P. Scan DVD Players and HDTV-ready TV's


I have a Loewe HDTV-ready TV with a 16:9 aspect ratio that has built-in progressive scan. I would like to upgrade my DVD player and I've liked what I've read about Pioneer's DV37. What worries me about this player is how compatible/beneficial is a progressive scan DVD player with a HDTV-ready progressive scan TV? Is there signal degradation due to a redundancy in the progressive scan process? Is there signal degradation due to converting from digital to analog in the DVD player, then converting from anolog to digital at the TV's progressive scan processor, then converting back from digital to analog to display the picture? TV's with built-in progressive scan, 3/2 pulldown,line doubling technology offer much improved picture quality of NTSC broadcasts, I'm just wondering if these get in the way of progressive scan DVD players? Any comments or thoughts on this would be appreciated.
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Just got off the DVDO website and they just announced their new DVDO iscan PRO with a component input and color controls! It was dated 01/01/01 I guess I'll be putting in some more overtime at work! I dont know anyone using the RCA 100 with a Loewe but I have heard & read some good things about this receiver. The RGB to component adapter I have is the RCA unit that they produce to mate their satellite dishes to DTV"s that accept the HD signal through their component inputs. If I find something I'll give you a shout Swampwalker.
Since we've gotten into a discussion on Loewe quirks, can anyone tell me if they've tried using the RCA DTC 100 satellite/HDTV receiver with this set. I believe the RCA has a vga output, which would feed directly into the Loewe vga input. I am not happy with my sony A55 digital satellite going to the Loewe via s-video and was thinking about trying the RCA (when I got my satellite I bought the package with the elliptical dish to be ready for future upgrades).
Hi Dovetail, actually I bought the DVDO as an early accessory for a projector set-up that I'm saving up for plus the fact that I got it brand new for $600. I had been wanting one for a long time and when the new model came out I jumped on it. Of course there was no way that I wasnt going to try it out on my set for the time being. (I may be dumb but I aint stupid!!!) Anyway, when I noticed that the contrast wasnt up to par with the component inputs I was already using I figured I'd try to run the DVDO though them using an RGB to component adapter and have the best of both worlds! Well you cant do that on a Loewe Arcada, wich kinda sucks because the actual picture through the Loewe/DVDO combo is EXCELLENT but the contrast/brightness is the only downfall that I notice. If the DVDO was set up with component inputs I'd buy another one and keep this one strictly for this TV! Later....
I recently purchased a Mitsubishi HD65857 & was disappointed with the DVD performance I rreplaced a Panasonic DVD310 with a JVC XV-D723 progressive scan player & got a noticeable improvement in performance. As an added bonus the JVC has DVD audio which I have yet to try out. For me the progressive scanning was worth the investment'
Bigwood, Just curious, what made you decide to use a external line doubler with your Loewe Arcada DTV?
Swampwalker, I have e-mailed Loewe TV, in both Germany and their USA distributor Sensory Science Corp. in Arizona, regarding a handful of issues which I will post back on after their responses. I'm guessing at least some picture quality problems are caused by incompatibility of broadcast signals and the DTV's internal P.scan. I wish there was a way to bypass the DTV's P.scan feature to varify this. Check out the article by Alen Koebel at theperfectvision.com entiled "What You Should Know About Progressive-Scan DVD". Has anybody tried using a format converter(transcoder) to bypass a DTV's internal P.Scan? (Signal Path: P.Scan DVD Player's component outputs to the trancoder, from the transcoder's RGB output to the DTV's RGB input).
Swampwalker, it IS true that the progressive scan input can only be accessed through the RGB input of these sets. I tried to access through the component inputs with a RGB-to-component adapter on the hopes that I would get better color fidelity and maintain the option of multiple aspect ratios for all sources but got a split picture with screwed up coloring! Did some homework and found out the hard way that it wouldnt work! Anyway, fellow Loewe owners, learn from my mistake and dont try this at home! Later...
Hello Dovetail, I also own a Loewe dtv (Arcada) and also question the benefits of a progressive scan DVD player with this TV. I can tell you one thing though, the internal line doubler and comb filter in the Loewe series are VERY hard to improve upon. The processing circuitry as I understand it from the owners manual, reviews, etc, are in the digital domain not the analog domain. I think (but wouldnt swear to) that this is the main reason that it is so hard to improve upon it. Right now I have the new DVDO V2 line doubler connected to the RGA input on my set. This unit outputs 480progressive but I still prefer the picture from my Pioneer DVD player (non progressive) when run through the component inputs of this TV. If you havent already, calibrate your set with the AVIA or Video Essentials set-up discs, its WELL worth the $25-$40 for either of these discs. Good luck and if you do try it and get a worthwile improvement, drop another post and let us know as this also applies to sets other than Loewe! Later......
Dovetail- I also have a Loewe 16:9 Planus and have been contemplating the same issue. I have been told that the doubler in the Planus is better than just about any in-set doubler, but have never been able to do a comparison. I have also been told that the progressive scan input on another of the Loewe sets is not via the component video or s-video, but rather thru the vga type input. I am curious also as to your experience so far with the set, it seems that with some cable and satellite signals, picture quality is degraded by the doubler, while other times its just awesome. Color is always fantastic, but picture seems grainy and/or out of focus some times. If you have any thoughts on this, I'd appreciate a response here. I have been using better cables.com s-video and component video cables so far.
Dovetail- I have the DV-37 and the Elite Pro610. The progressive output of the DV-37 is better than using the built-in line doubler of the Elite Pro. Yes, it is closer than with other sets, but the DVD progressive output is preferrable. As for waiting for the format wars to end, DVD-A or SACD, you may be waiting for a quite some time and for minimal improvement in an HT system. Just my .02
Basically the line doubler in your tv is line doubling in tha analog domain. A progressive dvd player does it in the digital domain and is better at the job. 3/2 pulldown reduces the artifacts in film based stuff. A good line doubler will help ntsc stuff as well. Yes all of that digital to analog conversion is bad. The less conversion you have the less of a signal degradation. But with all of this said it still really depends on how good the doubler is in your set. Some are about as good as a progressive scan dvd player, like the Pioneer elites for example. But most are not and the progessive dvd player will be better. Personally, I am going to keep my current dvd player and use my line doubler until the dvd-a, sacd stuff sorts out and maybe I can get a combination player.
I am not familiar with your TV, but I do own a DV-37 and you can switch between progressive scan and interpolated signals. I suspect that when using prog. scan out from the DVD player you can bypass your tv's prog. scan processor. You can then compare the two processors and use the better one. The few times I have read about this I seem to recall that the DVD players prog. scan outs were ususally the winner in a face off. I would check with your Loewe dealer, they should know if the prog. can be switched off on your tv, or if it is automatically bypassed.