The thing to keep in mind is that there are only a handful of companies that actually make DVD player components. Matsu****a (Panasonic), Pioneer, Sony, Toshiba, are among the few companies out there that make DVD transports. Only a few companies out there make the video processing chips, and audio processors. For most companies that market DVD players, it's an elaborate rebranding exercise or just cobbling together off-the-shelf components.

Yamaha and Denon both use Panasonic transports, high end player Arcam uses Sony transports in their DVD players. What you get with the more expensive players is typically a heavier chassis, more customized output components, and better internal isolation of the different functions. But, the basic components are not all that different than the mass produced players. What you're paying for is that extra incrementally higher specification for particular components, and more durable build quality. Whether or not that results in a bottomline improvement in the performance is up to you to decide.