XA2 or A35

Looking to get either the A35 or XA2. I was wondering what the difference is between these two. I know they both do 1080p and I hear that they can bitstream all HD audio codecs. Is this true? Is the only real difference in the upconverting chip that the XA2 has?

Thanks,

The Silicon Optix Reon chip used in the HD-XA2 does more than just upscale, it is a complete DVD processing chip, excellent deinterlacing included. I believe the chip is also used for deinterlacing 1080i sources and maybe even some other HD processing. The HD-A35 uses Anchor Bay Technologies ABT1018, capable of scaling on a par with the Reon chip and the performance overall is probably very close. The original Oppo DV-983 used ABT1018 with a Mediatek 13890P2 MPEG decoder and was able to beat the Silicon Optix players but I think the HD-A35 comes up a little short in overall video processing compared to the HD-XA2.

Bottom line, both players are excellent, slight edge to the HD-XA2 for both HD DVD and DVD which explains why the HD-A35 is less expensive. My personal experience having owned both players is I couldn't tell any difference but objective reviews provides evidence the HD-XA2 should be better. I sold my only HD-A35 because I have way too many players.

Chris

Both players bitstream all audio codecs and decode everything but DTS-HD MA.

Chris

I own both, and I would have to give the edge to the XA2.;)

Excellent post Chris. My sentiments exactly.