Harman Kardon DVD-47

Those of you who have a high definition TV and a huge DVD collection will appreciate Harman Kardon's DVD-47, which uses upscaling technology to make DVDs look great on huge display's.

The DVD-47 uses upscaling to deliver a 1080i resolution from regular DVDs (which have a resolution of 576i). While it's great for those of you with a large DVD collection, it's also a great choice for those of you who don't want to commit to neither HD-DVD nor Blu-ray, yet want to put your high definition screen to good use.

We tested the player's upscaling capabilities by connecting it to the Grundig GLCD4600HD TV via an HDMI connection. Setting the output to 1080i, the difference in image quality was immediately noticeable. Compared to the DVD's regular quality, 1080i made the images clearer, produced sharper edges and there was less blurring, especially during motion-heavy scenes. While it didn't quite match the quality of Blu-ray or HD-DVD content, it was nevertheless a large improvement over standard DVD, and looked very impressive on the 46" screen.

The DVD-47's playback was smooth during our tests and we didn't have any problems using it. The player includes a full range of functions, such as zoom, slow-motion, and audio and subtitle changes. The DVD-47 also packs a great range of both audio and video calibration options, including the ability to set volume levels and distance for individual speakers in a 5.1 surround sound system, and the output resolution (576p, 720p, or 1080i) when using an HDMI cable.

A full range of discs is supported by the DVD-47, including data CDs and DVDs with MP3, JPEG and DivX files. It would have been nice to see either USB or Ethernet, for connecting a hard drive, for example, but the omission of these ports isn't a huge concern.

The DVD-47's connection options are impressive, and include HDMI, Component, 6-channel audio out, digital optical audio out, and coaxial audio out, as well as composite and S-Video outputs.

Design-wise, it's an attractive unit, if you ignore the remote control. Slim and silver, it's fairly standard for a DVD player, with a small LED display and buttons on the front panel. The remote control looks and feels a little cheap and nasty, but we didn't have any problems using it during our tests.

The DVD-47 would be a nice additoin to any high-end home entertainment set up, especially if you've already invested heavily in your DVD collection and want to watch it clearly on a high definition TV.