I recently got an HDTV, so in theory the progressive scan was guaranteed to be an upgrade in itself (the previous player I was using was an interlaced Panasonic RA60). Interestingly, though, my RA60 in interlaced mode looked just as good (or better) than the progressive output of my DMR-E80 progressive scan DVD recorder. Not so with the S1500, thankfully. The Yamaha's video output has been a definite upgrade for me - mediocre DVD's (like some TV on DVD stuff and DVD-R copies of VHS and S-VHS home videos) don't look much different, but the really good video transfers (like the new Star Wars discs, for example) really shine. The E80 looks pretty sad in comparison, especially on the better transfers, although it still does a nice job of time shifting TV and archiving VHS tapes. DVD-Audio sound quality seems much the same as the RA60, not a really noticeable improvement. CD's, on the other hand, sound quite good using the S1500's analog output. It's definitely worth having on your list of candidates for an upgrade, and packs a lot of value and features into a little box with a (comparatively) little price.

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