Where should I set upscaling?

rsblaski said:

I have two HR20s which run through a Denon 4306 and then into a Mits 73727. All connections are HDMI. I also run a Panasonic DVD recorder into the Denon via component cables and from there to the TV via HDMI.

Obviously, I have to upscale the DVD recorder using the Denon, but the question is whether I should leave the HR20s as native and have the Denon upscale to 1080i or have the HR20s do the upscaling and have the Denon throughput the 1080i signal?

Right now, I am upscaling in the HR20's and having the Denon throughput the 1080 signal.

Would doing it the other way provide any benefits?

Thanks,
Rick

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Where you do your scaling depends on the equipment. I prefer to let my TV do the scaling as the scaler is better qulality than the HR20. My Panasonic TH-58PX600U uses Farjouda processing and the difference is noticable compared to the scaler in the HR20.

Another advantage of doing this is for sports. I don't want or desire everything to be upscaled to 1080i. There are many sites on the net that describe why 720p is better for sports and action movies. Most dedicated sports stations purposely transmit a 720p signal. So, I let my TV scale and I am satisfied with the results.

You appear to be scaling on the HR20, then passthru on the Dennon, then the TV will do its own native scaling. I surmise that this is not the optimal way of doing it, but it really comes down to what looks best to you.

I also have the Denon 4306. I don't believe you have to upscale the DVD recorder in the Denon. I don't use the HDMI connection myself, but the way I read the manual you could set Resolution to "480p/576p" and that would only convert 480i signals and below. It should pass-through higher quality signals without change. You could also simply skip conversion in the Denon and rely on the TV to display whatever signal is passed to it.

I don't know how the Denon does its scaling. Does anyone here? Note that converting an interlace signal to a progressive signal should be done with an algorithm that is able to detect a film 3/2 pulldown. I don't know what the Denon uses in this regard, and don't know how good it is. I do know that Pioneer makes a big deal of its interlace to progressive conversion in its Elite plasma TVs (which I own), and so I use that.

Which brings us to the 1080i vs 720p issue. Theorectically, at least, if you scaled a 720p to 1080i signal and you had a good de-interlacer in the TV, then you could scale everything up to 1080i and rely on the TV to reconstruct full frames without interlacing artifacts.

If someone reading this has some pull with the folks at HDNet, it would be great if they expanded their test signals to include some motion-artifact judging signals. Static signals are all well and fine, but they're not enough.