[SRHookEm]

Here's what I have:


Pioneer 5070 50" Plasma--w/HDMI

Toshiba HD-DVD player--w/HDMI

SA8300HD cable box--w/HDMI

Sony 400 Disc DVD changer--no HDMI


I'm confused about the receiver to add. I read in Sound and Vision about the Sony 5200ES having "scaling" that not many others have. What does that mean? What other receivers have "scaling".


I need to make sure that all my source selections get converted to HDMI. I plan to run one HDMI from the receiver to the plasma. Right now, I let the plasma select the resolution. I send everything in the native resolution and let the TV scale. Is this what I should do? I'm sure my $3K plasma scales (upconverts?) better than the cable box and dvd player.


Please list some comparable HDMI equipped models. If I am confusing terms, please correct me!

 

[turansformer]

Your best bet would be to read through this thread

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=738511

 

[MichaelJHuman]

That thread does not really address video, so I thought I would add some comments.


The term upconversion can refer to either scaling or transcoding. Some receivers have a feature called HDMI upconversion. This indicates that non HDMI sources are converted to HDMI (This is referred to transcoding by some.) DVD players often use the term upconverting to mean they have a scaler. Yes, its confusing.


This feature may be useful to you, because not all cable boxes can be connected through a receiver even if they work perfectly with your display.


As for receiver which feature a scaler, your plasma display also features a scaler which probably does as good a job.