Yojimbo:
Welcome to AVSforum. My experience concerning your question is with a Sony 34xbr800 34" widescreen HDTV and a Samsung DVD 709 interlaced dvd player.
The HDTV converts an interlaced signal from the dvd player from 480i to 480p. If you have a "progressive scan" dvd player then you take the original 480i dvd signal and convert it digitally inside the dvd player from 480i to 480p. Then you send that 480p to your HDTV. The better picture quality (pq) will usually depend on which unit has the better de-interlacer, the HDTV or the dvd player?
The way I understand it, if the de-interlacers are the same quality then then usually the dvd player will produce a better pq because there will be less need for digital to analog conversions that introduce noise. That is one reason that DVI ports may be very attractive because then it is all digital.
So, the point of getting a progressive scan dvd player is to get a better pq than you can get with a HDTV alone. Other threads have reported the improved quality as subtle, obvious with certain dvds, or nonexistent. I suspect that much of that may depend on the size of the display and the viewing distance and knowing what to look for.
Here is a link to a DVD player benchmark where this is discussed much more eloquently and comprehensively than in my brief comments:
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...on-9-2000.html
Good luck.
Rick
Welcome to AVSforum. My experience concerning your question is with a Sony 34xbr800 34" widescreen HDTV and a Samsung DVD 709 interlaced dvd player.
The HDTV converts an interlaced signal from the dvd player from 480i to 480p. If you have a "progressive scan" dvd player then you take the original 480i dvd signal and convert it digitally inside the dvd player from 480i to 480p. Then you send that 480p to your HDTV. The better picture quality (pq) will usually depend on which unit has the better de-interlacer, the HDTV or the dvd player?
The way I understand it, if the de-interlacers are the same quality then then usually the dvd player will produce a better pq because there will be less need for digital to analog conversions that introduce noise. That is one reason that DVI ports may be very attractive because then it is all digital.
So, the point of getting a progressive scan dvd player is to get a better pq than you can get with a HDTV alone. Other threads have reported the improved quality as subtle, obvious with certain dvds, or nonexistent. I suspect that much of that may depend on the size of the display and the viewing distance and knowing what to look for.
Here is a link to a DVD player benchmark where this is discussed much more eloquently and comprehensively than in my brief comments:
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...on-9-2000.html
Good luck.
Rick
