Buy a progressive Scan

There is no reason not to buy a Progressive Scan DVD player. What does progressive do? A non progressive or interlaced DVD player reads the odd scan lines first then even and combines them together as one image. A progressive scan DVD player will read it as display all scan lines as one image. This results in double the picture on a digital tv. Even a non progressive player will look 33% better on a digital tv because DVDs have higher resolution then an analog tv can display. Still a progressive will double that. Go progressive.

Yes, definitely, assuming your television is set up to accept and reproduce progressive scan signals. Most TVs, even newer "digital" TVs, are not. Otherwise, the progressive scan player will produce the same old interlaced image on a regular TV. A lot of newer TVs will also work in line doubling, which is almost as good as progressive scan. Check your owner's manual.

Or better, if you already have a DVD player and TV, wait for high-definition in a couple of years or less. Everyone who wants the best possible picture will want to get into HD, anyway. Why buy something that's going to be obsolete shortly?

John

John your arguement that the fact HD-DVD is coming makes progressive scan useless is rediculous. True HD-DVD will generate 6x the picture of SD-DVD but it is at least three years away from hiting the American market maybe four years. Look at the avaliblility of DVD titles. We still don't have many famous movies. Even after HD-DVD comes out we have to wait a long time after that to get many of your favorite movies on HD-DVD. During that long wait you will be glad you have your SD-DVDs to watch during the wait. Plus you are going to want to watch those SD-DVD in the best quality possible. So you are going to love the added resolution progressive gives then even more then now. Progressive is the way to even if you don't own a digital tv you are going to have to uprade someday. Might as well be prepared.

I suppose it's a matter of how much money you have and how you want to spend it. Spending thousands of dollars today for a progressive scan player and TV combination makes sense if you have the money and don't mind upgrading again in a few years.

I'm not meaning to argue with you; obviously, I love good video. But it's kind of like spending a half a million bucks on a Ferrari F-50 the year before the Ferrari Enzo comes out. If you've got the dough, you buy another car. Otherwise....

John

True but if you always worry about something better coming out you can never buy anything. HD-DVD will not be the final video format. Something will come out someday thats better then. The are already devolping UD-TVs that will have anywhere between 4-10x the resolution of HD-TV for release around 2015. You can bet there will be a UD-DVD format for those TVs too. Something even better then that will be out later. If you don't buy current technology because something better is coming out you can never buy anything. Plus you also seem to HD-DVD is coming soon. It is not it is a long ways off. 2006 at the very very earliest and maybe latter I can't wait that long.

As I keep saying, if you have the money, go for it. Progressive scan produces a great picture.

Just be sure your television is compatible with it. Again, not all TVs can display a progressive-scan picture. For instance, although my two-year old, top-of-the-line Sony XBR400 television incorporates a line-doubling feature much like progressive scan, it will not display a true progressive scan picture, much to my dismay when I bought a Sony progressive-scan DVD player a year or so ago. (I took it back and got a wonderful CD player for it.) The newest XBRs finally incorporate progressive scan, but my bet is that unless your TV is very new and fairly expensive, it won't play what you're hoping it to play, "digital" or not. So you might want to prepare yourself for buying a player/TV combo, which can be more expensive than you think.

John

I think we're in agreement, Jimmy. If a person has enough money to buy a high-definition television, it would probably be in the person's best interests to buy a progressive-scan DVD player to go along with it, even if the person would have to replace the player when HD discs arrived in a few years. It can be a costly proposition, but for the person looking for the best possible picture quality, the combo is hard to beat.

The next question, of course, would be which brands and models to choose. Any suggestions for the readers here?

John

Having a digital combine filter doesn't make it digital. I am refering to HDTV.

Perhaps you could define "digital" TV for our readers, Jimmy. Virtually all TVs made in the last decade have been "digital" in that they can accept both digital and analogue signals. Most "digital" televisions today can be quite inexpensive. Are you perhaps referring to high-definition widescreen televisions in your comments?

John

I understand digital tvs are expensive but you should still buy a progressive scan DVD player because digital tvs will go down and it will be cheaper not to have to upgrade your DVD player too.