Reply #15: Scaling and upconverting aren't the same thing. You're a little off. [View All]

[Xithras]

You might be right if you're referring to some of the first gen upconverters, but a device with a Faroudja or a competing quality upconverter will do more than simply stretch to the screen res. Upscalers cannot match HD quality because they can't invent information that isn't there, but they can extrapolate new lines based on data in the surrounding lines and surrounding frames. A 480i or 540p TV signal DOES contain all of the visual information found in a 1080P signal, it's just not rendered in a single frame. Think about it...if you pan an SD camera past a stationary object, all of the details in the object will be captured on at least one of the lines in one of the frames. HD is superior because it can display full resolution in each frame, but a quality upconverter can calculate motion and pull together information from multiple lines and frames to build an image that IS higher quality than the source SD or ED signal. It's still not HD, but it looks very good.

And, FWIW, I happen to own Planet Earth on DVD, and I watched the original broadcast in HD. There was a perceptible quality loss to me since I'd seen the HD version first, but people who watch the upconverted version in my home are still blown away by the quality of the picture. It's not as good as true HD, but it's still an incredible image and it's visually superior to standard DVD.

Of course, the TV has a lot to do with it too. If you're sitting 6 feet from a 60" 1080P plasma, anything that isn't Blu-Ray is gonna look like shite. I have a 42" 720P plasma (which according to the numbers is the most commonly sold plasma size and resolution), so the increased fidelity of a 1080P signal is lost in my set anyway. When I compare, I'm comparing the original 480/540 picture to an upsampled 720P picture, and the difference is huge. At 1080P with a larger screen, I can see how it might not look so pretty.

Then again, if you can afford a 60" 1080P plasma, you can afford to waste the money on a low end HD-DVD and Blu-Ray player.