What does difference does upconverting make?

This has been asked many times, so the search function will give you lots of details. In short, it depends -- it depends on the specific equipment used, and which does the better job upscaling, the specific player or the specific display. Those Oppos are well thought of, as long as you don't get macroblocking with your particular display, in which case the 970 would be the better choice. What display do you have? Note that the differences between players are generally subtle, so don't expect a huge difference going to an upscaling player (for a major difference in PQ, you need to go to BD or HD-DVD).

I'm using an Infocus IN72. Yes it's only 480p but it does such a fine job with scaling of HD material I figured I'd try upconverting standard def to see what happens. The other reason for going upconverted is to free up clutter by using HDMI over component. If I'm going to use HDMI I may as well upconvert.



Quote:
Originally Posted by mskeezer /forum/post/0


I'm using an Infocus IN72. Yes it's only 480p but it does such a fine job with scaling of HD material I figured I'd try upconverting standard def to see what happens. The other reason for going upconverted is to free up clutter by using HDMI over component. If I'm going to use HDMI I may as well upconvert.

Click to expand...

I would expect minimal differences on a 480p display. NTSC DVDs are 480i to start with; upscaling then downscaling may give you a "different" picture but I doubt if it will be "better". Quality of deinterlacing is what's important in your case, which is what this test site is all about:
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi


The Oppo 971 and 981 are Faroudja chip players which may enhance macroblocking on DLP. Also, if you search the 981 thread, people were having trouble with HDMI sync on the IN72, although recent posters say it is working ok.


-Bill