Most upconverting DVD players state they only do so thru the HDMI output. If I run a HD DVD or Blu Ray disc from the players HDMI output via a HDMI/DVI cable to the DVI input on he 990, will the 990 output the proper display thru the DVI output to my HDTV?

Also, does anyone know any real advantage of going with a Toshiba HD A# or HAD 30 instead of a HD-A2 or HD A20?

Most A2s are selling for just over $200, plus 5 free (albeit not such great movies to pick from) HD DVDs.

I'm pretty sure the HD-A2 is limited to 1080i resolution, while the HD-A20, A30, A35 can all do 1080p. The A20 looks like a nice deal since most retailers have it a little cheaper than the A30, and the only difference I can see is a slightly smaller case on the A30, and support for 1080p24 out-of-the-box while the A20 gets this via a free firmware update. Is there something else to consider when comparing these machines?

As for the HDMI>DVI conversion, it should have no effect on resolution, nor should running it through the 990. The 990 just passes the data as received, and the HDMI>DVI adapters just adapt the connector... at least as far as video is concerned.

- Jason

My TV only accepts 1080i I believe. I have the Sony KDSR1-60XBR (60 inch LCoS) which I love.

The A2 can be had for $225 brand new, plus 5 free DVDs. The A3 is $300 I believe, ust a newer version of the A2 (from what I can tell).

The 24 fps doesnt really concern me, or should it? I believe my TV is not set up to accept and play that.

Or, for $400 the A30 can be bought, but is it really neccesary? value electronics (on line) is offering not only the 5 free mail in DVDs with the A30, but also the HD DVD Video Essentials for fine tuning the TV, and 2 free HD DVDs from them, sent along with the DVD player.

The PS3 is also on my short list, mostly to watch BR discs, but some gaming as well ( I have a Wii and a PS2).

Yes, if that is the first gen XBR SXRD, then it cannot do 1080p. That was added in the 2nd gen SXRDs.

Not sure about the 24fps...but since your TV would accept 1080i only, it would be 48fps anyhow.

Probably just gets upscaled/upsampled to 1080i/60fps is my guess.

There are some limits as far as going from HDMI to DVI in color depth, but since your TV doesn't support HDMI's new "deep color" anyhow, it's not a worry until you upgrade your display.

DVI will support 1080p just as well as HDMI will. In fact, the DVI switching in the 990 and the 970/1070 will reportedly pass 1080p just fine.

If your TV will only accept 1080i, the fact that some HD-DVD players (including the A2) can't output 1080p isn't going to be a particularly big deal.

Are there any other video features aside from color depth that HDMI supports that DVI won't?

Setting aside color depth, you can actually do more with DVI. HDMI is taken directly from single link DVI, and dual link DVI offers even more bandwidth (needed for resolutions higher than 1920x1080 in the PC world where DVI originated - it can do up to 2048 x 1536). HDMI can provide either RGB or YCrCb, whereas DVI is solely RGB.

On a slightly divergent topic, did you notice that USB 3.0 will be using an optical link as well as copper twisted pairs?

Thanks everyone!

I hadn't seen anything on USB 3.0. Did a quick search and skimmed a pretty good introductory article over at Ars Technica. I found this quote interesting:
Kudos to them for being realistic about the time required to develop hardware for a new standard. Their estimate of 18 to 24 months from finalizing the spec to having hardware shipping to consumers is a lot more reasonable than the five to 12 months we've seen attempted (and expected by portions of the consumer market) for HDMI v1.3.

I use a Denon 3930CI full 1080P upconverting DVD player. Yes you heard right, a standard DVD upconverting player that outputs at 1080P over HDMI. The quality is so good I am not concerned about Blu-ray or HD-DVD at this time. As per my talks with Gonk, I will probably will get a PS3 as long as it can output DTS Master Audio and will need the nect generation Outlaw product to decode the HD Audio streams.

My Denon is the best upconverting player I have ever seen with it's powerful Teranex chip. The unit puts out heat so it has a heat sink and a cooling fan on it. That is one powerful processor.