[tnburban]

I'm looking for a sub $400 receiver.


Standby pass through is a must have. Other than that the biggest thing I want is the ability to take composite and component in and upscale them through the HDMI or component out to 720p or 1080i. I do not own a 1080p TV as I am perfectly content with my 720p 50" Sony that I view from 8-10 feet away. Is that even possible? Can they upscale to only 720p or 1080i? I have been looking for a receiver for about 2 weeks and cannot decipher the specs enough to know if it would work. all the specs talk about how they upscale to 1080p.


Don't need internet connectivity, multi-room setups or anything other than watching movies/tv and video games. Speakers will be a JBL SCS300C 7.1 system.


refurbished is fine, as long as it's from a reputable dealer that folks on here have used and found success with. I found some decent deals on accessories4less for Onkyo products, SR608 for $299 refurbished, but unsure if it will do what I need it to do.


thanks!!!!

 

[MichaelJHuman]

You would often have the option to scale to a 720. But you need to ensure they can scale composite. You might need to download manuals to confirm.

 

[phantom52]

If they upscale to 1080p they will certainly do 1080i.

 

[RoboRay]

The best scaler for an entry-level receiver will generally be the one that's built into the TV. It's already scaling whatever video resolution you send it to the display panel's native resolution (720p, I guess, in this case). If you are unhappy with the quality of the TV's internal scaler, you probably aren't going to be any happier with a entry-level receiver's scaler.

 

[andrew c]

Is standby passthrough and analog upconversion your only requirements? Do you need surround sound? 5.1? 7.1? Do you need the receiver to pass through component/composite when in standby?


I know the Denon 591/1611 does the first two, but I'm not sure of the last. The Onkyo SR608/RC270 that you mentioned also does this. It does not have "Component Video Upconversion", which I'm pretty sure means all it can do is 720p for component video, nothing higher (higher models can do 1080i/p), but again it can only "pass thru" HDMI while in standby. I think it takes too much processing energy to convert analog to digital, so that no receiver will be able to do that while in standby (but I'm not sure if that is what you were looking for). The lower Pioneers don't have standby pass through, so you can probably write those off your list. I'm not sure about Yamaha offerings.


Maybe if you tell us what components you want to plug it, and what you want to accomplish, we could help further.

 

[MichaelJHuman]



Quote:
Originally Posted by RoboRay /forum/post/19515368


The best scaler for an entry-level receiver will generally be the one that's built into the TV. It's already scaling whatever video resolution you send it to the display panel's native resolution (720p, I guess, in this case). If you are unhappy with the quality of the TV's internal scaler, you probably aren't going to be any happier with a entry-level receiver's scaler.

I don't think he just wants scaling. He wants conversion from composite to HDMI.

 

[afrogt]



Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelJHuman /forum/post/19515541


I don't think he just wants scaling. He wants conversion from composite to HDMI.

Even the Denon 591 or 1611 can convert composite to HDMI. Plus they have standby pass thru.


If you want the receiver to do some scaling too get the 791/1911 but your TV might do a better job of it.

 

[RoboRay]



Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelJHuman /forum/post/19515541


I don't think he just wants scaling. He wants conversion from composite to HDMI.

Yeah, but he also said he wants it come out of the receiver at 720p or 1080i.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tnburban /forum/post/19514739


Other than that the biggest thing I want is the ability to take composite and component in and upscale them through the HDMI or component out to 720p or 1080i.

I haven't looked at specifics on entry-level receivers lately, but I would expect that transcoding analog video inputs to HDMI has gotten fairly common, whether they scale the video or not.


Of course, with the industry's insistance on constantly using the vague, undefined and often misleading term "upconversion" in their product literature, it's kind of hard to be sure exactly what they offer.

 

[tnburban]

thanks for all the help, I'm just not as well versed in how everything works as most of you are.

basically what I'M trying to do is set up my "man cave" in the basement where me and the kids can watch movies, play video games, etc.


What I'll have hooked up:


1. Wii (component)

2. Xbox (HDMI)

3. Sega Genesis (composite of course - the original, still a blast!)

4. Good old VCR (composite)

5. Original Nintendo (again, composite, some of the games are just too classic to pass up)

6. Blu Ray player (has component or HDMI)

7. HD Direct TV (component or HDMI)


Have speakers set in a 7.1 configuration, only using 5.1 right now with a 10+ year old Onkyo receiver.



The problem is that I don't have enough inputs for the TV, I have one HDMI in and two component ins, hence the thought of using a receiver as a switch. The Onkyo 608 images show component, composite and HDMI ins and outs, but I can't figure out if you can have a composite in, and have the out be HDMI....and if there is even any benefit to it.

 

[winston9332]



Quote:
Originally Posted by tnburban /forum/post/19514739


I'm looking for a sub $400 receiver.


Standby pass through is a must have. Other than that the biggest thing I want is the ability to take composite and component in and upscale them through the HDMI or component out to 720p or 1080i. I do not own a 1080p TV as I am perfectly content with my 720p 50" Sony that I view from 8-10 feet away. Is that even possible? Can they upscale to only 720p or 1080i? I have been looking for a receiver for about 2 weeks and cannot decipher the specs enough to know if it would work. all the specs talk about how they upscale to 1080p.


Don't need internet connectivity, multi-room setups or anything other than watching movies/tv and video games. Speakers will be a JBL SCS300C 7.1 system.


refurbished is fine, as long as it's from a reputable dealer that folks on here have used and found success with. I found some decent deals on accessories4less for Onkyo products, SR608 for $299 refurbished, but unsure if it will do what I need it to do.


thanks!!!!

Your display might be just as good, but then you lose the per input adjustment if you're relying on a single hdmi cable from the receiver to the display. Keep in mind the principal benfits of the scaler are directly proportionate to the size of the display and your need (deinterlacing versus noise reduction from compression, etc).


if you can swing it, the best video processor at the moment sub $500 is the marvell qdeo in the Pioneer VSX-1120. I would rank the ABT-2015 in the Denon AVR2311 and 891 as second (the ABT 2010 chip in the 2310 and 890 are nearly dentical). The lower spec'd ABT chips in the Pioneer VSX-1020 and Denon AVR1911 and 791 are also good options. Farjouda in the Harman Kardons and Onkyos are not as strong and most tvs are better.

 

[andrew c]

The Denons only have 1 Component video in (3 composite). The Onkyo has 2 Component video ins (and 5 composite). You'd be able to hook up everything with either receiver if you use HDMI for those that have it, but no room for expansion with the Denons. If you want to go 7.1, that eliminates the Denon 591. Just to be clear, you don't want analog standby passthrough over HDMI, do you?


With any of these receivers, you hook up all the inputs to the receiver, and then have a single HDMI cable running to your TV and all the video will go to your cable over that one cable based on what input you select (and all the sound will go to your speakers, unless you have it set to pass audio to your TV speakers).