I have the DV-981 connected to the same projector that you have via HDMI. I previously used a Momitsu with component cable and both players were set to 720p for projection to a 102" screen at 14-15 feet away. Momitsu is one of a handful of players that can disable Macrovision copyright protection through a secret menu and can output up to 1080i/720p over component. I was not able to discern a a noticeable difference between the two players in HDMI versus component. I suspect that component from 970 versus HDMI from 981 will be equally undiscernible.
John
