Will a video scaler help with 540p upconverison on Toshibas? (1 Viewer)

[Philip____S]

The title says it all, will a video scaler help with 540p upconverison on Toshibas? Would a dedicated scaler taking a 480p or 480i signal and upconverting it 540p provide better results than using the Toshiba internal scaler? How about a dedicated scaler upconverting to 1080i? As a followup, can the Toshibas (65HX81) take a native 720p signal without scaling it to 1080i? Thanks in advance.

 

[Gabriel_Lam]

Yes, most external scalers will give you better quality than Toshiba's kind of middle of the road internal scaler. However, on the flip side, we're talking more money.

 

[Juan_R]

You can also try using an HTPC.

 

[Philip____S]

The chance of replacing my DVD player with a computer is next to zero, for a variety of reasons. That said, for $1100 or so I have seen a new FOCUS Enhancements scaler that seems like it could work. Money is not a concern after investing in the TV, as the cost of the scaler is relatively small compared to the cost of the TV, and the potential of a better picture is worth the investment in an external scaler. I am still left with my original question, would a dedicated scaler taking a 480p or 480i signal and upconverting it 540p provide better results than using the Toshiba internal scaler? The internal scaler is taking 480p and converting to 540p while an external scaler would most likely need to change 480i to 540p. Is the single process in the scaler going to produce a noticeable difference over the DVD and TV both processing the image? Conventional wisdom would lead you to say yes, but there may be no noticeable difference. And again, how about using the dedicated scaler to upconvert to 720p or 1080i?

 

[Edwin-S]

I asked a similar question regarding HTPC's on another forum. The answer I got was that an HTPC scaling up to 540P can improve the picture because it bypasses the internal scaler in the set. I would think the same would be true of an external scaler like you are talking about. An incoming 540p siganal is treated as if it was a 1080i one. I have read that the Toshiba sets do not take a 720p signal. The screen just shows blank.

 

[Jay Mitchosky]

I have read that the Toshiba sets do not take a 720p signal. The screen just shows blank.

I believe the newest generation accepts 720p but upconverts to 1080i. Amazes me how Toshiba is nickle and diming their scan rates. An open question to those in the know - how much more cost and effort could be required to natively accept 480p, 720p, and 1080i? What other tradeoffs, if any, are considered?

I would really like to hear feedback from anyone who has actually tried an external scaler (or HTPC) to compare the results.

 

[JohnnyG]

Jay, 480p is relatively cheap but 720p is expensive.

Philip, why do you ask this question anyway? Can you see artifacts in the Toshiba's image? I can't. Not unless I *really* look for it and then only with certain material.

 

[Jan Strnad]

I'd hope that a $700 scaler would outperform whatever comes with Tosh! The iScan products get rave reviews.

Edwin's right: The Tosh can't handle a 720p signal. Your tuner needs to output it as 1080i.

Jan

 

[Allan Jayne]

480p and 1080i are really nearly the same (31.5 and 33.75 KHz) in terms of scan rate (number of scan lines per second). 720p is somewhat higher (45 KHz).
Most of today's HDTV's rely on the separately purchased set top box tuner to convert the incoming video to either 480p or 1080i.
Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[elMalloc]

Jan, are you sure?

I read the H82 models will take a 720p and upconvert it to 1080i itself.

-ELmO

 

[Jan Strnad]

elMalloc,

You're right. The new models can accept a 720p signal. Philip's set can't, though. Sorry for the confusion.

Jan