Is DVD the only format upscales?

[marioval]

If I extract a DVD to MPG using VOB2MPG and burn it to a disc (as a data disc), will my PS3 upscale it like it would a normal DVD? Thanks

[yoda313]

Yes - it also upconverts divx/xvid. Though obviously if its heavily compressed it won't really help - the blocking will still be there if its over compressed and blocky to begin with.

edit - correction - I can't say 100% that a vob or mpg will be upconverted as I haven't personally tried that on my ps3. But I've played divx and xvid and they look very very good on the ps3. So long as they aren't too compressed to begin with they should look similar to a upconverted dvd.

[jman98]

Upscaling is really a function of 2 things.
1) The playback device MAY (depends on various things) upscale all video output if set to do so.
2) Any HDTV will naturally upscale any input video it receives that is below the native resolution of the TV.

No offense, but consumers are pretty deluded about the value of upscaling and given #2 in my list, honestly it doesn't really matter all that much whether #1 is true for you or not. But with a PS3 I would guess that it would upscale.

[jagabo]

As other have pointed out, if your player doesn't upscale your TV will. Even if your player upscales your TV may upscale or downscale again. So the question becomes which device scales better and what type of cables you use -- because the cables determine what type and quality of data is passed from the player to the TV. It's generally difficult to predict what combination will work best beyond a few simple cases.

Generally: Stay away from composite and s-video cables. HDMI is best. Component video can be good (HD component) or bad (SD component). A US$2000 HDTV is likely to have a better upscaler than a US$35 DVD player.

[yoda313]

A US$2000 HDTV is likely to have a better upscaler than a US$35 DVD

I can say with certainty that a ps3 is a better dvd player than any 35.00 dvd player you could get. The original poster is inquiring about a ps3

[jagabo]

I was giving him general guidance. If his PS3 is connected to his TV with a composite cable the PS3 won't be upscaling anything.

[yoda313]

@jagabo - yes the cabling is very important. My response was mainly in regards to the technology inside the ps3. I guess we're saying the same thing just from a different side.

[jagabo]

I was really replying to jman98's post wherein he implies it doesn't matter if the player upscales because the TV will upscale if fed a lower resolution. Depending on the cabling and the quality of the upscalers there can be a significant difference.

For the OP: upscaling is just a fancy name for resizing the image to fit the display. There is no "perfect" way to upscale and some devices do it better than others.

[marioval]

Yes I do have my PS3 connected to my 40" LCD with a HDMI. The mpg looked just as good to me as the DVD did so I'm all set with this although I am now having issues with the sound but i'll start another thread for that problem.