Loading ...ExtremeTech just did an extensive comparison between the XBox 360 DVD playback (apparently either the built-in DVD drive and HD-DVD addon both produce crap) and a standard Denon DVD player. The result is that the 360 is trash. It nails a HQV (max score of 130) score of 20 (for comparison, sub-$50 DVD players from your grocery store will typically score around 35). Here are some examples of the more extreme comparisons, click the link for the full story and details:
Update #1: As Phil has pointed out in the comments, the Denon model that was used to compare against the XBox 360 is a $900 DVD player… hardly a fair comparison. It seems that the 360 does quite comparably to other similar priced DVD players if you want to consider what portion of the $400 price tag is allocated to the DVD playing portion of the device.
Still… did this article make anyone want to go buy the Denon after looking at those pictures of the American flag? Impressive!
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March 26th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Unfortunately it’s a ridiculous comparison (some of the commenters point this out). The Denon DVD is an $900 device. I have an older version; the 2930. Even $500 DVD players cannot compare with this device. Go here for a good review of how good this player;
http://www.hometheaterblog.com/hometheater/2006/08/denon_dvd2930ci.html
In my comparisons with run of the mill DVD players it’s very comparable. An HQV score of 20 or 35 is indistinguishable. I only start to notice a difference of HQV up at around 50 or so.
By all means it is a bad picture compared to the Denon but you really have to see the Denon. It rivals even some Bluray DVDs I own.
March 26th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Phil,
Thank you for the clarification. I wasn’t familiar with that particular DVD player, so I just figured it was your run-of-the-mill $150-or-so DVD player. To find out it’s a premium $900 DVD player is hardly a fair battle.
Speaking of which I saw some screenshots from a $4k Denon upscaling DVD player, and the image, even at 110″ was absolutely amazing. It was almost like it was generating detail that wasn’t there to make it look crystal clear at that size.
I’ll update the post.
March 27th, 2007 at 8:01 am
Yea the Denon high end DVD players are good. Really good. I’m so tempted to buy one even with HDDVD/Bluray available. $900 maybe. $4K though is a bit past my budget.
March 27th, 2007 at 9:46 am
Richard, I know how you feel. I would point out that Oppo Digital is one of *the* most popular upscaling DVD players that folks on AVS Forums choose when doing a home theater that gives excellent upscaling quality using a very popular and sought after scaling chip.
Actually they just released their 1080p/HDMI upscaling DVD player (DV-981HD) in addition to their award winning 1080i/DVI upscaling DVD player that has been a favorite for a while.
http://www.oppodigital.com/
I never got around to getting one because my entertainment center is full and I didn’t think there would be that much of a difference… but after reading some of the reviews:
http://reviews.cnet.com/OPPO_DV_981HD_DVD_player/4505-6463_7-32327927.html
http://techdigs.net/content/view/131/42/
now I want one