Real basic DVD scaling question

butchieK · Post by **butchieK** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:13 pm

Hello,
I know this is a very basic question but here goes.What is the advantage of buying an upconverting DVD player?Aren't all HDTV's capable of taking the 480P output and using their own scaler to do the same thing?I would think/hope that the scaler inside an expensive HDTV would be better than the chip inside a $50 upconverting DVD player............

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:17 pm

Upscaleable DVI/HDMI enabled DVD Players
viewforum.php?f=97

External scaling is still better but the differences are less than they were 5 years ago...

jjkilleen · Post by **jjkilleen** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 11:22 am

Richard, I was about to ask the question, "has the standard preference for external processing changed as TV technology has progressed", when I saw this post. I was not surprised by your answer, but was taken aback by it's absolute nature. You seem to be saying that external processing is superior whether we're talking about a Pioneer TV combo'd with a bottom of the line DVD player or a Polaroid TV combo'd with a $300 player. Is this correct?

akirby · Post by **akirby** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 11:40 am

I think Richard is talking about external DEDICATED scalers which are above and beyond the scaler in any TV or sub $1K dvd player.

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 10:27 pm

There is a point of diminishing returns...

The Oppo review is a perfect example of top notch scaling of original 16:9 SD DVD content to for about $250. The Tivo Series 3 we use on our Samsung 720p DLP RP while not the best it is at least decent and far superior to the one in the TV. The limitation is 720p and 1080i/p. An external scaler is going to do better with an oddball pixel matrix such as 1366X768 and some others. In the Oppo review I did point out it's limitations where an external scaler may be preferred.

Scaling consists of two performance points. The first relates even to the mass market which is errors of omission rather than commission are greatly preferred; it may not be right but it isn't inducing objectionable artifacts. The next performance point is typically videophile territory; the least amount of errors to come as close as possible to matching the original.

Internal scaling for displays certainly has improved enough that the mass market is satisfied and if good enough even tolerable for videophiles.

jjkilleen · Post by **jjkilleen** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 5:55 pm

The Oppo review was very interesting-do any of the hi-def players achieve this level of processing when playing SD DVDs?

butchieK · Post by **butchieK** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 6:10 am

Hi Richard,
Great review of the Oppo DV-981HD.My situation is I'm about to return my 32" 720P"S" Series Bravia to get a 40" 1080P W Bravia.I have a Sony DVP-NS72HP upscaling player.I like to watch my DVD SD collection which has a lot of titles,documentaries,etc. which I doubt will ever get made on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD.I'm not overly happy with the performance I'm getting with this player/TV combo.The TV itself is GREAT with HD Broadcasts.I will eventually get into one the of the HD Formats when the dust settles.I don't play video games so I would not get the PS3.I was wondering if you think the Oppo with the 1080P Bravia will be a significant improvement watching SD DVD's,or by waiting for the next series of HD Players, they will have the SAME performance handling SD DVD's as the Oppo.
Thanks ,ButchieK

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 7:49 am

An Oppo and 1080p native display is a great combo yet if the display is not setup right you would not gain much of anything and this may very well be the problem with your current one.

Check this out
viewtopic.php?t=4450

To tell you about performance requires a product review. A Toshiba HDA30 HD DVD player is on the list...

If you are looking for the best without breaking the bank the Oppo has been leading for quite some time but the limitations have been pointed out in the review. I would not expect HD disc players to spend much capitol on the SD DVD side of performance - they want you on the HD disc side. Their goal is more about decent quality rather than best based on what I have seen so far.

If you want the most out of every single bit of content in your SD DVD library an external scaler would be the better route for handling content that was not mastered natively to 16:9.

DavidJones4 · Post by **DavidJones4** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 3:49 am

Hi guys.
I'm on the verge of buying a 768 Panasonic 42in Plasma, but there's 2 models, one has 1080p signal processing, and the other cheaper one doesn't.......my question is, if I mainly want to watch DVD's, will a non-upscaling DVD player connected to the non-1080p processing panasonic plasma perform well, or it is essential to get a 1080p HDMI DVD player and the 1080p** signal processor plasma?

**
Both 42's are 768 models, the only difference is the 1080p signal processing chip.
FYI, I do have a HDTV feed, but don't watch it that much.

Thanks for any help.

akirby · Post by **akirby** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:44 am

I don't see why you'd need the 1080p chip in the TV if it's just going to scale it back to 768p. I think you'd be better off with the cheaper TV and feed it a 720P signal from an upconverting DVD player or HD DVD/Blu-Ray player. That should be cheaper overall and should look just as good unless I'm missing something with the 1080p signal that would make it better.

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