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General discussion

HDMI-equipped DVD Players vs. HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Players

Jun 2, 2005 10:33AM PDT

Will the future HD-DVD and Blu-Ray DVD players be able to coax even better picture quality out of my old dvds than the currently available HDMI-equipped DVD players?

I'm guessing that the answer is no which would make an HDMI-equipped player slightly more appealling to me than waiting for the HD-DVD players.

I was considering returning a LG LGDVB418 I tried out (had some audio sync problems) and picking up the Toshiba SD-5980. Does anyone own or know enough about either of these players to recommend or dissuade purchasing them? I wasn't sure if I picked up a defective LGDVB418 or if it's just a consistently bad player that is prone to audio sync problems.

Discussion is locked

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HDMI?
Jun 2, 2005 4:38PM PDT

What has that got to do with the HD-dvd and Blu-Ray dvd format?

Better picture out of the old dvd? I doubt it.

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re
Jun 3, 2005 12:56AM PDT

I doubt it will give your old dvd's any better of a picture or at least over the up converters now. But the discs that are formated for blu-ray or hd will look awesome on one of those players

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Question about LG DVB418 and Toshiba SD-5980
Jun 12, 2005 4:12PM PDT

Hi There,

I am also considering these two models as you stated in your post. Have you figured out which one that you like better? I don't know which one is better. If you have, please let me know. I would be interested in knowing what you have discovered about the two players.

Thanks,
pdawg95

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Toshiba SD-5980 does a great job.
Jun 15, 2005 12:35AM PDT

I have the SD-5980, and I must say, it does a great job upconverting the image hooked up to my Sony rear projection 55" LCD TV, KDF-55WF655. My old DVD player still produced a fuzzy picture on such a big TV, but the Toshiba sharpened out the lines and made the colors more vibrant. It even reads 6 flash card types, but it reads kinda slow for my use.

The included HDMI cable helped too. I've heard that an after-market Monster HDMI cable produces a beter picture, but I'm not sure if I want to spend $100 for something my eyes migth not be able to discern.

In summary, the Toshiba works great for me, and I'm enjoying all my old DVDs, like Lord of the Rings, the old Batman movies, etc., so I'd recommend it to anyone.

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LGDVB418 DVD Player
Jun 29, 2005 4:32PM PDT

I'm on my second DVD player by this company. The manual states that when using the HDMI mode, I can only select 480p resolution on copy protected DVDs. When using non-copy protected DVDs, I should be able to select 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i resolution while in the HDMI mode. The manual does not say that I can select any mode other than 480p while using component video output.
Here is what the machine does: In HDMI mode, regardless of the DVD type that I put in, only 480p mode is available. In the component video mode, all of the video modes (480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i )can be selected.
Tech support at AG said the unit is not working right. We swapped it tonight and we get the same characteristics.

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Toshiba SD-5980
Jul 14, 2005 1:08AM PDT

I have the Toshiba and love the picture to my 50' plasma. I am using Component out at the moment and will upgrade to HDMI when I can find a reasonable Home theatre amp that will switch HDMI.

seems that noone is reporting problems with this unit unlike all the othe units with "HD Upconverting"

Go for it!

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LG has fixed the audio sync problem
Jul 17, 2005 9:46PM PDT

I just got the LG and received a firmware from their customer service department very quickly after calling them. (They initially sent the wrong update, for LGDV*T*418, so if you call them be sure to specify LGDV*B*418 and make sure that they send you the right one!) The update corrects the audio synchronization problem. At least, it has for me. DivXs and DVDs from the BBC, which seemed to be my worst culprits, now play like a dream.

I only wish LG made the firmware update available online!