My theory?
No.
And don't get me wrong here, I am no expert, this is all just my deductive reasoning, so if you can prove me wrong, by all means do so.
The thing I keep thinking about is how they all must output through HDMI/DVI even though they have Component Video. If they can upscale to higher than 480, then they should also be able to output through Component in that resolution, but they don't. Many people will tell you that HDMI is no better than Component even though manufacturers would have you believe otherwise.
My theory is that these players don't really upscale the DVD, but rather trick the TV into doing less conversion, which at the end of the day is what ****s up the picture quality of DVD on a higher resolution TV.
If the DVD is output through component for 480p, a 720p TV will upconvert that 480 ANALOG signal to 720 and then deinterlace it again. Some may argue with this, but I don't see anyway how a tv can take a deinterlaced signal and upscale it without having to deinterlace it again. If it took in 480i, it would deinterlace it once after the upscale right? That is all it knows to do. It displays one resolution, PROGRESSIVELY.
So, my theory is that these players simply output digitally through HDMI so that the TV does all the converting, and less of it. This is not possible with Component, because there would be another conversion and you would see no difference between 480p Component and the upconversion that they want you to believe is happening (ie, people would return the product). Infact, it might look worse through Component upconversion versus 480p.
This explains why you see countless people complain that they don't see a big difference, while others claim to see a significantly better picture.
The answer is, how good the TV's scaler is, coupled with how good the player is, because even though they don't upscale, a $79 Samsung is not going to have as good a processor as a Denon or Oppo, or whatever.
No.
And don't get me wrong here, I am no expert, this is all just my deductive reasoning, so if you can prove me wrong, by all means do so.
The thing I keep thinking about is how they all must output through HDMI/DVI even though they have Component Video. If they can upscale to higher than 480, then they should also be able to output through Component in that resolution, but they don't. Many people will tell you that HDMI is no better than Component even though manufacturers would have you believe otherwise.
My theory is that these players don't really upscale the DVD, but rather trick the TV into doing less conversion, which at the end of the day is what ****s up the picture quality of DVD on a higher resolution TV.
If the DVD is output through component for 480p, a 720p TV will upconvert that 480 ANALOG signal to 720 and then deinterlace it again. Some may argue with this, but I don't see anyway how a tv can take a deinterlaced signal and upscale it without having to deinterlace it again. If it took in 480i, it would deinterlace it once after the upscale right? That is all it knows to do. It displays one resolution, PROGRESSIVELY.
So, my theory is that these players simply output digitally through HDMI so that the TV does all the converting, and less of it. This is not possible with Component, because there would be another conversion and you would see no difference between 480p Component and the upconversion that they want you to believe is happening (ie, people would return the product). Infact, it might look worse through Component upconversion versus 480p.
This explains why you see countless people complain that they don't see a big difference, while others claim to see a significantly better picture.
The answer is, how good the TV's scaler is, coupled with how good the player is, because even though they don't upscale, a $79 Samsung is not going to have as good a processor as a Denon or Oppo, or whatever.