OK I know there's a ton of information on this board about upconverting dvd players but I'm still confused about something. Consumer Reports says that plasma televisions have built in upconverting circuitry and that an upconverting dvd player may not make any improvement. I have a Panasonic 50" plasma (50pz700u) with Panasonic combination vcr/dvd (non-upconverting). I've been thinking of adding an upconverting 1080P dvd player but am wondering if Consumer Reports is right or if I will see a difference. Thanks.

You may or may not see a difference; it depends on how good the video processor in your Panasonic is compared to that in the DVD player.

OK I know there's a ton of information on this board about upconverting dvd players but I'm still confused about something. Consumer Reports says that plasma televisions have built in upconverting circuitry and that an upconverting dvd player may not make any improvement. I have a Panasonic 50" plasma (50pz700u) with Panasonic combination vcr/dvd (non-upconverting). I've been thinking of adding an upconverting 1080P dvd player but am wondering if Consumer Reports is right or if I will see a difference. Thanks.

All fixed-pixel devices deinterlace and scale all supported input signals to their native resolution. The question is: are these functions better performed by the display or in the player?

There is no fixed rule. It depends on the gear and your viewing preferences.

But in general, the differences are subtle. Upconverting players do not get you into a new realm of SD-DVD video quality. You need the new HD discs and players for that: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.

-Bill

All fixed-pixel devices deinterlace and scale all supported input signals to their native resolution. The question is: are these functions better performed by the display or in the player?

There is no fixed rule. It depends on the gear and your viewing preferences.

But in general, the differences are subtle. Upconverting players do not get you into a new realm of SD-DVD video quality. You need the new HD discs and players for that: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.

-Bill

Agreed.
In my experiences , most of the displays i have seen do a far better job than most upscalers , the most expensive ones excluded.

OK I know there's a ton of information on this board about upconverting dvd players but I'm still confused about something. Consumer Reports says that plasma televisions have built in upconverting circuitry and that an upconverting dvd player may not make any improvement. I have a Panasonic 50" plasma (50pz700u) with Panasonic combination vcr/dvd (non-upconverting). I've been thinking of adding an upconverting 1080P dvd player but am wondering if Consumer Reports is right or if I will see a difference. Thanks.

Blue Ray and HD DVD are better, i.e. beyond extremely good that some people cannot tell the differences!

Yes you will see a major difference with upconverting.