lawtaker wrote:

f you have an HDTV, it has more than 480 lines of resolution. Any time your TV is displaying anything it is displaying it at its native resolution. If the signal it is sent is not at that resolution, the TV converts it to the appropriate resolution.

So then if you have a SXRD-based HDTV there is no need for an Oppo or other with Faroudja chip since the HDTV trumps the 480 DVD players...right ?

If yes, then I guess I finally get it. No need for Oppo or Faroudja. Just wait for Blu Ray or other.

Remember - it all depends on how good a scaler the TV has and how good the video section of the DVD player is. Also remember that we're not talking about how good a job the TV does displaying a true HD source versus how good it does with a DVD: that's like comparing a recording on your Alesis to a cassette tape. We're talking about the difference in picture quality between a DVD played in your Sony DVPCX955 on your TV and a DVD played on a player like the OPPO through the same TV. That is where a player like the OPPO can provide benefits (in some cases, very noticeable benefits).

Nope.

Issue #1: If your HDTV set receives a signal at a lower res than its native res, it will upscale it. This is true regardless of whether you have an SXRD-based HDTV. It's true for all HDTV sets. This is because an HDTV set can only display things at its native res. So if you see an image on your HDTV set, it's at its native res. And thus if the signal the HDTV received was at a lower res, it necessarily follows that the HDTV must have upscaled it.

Issue #2: Not all scalers are created equal. The scaler in your HDTV is probably less than fabulous. The scaler in an Oppo DVD player is almost certainly better. There are external scalers that are better still.

So let's work through some examples.

Let's say your source material is a US DVD. That source material is 480i (480 lines, interlaced).

Let's say you have an HDTV. Let's say it's an LCD with 720 lines of resolution. that's 720p.

Now you want to watch that DVD on your LCD.

Option 1: DVD player without a scaler (or with upscaling turned off), connected to your HDTV set.

Option 2: Oppo DVD player (upscaling DVD player with a good scaler), connected to your HDTV set.

Option 3: DVD player without a scaler, or with upscaling turned off, connected to an external scaler, which is connected to your HDTV set.

In all three options, the 480i signal that you start with will display at 720p.

In option 1, your DVD player sends a 480i signal, which the TV receives and upscales itself.

In option 2, your DVD player upscales the signal sending a 720p signal to your TV, which displays it without further scaling.

In option 3, your DVD player sends a 480i signal to the external scaler, which upscales it to 720p, which your TV receives and displays without further upscaling.

Option 3 yields the best picture, followed by option 2, followed by option 1.

This is because the external scaler has the best scaler, and the typical HDTV set has the worst.

Thanks fellas.
Perhaps a little thick, but I think I've got it straight, now.

Actually some (read that as very few) CRT HDTV sets can display multiple format resolutions without scaling as when done right CRT is a multi-resolution technology...which is one of the strengths of CRT.

Of course multi-scan/sync HDTV is expensive to do so most of the CRT based HDTVs out there only do 1080.

Just wanted people to know though that not all displays need to scale everything to fit its native resolution.

Oh and I highly suggest going with the Oppo to your HD TV. Noticeably better scaler/deinterlacer in it than what's in the Sony.

BloggingITGuy wrote:

I highly suggest going with the Oppo to your HD TV

I would pull trigger right now for Oppo 971, but I keep wondering whether the HD-DVD & Blu-ray DVD players will incorporate that function for which I would buy an Oppo now.

What do you think ITGuy...

Yes, the HD-DVD players will upscale, but from everything that I've read, none of the currently available HD-DVD players have nearly as good of a scaler as the good DVD players like the Oppo or the higher end Denons.

Ask yourself how long you think you will use a good DVD player...at this point the answer should be at least 3 to 5 years, maybe more.

DVDs certainly aren't going away until consumers have a clear choice on which HD media player to go with and that's not likely to happen for at least another 2 years as manufacturers ramp up production on new players. In particular, I don't think that the HD movie formats will make much inroads into the regular consumer market until the major players all have universal HD players and offer them for less than $300.

Thanks BloggingIT Guy.
I pulled the triger on 1 971 this morning. Your post this afternoon certainly provides "sound" (pun-unintended ) advice. What you wrote makes sense.

Cool hope you enjoy it.

I have only minor complaints about the Oppo myself, like slightly slower than expected startup time (certainly nothing as bad as what I've been hearing about the Toshiba HD-DVD players), the fact that it doesn't pull in the drive tray when the power button on the unit is pressed - although it does if the power button on the remote is pressed - I know...odd, and sometimes it doesn't do so well when rendering subtitles.