This might be a dumb question....

Why would I see better video quality from a $ 180 Oppo DVD player over a $1500 Key Digital KD-VPH2 scaler/switcher?

I'm trying to run component (480 I or P) from my DVD changer through the KD-VPH2 to process this for my 1080P native projector. The VPH2 can scale /deinterlace to 1080P. The VPH2 is fed component and outputs 1080P over HDMI. The results from the DVD player is horrible. Very blotchy, dark areas, ton of mosquito noise...

When the projector is fed a signal from my upconverting Oppo, bypassing the processor, over HDMI... nice, smooth picture...

So, is scaling and upconverting the same thing or are they entirely independent attributes?

Well your DVD changer might not be giving the KD scaler a very good image in the first place.

Scaling and upconverting are basically the same thing.

The OPPO is a good upscaler and might have a better scaler than the KD. I don't know what that unit uses for processing.

The weak link may be your DVD changer output.

Now

I was able to contact Key Digital's Technical Support. My "poor" upscaling was corrected by installing an updated firmware update 2.15...

Picture quality is now on-par or improved over the Oppo and the edge enhancement feature really helped "solidify" SD Satellite picture quality ...

I'm glad to hear that a firmware update made such a good change for ya!

Glad that you got it working better. The Oppo is actually quite good, so it can give some video processors a run for their money.