What DVD Player to use with 720p LG wall mount projector? Component Output 720P?

[RPM-MACHINE]

Hi all,

I have a LG 720p projector that I am using with a pioneer progressive scan 480p DVD player.
I am using the component outputs via 15m normal 3 way RCA cables and currently getting 576i
resolution according to the on screen menu.

I am using a 2m LG projector screen and it all looks fine, but what DVD player can I use that has
720p outputs from its component outputs. I dont want to use HDMI as I think that at 15m, component
will be much better than HDMI.....never mind the cost of that length HDMI cable.

Is it worth for me to get an upscaling DVD player to get 720p (Component) ?
Is the fact that I am using normal RCA cables instead of proper (expensive) component cables going to
effect quality dramatically ?

Your opinions would be much appriciated.

[KenMasters]

The Toshiba XDE series of upscaling DVD players upscale really well and are good value for money.

If they are decent quality shielded "digital" (75 Ohm) RCA cables, they should be fine.

FYI: PAL DVDs are 576p, a nice bump in resolution over our NTSC friends.

[ludo]

Hi RMP-Machine. Can't tell you much about the 720p stuff, but just concerning the component cables if you decide to stick with those:

You really should use proper 75 Ohm cable for this. Doesn't need to cost a fortune, but the analog signals on the YCrCb component cables have considerable bandwidth and have to be treated right in order for the recombination of those signals to work properly. At 15m you will see a difference in things like ghosting, sharper lines around titles etc.

I am guessing that the RCA leads you have in there were meant for audio signals, and are not specifically 75 Ohm lines meant for video. If you could put up a pic of the cable I might make a more accurate guess.

RG59 (mind it's not the same as RG58 at all) is a good choice for the component cable. Fairly thick stuff (~6mm diameter) but not totally unmanageable. Not expensive, hopefully still under R5/meter. Should be available from electronics or security equipment shops. RG179 is a lot thinner but harder to get hold of and costs much more. It is quite thin though (~3mm dia) as it uses a different type of insulation. Useful if you only have limited space to run the cable in.

Hope that helps.

[RPM-MACHINE]

Thanks Kenmasters and Ludo. It looks like i will ahve to change the rca cables. They are the standard audio RCA's. Red, Blue and Yellow.

I will check out the Toshiba XDE range of Upscaling DVD Players. Its nice to have people like you guys on
the forum so that I can get some direction. Its so easy to get carried away by name brands like Denon and
marantz which I was initially looking at for an upscaling DVD Player. If Toshiba can do the same if not better job for my application then thats great.

Thanks again.

[KenMasters]

Its so easy to get carried away by name brands like Denon and
marantz which I was initially looking at for an upscaling DVD Player. If Toshiba can do the same if not better job for my application then thats great.

I will admit that I do think Denon/Marantz makes a superior product but this late in the game I don't think it makes much sense to buy expensive DVD players. Chances are you're going to want to upgrade to Blu-Ray at some point soon anyway.

EDIT: OH FLIP! I just clicked, 99% of upscaling DVD players only let you upscale over HDMI, only 576p via component! So you're better off just sticking with a decent progressive scan DVD player.

[Chris - CDI]

I hate to be the one to throw another spanner in the works here... but there is still going to be a difference in picture quality Component HD vs HDMI over 15m. A decent HDMI 15m cable wont cost you more than R1800, which, yes, might be pricey, but its going to give you far better picture that component.

If anyone wants to dispute this and has a HD PVR you can test it yourself. wire up an HDMI cable to the HDMI out, and to the Component out. Bring up the EPG or info bar and have a look at the quality of the picture - massive difference. Its a basic test and yes, there are many other factors to keep in mind when running a 15m HDMI cable, but I'll be honest in saying I've personally installed 15m cables at least 3  times and have had no problems whatsoever...

What are you using for your video switching - are you going via a AVR? or just straight out the DVD player?

As much as I will probably take flack for this, but the PS3 is still a bloody good unit for both DVD and the added bonus of BluRay, and then also you get to play games on it and use it as a media server. Try PS3mediaserver - google it - it works like a charm to stream things off your network to your PS3 - like all those series you illegally download at work! ( )

but...if you are sticking to the component route, 75ohm cables are the way to go as per what Kenmasters and Ludo said. And the Tosh players are pretty good bang for your buck. (I just wish i had bought a few of their HD-DVD players a while back - all those titles on HD-DVD went for so cheap when blu-ray officially took over; could have had a HUGE HD collection for a fraction of the cost!)

[KenMasters]

I don't really agree with Chris on HDMI VS Component. I do think on a digital display that HDMI has the edge but not really noticeably so and I too would also be nervous using such a long HDMI cable without testing it first.

But any debate is mute because I don't think you'll be able to find a DVD player than can upscale over Component.

[RPM-MACHINE]

I just measured the distance and I think that 10 metres will do the Job if I route it properly.
I am leaning towards buying the Toshiba XDE-500 upscaling dvd player together with a 10 metre HDMI cable. (Will try

1> Will I need to use a HDMI repeater to strengthen signal using maybe to 5 metre HDMI cables.

2> The Toshiba XDE-500 will upscale up to 1080p using normal DVD's. My projector has a rating of 720p max. Will my projector then downscale again the picture form 1080p to 720p?

Cost for Toshiba - R1400
Cost for 10m HDMI cable - R400

[KenMasters]

15m is the maximum recommended run for an HDMI cable so 10m should be okay. The cable price seems a little too good though, I would test the cable first if I were you. If you get an image without any sparklies (random white pixels) then it should be fine.

The best would be to upscale to the resolution closest to your projector, so have the Toshiba upscale to 720p.

[RPM-MACHINE]

The cable is a brand new cable form "ellies". It is R399 at expansys. Since HDMI carries digital signals,
the same as say an ethernet cable. Does cable brand really matter?

Is there any cable that you can recommend. I dont mind spending a bit extra knowing that I will be getting better performance.

[KenMasters]

AVSA Andrew had problems with his Ellies HDMI cable so just see if you can test it first.

The thing with an HDMI cable, is that unlike an ethernet cable, there is no error correction. The longer the information being sent has to travel, the more you risk information getting lost. When that starts to happen, you get what are called sparklies, little white pixels that look like static on the screen, at this point if the same cable was even just a teensy bit longer it would stop functioning completely.

So the quality of the HDMI cable does indeed make a difference.

[gifs]

15m is the maximum recommended run for an HDMI cable so 10m should be okay. The cable price seems a little too good though, I would test the cable first if I were you. If you get an image without any sparklies (random white pixels) then it should be fine.

The best would be to upscale to the resolution closest to your projector, so have the Toshiba upscale to 720p.

I have the same projector and I run a 15m HDMI cable from my AVR. I bought the cable from SpaceTV in Randburg and cost me R350.

It works 100% and is very cheap. As far as I know, most upscaling players only upscale to HDMI.