My old and trusty Panasonic RP-56 DVD player has apparently died. Given repair costs I am guessing it probably makes sense to get a new player, so I am looking for advice.

My current HD-TV is an analog based Toshiba rear crt projector. While it has a dvi input (but not HDMI), my brief experimentation with my cable box has shown that dvi input is not any better than component driven input and may actually be something worse. The RP-56 with its Faroudja chip had an outstanding picture over component.

I have no problems forking out the money for a new Panasonc BD50 but it doesn't seem to be available yet. I also would consider an Oppo player but I have heard that their component output is limited to 480i.