samsung hd950 vs panny S77S & S97S

[fonedood]

I Am Looking At The Sammy Hd-950 & The Panny S77s-s97s, Any Feedback On These Units ? I Have Just Bought A Jvc 61" Lcos And Need An Upconverting Dvd Player.

[fonedood]

I Also Read That The Samsung Hd-950 Will Play Pal Dvd's And Can Also Upconvert Using The Component Out As Well As The Hdmi, Is This Correct?

[Chris Gerhard]

[QUOTE=fonedood]I Also Read That The Samsung Hd-950 Will Play Pal Dvd's And Can Also Upconvert Using The Component Out As Well As The Hdmi, Is This Correct?[/QUOTE]

I don't know about the hack to play PAL but I am using an HD950 for 720p over component. The component upscaling is activated by the angle hack done with the supplied remote. I have read the player can be made region free but haven't tried that since I don't need it. I have tried a few DVD's for a few minutes at 1080i over component and with about half of the DVD's the picture skews at the top of the screen so 1080i would be unusable over component for me, but I don't need it and like the player really well. If you want a player for DVD video over HDMI to a display not affected by the macroblocking enhancement problem, the Panasonic DVD-S97S or S77S would be a better choice than the HD950 in my opinion.

Chris

[Foxbat121]

On my HD841, the one that HD950 replaces, it does play/convert PAL discs correctly. However, the PAL discs have to be region free. Otherwise, you will need region hack.

[wildjoe]

There's a review of the 950 and the S77 here:
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article.asp?section_id=3&article_id=870&page_number=1

[fonedood]

Well... After reading the lab test results at soundandvisionmag there is no doubt in my mind that the panasonic S77S is superior in both audio and video for the money. Thanks guys !

[Frohlich]

Fonedood, the main driver to get the HD 950, at least for me, is that it does 1080I over compenent and it was very reasonable priced. If you have HDMI on your TV and can use it then I think there are other options available. For my set-up, my tv only takes 1080I (no 720P) and it has no HDMI because the set is a 4 year old RP CRT. It looks very good to my eyes with the HD 950 at 1080I over component. So far I have been very happy with the purchase. Reference disks like Star Wars, Matrix Revolution, The Incredibles look noticeably better then my old Pioneer Elite DVD player at 480P.

[ChrisCollins]

Frohlich,
My CRT only does 1080i as well. Do you think I would get a better picture from the Samusung upconverting compared to a Denon or Panasonic at 480P?
I read the sound and vision article, and they are comparing the panny and the samsung while obviously not using the samsung hack, so the article really doesnt help me

[Frohlich]

[QUOTE=ChrisCollins]Frohlich,
My CRT only does 1080i as well. Do you think I would get a better picture from the Samusung upconverting compared to a Denon or Panasonic at 480P?
I read the sound and vision article, and they are comparing the panny and the samsung while obviously not using the samsung hack, so the article really doesnt help me[/QUOTE]

Chris, I think it does depend on how good your old player is, how good your tv is, what factors are important to you to determine what you consider a good picture. I got the HD950 for $180 delivered so it was worth it to me to try it and if I didn't like it I would just have put it on ebay.

To me the upgrade over my pioneer elite dv37 at 480P was the image became crisper and more defined and more film like compared to my old set-up. At 480P I could still see the scan lines on my 60 inch tv, with the new HD 950 at 1080I the scan lines are near invisible until I get about 1 foot or two from the tv. It take some tweaking with the set to get the best picture. The settings on the TV (contrast, brightness, color,etc.. That worked best for my old player are not what worked best for this player). After tweaking the settings I am very happy with the purchase. Matter of fact I watched "BLADE" last night and thought to myself "WOW, the picture looks terrific, almost HDTV quality". I am sure experiences will vary and some people seem to have issues with the picture shifting on there set-up, but for me I have no issues and am very happy with the purchase….until I get HD DVD :)