Do upscaling players really make a difference?

[Snakebyte1]

Hi...

Does an upscaling DVD player really make a noticeable difference?

I just replaced my 25+ year old TV with a 42" Lcd Projection and I am using my older DVD player. Everything looks great as far as I'm concerned, but I was wondering if a player that upscaled to 720p/1080i would make enough difference to be worth getting.

Thanks
D.

[gshelley61]

Yes, especially with fixed pixel HD displays like LCD, plasma, DLP, LCoS, etc.

Connected through the HDMI or DVI input, the all-digital 720p (or 1080i) scaled image is definitely better than 480i/480p through the analog component YPbPr inputs (in most cases)

Have a look at the Sony DVP-NS75H (DVP-NS71HP in Costco). Great performance for the money.

[Snakebyte1]

Thanks for the feedback...

Funny, but I was looking at the DVP-NS75H and DVPNC85H just yesterday, which is what got me to thinking about all this in the first place!

D.

[Krispy Kritter]

Just keep in mind that although it may look better (varies by dvd player and TV), it is not at all close to HD.

[Veritas]

I may not be a typical example, but just yesterday I replaced one of the DVD players (Philips DVP5140 connected via component inputs) attached to my Sony KD34XBR960N with a Philips DVP5960 connected through the HDMI input.

I then played a couple of the more recent Andre Rieu DVDs I had purchased (the latest one says it is already in high resolution, but that one is on loan to a neighbor). Both my wife and I thought that the DVDs looked good before, but even our aged (70ish) eyes could immediately see a noticeable improvement in picture quality with the upscaling - long shots of immense crowds now reveal discrete people rather than tiny amorphous blobs. And the 2.0 sound seems better as well, but that is probably a function of the HDMI.

To us, the upscaling DVP5960 has turned out to be more than worth the money.

[edDV]

Most of the advantage advantage comes from the digital connection*. DVD resolution by definition is maximum 720x480/576. As displays get better, we are now seeing the full native DVD resolution. Upscaling does not add resolution it just divides the picture into finer pixels.

More important issues for DVD movie picture quality are maintaining a progressive path and inverse telecine for NTSC 480i recordings.

Most movie DVDs are natively progressive and benefit from a progressive path to the display. 1080i is telecined like NTSC and requires a good "cinema" (inverse telecine) processor in the HDTV to restore the progressive frames. Most HDTV sets will get better results from 720p or 480p.

If you record broadcast SD movies with a standalone DVD recorder, those are 480i recordings and film sources will be telecined. If you want to play those out 480p or 720p, the DVD player that you use should have a quality "cinema" inverse telecine capability. This is where DVD player money should be spent as first priority, next DVI/HDMI out, then last upscaling.


* Analog component paths are capable of equal resolution to digital, but the analog parts used in consumer DVD players and many HDTV sets are not of the highest quality.

[edDV]

...

I then played a couple of the more recent Andre Rieu DVDs I had purchased (the latest one says it is already in high resolution, but that one is on loan to a neighbor). Both my wife and I thought that the DVDs looked good before, but even our aged (70ish) eyes could immediately see a noticeable improvement in picture quality with the upscaling - long shots of immense crowds now reveal discrete people rather than tiny amorphous blobs. And the 2.0 sound seems better as well, but that is probably a function of the HDMI.

To us, the upscaling DVP5960 has turned out to be more than worth the money.

Several issues are contributing to the difference.

1. Quality of the DVD Master - Remember back in the old CD days they had three letters to indicate the production path. The first was recording technology, next was processing technology and last was mastering/distribution technology. Early CD's were AAD (i.e. Analog recording, analog processing but digital mastering). Later you had DAD, ADD and then DDD CDs.

The DVD production path is similar. Since the late 80's all high end TV recording has been digital, the difference has been recording and processing resolution. Prior to the late 90's, most acquisition and processing was done to Rec-601: 720x480/576 standards (similar to DVD but uncompressed 10 bit). Think of this as SSS (standard definition recording-processing-mastering).

Starting in the late 90's, film transfers and location event recording started to be done in high definition but most post production was still done at 720x480/576 (HSS). In the last 3-5 years DVD production has begun to be done in high definition in anticipation of HD/BD DVD (HHH). Normal DVD production is moving to HHS and this is causing the downscaled SD DVD quality to rise significantly.

Next level up is Digital Cinema (D) mastering for movies at 4kx2k or 4kx4k. This produces a database that can be accessed as 1080p for HD/BD DVD (DHH) or 720x480/576p for SD DVD (DHS).

2. Quality of the Display - The first wave of "HD Ready" sets were a mixed bag. Actual native resolution ranged from ~960x540 up to about 1440x1080 (high end). The signal processing was very primitive compared to current generation sets and there is still much improvement to be done over the next few years. Native resolutions seem to be settling into 1366x768 (~720p) and 1920x1080 (1080p) classes of displays.

3. Playback Devices - SD DVD players are improving on several fronts. Basic "Theater" or "Cinema" processing (inverse telecine and 480i deinterlacing) has come down to sub $100 DVD players with many premium models below $200. Some models also include selective MPeg4 progressive decoding. Natively progressive displays can benefit greatly from having this technology in the DVD player. The HDTV can be set to 480p or 720p progressive input leaving the DVD player the job of standards decoding. Meanwhile the cable/dbs box is doing the same for live inputs to 720p or 1080i.

HD/BD 1080p DVD (playing HHH DHH) is the next step. It isn't clear it these players will absorb all the universal decoding features of current SD DVD players or if both will be required to play everything.