Reply #12: Not totally accurate [View All]

[sir_captain]

LCD and Plasma displays always scale. They only display at their native resolutions, whether this be 720p or 1080p. If the display tried to display something at a non-native resolution, it would actually be scaling the image to whatever resolution that is (try setting a computer lcd display to a non-native resolution and you'll see why the tv manufacturers do not allow this.)

As for the value of upsampled images--while this is certainly partially subjective--what you say is not really accurate. You've got a DVD--it's got a 540p image. That's a specific number of pixels, and hence, a specific level of detail. When upsampled well, this can reduce the number of visual artifacts introduced in the scaling process, but it is inherently impossible to improve the quality of the image because it is impossible to add any picture information to the image. This is in contrast to 1080p hi-def source material which has many times the number of pixels and consequently, has a much more detailed image. It's really a pretty simple concept, and I dare say that if you saw, for instance, the new BBC documentary Planet Earth displayed via an upscaled DVD or one of the HD formats, it'd be really obvious which one was which.