Upscaling of standard DVD'S on blu-ray players-& cheap surround/speaker question?

DEBTMONKEY1A

Hi again.

Wonder if you good folks could advise me. Looking at 3 blu-ray players, http://www.richersounds.com/product/blu-ray/panasonic/dmpbd75/pana-dmpbd75 (£69-deffo plays DIVX HD from USB), http://www.richersounds.com/showclearanceproduct/SAMS-BDP1580/Samsung+Bdp1580.html (£49!!!!!!! Normally £100-not sure on DIVX HD-anyoe advise?) or http://www.electrical-deals.co.uk/phillips-bdp3000-blu-ray-player-1080p-24fps-divx-.html (again not sure on DIVX HD-bargain at £43!).

Firstly-which one (they all say upscales to 1080) do you guys/girls think would upscale the most on DVDS? And do they REALLY upscale to 1080? I have to say the TV on it's own (a Tosh SL738B 42 inch) seems to upscale already!!! I'll probably look to download DIVX HD movies onto USB-so ulness you guys/gals know different the Panosonic seems the best one??

Also....TV speakers. The TOSH speakers are not that great. Looking for a cheap (not neccesarily surround sound/home cinema) way to plug in better speakers...we would be playing music sometimes but not often..it's just that the tv speakers are a bit tinny??

Any advice would be great. Seen some surround soundy type things on amazon for around £40ish & Argos £55. Not too fussed at having 5 or 6 speakers dotted around living room (not that much space)-just 2 would be fine. Any advice/links where or what to buy?

Thanks in advance.

(Posted on Digital TV section too-not sure which one would be better-hope ok!)

DEBTMONKEY1A

Bump bump-how fast is this thread??!!

InsideInsurance

You are correct in that your TV will be upscaling already, the TV has a set resolution and cannot display anything less than that unless its by adding black borders. The question then comes as to if the upscaling algorythm in your BluRay player or TV is better, whilst there can be some science involved a lot also comes down to personal tastes.

Simply from a brand perspective I would go with the Panny as I don't find samsung great and Philips have been out of the game for decades.

If your not wanting surround sound and happy with stereo then you could just look at either using your hifi (if you have one) or buying a small amp and speakers from RicherSounds. You're much more likely going to get a reasonable sound from a set of bookshelf speakers than the tiny little ultra budget things from Argos

DEBTMONKEY1A

Thanks Inside Insurance! I'm My current DVD playa is an ultra cheap acoustics set-so for £60-£70 I can get something that plays DIVX hd from a memory stick as well. Didn't realise BLU RAY blanks were as dear as they were...£3 is cheapest I've found! Plus you need an blu-ray burner too (I used to rip/copy a load of discs from friends).

By bookshelf i assume you mean 2 big speakers-like the old hi fi sterea speakers? What do you think to these..http://www.wirefreeav.co.uk/products/Wireless-Speakers-%28Black%29.html

InsideInsurance

Lol, I wouldn't call them "big" given how big floor standing speakers can get to but yes, basically hifi speakers.

If your looking at £60 for the speakers themselves then I'd look at the old but well respected http://www.richersounds.com/product/bookshelf-speakers/wharfedale/diamond-9.0/whar-9.0-blk but you would then need to add an amp to them. The ones you've linked to will suffer the same sort of problems as the TV's own speakers.... ultimately speakers work by moving air, tiny speakers will always struggle to make decent sound because of their size and the lower the sound the more trouble they have.

almillar

I had this typed on your other thread before you deleted it. InsideInsurance has it covered.
A DVD only contains 576 lines of information, lightly compressed (see my reply to your other question!). Your screen has 1080 lines. Somewhere, it's gonna get upscaled. Maybe one of these players has a better scaler than your TV, maybe not. I know that Toshiba have been quite big on getting SD stuff upscale well, but I don't know if your TV has any special features. I'd be tempted to be upscaling in the player though.
Don't buy a blu ray player to upscale DVDs though, that's not really what they're for!
If you've got a stereo at home, plug it in. Maybe your TV has Stereo phono (red and white) OUT that you can use? No flatscreen TV has good speakers, there's no space.
Depends what you want to do, and people (me included!) can be snobby about the types of speaker packages you're talking about there, and soundbars (look at those too) - they're nowhere near as good as an AV amp and speakers, of course they're not, but they're far better than built in speakers.

DEBTMONKEY1A

Allmilar.....thanks! Sorry i deleted you (which thread was that??!). So... as I'm not too fussed about the type/trendiness of my speakers (our sitting room is....ahem...a mix of styles!)...the ones inside Insurance have mentioned look fab. So I'd need to buy an amp to for this? Is that easy to set up?

Looking at the size of the speakers I'm sure it'd produce better sound than the £60/£70 cheap #surround sounds' from Argos/Amazon.

InsideInsurance

They are very good little (by my standards) speakers, there are cheaper ones from RicherSounds but I cannot comment on their quality. If you get anything smaller then you are really needing to add a sub woofer to make up for their lack of low end grunt even for a reasonable home TV movie watching

DEBTMONKEY1A

InsideInsuance....again sorry to be thick (!). The ones you've highlighted-do I need to buy an amp? If so...any idea how mucg & is it easy to set up?

InsideInsurance

It is easy to set up, one wire from the source to the amp, one wire to each speaker. Turn the amp on and select the input name that you plugged the wire into (eg if you plug it into "DVD" then select "DVD" on the amp).

Cost wise, have a look on RicherSounds' clearance section as you may be able to pick something up locally for a good price.

almillar

Yes those Wharfdales will need an amp (don't you have any speakers/old stereos lying around?), but you're getting ahead of yourself again. You need to check the back of your TV, or your manual. Does it have a sound OUTPUT apart from a headphone socket? Either red/white stereo phono, or maybe a digital optical? Otherwise you'll hear nothing from your TV.
You'll also want to plug your blu-ray player or PVR in too - what outputs do these have?
You can have an AV amp with all the connections you need (everything plugs into it, then it plugs into the TV, for £150. Then add speakers.
The ease of setting up depends on you thinking about how you are going to connect everything, whether everything has the correct ports, and buying the correct leads and equipment.