Upconverting DVD player (worth it?)

This winter will be a long one and having missed all the summer movies (had a new baby in May) I plan to watch a lot of movies at home on the 50" HDTV as they come available on DVD.
Now, having absolutely no intention of buying an HD-DVD or Blue-Ray player (way too expensive, limited titles, not a significant enough jump in picture quality for the cost) I am intrigued at the idea of getting an “Upconverting” DVD player.

For $100 how could I go wrong? I hear they give a near-HD quality picture on HD sets with standard DVDs.

Thing is, I already have one nice player collecting dust, and had to get a better “progressive scan” player when I got the HD set.

So while $100 is no big deal, is it really that much better a picture? Since the set is not equipped with HDMI input I would be using component cables R-B-G.
I like the idea of upgrading my system but I’m afraid I’m gonna buy the thing, hook it up, and say “hmmm, not much better than I can notice.”

Well, one of my friends has one hooked up to a fairly large HDTV and…yeah, the effect’s pretty noticeable. If I had the budget he was working with, I’d do the same thing, even if I still had my current progressive scan DVD player.

It won’t make your copy of Battlefield Earth :slight_smile: look like something airing on a broadcast HD channel, but it will definitely make it look better than before.

I did this experiment about a year ago with my 51" HDTV, and I saw no difference. Then again, I don’t see much difference between standard definition & HD either. I really don’t see what all the fuss is about (no pun intended).

If you wanted to go out and buy a Playstation 3 when they come out, they are supposed to play Blu-Ray discs. If you had planned on buying one of those already, I would wait because you would already have one that played hi-def movies.

My parents went out and bought a huge fifty something inch plasma and you can tell the difference in some movies from the hi-def channels to the dvd version. Shrek 2 still looks just as good but Shaun of the Dead looked kind of crappy on the dvd versus the hi-def channel.

Maybe it just depends on the movie.