I watched The Last Samurai on a Toshiba HD-A1 and it looked pretty good but I wasn't blown away by it. I read today that Samurai isn't a good title to evaluate the format with though. The sound was DTS converted via the SPDIF output through a 518 into my 568.2. The levels were way to low. I had to crank up to 92 on the 568 to have a normal listening level. My 598 with DD via either smartlink or SPDIF were way better sounding than what I heard with the Toshiba. The audio levels were too low and I felt resolution was lost. I couldn't evaluate the analog output. I watched it again last night from the SD DVD on my 598 via ISCAN HD set at 1080i and in some scenes it looked just as good as the Toshiba. I guess that transfer isn't the best or the movie is a little soft cause HD on SAT looked better to me. I have to use the component outs by the way so that might be the problem although my Sony SAT box looks damn good in HD on PBS. For me I could care less about the format for now.

Ron

HT: 568.2mm (Revelation One filter), 518x2, SB3, Bryston 7BSTx3, 8BST, Aerial 10T, CC3, SW12(Qty2) w/SVS AS-EQ1, MK Tripole x4. JVC RS1u, DVDO Duo, Oppo 103 w/Vanity103HD, Sony PS3, VIP 3D Theatre, Acer H5360. Logitech Ultimate Remote and Hub.