Any chance of HD upconversion?

[TimmyJ]

I don't know all that much about HD upconverters except that they allow a signal to remain digital and that they result in an enhanced picture. Sony are clearly very HD oriented with 1080p output, HDMI connection, Blu-Ray etc. and I've heard that when an SD signal has gone to an HD television it can result in some problems (I don't know how true this is) , a way to cure this would be to convert the SD content from games and DVD's to HD, something that would also result in a far better viewing/playing experience.

I'm pretty sure that it would be possible on a technical level, but would it be worth it? I know that I'd like to see my current DVD's and games in psuedo-HD, but would everyone? And would it be too costly and time-consuming for Sony?

[Nerve-Damage]

If you’re HDTV native resolution is 720p or 1080p it should contain its own video scaling system or up-conversion system. Meaning if your DVD source (or any other video source) will be scaled to the TV native resolution; no matter what the source material resolution is.

Will a 480p DVD look better at a 720p or 1080p up-scaled resolution?

Not really!!

Sometimes conversion systems when scaling non-HD material to the HDTV native resolution can exaggerate certain things (grainy pixels, flickering, ECT) that might not have been so recognizable in its original format resolution. However, sometimes the upscale material looks slightly crisper or brighter than usual; especially compared to HDTV that doesn’t have scaling capabilities.

However there are expensive "Line Doublers" equipment that can help out with lower resolution material, by improving the scanlines that make up the picture and also improving imaging and color accuracy. Making it into a sort of pseudo HD material, far better than what your HDTV scalar system will ever do.

Anyhow, whatever your HDTV native resolution is, it should scale the source material too it.

HDTV Native Resolution:
* Native Resolution of 720p: will upscale 480p and downscale 1080i material to 1280x720p resolution.
* Native Resolution of 1080i: will upscale 480p and 720p material to 1920x1080i resolution.
* Native Resolution of 1080p: will upscale 480p, 720p, and 1080i material to 1920x1080p resolution.

Note 1: There’s some HDTV that will accept a 1080p signal even if the native resolution is lower. But the rules still applies too it (scaled back to the TVs native resolution).

Note 2: Also there’s some HDTV (without scaling capabilities) that will just run the source material at its common resolution or will not except it all. Actually the most common HDTV around!!

Example (without scaling capabilities):
* HDTV with a 480p and 1080i scanline system: Will not accept a 720p signal and it will not upscale 480p material to 1080i resolution. Only 1080i material or signal can access the higher resolution setting.