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Do I actually need a receiver that can upscale to 1080p with this setup?

post #1 of 7
5/23/08 at 8:19am
Thread Starter 
I have a Time Warner Cable HD DVD that outputs either 720p or 1080i via component or HDMI.

I was thinking of getting a Pioneer 1018, 92, or 01 that can UPSCALE to 1080p.

I know they only upscale component video and below and that HDMI is just passed through.

I have a Mitsubishi HC4900 projector that doesn't do scaling to 1080p.

So my idea was this......

1. Hook up my ps3 to the reciever for 1080p and hook up my cable box via component and have the reciever upscale to 1080p and then send everything out to my projector as 1080p.


2. OR would I be better off just hooking up everything via HDMI and just letting HDTV be what it is...720p or 1080i?


The reason I ask is because I obviously don't want to spend more money on an upscaling reciever if I really only need a pass through HDMI receiver.

Would my HDTV look better scaled to 1080p via a PIONEER or would it look better just left as it is and sent via HDMI untouched to my HC4900?
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post #2 of 7
5/23/08 at 8:42am
I believe the native resolution of your projector is 1080p and therefore it must upscale all incoming signals to that resolution for display. It will not display 1080i or 720p signals natively.

If you buy a receiver which does upscaling, you will only see an improvement in image quality if the receiver does that upscaling better than your projector. There is no guarantee that a receiver you purchase will outperform you projector in that area. You'll have to test it how to know for sure. Some receivers are known to have excellent upscaling chips like the Onkyo TX-SR875. Chances are receivers with very high quality scalers (like from Silicon Optix) will outperform the onboard scaler in your projector.

Hope this helps.
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post #3 of 7
5/23/08 at 10:27am
Thread Starter 
that helps a little but how are the scalers in the PIONEER units? That is what I'm looking at...
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post #4 of 7
5/23/08 at 10:29am
Thread Starter 
Also..Mitsubishi-Electric decided to remove the upscaling mechanism in the HC4900 ...

SO does that mean it DOESN'T upscale the image to 1080p???

Doesn't that mean it just shows whatever signal it gets?
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post #5 of 7
5/23/08 at 10:51am
Every display has a native resolution. All signals that have a higher or lower resolution than the display's resolution have to be scaled. If the signal isn't scaled before it arrives at the display's inputs, then the display's scaler takes over. There are better and worse external scalers and deinterlacers than what one gets in a display, but they're all doing the same thing.

Based on a what I see online the HC4900 is a 1080p projector. What makes you think it doesn't scale inputs to 1080p?
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post #6 of 7
5/23/08 at 10:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bgillyjcu View Post

Also..Mitsubishi-Electric decided to remove the upscaling mechanism in the HC4900 ...

SO does that mean it DOESN'T upscale the image to 1080p???

Doesn't that mean it just shows whatever signal it gets?

It must upscale otherwise the image would be smaller when you feed it lower resolutions. That projector, which I believe is LCD based, uses a micro-display with a fixed pixel array to produce the image. Like an LCD flat panel, it can only display images at its native resolution. All other incoming signals are scaled to fit the available pixels. I suspect Mitsubishi used a less powerful scaler in the HC4900, but I'm sure they didn't remove it entirely.

As to whether or not the Pioneer 1018 has a good scaler, I honestly don't know. Chances are that it won't be all that great as most receivers do a poor job with scaling save some at the higher end.
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post #7 of 7
5/23/08 at 11:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bgillyjcu View Post

I have a Time Warner Cable HD DVD that outputs either 720p or 1080i via component or HDMI.

I was thinking of getting a Pioneer 1018, 92, or 01 that can UPSCALE to 1080p.

I know they only upscale component video and below and that HDMI is just passed through.

I have a Mitsubishi HC4900 projector that doesn't do scaling to 1080p.

So my idea was this......

1. Hook up my ps3 to the reciever for 1080p and hook up my cable box via component and have the reciever upscale to 1080p and then send everything out to my projector as 1080p.


2. OR would I be better off just hooking up everything via HDMI and just letting HDTV be what it is...720p or 1080i?


The reason I ask is because I obviously don't want to spend more money on an upscaling reciever if I really only need a pass through HDMI receiver.

Would my HDTV look better scaled to 1080p via a PIONEER or would it look better just left as it is and sent via HDMI untouched to my HC4900?

You may want to verify that the avr you are thinking of can "upconvert" HD level component.

Meaning, even though you are going to connect your TW cable box via component, the avr may not support "upconverting" 720p or 1080i to 1080p.

Some avrs will ONLY "upconvert" 480i component to another HD level (720p, 1080i, 1080p) - so your plan for component cable may not work for HD channels. It would for SD cable broadcasts in 480i.

just stirring the pot...

Erik
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