astroglide's home theater: what i own, what i would buy today

[delta k]

If I have a dvd player with HD upconversion, does that mean I can watch dvds in HD quality on my DVD player? Is this different than an HDDVD/player? Do I need special cables for this?

[Josem]

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If I have a dvd player with HD upconversion, does that mean I can watch dvds in HD quality on my DVD player?

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http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=na...hd+upconversion

First result: "HD upconversion DVD players don't add resolution, they transfer the movie data digitally and pre-proccess the data like an HDTV would. Transfering the signal digitally increases picture quality because there are no digital-to-analog conversions (or vise versa). Pre-processing the movie data so that the presentations resolution is more algined with an HDTV sets native resolution also increases image quality and is somthing that the tv does anyway. "


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Is this different than an HDDVD/player?

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Yes

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Do I need special cables for this?

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No

[DLizzle]

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off to buy my stuff tomorrow, not 100% sure what I am getting. Say you had an unlimited budget and didn't care about overpaying (so basically you want the best thing available), what would you buy (TV, DVD player, remote, sound system)?

Also, I'm going to be buying an Xbox360 as well. How is it to use as a DVD player? Also, there is an HDDVD player addon for it that seems like a pretty good buy. Is it? thanks.

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dont ask this question about sound systems. the amount you can spend for a sound system is almost limitless from what i've seen

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oh, in that case i will include the information that I am a bit lazy and don't want to hunt around for different components. so what is the best one i can buy that comes all together? Also for those above things, if you don't want to name specific products, I wouldn't mind just the brand name. thanks.

[gusmahler]

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off to buy my stuff tomorrow, not 100% sure what I am getting. Say you had an unlimited budget and didn't care about overpaying (so basically you want the best thing available), what would you buy (TV, DVD player, remote, sound system)?

Also, I'm going to be buying an Xbox360 as well. How is it to use as a DVD player? Also, there is an HDDVD player addon for it that seems like a pretty good buy. Is it? thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

dont ask this question about sound systems. the amount you can spend for a sound system is almost limitless from what i've seen

[/ QUOTE ]

oh, in that case i will include the information that I am a bit lazy and don't want to hunt around for different components. so what is the best one i can buy that comes all together? Also for those above things, if you don't want to name specific products, I wouldn't mind just the brand name. thanks.

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You need to tell us what your budget is. You went from "unlimited" to wanting an all-in-one system. Those are about the opposite end of the spectrum. All in one systems are at the low end and, as stated above, unlimited really does mean unlimited.

E.g., here is a system that someone estimated at over $500k:
http://gallery.avsforum.com/showgall.../49235/cat/500

The front speakers alone cost $135k per pair:
http://www.wilsonaudio.com/product/alexandria/

Here's an exemplary speaker system that is fairly high-end ($6700 for the set): http://www.av123.com/products_produc...p;product=28.1

As for the Xbox 360, it's fine for a DVD player. Nothing particularly noteworthy one way or the other. HD DVD, OTOH, was known as being the cheapest way of getting HD DVD. There are now cheaper players, but none have the additional capability of playing games.

[gusmahler]

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If I have a dvd player with HD upconversion, does that mean I can watch dvds in HD quality on my DVD player?

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http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=na...hd+upconversion


[/ QUOTE ]Your first quote was confusing because it was self-contradictory. So I'll try to explain it again.

A new HDTV today is either 720p or 1080p (some CRTs are 1080i, but I don't think anyone here is thinking of getting a CRT, so we'll ignore that). But a DVD only contains info at 480i. So to show the DVD on the TV, you need to convert the info from 480i to 720p/1080p. All TVs are capable of doing this conversion. However, some people believe that the scaler in certain DVD players do a better job at converting 480i to 720/1080p than the TV does.

As I said, some people see the difference, some don't. Personally, I've never done the comparison.

As for a special cable for upconverting players, you either need component cables or HDMI cables, which aren't really "special."

[gusmahler]

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Is this different than an HDDVD/player?

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Yes


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To elaborate: HD DVD is a completely new format for movies. The movies on an HD DVD is stored at 1080p (high-definition).

HD DVDs cannot play in a regular DVD player. (To be exact, they do sell "combo" discs that has a regular DVD on one side and HD DVD on the other side. The HD DVD side will not play on regular DVD players.)

HD DVD and Blu Ray are the two competing new formats for pre-recorded HD content on optical discs. They are not compatible with each other, though LG does sell a hybrid player that will play both formats.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_DVD

[DLizzle]

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off to buy my stuff tomorrow, not 100% sure what I am getting. Say you had an unlimited budget and didn't care about overpaying (so basically you want the best thing available), what would you buy (TV, DVD player, remote, sound system)?

Also, I'm going to be buying an Xbox360 as well. How is it to use as a DVD player? Also, there is an HDDVD player addon for it that seems like a pretty good buy. Is it? thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

dont ask this question about sound systems. the amount you can spend for a sound system is almost limitless from what i've seen

[/ QUOTE ]

oh, in that case i will include the information that I am a bit lazy and don't want to hunt around for different components. so what is the best one i can buy that comes all together? Also for those above things, if you don't want to name specific products, I wouldn't mind just the brand name. thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

You need to tell us what your budget is. You went from "unlimited" to wanting an all-in-one system. Those are about the opposite end of the spectrum. All in one systems are at the low end and, as stated above, unlimited really does mean unlimited.

E.g., here is a system that someone estimated at over $500k:
http://gallery.avsforum.com/showgall.../49235/cat/500

The front speakers alone cost $135k per pair:
http://www.wilsonaudio.com/product/alexandria/

Here's an exemplary speaker system that is fairly high-end ($6700 for the set): http://www.av123.com/products_produc...p;product=28.1

As for the Xbox 360, it's fine for a DVD player. Nothing particularly noteworthy one way or the other. HD DVD, OTOH, was known as being the cheapest way of getting HD DVD. There are now cheaper players, but none have the additional capability of playing games.

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god damn that is ridiculous. here is a better question to help me. What will the sound quality difference be to an average person between a $3000 sound system and a $500 one?

[gusmahler]

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god damn that is ridiculous. here is a better question to help me. What will the sound quality difference be to an average person between a $3000 sound system and a $500 one?

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The biggest difference will be the bass. A $500 system will have either no subwoofer or one that can't play the sound effects very loudly and is very boomy when playing music.

[TheWorstPlayer]

The high end will also sound 'tinny'. Listening to good music on a cheap system is just pretty painful.

[cwsiggy]

Frankly - your best best for sound is to hunt on Audiogon.com and get some decent speakers like the Von Schweikert Vr1's for say 500-600, get a center channel and some decent small rear fills - all can be done for like 1500 - the difference will be huge.