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Onkyo TX-SR706 Upconversion Quality?

post #1 of 11
8/29/09 at 8:50pm
Thread Starter 
I'm looking to buy an Onkyo TX-SR706 (only $540 right now) for the new home theater system I'm building, along with a 1080 pi Panasonic Plasma. I've heard the Onkyo produces great sound, especially for the price. But have also heard from some sources (including CNET re: the SR607) that the upconversion quality is subpar. For now, I only have an old DVD player with DVDs that I'll be using to watch movies, and am concerned the picture quality won't be as great as if I used a different receiver. Does anyone have any experience with the upconversion quality? Keeping in mind that I'm not going to be incredibly discerning, should I be so concerned about this as to not buy the receiver?
Does buying a Blu-Ray player to play my DVDs mostly solve this issue?
Thanks!
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post #2 of 11
8/30/09 at 3:36am
Depending on your DVD player, you have either 2 or 3 options for where you do the upconversion.  If you have a newer DVD player, it may have the ability to upconvert to 1080p internally.  If it does not, your options are the Onkyo or your Panasonic tv.  There is nothing that says you have to run the video through your receiver . . . especially if the tv will do a better job of upconverting.
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post #3 of 11
8/30/09 at 5:46am
Thread Starter 
The DVD player is less than 1 years old, a Sony HDMI DVP NS700H. Not sure if it's able to upconvert 1080p internally -- any ideas if it does? I'm also buying a Panny G10, if that helps.

If I don't have the 1080p upconvert ability through my DVD player, would my Panny do a decent job, if I ran it straight through the TV? If I did that could I still run the audio through the receiver?
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post #4 of 11
8/30/09 at 6:53am
From what I've heard Panasonic players and tv's generally do a very good job of up-converting. I run my video straight to the tv's and the audio to my receiver.

Also, from what I've read, the Onkyo 876/976 do an excellent job with video but they have a high-end video chip. The 607 on the other hand was said to be "less than stellar" with up-converting. I'm not sure how the 706 and 806 perform with video.
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post #5 of 11
8/30/09 at 7:26am
you already have an audio receiver?
If so my first upgrade would be to a BD player. The difference between HD and SD DVDs is staggering.
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post #6 of 11
8/30/09 at 5:49pm
Thread Starter 
The receiver I was planning on buying was an Onkyo TX-SR706. Please forgive my ignorance, but is a "BD player" a Blu-Ray player? Or something else.

And when you say: "The difference between HD and SD DVDs is staggering", does that mean the difference between playing DVDs on a regular DVD player and a blu-ray player?
Thanks
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post #7 of 11
8/30/09 at 5:50pm
Thread Starter 
Okay, thanks. So I could run the audio for my DVD player to the Onkyo receiver. And the video for the DVD player to my Panasonic Plasma G10?
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post #8 of 11
8/30/09 at 6:02pm
Thread Starter 
Oh, and I just found that my DVD player has "1080p Upscaling through HDMI™ Connection."
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post #9 of 11
8/31/09 at 3:59pm
I really shouldn't be answering these questions because I'm far from an expert in video but what the....
Quote:
 but is a "BD player" a Blu-Ray player?


Yes, he means a BluRay Player but I'm sure he also means true 1080P is "staggering" compared to regular dvd (480P).
 

Quote:
So I could run the audio for my DVD player to the Onkyo receiver. And the video for the DVD player to my Panasonic Plasma G10?
 



Yes you can. You can also set the dvd player to output 1080p and the receiver will just "pass thru" the video signal to the display. And I think you can get the receiver to pass thru a non up-converted signal (480P) (via HDMI) without doing any processing and let the display convert it to 1080P. In other words, you can have the dvd player or the receiver or the display convert the signal to 1080P if you set them up properly. It all depends on which device does a better job of it. Generally the display does a better job unless you have a receiver with a really good up-scaler in it, like the Onkyo 876/906 or a really good dvd player like an OPPO or most BR players (there it is again) . More than likely you should send the video (and audio) of all your components into your new receiver via HDMI and setup the receiver to output those signals to the display in their native format (480P for dvd, 1080P for BR, 480i for regular tv and 1080i for HD tv)  and let the display up-convert and up-scale everything to 1O80p.
 
But the best thing to do is to try each component individually and see which ones are better, if any, then your display. It takes some time and effort but you might just as well get the most out of your HT.  
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post #10 of 11
8/31/09 at 5:03pm
Thread Starter 
THANKS!
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post #11 of 11
8/31/09 at 7:54pm
 I wouldn't worry about the subpar scaler because if your HDTV has a good scaler I would just defeat the internal scaler in the receiver.  Onkyo does offer alot for the price point so in that respect the Onkyos are generally a good buy,  except the HTIB IMHO.


Onkyo 706:
Component Video Frequency Response  5 Hz–50 MHz (-3 dB)
I don't think it uses Burr Brown DAC's, that was a big thing with the 806 when it came out.
only has 2 component inputs
But at least it has multi-channel inputs and preouts

I am looking at receivers for some time now and the lack of Burr Brown DAC's and the 50MHz component video is enough for me to pass up the 706.  And I would like to have something with a better amplifier sections in it if possible.  The 706 is on the super settle list if money is a problem and I can not get what I want to replace my Yamaha RX-V995.

Heck Onkyo must be killing off the 806 already because the 807 is out and I see the 806 can be had online for $600, which is not worth it IMHO at least not for my needs ROFL.  And the 876 is being closed out for around $999 and I could have sworn there was a $100 rebate at Fry's dropping the 876 to $899.  If you have a Fry's around you and it the 876 is going for $899 I would go for that as it is a huge upgrade for not alot of money.  And you get a way better scaler, Burr Brown DAC's, multiple power supplys, better amplifier section, 100MHz component video, ect.......
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