Denon's pitching its DVD-2930 HD-capable DVD player as an "affordable" upscaling machine. You might think that's a cheeky word to use in association with a player that costs £650, but Denon said its machine provides pro-grade video processing for which it usually charges £2,700.

In short, the DVD-2930 contains the same image processing chip found in Denon's high-end DVD-A1XVA. The upshot is the conversion of a standard-definition DVD picture to 1080p ready to be sent to an HD TV via the player's HDMI, component-video, SCART, composite-video or s-video ports. It's not true HD, of course, but Denon argues it's the next best thing - particularly given few if any HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc releases are what you'd call cinema classics...

The machine will also play every physical digital disc format, from CD to DVD Audio and Super Audio CD, so it's as much a device for the hi-fi enthusiast as the movie buff.

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