Buying a DVD Player: Progressive Scan?

Factual Questions
1

I have not been able to find the answer to this question anywhere. Does having a dvd player with progressive scan improve picture quality even if it is not hooked up to an HDTV? I plan on using my regular old TV’s S-Video input; does progressive scan make any difference with this hookup, or does it only matter if I have an HDTV?

I am strongly considering the Samsung DVD-N501: http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=11064099&m=1&cat=32&scat=244 because it has the features I want. Does anyone have any experience or comments on this player, or any other advice when buying a DVD player?

Thank you very much.

2

Short answer: No. A progressive-scan DVD player is still putting out an interlaced image through your S-video connection. If you want a progressive-scan picture, you need to use the component video outputs and connect them to a progressive-scan display.

I have a front-projection home theater with a 110" diagonal screen. On a screen that size, the difference between progressive-scan and interlaced is very apparent. But if you just have a normal TV and sit a normal distance from it, I doubt you’d be able to tell much of a difference between progressive and interlaced anyway.