OK, I recently got a Centersage cs2 scaler which I'm trying to figure out how to connect to my system.

Currently I have a combination of SD and HDTV sources, all which are feed into my HDTV stereo reciever (Sony 5300es) - the reciever then feeds, via hdmi out, into my CRT projector (NEC XG75) at upconverted 1080I (for all analog sources) or the direct/same resolution for hdmi sources (it does not scale hdmi sources). The reciever can output 1080P, though only at 24hz and the CRT does not like that so I bought the CS2 to change to possible 1080P@48 or some other custom resolution optimal for my projector (such as 1920x800P@72 like other crt owners are recommending).

This is what I'm strugglin with. Where should I feed the CS2 within my system setup. I want to feed the CS2 through my receiver hdmi/dvi output and then feed the projector through the CS2 hdmi/dvi output. However, the cs2 dvi/hdmi input can only accept 720P at the highest - thus if I feed a BluRay 1080P movie into the receiver and then feed from hdmi out on reciever to dvi in on scaler, the scaler will be screwed since the 5300es will send the same resolution out (1080p) the hdmi and since the scaler hdmi input is limited to 720P, then the 1080P will not be accepted by the scaler. Thus if I truly had a perfect custom resolution in my scaler (ie. 1920x800P@72) and had a HD source (ie. bluray), I would have to feed it into the scaler at 720P and then use the scaler to bring it to 800P (as per the custom resolution in my example) - would this not be butchering a perfectly good 1080P movie and making the scaler 'guess' on how to bring it back to a near 1080P resolution? In another words, would this not be similar to starting with a native 720P movie and then upconverting, or would the 720P in this case be much better being that it started as a 1080P movie?

So to summarize my question, if you wanted to use a scasler to scale ALL (both SD and HD content, even 1080P HD content) inputs into a custom 1080P'ish resolution, how do most of you do that since I assume most scalers have limits on dvi/hdmi input resolutions. Or do most scalers not limit the hdmi/dvi input resolution?

Thanks

The latter. Most can take up to 1080p/60.

Choddo, thanks for the reply. I've done a ton of reading (google) on my Centerstage CS2 and now realize it is this piece of shat that limits the dvi input resolution. As you said, most scalers with DVI in allow res up to 1080P to be input, but the CS2 limits it to 720P. How stupid for the engineers to do that - why even bother having a dvi input with such low allowable input (other than to trick a lot of consumers into buying it).

Anyway, now that I know the CS2 limits dvi input to 720P, what would you folks suggest I do if I have a true 1080P source (ie. bluray movie) but want to feed a custom resolution (say 1920x800@72) into my display? My only option is to set my bluray player to "downscale" the output to 720P (I do have that option) and then feed the 720P into my CS2 and then output the custom res from CS2 to display.

My question with the above is: what exactly does scaling do to an original 1080P movie (or any format for that purpose). In another words, if a 1080P is scaled to 720P, does it truly loose all those extra dots of resolution OR does the scaler keep the dots but crams then closer together to fit into the new resolution? If a 1080P movie was scaled to 720P then then feed into another scaler which re-scales it to 1080P, would the output be the same quality as the original 1080P format OR would the outcome be no different / better than if you started with a 720P movie and upscaled to 1080P?

Thanks

Choddo, thanks for the reply. I've done a ton of reading (google) on my Centerstage CS2 and now realize it is this piece of shat that limits the dvi input resolution. As you said, most scalers with DVI in allow res up to 1080P to be input, but the CS2 limits it to 720P. How stupid for the engineers to do that - why even bother having a dvi input with such low allowable input (other than to trick a lot of consumers into buying it).

Anyway, now that I know the CS2 limits dvi input to 720P, what would you folks suggest I do if I have a true 1080P source (ie. bluray movie) but want to feed a custom resolution (say 1920x800@72) into my display? My only option is to set my bluray player to "downscale" the output to 720P (I do have that option) and then feed the 720P into my CS2 and then output the custom res from CS2 to display.

My question with the above is: what exactly does scaling do to an original 1080P movie (or any format for that purpose). In another words, if a 1080P is scaled to 720P, does it truly loose all those extra dots of resolution OR does the scaler keep the dots but crams then closer together to fit into the new resolution? If a 1080P movie was scaled to 720P then then feed into another scaler which re-scales it to 1080P, would the output be the same quality as the original 1080P format OR would the outcome be no different / better than if you started with a 720P movie and upscaled to 1080P?

Thanks

In the digital world, the "resolution" and "the dots" are the same thing. One defines the other. The smallest unit you can describe is a single pixel. You have 1920x1080 of those in a 1080p image and only 1280x720 in a 720p image.

So you lose detail if you scale down to 720p

I would send 1080i to the CS2, i think it will alow this input, i would also not use the AV reciever as a switcher send all video to the CS2 and only use the AV reciever for audio. this way it will be easier to set up custom video resolution out puts to your NEC, and set up separate blocks in the PJ for each resolution you use, instead of sending one res to the NEC, some sources look better at a multiple of their native resolution. i am sure you can out put custom resolutions from the center stage. So for 2.4 blu ray use 1920x800p put of the cs2 for sd dvd use 720p or 960p(480ix2). I am not faliliar with the CS2 but i bet it has some more flexability that you think.

Athanasios

I still do not trust the so called methods of "shooting/producing" a hi def disk...(Then again I have been described to be a purist in the tech industry!) there are simply too many ways of getting to project a so called hi definition picture onto a screen...some methods better than others! (not to mention source material quality and all the other stuff that is enough to drive an engineer mad!)

I still have a CS2 for the sdi player that stopped working, although i have never tried the 1080p that is on their site, I must say for the price I got it for it does an admirable job of feeding it 480i from decent sdi modded player and outputting it say 960p to the marquee...(1080i isnt to shabby either from a stb!!!)

Bascially what I am saying is do not get stuck on the specs and marketing hypes! (I know I m gonna catch some flak for this one!!!)

Best of luck in your quest! but if it gets to the point that your wife starts sending your dinner all messed up to your table....slow down!!! hehe

Martin