When available, they should make a noticeable difference. The current upconverting players should make little or no difference if your set has a decent upconverter and the DVD player feeds it a clean signal. The only thing upconverting dvd players might help is sound sync issues with an surround receiver, since the tv would not introduce a delay upconverting the signal.
ogbuehi
Unregistered guest
Posted on
The problem with that ideology, Klaus, is that most of us on this forum can't afford the sets with the good scalers and upconverters. One thing to watch for is that some sets that come with good scalers but you wind up sacrificing something else to make up the price difference. Upconvert dvd players allow you to send a signal that is native to your 1080i or 720p tv set. Upconvert dvd players tend to have better scalers and upconversion processors than tv sets that we can afford. But if you are not careful you may wind up buying a cheap upconvert dvd player and not really notice the difference between 480p and hd. Samsung has a nice upconvert dvd player with the Faroudja scaler and it really does make a difference. This I have seen with my own eyes.
OG: You miss my point! If you have an HD tv it probably has a reasonable scaler. I have a Samsung 4674 with Farouja scaler chip and a Panasonic E55 dvd recorder running through composite cables. No real extra expensive equipment is involved.The picture is near HD quality (better than some cable HD). My point is why pay for 2 scalers, one in each device.
Peas
Unregistered guest
Posted on
"Damn...I was hoping for a more entertaining response from you, Peas!"
Sorry to disapoint you but when the question is rational I do offer a rational response.
Peas
ogbuehi
Unregistered guest
Posted on
The tv is going to display a much better picture if it receives a signal that is native to its display abilities. I am about to buy a sony 60xs955 and have seen the difference between a signal that is 480p and an upconverted signal. Hdtv's don't upconvert everything that is plugged into it either. I've seen a progressive scan dvd player hooked up to an hdtv and the tv displays a 480p image, not an upconverted 1080i/720p image. I have a samsung hdtv and displays 480p/480i, 1080i and upconverts 720p to 1080i. The best way to get everything upconverted is to buy a separated, dedicated scaler. That device will upconvert composite and component signals to your hdtv native signal output through hdmi/dvi. Only very expensive hd sets do this. I've seen the samsung 4674 and it doesn't do this with composite or component signals. An upconvert dvd player worked wonders when sending a digital signal to the tv. And upconvert dvd players are not expensive. The most expensive one I've seen was $300 and that was because it could play SACD and DVD-audio. The samsung player I was referring to is only $130.
Anonymous
Posted on
Hey og,
You said, "I've seen a progressive scan dvd player hooked up to an hdtv and the tv displays a 480p image, not an upconverted 1080i/720p image."
That's incorrect!
Gotta set you straight, bud.
A 720P set will display nothing but 720P. It's gonna scale any input to 720P.
You may be seeing an information display that says the "input" signal is something different, but the set is scaling to it's native display format no matter what.
Same with a CRT 1080I set. It will display only 1080I format and nothing else.
There is no format selection in any menu on any HDTV, period. The set is manufactured for a single format and all input signals will be scaled to it's native display format with absolutly no menu selection to do otherwise.
I'm with you on upscaling DVD players producing a slightly better image than progressive scan players. I can't say if it's the DVD scaler or the digital connection, though.
ogbuehi
Unregistered guest
Posted on
After much research, I do stand corrected. HD sets only display one resolution. And just to set the record straight, my hd set doesn't have an information display to tell me the resolution of the incoming signal. I was basing my information off of the signal being displayed on the screen. The 1080i signals sent to the set look remarkably better than 480p signals (this is coming from my xbox which plays dvds at 480p and plays certain games at 1080i). But this just helps prove my point that most regular priced hd sets don't do a good job of upconversion. It also has nothing to do with the type of connection (digital or component). There was a particular batch of Toshiba upconvert dvd players (made between a specific time period) that had the capability to output upconverted signals through its component output, but that was quickly fixed by the manufacture after many complaints from the movie industry. Digital connections won't allow you to copy the upconverted signal (for now) and that is why upconvert players only output the signal through a digital connection. It's the scaler in the dvd player.
fx
Unregistered guest
Posted on
"But this just helps prove my point that most regular priced hd sets don't do a good job of upconversion."
It proves nothing at all. It only implies that according to your eyes and opinion that your specific combination of components and viewing conditions may have the charactersitics you describe.
xvxvxvx
ogbuehi
Unregistered guest
Posted on
It has nothing to do with my opinion. It's like saying that the picture quality between analog tv and hdtv is an opinion. Any person with average vision can see the difference between those two types of signals. The differences I'm seeing are not a matter of color, contrast or the like. I can see the difference in pixelation between an upconverted 480p and 1080i signal that my tv does and the one that a scaler outside the tv does. And this isn't particular to my combination of components. I've seen it time and time again on other combinations of upconvert dvd players and hdtv's.
fx
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Sorry ogbuehi but anyone who has to do "much research" to discover that displays have a native resolution doesn't know much about scalers either. I reitterate it is only your opinion of your gear not the experience of the vast majority of other HDTV owners.
xvxvxvx
ogbuehi
Unregistered guest
Posted on
My knowledge has nothing to do with what I see. And I guess you only read part of my thread. I said this wasn't particular to just my equipment. Sorry I wasn't born with the knowledge of knowing televisions have a native display as apparently you were. I have this strange feeling that I'm not alone out there though. My knowledge on one subject doesn't determine my knowledge on another. I've had people at my job who couldn't take apart a medium voltage circuit breaker but could easily break the components of a comparator circuit. I do in-depth research when I find I may be incorrect and I don't have a direct source to go to around me. Seeing as I'm in Iraq right now, most of the research I have to do is on computers with horrible internet speeds.
All opinions aside, it will be interesting to see if the new HD gaming boxes outputting 720P will cure the gaming lag some people experience, mostly due to the upconversion time.
ogbuehi
Unregistered guest
Posted on
There are gaming boxes out now capable of outputting 720p and 1080i, namely the XBOX and the PS2. I think it has to do with the type of display. I have no lag issues with my hd crt.
ogbuehi
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Correction, I think it has to do with particular brands, not necessarily a technology that causes lag issues.