this has been AWESOME feedback from all of you THANKS. I now have a MUCH better understanding of "upconverting" and "upscaling" and the diff between them. most helpfully with that said :

I have decided to stay with the yammy v2500 , and connect the Oppp DVD direct to HDMI input on the RPTV [it has 2 HDMI ports]. I assume that since the Oppo is putting out 1080i that its much easier on the RPTV(native 1080p) to upSCALE <-- hehe

please correct if I am thinkin' wrong. Thanks again to all that have replied, directly and indirectly