Samsung HD-DVD931 w/Audioquest DVI... disappointment

[TheAmazingJosh]

So today the special order Audioquest DVI cable I had bought came in and I eagerly hooked it up to see if it would make a difference. The jist of my story is that I have a Sony 50" Grand Wega XBR LCD rear projector and a dead Denon DVD900 that I recently had to replace. I bought the Samsung HD-DVD931 based on price, suggestion, and the DVI output. The Samsung does have a nicer picture quality than the Denon did using my same component cables. But both the cable it came with, and the $100 DVI cable I bought are filled with digital noise, artifacts, etc. It's like the sharpness is way higher than it should be, yet I have sharpness turned all the way down. I'm thinking about returning both the cable and player. The player is good using just the components, but my thinking is that for the $370 that I paid in both cable and player I may be able to find a different player that out performs it. Anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking of giving a Marantz DV4300 a try.

[AVMASTER]

the Samsung or any other model with a DVI output would be ideal for that display technology(720p); from your PQ description i think the problem is the DVI output is not active (internally).

[Rob1956]

It took my 931 about a month to break in. Then the picture just "blossomed" and now with 6 months or so of use, it's giving me a beautiful picture. I use the 1080i output with a $20 DVI cable with my Hitachi RPTV. I love it.

[TheAmazingJosh]

the Samsung or any other model with a DVI output would be ideal for that display technology(720p); from your PQ description i think the problem is the DVI output is not active (internally).

I think if that were the case then I would have no picture at all while using that input. But I did.

[TheAmazingJosh]

It took my 931 about a month to break in. Then the picture just "blossomed" and now with 6 months or so of use, it's giving me a beautiful picture. I use the 1080i output with a $20 DVI cable with my Hitachi RPTV. I love it.

Interesting. I don't think I have that sort of patience. Besides waiting past a month for a player to blossom puts it into the category of not being able to return it to most places if the blossoming never occurs. At any rate I replaced it with a Harmon Kardon DVD101 and am very pleased with that unit. Best picture I've yet to see come out of any DVD player I've owned including the Samsung.