;)
Despite Blu-ray winning the high definition format war, Sony's high-density movie discs continue to struggle for general consumer acceptance. This is due in no small part, no doubt, to the inexpensive and rather amazing technology of 'upscaling' DVD players, of which VisionQuest's VQM-9350 Upconverting DVD Player is a really good one.
Here's the thing: you've got a big bunch of standard DVDs kicking around, a shelf full of kids movies too, maybe, and three DVD players in the house, two at grandma's and one at the cottage on which to play them. Though a Blu-ray player will play those old DVDs -- and new Blu-ray discs, too, of course -- buying a new Blu-ray player would seem to mean that you'll have to start buying new Blu-ray movies. With only the one player to play them on, you're taking a giant leap backward to the days when you first abandoned VHS and started buying DVDs the first time around. Do you really need more than one copy of Lion King? Sony says "yes." Common sense says "what are you, stupid?"
Truth is, even with Toshiba's abandonment of the HD-DVD format, Blu-ray is still a niche product for technophiliacs and gamers with PlayStation3 (which includes a Blu-ray drive for both Blu-ray movies and PS3 games).
Not that Blu-ray movies aren't remarkably crisp, clear and way high on fidelity, but standard DVD movies have always included the innate ability to at least emulate high definition playback, and now there's hardware out there to enable it, as seen in the rather amazing VQM-9350 Upconverting DVD Player from Mississauga-based VisionQuest.
As it turns out, though old school DVDs contain standard definition content, said content is nonetheless digital. Through a rather complex series of software-based algorithms, the video signal off a DVD can be upscaled or "up converted" to HD at 720p or 1080i, which is exactly what the VQM-9350 does, out-putting through HDMI (HDMI cable included) or component cables (not included). It's a process not unlike the resolution options on your computer monitor where you choose 800 x 600, 1024 x 780 or 1600 x 1200 or whatever, and the onscreen images adjust themselves accordingly, getting smaller as the screen gets denser as you go up the slider.
While the end result of an upscaled DVD is not true high definition, and emulated-HD is clearly not as lush as a genuine Blu-ray picture, it is nonetheless conspicuously superior to standard definition fed through a standard DVD player through standard cabling.
At less than $70, it's also a much cheaper and much smarter solution, or a no-brainer stopgap while you wait for dedicated Blu-ray players to become cheap enough to replace all three DVD players in your house, the two at grandma's and the one at the cottage. Good luck with that.
Also at less than $70, the VQM-9350 is one of the cheapest up-converting DVD players on the market. Similar devices from the likes of LG, Panasonic, Samsung and friends tend to start around $100 up to some $200. And while VisionQuest's lesser-known name lures you with lower-priced products, there's been a couple of cost saving corners cut on the VQM-9350, though only cosmetically, superficially.
The remote control for the unit, for example, is a clunky, inelegant thing with small buttons of muddled placement.
The DVD tray on the player itself, meanwhile, is exceedingly shallow and does not eject itself quite far enough. Hence, plopping a DVD into it is a little akin to the kid's game, "Operation."
Speaking of kids, or not-really-careful ones, anyway, they're more likely to jam the tray or scratch a disc if not patience and gentle with disc placement. But other than that, the VQM-9350 upscales like nobody's business, and after nearly a year of daily movie playback, the review unit provided by VisionQuest is none the less for wear, which is pretty darn remarkable.
Reviewed: May. 28, 2008
Type: Movie, Hardware, HomeTech
From: VisionQuest
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