Zenith DVB318 1080i Progressive-Scan DVD Player
Component Upconversion is Going Away
Well, unfortunately, Dave is the one who is incorrect. Zenith has, in fact, partially discontinued the upconversion across the component video outputs. On the newly build units (build date of July 2004 and later), the firmware has been updated in the instrument. You can still select the upconversion feature, but if the disc has macrovision protection, it won't work correctly. Note, this is for the upconversion over component only -- DVI works fine, regardless of firmware version.  There are some very good AV forums out there who have documented this very well. If interested in the details, do some searching. <br /> <br />The December 2003 and March 2004 build dates still have the old firmware that allows unrestricted upconversion via component. I ordered on 9/23/04. The unit shipped 9/27/04. I received a December 2003 build date unit. <br /> <br />So, there are lots of units still out there that have unrestricted upconversion across component, just no new ones being built. <br /> <br />On my Mitsubishi 65\\" CRT RPTV (WS-65315), the 1080i upconversion output on the Zenith looks the same (PQ) as the 480p output from a new Pana S27 I had. <br /> <br />One big plus is that the Zenith gives you a bunch of good cables. The S-Video cable (if you use that type of video connection) is the best S-Video cable I've ever received with a component -- nice quality. The composite cables are the same old stuff. But, it also comes with a pretty stout DVI cable. DVI cables are very expensive, so to get one with the unit is a big plus. <br /> <br />Good luck.