Help, I know nothing of home theatre...

[philodox]

Ok, so I think I've found my new apartment [will know for sure on tuesday], and I've been thinking over what I want to do with regards to my home theatre. Here is what I am considering:

1. Get a LCD or Plasma or whatever [flat screen, at least 40" WS and wall mountable] that has wicked upsampling and lots of inputs. Make sure that my DVD player either has no upsampling or that it is defeatable.

2. Get a LCD or Plasma or whatever [flat screen, at least 40" WS and wall mountable] that has no upsampling or defeatable upsampling and only requires one DVI input. Make sure that my DVD player either has no upsampling or that it is defeatable. Purchase one of these: http://www.lumagen.com/testindex.php?module=hdp_details

3. Get a LCD or Plasma or whatever [flat screen, at least 40" WS and wall mountable] that has no upsampling or defeatable upsampling and only requires one HDMI or DVI input. Get a DVD player that has lots of inputs and good upsampling. [no ideas here, but I'm sure they exist]

Some things to note:

I'm not interested in HD DVD or Blu Ray at the moment. I just want to get the most out of my current material. I will be getting a Hi Def digital cable package for the place. I will continue to use my Polk Audio RTi4's and Charlize amp for sound, though I may explore surround sound at a later date.

What do I want to know?

Basically, I'm just looking for suggestions on components to make this happen. I would like something that is very good quality, but I'm not really a videophile. I'm on the cheap side, but this will likely get installed after I sell my condo... so I might have more leeway in the price than I usually do.

I'm also not sure how I should control switching all the analog audio signals. I could add them to the charlize with a switch if there is space I guess. Also considering using my Behringer in the home theatre rig, which would allow me to switch two digital signals.

Those OPPO players interest me, but I'm not sure which is the one to get. I've considered getting a PS3 and 360 sometime down the line to get me into the hi def formats... or has one of them already lost the war?

EDIT: Oh, and I got one of those sweet Harmony remotes through a deal at Dell.

[swt61]

Well I've been out of that game too long to be of any help, but how's the new apartment?

[philodox]

It's not mine yet, but here are some pictures. It is an amazing building... the meeting/party room is a full nicely furnished living room and large dining room and has a complete kitchen if you want to entertain. The pool table is actually pretty nice in the game room and the gym has very nice equipment. The 16 person private movie theater kicks ass, and has satellite tv with almost all the stations. There is a rooftop garden/park thing where you can have a BBQ.

The pictures really dont do it justice, and I'm going to have it professionally painted before I move in. The stainless steel appliances [incl dishwasher] are nice. The fridge has a built in brita, and the stove is one of those new flat electric types.

http://www.viewit.ca/vwExpandView.aspx?ViT=49906

Oh, and the lobby is incredible, all stone/wood/mirror, with a nice statue and a grand staircase. 24 hour concierge. Can't beat the location at Richmond & Spadina either... should be able to walk to work in the warmer/dryer months.

With my new job and this place I'm gonna be a yuppie in no time flat. Thankfully, there is a Starbucks in the building as well as a drycleaners, salon and florist.

Edit: The view is also much better than that picture shows. Especially at night.

[Grand Enigma]

It's not mine yet, but here are some pictures. It is an amazing building... the meeting/party room is a full nicely furnished living room and large dining room and has a complete kitchen if you want to entertain. The pool table is actually pretty nice in the game room and the gym has very nice equipment. The 16 person private movie theater kicks ass, and has satellite tv with almost all the stations. There is a rooftop garden/park thing where you can have a BBQ.

The pictures really dont do it justice, and I'm going to have it professionally painted before I move in. The stainless steel appliances [incl dishwasher] are nice. The fridge has a built in brita, and the stove is one of those new flat electric types.

http://www.viewit.ca/vwExpandView.aspx?ViT=49906

Oh, and the lobby is incredible, all stone/wood/mirror, with a nice statue and a grand staircase. 24 hour concierge. Can't beat the location at Richmond & Spadina either... should be able to walk to work in the warmer/dryer months.

With my new job and this place I'm gonna be a yuppie in no time flat. Thankfully, there is a Starbucks in the building as well as a drycleaners, salon and florist.

Edit: The view is also much better than that picture shows. Especially at night.

I hate you... my rent is more than yours... place is in the middle of no where... I have to pay utilities no gym/pool/nothing! The building management is a lady that lives in one of the apartments and "works" two days a week for 4hrs.

As for TVs. Do you do a lot of gaming? watch a lot of standard def or non wide screen stuff? If you answer yes than an LCD would likely be your best bet. The Samsung LED LCD and the Sony XBR4 are some of the better LCDs currently. Plasmas have some of the best pictures especially the Pioneer Kuro's but they are a bit prone to IR and Burn in if you a lot of the questions from above.

Most TVs now days come with a few HDMI inputs, digital outputs, many have PC inputs and such as well. The question usually is how many of each do you want not really does it have it or not.

on a side note the Pioneer Kuro has some of the best video processing/scaling out there and can accept any input (480,720,1080) and scale accordingly if desired. You are also able to force native resolution for non widescreen programing if you wish.

[Augsburger]

Well for "cheap" components you are on the right track with the Oppo. I have the 981 HD in one room with the audio through either a Scott NOS dac or a Spitfire ( I forget) into a Charlize II out to an old pair of Polk's. The Farouda chip in the Oppo 981 is what sold me as well as the ability to play almost every CD format DVD audio but not BR. For $230 USD$, it is good value, the video quality is nice, can accept multiple input (480-1080) but the audio is not very good so you will need to use the spdif out to a dac.

[Grand Enigma]

The soon to be released Oppo 983 is supposed to be as good as it gets for SD DVD play back. It uses processors and scalers from ABT only found it gear costing thousands. While it isnt cheap for a SD DVD player at $399 you really will not do much better. Another option would be to pick up something like the Samsung BD-P1200 Blu ray player which can be found rather cheaply. It does a good job with Blu ray but does an even better with SD DVD as it utilizes the HQV Reon processor which is quite nice. Would make for a nice do all machine.

[tkam]

Honestly with Pioneer announcing they are dropping out of the Plasma TV arena your best bet would be going with an LCD and I agree with the recommendations of the samsung led lcd's and the sony bravia's. One thing to be aware of very few if any TV's have DVI inputs anymore so you'll have to use a DVI-HDMI cable for any existing gear you have that uses DVI. Oh and Blu-ray has already won

[deepak]

What's the consensus on the Samsung LED engine DLPs?

[Grand Enigma]

Honestly with Pioneer announcing they are dropping out of the Plasma TV arena your best bet would be going with an LCD and I agree with the recommendations of the samsung led lcd's and the sony bravia's. One thing to be aware of very few if any TV's have DVI inputs anymore so you'll have to use a DVI-HDMI cable for any existing gear you have that uses DVI. Oh and Blu-ray has already won

That's not entirely true... they will still be producing and selling plasma displays, Matsushita will be supplying the glass for the sets while Pioneer will still be doing everything else. They are looking to cut production costs so they can bring LCD onboard. Word is Pioneer will be sharing their glass secrets with Matsushita. So while there will be some changes, perhaps for the better or worse, Pioneer will continue to produce plasma displays.

[philodox]

I hate you... my rent is more than yours... place is in the middle of no where... I have to pay utilities no gym/pool/nothing! The building management is a lady that lives in one of the apartments and "works" two days a week for 4hrs.

That sucks.

Why is it so expensive? There must be some reason...

As for TVs. Do you do a lot of gaming? watch a lot of standard def or non wide screen stuff? If you answer yes than an LCD would likely be your best bet. The Samsung LED LCD and the Sony XBR4 are some of the better LCDs currently. Plasmas have some of the best pictures especially the Pioneer Kuro's but they are a bit prone to IR and Burn in if you a lot of the questions from above.

Thanks, I'll look into the Samsung and Sony LCDs.

I do a bit of gaming [Wii], and I do have a bunch of standard definition and non widescreen movies/stations/etc that I'll be watching.

What is SD DVD?

Glad to hear someone won the war, I was more interested in the PS3 anyways, cool.

I'll also take a look at the Samsung BD-P1200 Blu ray player.

Thanks guys.

[philodox]

Well for "cheap" components you are on the right track with the Oppo. I have the 981 HD in one room with the audio through either a Scott NOS dac or a Spitfire ( I forget) into a Charlize II out to an old pair of Polk's. The Farouda chip in the Oppo 981 is what sold me as well as the ability to play almost every CD format DVD audio but not BR. For $230 USD$, it is good value, the video quality is nice, can accept multiple input (480-1080) but the audio is not very good so you will need to use the spdif out to a dac.

Is the 981HD better than the 980HD in any way that matters or are they about the same?

[JBLoudG20]

That sucks.

Why is it so expensive?

Housing markets varying?

There must be some reason...

Thanks, I'll look into the Samsung and Sony LCDs.

I do a bit of gaming [Wii], and I do have a bunch of standard definition and non widescreen movies/stations/etc that I'll be watching.

What is SD DVD?

Standard Definition DVD

Glad to hear someone won the war, I was more interested in the PS3 anyways, cool.

DEWWWW EEAATTT [hcOG]'s represent!

[Grand Enigma]

apparently I pay for the privileged of living in NJ.

Yes, SD DVD is standard def... old school DVD.

[Augsburger]

Is the 981HD better than the 980HD in any way that matters or are they about the same?

From what I remember, the 981 is considered to be much better with video because of the Farouda chip, the 980 is better with audio because "they" say so. I think the 981 is not very good with audio at all, so "better" audio with the 980 will still probably be sucky for someone like you with real taste.

[philodox]

Ok, cool, I'll try and get the 981 in that case since I want to use my behringer as the dac for my home theatre... will be cool to play around with the room correction features.

[Augsburger]

Great and good luck with the new system. I do find the picture quite nice with our LCD.

[swt61]

Nice place Jay! I hope you get it!

I miss the urban lifestyle.

[Smeggy]

Nice place Jay! I hope you get it!

I miss the urban lifestyle.

X2

We've been back and forth over bigger place further out in the quiet or smaller place closer to the action. Both have good points and bad but it's hard to decide. Especially with the two of us wrestling with it as we have different takes on it.

[Dusty Chalk]

Re: option 3 -- rule it out. Inputs? DVD players don't have inputs. Also, if you localize your upsampling/line-doubling/upscaling in the DVD player, you won't be able to go computer-based video later, and you do want that as an option. So you, either make sure the one built in to the TV is good, or get an outboard one (or, get one that's half decent in the TV to begin with, and upgrade to an outboard unit later).

I've heard good things about the Lumagen, though I've not experienced one for myself yet.

[philodox]

Regarding the urban lifestyle, I was a little leery about moving to Toronto. That said, the area this place is in is perfect and though I may find it a little busy, I think it will be great to be so close to work and the nightlife of the city.

Re: option 3 -- rule it out. Inputs? DVD players don't have inputs. Also, if you localize your upsampling/line-doubling/upscaling in the DVD player, you won't be able to go computer-based video later, and you do want that as an option. So you, either make sure the one built in to the TV is good, or get an outboard one (or, get one that's half decent in the TV to begin with, and upgrade to an outboard unit later).

I've heard good things about the Lumagen, though I've not experienced one for myself yet.

Yeah, the Lumagen looks cool if I can afford it. There are some DVD players that have inputs that get upsampled, I remember reading a thread on this. No idea what the makes and models are though...

[OverlordXenu]

The Sharp Aquos LCD's are REALLY nice. Great black levels.

[tkam]

Oppo has the new 983 up on their site now:

http://oppodigital.com/dv983h/default.asp

[Dusty Chalk]

Oh holy shit, it has a USB input. My dream has come the closest is come to coming true (now if it only did HDCD, it would have been perfect).

[n_maher]

Oh holy shit, it has a USB input. My dream has come the closest is come to coming true (now if it only did HDCD, it would have been perfect).

Some of their previous players have had it as well, I just wonder how many different codecs they support. There's some info on it in the specs but my experience is that you never know till you try. And at $400 it's getting too close to what a half-decent media PC could be built for.

[Dusty Chalk]

Agreed, but a HTPC won't do SACD or DVD-Audio, AFAIK (I think you may have one or two that will do one or the other, but I know of none that will do both). And it'd be nice to have a single device to do them all, it would prevent having to put a source switcher into anything.