Upsampling DVD Player?

[hungrych]

I'm thinking of getting one for my HDTV, but I'm confused. What does it actually do when you play a dvd? If the dvd is widescreen will it just resize the actual picture part to fit the screen, keeping the ratio but getting rid of the bars and giving a higher resolution? Or is it someting else?

[grawk]

Doesn't get rid of the bars, those are because of aspect ratio differences. Does increase the resolution from dvd resolution up to 720p, 1080i, or 1080p, depending on the dvd player.

[DigiPete]

It does upsample DVD (480i) to 720p, 1080i or 1080p, but the upsampled material will never look as good as a real HD source.

I would say it gets you about half way between 480i and 1080i in terms of image resolution, which isn't bad really.

[Dusty Chalk]

...the upsampled material will never look as good as a real HD source.

I don't know about that -- a friend of mine showed me the difference between a quality line doubler and true HD, and unless it was Late Night with Jay Leno or the sports desk on ESPN, I could not tell the difference. Films, CGI animation, TV shows like CSI, ER, etc. were indistinguishable.

[909]

I don't know about that -- a friend of mine showed me the difference between a quality line doubler and true HD, and unless it was Late Night with Jay Leno or the sports desk on ESPN, I could not tell the difference. Films, CGI animation, TV shows like CSI, ER, etc. were indistinguishable.

Move a foot or two further back from the HDTV and the Leno/sports desk difference you saw almost certainly becomes indistinguishable as well.

[hungrych]

Doesn't get rid of the bars, those are because of aspect ratio differences. Does increase the resolution from dvd resolution up to 720p, 1080i, or 1080p, depending on the dvd player.

I still don't get it... what I mean is does the image take up any more space on the screen? Or is it just more detailed?

[DigiPete]

More detailed (if your display allows it).