Looking for recommendations on a Blu-Ray player with the best upconversion to 1080i

[puluke7]

I'm researching Blu-Ray players and I'm having some difficulties in
choosing the right one for my system. I have a tv that is only 1080I
compatible so I'm thinking that my blu-ray player of choice should be
one that does the best upconversion to 1080I rather than one that may have
the most bells and whistles or the best 1080p picture and sound. Just to clarify, I consider three factors in my definition of upconversion quality. Picture quality, Sound quality and performance. I don't know the technology well enough to know if there are different levels of quality in any or all of these factors. Are there differences in upconversion quality to 1080i between players and manufacturers or are they all generally similar? If there are differences in quality, are there any players that would be recommended as having superior upconversion to 1080i?

Not sure if it matters but here are some details on my system:
Denon AVR 1609 Receiver (HDMI input/output)
Phillips 60PW9063 60 inch TV (CRT - Rear projection tv) DVI & HDMI input
Mixture of Sony and Polk speakers (Connected to Denon receiver)

[MrBoylan]

I'm researching Blu-Ray players and I'm having some difficulties in
choosing the right one for my system. I have a tv that is only 1080I
compatible so I'm thinking that my blu-ray player of choice should be
one that does the best upconversion to 1080I rather than one that may have
the most bells and whistles or the best 1080p picture and sound. Just to clarify, I consider three factors in my definition of upconversion quality. Picture quality, Sound quality and performance. I don't know the technology well enough to know if there are different levels of quality in any or all of these factors. Are there differences in upconversion quality to 1080i between players and manufacturers or are they all generally similar? If there are differences in quality, are there any players that would be recommended as having superior upconversion to 1080i?

Not sure if it matters but here are some details on my system:
Denon AVR 1609 Receiver (HDMI input/output)
Phillips 60PW9063 60 inch TV (CRT - Rear projection tv) DVI & HDMI input
Mixture of Sony and Polk speakers (Connected to Denon receiver)

Hi, Bruce,

As I mentioned in e-mail, you're probably not going to find too many player test reports on the 1080i upconversion of Blu-ray players as it's not a native resolution you find on any of the modern digital sets we use as reference displays. Generally digital displays are all progressive scan with native resolutions of 1920x1080 (1080p) or they're "720p" sets that may have a native resolution of 1366x768 or 1280x720. And while most of these sets do accept 1080i inputs, they do their own scaling and de-interlacing to the native resolution of the panel so it's difficult to really gauge the player's 1080i upconversion objectively.

Also, you're not going to really find any Blu-ray players that only do 1080i upconversion. Pretty much all players by all the major brands to upconversion up to 1080p. They do offer 1080i outputs of course, for compatibility with analog and older digital sets. It's a pretty safe bet that a player that upconverts to 1080p well will also upconvert to 1080i well (though there are some exceptions).

But you also said that sound is important to you. Unfortunately your receiver does not support HDMI audio decoding (its HDMI support is video passthrough only). This means your best bet for highest audio quality is to get a player with on-board decoding of the new surround codecs and multi-channel analog outputs. This way you can do the audio decoding on-board and connect 6 or 8 analog cables from player to the receiver's external multi-channel input for best sound.

This narrows it down to just a few players: the Panasonic DMP-BD80, the LG BD390, the Pioneer BDP-320, the Samsung BD-P3600, Sony BDP-S560 and the OPPO BDP-83. Of these, the one with highest video performance is probably going to be the OPPO BDP-83 but it's also the most expensive ($499). This does support BD-Live but does not offer any online streaming (e.g., Netflix, VUDU, Amazon video on demand). The Panasonic BD80 is a great player but hard to find right now, likewise the LG BD390. The Pioneer BDP-320 is slow to load, leaving the Sony and the Samsung. We haven't reviewed the Sony so I can't really give you an opinion on that.

So that leaves the Samsung BD-P3600 - a fine player all around. Good video performance, nice streaming options, on-board audio decoding with multi-channel analog outputs and a cool PC streaming option that, while a little tricky to configure, can be useful if you want to access content from your home network.

You can read reviews of most of these in our Blu-ray reviews section of the site (except the OPPO which is still in progress, but is an excellent performer as well).

Blu-ray and DVD Player Reviews on BigPictureBigSound

or check out our Blu-ray buyer's guide here:

Top Blu-ray Players and Deals for 2009: A Blu-ray Buyer's Guide: BigPictureBigSound

Good luck!

-Chris

[puluke7]

Thanks very much, Chris, for the valuable information. You've given me a lot of information that I can take and sift through to increase my understanding of the technology. I appreciate the recommendations that you have included and will research the products and reviews that you have suggested.

Thanks again.

Puluke7

[vern]

Puluke7, I would have to say that after 2 weeks with the DMP-BD80 from panasonic I am quite happy with the performance. Like you, I have no HDMI inputs in my A/V receiver. I have been using the 7.1 analog outs from the DMP-BD80 and so far the sound if great. Listening to "terminator salvation" was a real treat although the movie plot itself was a bit lacking. As for upconversion performance I have yet to compare my player to others. In the end I found the forums here and especially Chris very helpful in making a purchase decision. The DMP-BD80 is a fine player with load times that I find acceptable, with great picture and sound output. If you can find one I would recommend it!

[puluke7]

Thanks Vern and Chris,
I ended up purchasing a DMP-BD80 and will be setting it up tonight. Looking forward to giving it a test run.

[vern]

Thanks Vern and Chris,
I ended up purchasing a DMP-BD80 and will be setting it up tonight. Looking forward to giving it a test run.

Puluke7, you are welcome for the info and hope it helps. Having watched several blue ray movies with the BD-80 and 50V10 and sice being very new to the world of Hi def viewing all I can say is it's an awesome experience. Please do let us know how you make out. Also do remember to update your firmware on the BD-80. I found just running the RJ45 cable into the player to be the best and most painless. You can download the update and burn it to DVD, but cable insertion was about a 15-20 minute process with no hicups. Good luck!

[MrBoylan]

...You can download the update and burn it to DVD

Actually, you can only burn it to CD, not DVD but you were close. I wish they supported firmware upgrade from the USB drive because it's wasteful to have to burn and finalize a CD-R if your player is not net-enabled...

-CB

[vern]

Oops!! Sorry about that misinformation. I assumed that since it was a "multi disc" player that it would do the firmware update from any media. My mistake. Mind you it makes more sense to do it from a CD rather than a DVD do to cost per disc. How is it working out for you puluke7?