ive just got a panasonic 720P 50 inch plasma , TH50PX80U . ive asked a few questions about upconverting players here and ive read many many threads here and on a few other forums . ive been told that my TH50PX80U does a great job of upconverting dvd's . my panny (non-upconverting) dvd player/burner only has s-video,component,composite and RF output for video .

my questions .
do i need to send a digital signal to the plasma for its upscaler to work ?
is the only way to send a digital signal to the set is by HDMI ?

im thinking the answer to both is yes

more questions
assuming (i know i know) im correct and im letting the panny do the upconverting would i tell any or much difference between say a Philips DVP5990/Philips DVP5992 vs. say a pioneer 410 or maybe oven a toshiba XDE-500 or oppo 980 ?
can a signal be upconverted twice ? once by the player and again by the tv ?
if i let the tv upconvert what should i have the dvd player set at ? 480i or 480p ?

the oppo may be an unfair comparison but since im not using the upconversion in this scenario (just the plain digital signal) maybe it levels the playing field some . also , can my TH50PX80U do as good a job of upconverting as the oppo or XDE-500 can ?

i live on a tight budget and kinda put off peter to pay paul (paul being CC) to get my tubeless 21'st century boob tube so im on a tight budget for a while . im trying to decide if i need to pay 50 (DVP5990) 100 (pioneer 410) or (gulp!!) 150 (oppo 980 referb or toshiba or toshiba XDE-500) to get a better pic on my panny . not that im complaining , i love it to death !! i just want to try (as best as i can afford) to get the most out of it that i can . i can tell a subtle but definate difference using my fios HD box switching between RGB vs HDMI input on the panny using either 720p or 180i output from the fios box and i sit about 8 feet from it . DVD's dont look bad on it , but they certianly arnt as sharp as fios HD .

thanks for the great forum here BTW ! :)

do i need to send a digital signal to the plasma for its upscaler to work ?


No. All fixed-pixel devices (like your plasma) will take any supported input signal and deinterlace it (if necessary) and scale (if necessary) to the native resolution.

is the only way to send a digital signal to the set is by HDMI ?

HDMI or DVI.

would i tell any or much difference between say a Philips DVP5990/Philips DVP5992 vs. say a pioneer 410 or maybe oven a toshiba XDE-500 or oppo 980 ?


You can see a difference between players. Whether the difference is of the sort than increases your viewing pleasure is a subjective call.

can a signal be upconverted twice ? once by the player and again by the tv ?


Yes. The signal must be scaled by the display if it is not the display's native resolution.

if i let the tv upconvert what should i have the dvd player set at ? 480i or 480p ?

Either. With 480i the display deinterlaces and scales, with 480p the player deinterlaces and the display scales.

DVD's dont look bad on it , but they certianly arnt as sharp as fios HD .

SD-DVD is capable of fine images, but can't compete with a real HD source. And sharpness isn't everything.

What model is your current Panasonic player? Is there a test report for it here: http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi ?

Are you using a calibration disc? I recommend doing that before spending money on new gear. It can make a greater improvement.

-Bill

Either. With 480i the display deinterlaces and scales, with 480p the player deinterlaces and the display scales.

-Bill

Can you send 480i up the HDMI cable. I thought you had to have the player in the 480p mode? But, each day I wake up, I learn something new.

It depends on the player. There is a sticky at the top of this thread devoted to identifying players that send 480i over HDMI.