I recently upgraded to HDTV and purchased the Sony 55wf655 rpt lcd tv. I presently own the Denon 2200 universal player that is connected by 3 Outlaw component cable. Since the 2200 does not have have a HDMI or DVI connection, will the picture quality improve if I upgrade to the Denon 2910 player or equivalent that utilize DVI/HDMI cables?

If so, what universal player besides the 2910 can you recommend in the under $1000 price range?

Finally, if I decide to upgrade, can anyone recommend a HDMI/DVI switcher since the Sony has only 1 HDMI connection and my Outlaw 950 doesn't accomodate these connections?

Thanks, Ron.

There are plenty of places selling HDMI-->DVI adapter cables, including Outlaw. They're cheap.

As for whether or not video looks better/worse between component and DVI, I can't tell the difference at 480i/480p. However, my DVD player has the option of upconverting to 720p/768p/1080i and that will only output on the DVI connection. And that definitely looks better than the 480p available on the composite outputs. 8-)

If you're willing to roll the dice on an online merchant (who may or may not be an authorized reseller), some of them are discounting the DVD-3910 to under $1000.

Cheers,

If you want to investigate the benefits of upconverting DVD players (with will do 720p or 1080i over DVI/HDMI), there's the Oppo Digital 971H - $200 with the option of a DVI cable or a DVI-HDMI cable.

you are unlikely to see a big difference going from component to dvi or hdmi. i say that even with the ability to upconvert. i have yet to see a player that upconverts and makes the picture look any different, though admittedly i have not seen them all!

The upconverted picture (I generally use 720p) on my system is clearly better than the 480p picture I can get from the component output. It's easy to see since the player will output on DVI and component at the same time so I've got the component output connected to the 990 and the DVI connection going directly to the TV. That way, the family can easily switch sources with the 990 remote, but I can switch to the higher quality output when watching movies. It's also easy to do A/B comparisons by just switching inputs on the TV.

Cheers,

Thanks for your replies. I spoke to a tech from Denon concerning the 2910 using component vs DVI cables. He stated that in theory the DVI should give better picture but it also depends upon the type of tv. Since I have rpt lcd tv and depending on the source, the picture quality is better on 480i than 480p which the tech also stated. So it seems there may or not be any significant difference upconverting to 720p or 1080i and the only way to find out is perform an A/B comparison as Ritz suggested. I would hate to make the investment in a $1000 player and find no change. I was hoping to upgrade the 2200 to a 2910 for upconverting with the DVI but also that the 2910 had a better DAC.

That leads me to another question, I was told that the DAC in the Denon is better than the 950. Should I be using the DAC in the Denon for 6.1 as well? I use the DAC in the Denon for SACD and D-audio only.

Ron

The DAC in the Denon may give you better sound on CD's (I generally recommend comparing the two and letting your ear decide), but I would not recommend using the Denon's decoder for DVD-Video. Doing so would deprive you of the 950's additional processing (Pro Logic II and Cirrus Extra Surround) as well as the triple crossovers.

Good point Gonk

gonk

I read the reviews on the oppo digital 971h player and it appears to be a great dvd player. In lieu of upgrading the denon 2200 to a 2910, I'm considering purchasing the oppo player just for dvd-video and keep the denon for cd/dvd-audio/sacd. I would still need to purchase a hdmi/dvi switcher for the sony tv anyway. What's your opinion?

Well, that's exactly what I did a few months ago - shifted my Yamaha DVD-S1500 to a primarily audio role (DVD-Audio and SACD via 6-channel analog output, CD via optical digital output) and put an Oppo in the system as a DVD video player. I've been very satisfied with the arrangement - the Oppo has worked out great with my 32" Zenith HDTV. Plus they have started letting you choose between a DVI-to-DVI or DVI-to-HDMI cable (included in the $200 price) depending on your display. I'm assuming the Sony has an HDMI input.

If you find yourself with more than one DVI or HDMI source down the road and still have the 950, you can look at getting a switch box from Gefen (see their rather nifty product guide for help sorting out their product line).