Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater To Blu-ray... Or not to Blu-ray

You would need an HD resolution capable TV, cut not all video processing chips are created equal. Chipsets like Realta are better than Reon are better than Faroudja etc. etc.

Some do better than others.

There are three things in the chain that can perform upconversion:
1) Player
2) Video processor (independant or built-in receiver)
3) HDTV itself

All of them have chips that varies greatly in quality. Buying the best chipsets for all 3 is redundant. Typically, the best solution is 2), but it is more expensive as it has to take a lot more potential inputs. The player is usually the least expensive to equip with dandy chipsets as it is only dealing with known formats (the ones supported by the player) and in advance (it can take advantage of knowing the frame rates and interlace stuff in advance).

Sometimes the player does a better job of upconversion, sometimes the TV does. Yes, it seems redundant, but one or the other might do a noticeably better job.

Why can't I do all three and upconvert the upconverted upconverted signal?

Hey, let's not play God.

Is there a way to determine what product upconverts better and allow the best to do the job? I have a Sony Bravia KDL-XBR4 40" plasma TV and a Denon 3808. I'm just trying to grasp this upconversion thing and what may be redundent buying. I am researching BD players and for whatever reason, I am under the impression that a player with all the major encoding abilities is the only way to go.(DTS-HD,Dolby True-HD, Dolby digitl DTS,DTS HD Master Audio). What would you do in my shoes. Thanks

Demetrios

Sure just run the source "pass thru" the Denon to the tv and let the tv upconvert then let the receiver do the upconversion and compare the 2 - There should be the option on the Denon not to do the upconverting - not positive as I don't use the Denon

In my case I use the PS3 as the source 1.3a pass thru my Marantz to the Samsung 61" 1.3a which upconverts the SD to 1080p even better when BR is playing letting the PS3 decode DTS MA

That's the way to go, the Denon 3808 will decode all the HD sound formats, many of the newer Blu-ray titles are in DTS HD Master. Imo it would be a waste to purchase a player that doesn't support all the HD sound formats.

I've never been all that sold on upconversion, some players do a better job than others and I've had quite a few, but to me the difference hasn't been earth shattering. Most HD movies are in a league by themselves and I find myself somewhat disapointed when I have to settle for SD movie.

Well essentially I agree with you "if" your source material is older but most newer BR players and the ps3 are able to decode the new formats so it is not absolutely necessary - all you really need in a receiver is HDMI 1.1 repeating if you want to have the new audio codec and HDMI 1.3a switching (passthrough) in order to get deep color and that is only if your display will accept deep colour - ie 1.3a & 120hz compatible

Here's a data point for you. I just replaced a non-upconverting (480p via component) DVD player with a Sony BDP-S301 BluRay player outputting at 720p over HDMI (so regular DVDs are now upconverted). Display is a 720p native Sanyo Z4 projector with a 95-ish inch screen. I was previously using a component interconnect because the Sanyo projector apparently does a better job upconverting analog inputs than it does with digital inputs.

So...

With an average quality DVD (Sahara) I didn't really notice any difference from the old player.

With a very high quality DVD (I Robot is still one of the best I have seen) I think the image looked a bit better with the upconverting player but I didn't have time for any real A/B testing to be sure.

With a BluRay disk (Casino Royale) there was definitely more detail than any DVD had produced, but with a 720p native display the difference was not as stunning as it is with a 1080 line display. I did not try connecting at 1080i but I would not expect that to be better since the projector would have to downconvert back to 720p for display anyways.

The BDP-S300/301 seems to be getting pretty good firmware upgrades from Sony (haven't tried any yet) but I imagine it would need an HDMI connection to the receiver (or 5.1 analog) in order to get the sound out (ie you can't decode a high-def audio soundtrack and push it across coax/optical as PCM can you ?).

Bottom line : three major benefits :

1. Rather than continuing to buy DVDs I can now buy BDs when the prices are reasonable (which they are sometimes already)

2. Only exceptional DVDs met my "good enough" quality threshold with the projector, while even an average BD is "good enough"

3. Image quality seems to be slightly improved by having the player upconvert rather than the projector, but I imagine that the new Toshiba XD DVD player (or an Oppo 981) might be even better.

Anyways, I'm happy.