Helios H4000 Upconverting DVD Player

[The HT Guys]

We have both gone on record saying that we are going to wait out the next generation DVD format war. But Ara gave in and bought a HD DVD drive for his xBox 360 at Christmas. Braden is still holding out as are many people. So what are your alternatives. You can buy an upconverting DVD player that will supposedly take your standard DVDs and make them compatible with HD resolutions.

[url=http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/reviews/2007/02/helios_h4000_up.php]Read the Full Review[/url]

[beatdrummer]

Would I see a noticeable improvement in playing standard DVDs with the H4000 when inputed into the Sony 40XBR700? This HD television has no digital inputs, the best being via component cables. What would be the maximum resolution obtainable?

[arad]

Hi beatdrummer,

We noticed a significant improvement over a standard DVD player using component cables. The player supports resolutions up to 1080p.

Ara

[bobwolfeumich]

Does the Helios play DVD +/- R or +/-RW?

[arad]

Yes it supports DVD +/- R or +/-RW

Ara

[rav4moi]

I have had a terrible experience with this upscaling DVD player. The biggest problem is that it WILL NOT upscale to 1080P with my new Aquos LC-37D90U TV. When I encountered this problem, I was told by Helios tech support that it was a known problem with some HDMI connections, and would be addressed 'soon' via a firmware update. That was 60 days ago, and still no update. Recently, the player would not eject a disk. It was stuck in a 'open' loop, but would not open the tray. Again I contacted tech support, and they told me to force the tray open, or disassemble the unit (remove the cover) and go from there. I have sent countless emails for a warranty resolution, but am getting nowhere. I have now contacted my credit card company to intervene.

The picture quality at 1080i over HDMI is pretty good (the blacks are not very crisp, and there is a fair amount of jaggies). The player defaults to closed captioning on every time it auto-starts a DVD. Very annoying! The build quality and lack of 1080P support makes this unit not worth the 'great price.' I absolutely WOULD NOT buy any product from Helios again.