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Standard Cable TV input--were to upscale?

post #1 of 3
8/11/07 at 12:42pm
Thread Starter 
Hi, currently I have standard cable without a set top box, just coaxial cable input. Currently I don't have an HT system but I'm planning to get one. What's the best way to upscale from 480i to 1080i? I'm thinking through my proposed receiver which is a Pioneer Elite and has the Faroudja DCDi upscaler. Not sure it will take a cable TV, input--but know it has coaxial input--just not sure if it is for combined audio\video.

I'm getting a Sony SXRD HDTV KDS60A2020, and maybe that can upscale just fine--I know it has video processing but the docs I've seen on it are not specific on any upscaling. Lost in newbie confusion--can anyone help?
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post #2 of 3
8/11/07 at 3:41pm

Re: Standard Cable TV input--were to upscale?

Your TV will upscale just fine. To have the receiver scale would require you to use a VCR/DVD-R/DVR/cable box as a tuner & route it through the receiver. But I doubt that would be significantly different from the Sony built-in scaler. Keep in mind that scaling is simply a necessary part of formatting a lower def signal to fill the HD pixel array of your set. It can't and doesn't add anything to the picture; scaling actually is a destructive operation. It's just a matter of which component scales best, hurting the picture the least in the process (e.g. jaggies/aliasing/other artifacts vs. excessive softening of the picture). There is no substitute for actually improving the source, getting a real HD feed into your set. Your TV should be able to pick up any HDTV channels (usu local networks, CBS/ABC/etc.) that your cable company is transmitting unencrypted straight off the cable using its built-in QAM tuner. I would advise getting a HD-PVR from your cable company (or a Tivo HD) ASAP. SD analog channels just aren't going to look that great no matter how good your scaler is on a 60" set, HD is a must.
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post #3 of 3
8/13/07 at 12:45pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Standard Cable TV input--were to upscale?

Stephen,

Thanks for the advice. I plan to switch over to digital cable, but not sure I also want to pay for the monthly HD option.

I'm trying to find a DVR that is not tied to a monthly service--any ideas?
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