Universal disc players don't come much more universal than Denon's DVD-3910. In fact, DVD player is a bit of a misnomer, as this disc spinner will happily play DVD, CD, HDCD, DVD-Audio and SACD discs with hi-fi precision, along with CD-Rs, DVD and -RW discs, JPEG photo discs, and both MP3 and WMA recorded CDs.

OK, when DVD players stacked between the baked beans at Tesco cost £30, the Denon price tag of £800 may take some justifying, but this it does with aplomb.

Under the lid is a plethora of technologies designed to leverage the very best from every format of disc placed in the slick front loading tray. The video board features PAL progressive scan from Faroudja's latest DCDi deinterlacer, and a built-in scaler takes standard DVD video and scales it into 720p or 1080i HD format.

To get the best from these HD modes, Denon has included fully HDCP-compliant DVI and HDMI connectors on the rear panel for hook up to a HD-ready TV. This may seem like a mighty sledgehammer to crack the same nut as our Tesco Clubcard special, but the 3910 has another trick up its disc drawer.

Denon's Pixel Image Creation (DPIC) system enhances each pixel by analysing the surrounding eight pixels and smoothing the image across the interpolated extra lines of the HD formats. The idea is that standard definition DVD movies are produced in 720p or 1080i, looking damn near as good as a genuine HD source.

The technical wizardry doesn't stop there, either. The back panel also sports i.Link terminals for digital audio connection and a Denon Link bus for a complete AV and control hook-up to the company's own AV amplifier monsters.

Design niceties include discrete block construction, so that video circuits don't adversely affect the audio section, an array of high quality analogue connections and some of the best processing chipsets on the market. Back this up with serious build quality, lush design and superb on-screen menus and you have one of the best specified universal disc players on the market today.

It begs the question: why is the remote control a dull grey slab of plastic with basic functionality and a luminescence-challenged backlight that misses some of the most vital keys? Oh well, you can't have everything.

Faultless

In its primary role as a DVD player, the Denon is faultless. Even using the Scart RGB and component, it produces a razor sharp image with intense colour saturation and pristine digital processing. The natural balance is just so 'right', it's actually difficult to praise any single facet of the picture above another. But this is only scratching the urface of the Denon's visual abilities.

Hook up the HDMI port to a HD Ready TV (we used Sagem's HD-D45), switch to 720p output mode and locate hot sweet tea and comfy chair before pressing 'play'. In scaled HD mode, this player not only raises the bar for DVD picture quality, it rips the bar from its moorings and uses the soggy end to beat every other DVD player on the market into standard definition mediocrity.

The sheer image clarity and depth of field is right up there with true HDTV, and is actually far better than some HD broadcast feeds we've seen. The picture is rock solid, defined with awesome precision and still blessed with a natural colour balance that makes characters look like real people - even the animated ones in The Incredibles.