Upconverting DVD player VS. PC output at 720p ??????

[Toaster]

So I recently upgraded my aging pioneer TV with a new Mitsubishi 62" DLP HDTV NICE! High definition is amazing. Regular analog TV from my comcast cable looks like complete crap but thats another thread I suppose.

So my DVD's look pretty good, going through component in on my terapin 2600 progressive scan dvd player at 480p. I'm impressed. Plus that little guy plays most formats without any problems, and even my crappy cheap disc play ok.

I read about these upconverting dvd players that will increase video to 720p/1080i and even 1080p .... My TV doesnt support 1080p, but 720p and 1080i are fine. I also have a HOME THEATER PC (HTPC) connected via the 15pin VGA port on the TV... I'm getting full resolution of 1280x720 (720p) from my computer, which is running MS MCE (ms windows media center edition 04)- so its looks nice and is functional.

My question is, would one of these upconverting DVD players actually produce better quality video than my HTPC at 720p? I mean wouldn't my PC be doing the same thing? I play DVD's using either MCE or PowerDVD. But I honestly don't know if the software (MCE/PDVD) actually convert or enhance the video to 720p?

I know the upconverting dvd players all connect via HDMI or DVI, and they claim that's a big improvement over component? I DUNNO... So where does the VGA rate on this totem-pole?

Also, would any of these matter when you play backup dvd's? one's you've run through dvd-shrink, IC8 or other transcoder? Or even re-encoded it with CCE/Tmpenc... Would upconverting video that has already been downsampled be a good idea or produce any noticable video quality enhancement?

Sorry for the long post- but I'm just trying to get a good understanding of what to expect from this TV, and the local sales shops don't have a clue. They only want to sell me the most expensive stuff in stock. And while I love the TV when watching HDTV- Everything else on it is not what I expected already. Regular TV (non-hdtv) looks terrible, almost like streaming a 320x240 res video clip online and trying to watch it full screen... very pixelated.

ANY advice would be appreciated
THANKS IN ADVANCE

[Soopafresh]

In case you don't get the response that you're looking for here, check out
http://www.avsforum.com There are loads of postings that might answer your question.


Look at the FFDSHOW Faq also at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=3653e86e9f5c2483da65e3b7baa6d939&forumid=26

which discusses sharpening output for HDTV and projector displays

[rr6966]

I don't have a HTPC but I do have two upconverting DVD players, the panasonic s97 & Toshiba XS52. I agree with Soopafresh, in that you should check out the AVSForum. My S97 is totally awesome! I think the players will give you a slightly cleaner picture because of the total digital connection via HDMI or DVI. As far as the upconversion goes, this can vary greatly depending on how your television handles the signal. In my case there is a definite improvement but not as large as some people expect. Let's face it, the DVD is not a HD source but 480i. Some DVD's will show more back ground noise, while others (eg. Lord of The Rings) will look awesome, appearing to be close to HD quality. As far HTPC's go, I am a little skeptical of these computers doing as good of job as a dedicated quality video component, my opinion. Here is a link for the S97 if you become interested. I haven't had any problems playing my recorded DVD's, including a couple of DL DVD+r's that I've recorded.

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4010529

[edDV]

This has come up before, see my comments in this post as a background an excuse the rant. The early HDMI DVD players were terrible in the reviews.

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249107&highlight=dvi+dvd+player

In your case, you have a very nice TV with 720p input which is rare. I'd say it's a tossup whether DVD player 720p upconverstion would look better. It all depends on the processing in the DVD player vs the processing in your HDTV. The only way to know is to get one on evaluation.


"I know the upconverting dvd players all connect via HDMI or DVI, and they claim that's a big improvement over component? I DUNNO... So where does the VGA rate on this totem-pole?"

Not a big improvement. Most tests show little or no improvement for 480P. VGA is an earlier technology that sends RGB in analog 480i, 480p, 540p, 720p, 1080i, etc. The TV has to do the RGB to YUV conversion. VGA is the best input for interfacing a computer card but this is much more difficult than you would think. I guess this isn't a problem in your case since you are already connected to VGA.


"Also, would any of these matter when you play backup dvd's? one's you've run through dvd-shrink, IC8 or other transcoder? Or even re-encoded it with CCE/Tmpenc... Would upconverting video that has already been downsampled be a good idea or produce any noticable video quality enhancement? "

DVD copies that have been "shrinked" will look somewhat worse on a nice monitor. This may show up as soft images but mostly as MPeg motion errors.
Upconverting these DVDs could prove an interesting experiment. Common sense would be they will upconvert less well than a raw DVD.

When you play your 720x480 DVD on a computer at 1x size, you will see how small the raster really is. Best to save for a real HD DVD player (HD-DVD or Blu-Ray) and get a real improvement.