Upconvert DVD player to 1080p HDTV - best source rez?

[polkatese]

I am tweaking my system, and trying to get the most detailed (duh, obviously) results out of my Oppo 970HD, for standard DVD movies.

Here is what I found so far (as it relates the resolution format out of Oppo). Note that I have the hack installed, so it allows me to have 1080i resolution out of Component video, to a 1080p Sony HDTV.

480i = Picture is clean, softer
480p = Picture is clean, coarse, clean details.
1080i = Picture is softer, picture proportion seem to be off.

conclusion: best resolution out of the Oppo is 480p, with my 1080p HDTV.

Question: if most of HDTV available today are 1080p (which imply, by default, will upconvert any source to 1080p, then what is the benefit of having a 1080p DVD players? The only upconverting it need is from 480i to 480p, solely based on my test results?

Anyone care to educate me?

[rskarvan]

I have found that progressive scan (p) is superior to interlaced scan (i).

[Lasareath]

I read someplace that the OPPO 980H is better at upconverting.

[malikarshad]

I both 980H solely for the purpose of its 480i o/p over HDMI. I had 981HD before but that did not o/p raw 480i over HDMI.
I use the built-in Reon scaler in my pre/pro and have been very happy with its upscaling feature.

[polkatese]

thereinlies my confusion. If you have a basic DVD player that can do 480i to 480p upconvert, and then you have any other processors/pre or a 1080p HDTV that can upconvert to 1080p from 480p, then why one would need a DVD player that can upconvert beyond 480p?

[jakelm]

Because most Tv's do a better job converting 1080i to 1080p. Rather than 480p to 1080p.

[mantis]

I have yet to see any standard DVD look better upcomverted past 480p and look better. Think of the limitations of DVD and there is your answer .
try looking at standard cable or DSS ,not even the very best tv or scalers make it any better.

[polkatese]

Well, it's interesting to see that answers seem to be it depends on what your individual experience dictates (I supposed, that's what make this hobby exciting).

Dan, I have to say, with 480p output from my Oppo, it looks closer to HD-DVD quality. Facial expression and texture are apparent and even some blotch make-ups are very visible (i.e. I was watching Primal Fear with Richard Gere, I think from late 90s).

DirecTV HD resolution, in general, is very good, with some occasional pixelation due to the heavy compression hiccups.

[anonymouse]

The conversion basically uses math to guess where to place pixels to create the higher resolution. My Samsung DVD player has Faroudja upconverting processing and does a far better job than my Philips TV. Some TV's use the Faroudja algorithm as well, and would be equivalent. It all depends on how much the manufacturer invested in the conversion processor.

[mantis]

Well, it's interesting to see that answers seem to be it depends on what your individual experience dictates (I supposed, that's what make this hobby exciting).

Dan, I have to say, with 480p output from my Oppo, it looks closer to HD-DVD quality. Facial expression and texture are apparent and even some blotch make-ups are very visible (i.e. I was watching Primal Fear with Richard Gere, I think from late 90s).

DirecTV HD resolution, in general, is very good, with some occasional pixelation due to the heavy compression hiccups.

Yes,
It's when you go past 480p is when I see blurry skin, unnatural looking picture.It's like over processed video. I have Installed all the Promise dvd players over the years and certain ones still look more film like.

Pioneer Elite players over the years and Sony es have done just so. I recently reconnected a Sony es 900es and it's video quality is so much better and natural looking then most newer player trying to do what it did. It was in 480p I felt it looked it's best.Even 480i looked very film like. I like that.

I'm not a fan of any newer Dvd player except the sony es and Pioneer Elites lines. Even them I feel the older players do a better job.

Also certain players looked superior on certain tv's. The video matching with component video was awesome.

I am however a huge fan of both HD DVD and Blue Ray. Nothing I have seen looks better then them setup correclty on the right display.

Dan