Ah I did not realize it was the Macrovision bit. That would explain why some intros, trailers, etc. (presumably not protected by Macrovision), play at 1080i, then the player switches to 480p once the feature starts. It also explains why discs I have authored play at 1080i. Now if I could...
Right, this is not unusual. If it has copy protection (most SD-DVD titles do) it can not be upconverted via component. If you make a copy of the disc first and remove copy protection, however, it can upconvert. - Steve