Denon DVD-1910 DVD Player

This review is particularly for us poor folks who are still using RP HDTVs without the DVI (Digital Visual Interface) and/or the HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface). My expensive, but low-rated Pioneer Elite DV-45A DVD player did not play DVD-R media well. I researched replacement DVD players for two days at local stores and on the Internet. I decided on the Denon DVD-1910 for its price, the Faroudja chip, and feature mix (plays DVD-R/RW & DVD R/RW, etc.). I've heard so much about the Faroudja chip, I just had to try the DVD-1910. I could not find a system that included the Faroudja, but did not have the DVI. I connected the Denon player to my 65" Mitsubishi Diamond RP HDTV theater system using the Monster Cable component cables and fiber optics digital audio cable, and set the Denon at progressive scan. The Denon performed at 480P flawlessly, virtually right out of the box. The Denon menus are very intuitive; I did not have to read the manual right away. The DVD-R disks that did not play well in the Pioneer were used in the new Denon. Those DVD-Rs played perfectly, without a hitch! To test the overall visual and audio quality of the Denon, I used my favorite test video DVDs: "Monsters Inc." and the Superbit version of "The Fifth Element." Dear folks, I have high-definition cable programming coming in to my TV and to tell you the honest truth, the picture from the Denon-1910 was very, very close to high-definition quality. I was dazzled! I cannot imagine, in my case, how the quality could get much better using the DVI capabilities. I could not find any evidence of the famous "macroblocking" problem (blotches of digital noise mainly in backgrounds caused by the MPEG compression process). Nor did I see any evidence of the "green push" in the blacks discussed in "Secrets of Home Theater DVD Benchmark Review/Shootout (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi). While you are at this web site, notice that the Denon DVD-1910 had an 82 out of 100 score, and my old Pioneer had a score of only 34! Tells me something.