HD-DVD for an ED Plasma?

[WalksInDarkness]

Hi All,
So I hear all the ads from the "Tweeter" chain, saying that if people have a HDTV then they should get the Toshiba DVD-HD even just for thier existing old DVD collection. Because "it will make them look better than ever". Do you agree or disagree? and why? (some sort of upconverting thing or something?). So my next logical question is if you agree, will this improve my the picture on my Toshiba ED Plasma? (for those of you unfamiliar with ED it is "Enhanced Definition", frankly I am still not sure I understand what that means).
Any opinions are greatly appreciated.
TIA

 

[CochiseGuy]

Hi All,
So I hear all the ads from the "Tweeter" chain, saying that if people have a HDTV then they should get the Toshiba DVD-HD even just for thier existing old DVD collection. Because "it will make them look better than ever". Do you agree or disagree? and why? (some sort of upconverting thing or something?). So my next logical question is if you agree, will this improve my the picture on my Toshiba ED Plasma? (for those of you unfamiliar with ED it is "Enhanced Definition", frankly I am still not sure I understand what that means).
Any opinions are greatly appreciated.
TIA

My XA1 is on the truck for delivery, so I don't have any hands-on experience yet. But, one of the reasons I decided to take the plunge was reports of the upconversion capabilities on the HD DVD. I've been using a Denon 1910 upconverting player for a couple of years & have been very pleased with it's DVI output on my Sony 57" RP HDTV. Several HD DVD owners on the AVsforum have reported the upconversion quality of the Toshiba HD DVD far surpasses that of their Denon 2910 or 3910 players, which costs 2-3x more than my 1910.

As for picture quality on you Tosh ED Plasma, I'm not familiar with that TV. The crucial factor is can it display 1080i resolution? The A1's & XA1's output the best video quality when they output is set to the rez most closely matching the DVD content. Current HD DVD titles are all in 1080p, so the output should be set to 1080i. If your set cannot receive & display 1080i, it will down rez it, losing some of the video quality.

EDIT: I just did a Google for "Toshiba ED Plasma TV":
TOSHIBA - 42DPC85 - 42-Inch 480p True Monitor ED Plasma Display
42-Inch 480p True Monitor ED Plasma Display
Panel Resolution 852 x 480

Is this your model, or is yours similar? With only 480p max resolution, you will get no benefit from HD DVD.

EDIT 2, for Ilya - Yes, of course only buy an HD DVD of you are planning to watch HD movies. I have 6 waiting for it - 2 from Amazon, 2 from Netflix, and 2 coming with the XA1 purchase from ValueElecronics. It's just with the limited availability of HD DVD titles, it was the upconversion capabilities that pushed me over the edge to take the plunge & buy one now.

 

[GeorgeLV]

No, you'll need a real HDTV to see any major differences. DVD already matches the 480p resolution of your plasma.

As to what EDTV means, it means you can only see 1/6 of the maximum resolution of HDTV.

 

[Ilya]

The upconversion is very good, but alone, it wouldn't justify the $500 price tag of the player, IMO. Only buy HD DVD player if you are planning to watch HD DVDs.

ED is technically not HD, so you may not see dramatic PQ improvement in HD DVD vs. regular DVD. However, you may still appreciate the better sound quality offered by HD DVD compared to regular DVD, provided you have an AV receiver that can take advantage of multi-channel PCM over HDMI, or at least has 5.1 analog inputs.

 

[WalksInDarkness]

Yep, that sounds like my TV. Oh well, I will just wait for DVD "format war" to run it's course (or until my EDTV poops out).
Thanks for the feedback.

 

[WalksInDarkness]

I did some research

I did some research. And it seems like one of the specifications of an EDTV is that it allows "Progressive Scans". If I understand the description, it sounds like "Progressive" is supposed to be better than "Interlaced"? (Yes or No?).
OK, so if the answer is Yes:
My DVD player has a setting allowing me to choose between the two. It does not have a HDMI output, so I had to use the "3 Cable Component" connection. But when the DVD player is on the "Progressive" setting the picture looks awful (grainy and flickery). If I set it back to "Interlaced", it looks fine. How do I take advantage of the "Progressive" technology? Do I need to get a DVD player with HDMI outputs? (sorry, I know this is a bit off topic, but when I asked 6 months back in the correct forum I got no answers).
TIA

 

[Ilya]

I did some research. And it seems like one of the specifications of an EDTV is that it allows "Progressive Scans". If I understand the description, it sounds like "Progressive" is supposed to be better than "Interlaced"? (Yes or No?).
OK, so if the answer is Yes:
My DVD player has a setting allowing me to choose between the two. It does not have a HDMI output, so I had to use the "3 Cable Component" connection. But when the DVD player is on the "Progressive" setting the picture looks awful (grainy and flickery). If I set it back to "Interlaced", it looks fine. How do I take advantage of the "Progressive" technology? Do I need to get a DVD player with HDMI outputs? (sorry, I know this is a bit off topic, but when I asked 6 months back in the correct forum I got no answers).
TIA

It means that the de-interlacer in your TV set is better than the one in your current DVD player. Which may not be a big surprise if you compare the prices of the two.