Hi,
I know that scaler technology progresses rather quickly. I recently purchased a new Bravia XBR4 and am considering purchasing the iScan HD+ as a complement to the television. Was wondering, though, if the progress made on scalers has made the internal bravia scaler comparable or better than the iScan HD+'s scaler already? In general, for new televisions, how do their upscalers compare to middle of the line (~$1500 then) upscalers from 2004/2005?

Thanks

I can't say for the newer Sony's but my A2000 was helped greatly from an iSync scaler. There is an old thread about a year old on this. Do you think the TV's picture looks like the grass is moving (I called it "live grass") on HD football games? That drove me crazy, but the iSync took care of that and it upscales everything nicely now to both my TV and projector (dish programming, laserdisc, DVDbox). I'd recommend it if you think the processor in your Sony is lacking in some way. I think Sony saves money by using there own scalers because most people don't know or don't care about perfection or getting most for their money- they just want to hang a flat screen on the wall.

This is UAV mag's description on the SD deinterlacing/scaling performance of XBR4:-

"But the Sony's deinterlacing and scaling performance, with a 480i input, was disappointing. It performed poorly on many of the difficult video processing torture tests on the HQV Benchmark DVD (with the set's CineMotion set to either Auto1 or Auto2). But it did pass the Coliseum flyover test in chapter 12 of Gladiator. Overall, however, the video processing in Sony's own VPL-AW15 LCD projector, reviewed here recently, performed far better. So do many upconverting DVD players."

http://ultimateavmag.com/flatpaneldisplays/907sonyxbr4/index2.html

As an owner of an iscanHD+ and a 46” Sony 1080p set, I would say that you will be wasting money on the HD+. I notice no difference on 720p or 1080i sources and even “muddy” 480i DirecTV does not show a real difference, as the HD+ doesn’t really deal with the DirecTV artifacts. You are correct that “scaler technology progresses rather quickly”; I have a Samsung BD-P1200 Blu-ray player with the HQV Reon Video Processing chip, I find its up converting of std DVD’s superior to the HD+. [at a lot less price of the HD and its + upgrade].

My HD+ is relegated now to my Panny 900 720p projector, for standard TV viewing only.

I’d be interested in hearing from others who have tried the iscan/Bravia setup, rather than magazines and attitude. Unless you actually see, you can be misled.

As the years progress, you are paying more & more, for less and less [today’s $3K processor is tomorrow’s $40.00 chip]. Video processing is an expensive and rapidly changing area—a product isn’t even finished, and a new one appears. So you need to ask yourself, if the VP makes the picture/experience better, is it $3+K better? Lot of folks here do, I question it, but if it is your hobby/obsession, go for it!