Do LCD TVs upscale all inputs?

koushikp · #1 06-05-08, 04:15 PM

Hi guys,

Not sure if this is the right section put up this post but here goes....Do all HD Ready LCD TVs upscale any content thrown to them through any input? I have a 32" Samsung (LA32R81B), with native resolution of 1366*768. It supports 720p and 1080i. Now if they do upscale, would that upscaling be better than a upscaling DVD player? The player in question is Cambridge 540R DVD player, I chose it because it plays CD very well for a DVD player and also upscales..

smedhavi · #2 06-05-08, 05:23 PM

Yes, LCD is a fixed pixel display. The TV has to convert all signal to the screen's native resolution before it can be displayed. Some TVs just convert, and not really 'up scale'.

I am not sure whether your player has a better upscaler than the TV or not. Try sending 480P signal to the TV, and then 720p. Use whichever looks better. For cheaper DVD players, you might get a better picture using a component connection, compared to HDMI.

Thanks,
Sharad

particleman · #3 06-05-08, 05:43 PM

Koushik, just a thought - I don't wish to cause confusion. I was reading the latest What Hi-Fi and noticed the Panasonic DMP-BD30 Blu-ray player which they claim is priced at 24k. If this is so do take a look at it. Don't know how good it would be for CD (and don't think it supports SACD/DVD-A, not sure) but thought I should throw this in. Seems to be the cheapest player supporting DTS-HD Master Audio / Dolby TrueHD as well as Ethernet for updates.

adder · #4 06-05-08, 06:42 PM

well the ps3 is cheapest bluray player that supports DTS HD master audio.and it loads faster too.

klone · #5 07-05-08, 02:08 PM

you mean the Azur 540D? seems more of a CD player.

not all hd lcd's upconvert and those that do, dont do it as well as upconverting dvd players can (in my opinion). The best upconverters are undoubtedly video scalers which are designed to specifically do that. (those can upconvert almost all video signals, including televisionto full HD) quite expensive though. upconverting dvd players are limited to dvd's only and cant do anything to TV or other signals.

best bet: upconverting dvd player. depending on the scaler chip in use.
i've tried the ones below...

sony DVP-NS77H (does the job)

pioneer DV-490 (Better,good scaler chip)

Oppo DV-970HD (Faroudja DCDi baby!! Gotta love it!!)

again it depends on what you are looking for

good luck

k

smedhavi · #6 07-05-08, 05:13 PM

hi k,

>>>not all hd lcd's upconvert

Are you sure? Then how does it work?

As far as I know, there is no other way for an LCD TV to display an image on the full screen. It has to convert (upconvert or down convert) to it's native resolution. CRT was a different story, as it could actually change the resolution based on the signal.

Do you have any more details? It would be interesting to understand this.

Thanks,
Sharad

suniil · #7 08-05-08, 12:53 PM

IMK, flatscreens deinterlace & upscale / downscale images to the optimum settings the panel can take.

Upconversion is converting the signal from various sources [eg.s-video / scart / phono / component] to another type, mostly HDMI.

But upscale and upconvert coexist

pnredkar · #8 08-05-08, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smedhavi

Yes, LCD is a fixed pixel display. The TV has to convert all signal to the screen's native resolution before it can be displayed. Some TVs just convert, and not really 'up scale'.

Some confusion in terminology here. I would try to differentiate:

Up-convert: Conversion of signal from lower spec to higher spec (composite < s-video < component < HDMI). (Onkyo uses this term for up-scaling also)

Up-scaling: Increasing (or decreasing, actually changing) the lines in vertical resolution (480i/480p/576i/576p < 720p < 1080i/1080p)

De-interlacing: Converting an interlaced signal to a progressive signal (480i -> 480p; 576i -> 576p; 1080i -> 1080p)

As far as I know, all LCD TVs are fixed pixel progressive displays. Hence if the LCD TV has to display a 480i signal covering the entire screen, it HAS to de-interlace and upscale to its native resolution (typically 768p which is not a standard HDTV resolution OR 1080p).

Regards,
Prasad Redkar.