I have noticed more and more DVD players and recorders advertising upconversion with HDMI output. Does it really make much difference? I read an article in Consumers Report that said an HD TV does just as good a job of upconverting the signal as the DVD player. Also, how would the upconverting do with the material I record or does it work best with commercially produced DVDs? Currently I am using a 42’ Toshiba plasma HD TV connected with both S video and component. Honestly, I can not see the difference between the two different inputs with an analogue signal. So, is the only benefit of the upconversion the HDMI output?

In theory, the DVD player has access to the original digital data and can use it to do a better job of upconversion than the TV, which can only work with the signal after it's been converted to analogue. But in practice, as you've observed, most folks report little or no difference. So in practical terms the most significant difference is the fact that you get to use the HDMI connector. This can be useful if you're trying to build a system based on HDMI, with an HDMI video switch, for example.

Not to disagree with you Sean, BUT, the story I have heard from various people is that the television's upconverter has precise "knowledge and understanding" of the display in the television. It can make intelligent decisions about upconverting, with that knowledge, that an external device, like a DVD player, cannot. This has the practical result that the upconverter built into your television will almost always be superior to the one built into any external device.

As always, your best bet is to try both to see which one works better for you. If your television is older than the DVD player, then advancements might make a difference too. My general thought on this subject is, upconverting is mostly just a gimmick, not a really valuable feature. In my system, the television's upconverter is superior to any DVD player's upconverter I have tried so far.

I believe the best advice is to try various hookups and decide which you prefer. Here is an interesting take on the HDMI - DVI - Component decision:

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/122868.html

To quote from the article "it depends".

I agree with the advice to try each and decide for yourself what looks better. Contrary to Church, in my case, with a Sony A2000, DVD player outputting upconverted 1080i is vastly superior to leaving the DVD output at 480p and letting the TV scale it. It isn't even close. Maybe Sony just sucks at scaling. It may be gimmicky, but it looks really good to me. As for S-Video, versus Component, S-Vid maxes out at 480i. Component can output 720p to your plasma, up to 1080i if your display can handle it.

Now that I think about it, if there were one pat answer that was right in 100% of the cases, there would be no discussion about the issue. Saying "It depends," seems like the right approach, so as I said earlier, test it and use what looks best to you. The right answer isn't really the theoretical, but he experiential. While in theory the DVD player has more knowledge of the source, and the television has more knowledge of the display, only YOU know what looks best to you.

In theory, the DVD player has access to the original digital data and can use it to do a better job of upconversion than the TV, which can only work with the signal after it's been converted to analogue.

Is this true? Can't a TV upconvert a 480I digital stream sent over the hdmi link? (Probably a question more appropriate for another forum - but if anyone knows the answer offhand...)

Yes, a good TV scaler would probably do just as good a job as an upconverting DVD player if sent a digital 480i (or 480p) signal via HDMI. But that's not the real-world case. You're comparing the upconverting DVD player working with the original digital data against the TV working with a resampled analog signal. Theory says that the upconverting DVD player will do better, so there is a reason to buy an upconverting DVD player. In practice the difference will probably be small, but it's not as if the upconverting feature adds a lot to the price.

Is this true? Can't a TV upconvert a 480I digital stream sent over the hdmi link? (Probably a question more appropriate for another forum - but if anyone knows the answer offhand...)

My Panasonic DVD player (S52) will not output video at 480i over HDMI. The "lowest" it will go is 480p.

Thanks for the input. As I thought, it may or may not make a difference. So since I already have a few players and recorders that do not upconvert, I will not rush out to get this new technology.