linearly to fill the 16:9 TV. It stretched more at the edges than at the center.

Off: stretches the 4:3 frame linearly to fill the 16:9 TV.

[doitnow]

Turning that setting in hdmi to off has fixed the stretching and the screen is filled, seems a done job

many thanx