Toshiba SD-5970 DVD Player

If you're looking at this DVD player, the HDMI/upconverting capability is likely to be the most important thing you'd want to know about, i.e., is it worth upgrading your DVD player? If you're a videophile on a tight budget, the answer is a resounding yes.

The 1080i picture via HDMI connection is impressive, noticeably better than a component connection picture, particularly with skin tones and black levels. You can run your own test by hooking up both the HDMI and the component connections and, while watching a movie, switch back and forth between input sources. You should see a considerable difference, especially if you have a top quality TV. Bottom line: this $120-140 DVD player is a far better investment than an overpriced monster cable or some other $100 tweak to get the most out of your home theater.

A DVD player should be judged first and foremost on the quality of its DVD play. In this regard, the SD-5970 excels, at least in the 1080i format. The remaining connections provided a typically decent but relatively unimpressive picture. The sound via optical audio is good, but I do notice the need to slightly increase the center channel speaker volume on my Yamaha receiver when using this DVD player as opposed to my Sony model. The biggest practical annoyance is probably that the HDMI connection does not allow for the various picture stretching modes. For this reason, I use the component input when viewing full screen DVDs, DVD picture slide shows, and other things I don't want stretched on my widescreen TV. (After running my picture quality test, I just left the component cables in.)

As others have commented, the build quality is the biggest concern. The remote control has a build quality consistent with a toddler's toy. Fortunately for me, I have Cox Cable, and its universal remote control works with the SD-5970 player.