Ok, so the big thing at CEDIA this year was 1080p displays. Everyone was showing. They all looked great. I salivated, I coveted, I though about killing someone to steal a display. But the reality is, I have a very nice 1280 x 720 3Chip projector from Digital Projection and I am not going to be able to sell it for anywhere close to what I paid for it, so I am going to make the best of it. I run a constant height set-up (16 foot wide, 2.35 screen) and right now, I just zoom out to fill the screen for 2.35 films. Since this is going to be my solution for the forseeable future, I am adding an ISCO III so I can improve my image on Scope films. My question is one of scalers (obviously this IS the scaler forum). In your wise, and I am sure, quite varied opinions, what scalers out recently do a GREAT job of deinterlacing 1080i to 1080p then scaling to 720p? I know there are a TON of options out there and I just want to know what others are doing. I have tested the Dragonfly and have investigated all the usual suspects, Lumagen, DVDO, Runco... Thanks and have a great weekend! :D

I wanted to add, YES I used the search function. I just wanted to start a thread where some healthy debating could go on and hopefully make a decision ;)

I had a similar situation. I have a Sim2 C3X (720p) which gives a fantastic picture. I also have a cinemascope screen (54x127) using a Prismasonic H1200 HE lens. I was very happy until I bought a HD-DVD player which exposed the shortcomings of the deinterlacer/scaler of the C3X. My solution was to buy a DVDO VP50. It totally solved the HD-DVD issue I had. It also seems to have improved my Dish HDTV as well as my HTPC material, although these are subjective since I don't have an easy way to compare the image with and without the VP50.

I was going to buy a Crystalio II or the VP50. I bought the VP50 because of their trade in policy which allowed me some credit for an older Vidikron unit I had. I'm sure the Crystalio II (and others) can also address your issues, but the only one I've used is the VP50.

The DVDO VP50 will be an excellent choice to deinterlace 1080i and perform full aspect ratio control for 2.35:1 constant-height.

You're projecting a 16 foot wide screen at 720p without an anamorphic lens now? How bright is your projector and far back do you sit?

Hi Josh. The projector I use is a beast. In it's day (it's only 3 years old) it was considered high-end. (Digital Projection Highlite Gold) Brightness has never been an issue but the image is not as smooth as it could be when going from 16:9 to 2.35 obviously because I lose some brightness and the pixels become bigger. I sit about 25 feet back. You can see pics at the Constant Height picture thread Alan created.

I have been looking at VP50 and am really leaning that direction. Thanks for the input guys.

In your wise, and I am sure, quite varied opinions, what scalers out recently do a GREAT job of deinterlacing 1080i to 1080p then scaling to 720p? The Realta-based Vantage HD offers fantastic performance n this mode. The film-based 480i deinterlacing is not as good, though. I thought that the Vantage's HD performace was better than the Gennum unit I evaluated, but I haven't seen the VP50 yet.

Does the vantage do 48Hz cadence locked output? As far as I know of the 'new' batch of precssors only the VP50 is currently supporting this (which is annoying as I own a CII !)....

All good posts so far guys. Anyone care to add anything?

**shrugs** I've been quite pleased with my Lumagen VisionHDP box. It makes HDTV and DVDs look fantastic with my three-chip 720p DLP InFocus ScreenPlay 333. I keep hearing people say that the VisionHDP isn't so great at 1080i processing, but it sure looks good to me.

Scott u are right.

I have the KDS HD Leeza because it does a great job with SD upscaling as well as a great 720p conversion. And it will do reverse telecine when i get my Mitsu 5000 next spring.

The beauty of getting the Lumagen HD Pro or KDS Leeza is that you are getting a finely tuned machine for 1/4 MSRP. I paid exactly that on a used Leeza. Oh and KDS support rocks, not that they answer always, but when they do after 2-3 calls, you will have a knowledgeable character to chat with.

I also game, and for the love of God, the video cards may claim HD, but they are eons behind in implementation, so the VGA from my Nvidia 7900GTX goes the PJ directly for my Me-109G6A/S weekend bomber hunting Teamspeak assisted raids over Normandy and North Africa, nothing like a good wolfpack of likeminded trigger happy 3D freaks:) And it is a 768i optimized OpenGL game (the only OpenGL game i guess).

Personally, good improvement with HD (HDDVD and DishHD), a huge step forward in SD upconversion, be it component or SDI. I throw a striclty HDMI fed (from Leeza) Sanyo PLV-Z3 on a Carada Brilliant White 110 in diag. Hehe, on another positive note, got the SDI Panny player thrown in no extra charge modded by KDS.

Happy hunting, read classifieds here and Videogon regularly, you will have yours within weeks.

Tip, if you end up with either one, there is a wealth of information in the archives. You can find these by scrolling to the bottom of the forum sections.

IMHO no one who paid $1500 for their PJ should pay more for the processor.

I haven't look alot into Key Digital. Sounds like that could be a viable option.

i have a 720p projector and could really use a good image processor. with my hd cable feed from the SA8300HD I get a lot of jaggies and other annoyances when watching hdtv. for movies i use an HTPC, which i've learned to hate. (but the htpc does vertical stretch on movies for my CIH setup)

i really don't want to pay for a 1080p processor when all i need is 720p output for the next few years. i ended up getting the key digital hdmi 4x1 from digital connection they have on closeout. $500 and at the very least it'll let me stretch cable and dvds. hopefully its image processing will be better than my sony hs60.

We too have the 333 three chipper and a Vantage HD and a really big screen.

As far as I'm concerned standard def sucks big time and the Vantage makes it look no better whatsoever than our Dish box.

Where the Vantage shines is taking 1080i and putting it out at 720p.

We still giggle and gasp at how awesome it is.

Obviously Dish shafts us by over compressing the signal so you still get macro blocking in some scenes. Poop.

Hook it up to an HD-DVD and OMFG. Fanfreakingtastic.

Given the choice between the new low-light 1080p, low cost, high contrast pj's -- well, I would take one if I had a bat cave. I don't. Thus, we will be sticking with our 720p light cannon until there is a 1080p light cannon under $10K.

Thus, my suggestion to you is to get a processor and stick with your present unit.

After you can get HDMI 1.3 and all it offers from source to sound to processor to projector, and 1080p projectors with high lumens for under $10K -- then, and only then, will I feel the need to upgrade from my 720p set up.

I know 1080p is about double the pixels, but HD source through a good processed 720p system is truly, no rose coloured lenses here, awesome.

Keep in mind, we get all the HD channels Dish offers and they come in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and we have an HD-DVD player and unlimited HD-DVD rentals via Net-Flix so we have a lot of HD content.

If I were stuck with standard def I wouldn't be singing the praises of 720p and or the Vantage -- but I'm not sure 1080p would make it look better anyway.

Good luck.

P.S., obviously if you are fantastically wealthy and have money to burn, buy now, why wait? If you, however, are well off but don't light your cigars with C-Notes, consider waiting as I suggested above.

Let us know what you decide.