Samsung DVD-HD931 HD-Compatible DVD Player - Short Review

The Samsung DVD-HD931 is a DVD player that will upconvert signal output to either 720p/1080i. If you own an HD or HD-upradable TV with DVI-HDCP input, you can watch DVDs in higher resolution, thanks to a Faroudja de-interlacer/scaler. This works well with Plasma/LCD monitors and DLP video projectors. This unit has all video outputs and features you would expect, including CD/CDR/CDRW/MP3/JPG playback. Although it may be a little expensive for a "budget" category, this DVD player is a bargain.

The DVD-HD931 performs well as a standard DVD player, with extensive playback options, great video quality, and the outputs you need to connect to any home theater system. However, this DVD player is different. The DVD-HD931 has the ability to do two things that very few DVD players can: Direct digital video output and resolution upscaling.

First, this unit has what is referred to as a DVI-HDCP output. In order to transfer the digitally encoded video signal from a standard DVD player to a television, the DVD player must convert the signal from digital to analog, this results in some loss of information. However, the 931 has the ability, with its DVI-HDCP output, to transfer the DVD's digital video signal directly, without conversion to analog. This results in a pure transfer of all of video information from the DVD to a DVI-HDCP equipped TV.

Second, the 931 also features upscaling capability. You can enable this unit to either feed the digital video signal as either 720p or 1080i (in addition to 480p) to your television. Although this is not the same as watching your DVDs in true-high definition, you will experience increased detail and color you didn't think was possible from a DVD player.

Two cautionary notes, however: First, this function works best on fixed pixel displays, such as LCD or Plasma sets, the upscaling may result in harsh images on standard CRT and Projection sets. Second, this function only works on widescreen material, 4x3 video will be stretched out.