Panasonic DVD-S97S Progressive Scan DVD Player Silver
Not a blue light special!
I bought this player because of the 1080i upconverting feature, which I now know to be more hype and advertising ballyhoo than fact.  After playing and comparing parts of more than a dozen DVDs on the Panasonic at 1080i and our two-year-old Denon DVD-2200 at 480p, the Denon is the clear and convincing winner.  The 1080i picture is considerably noisier, particularly in out-of-focus background areas, which look like a boiling pot of pixels.  Also, the Denon's sound is far superior.  The Panasonic emits occasional and random pops and clicks, while the Denon is smooth as silk.  The Denon also is obviously of a far more substantial construction, which probably is to be expected since it cost a little more than twice as much as the Panasonic.  Both units remain hooked up to our 52-inch Mitsubishi DLP TV, the Panasonic via the HDMI connection and the Denon through component inputs, but I don't see the Panasonic getting much use due to its inferior performance.  And, besides, that stupid, bright blue light bar is really annoying.