AVR Up-Scaling Query! HELP

[spiderman]

Hello Forum Members

I have a query regarding AV receivers up scaling capabilities.

I was planning to subscribe to HD TV (as I stay overseas) but I understand/read through this and other forums that a good AVR has up scaling capabilities wherein if you input standard cable & DVD native resolution it will upscale to 1080i/p. Is this true? Does it mean our Zee TV et al will all appear in HD resolution if we just route it through the AVR? If this is true then I will just invest in a good AVR that way I can save on extra subscription cost for HD TV.

A second query to the above is that if I route the cable & DVD via AVR irrespective whether it up scales or not do I have to keep the AVR on power up mode even if I want to watch regular cable? Just thinking about the extra electricty consumption as well as complications for my family when the watch television.

Appreciate all feedbacks.

Spiderman

 

[psychotropic]

hey spiderman

upscaling is not true HD, it's what i call pseudo-HD, a standard definition signal only has 480 (or 576) lines of information, what upscaling does is use that information to interpolate and create the in-between lines to add up to 720 or 1080 lines, it looks better than regular 480i pictures on an SD screen, but nowhere as good as HD. If HD broadcasts are available where you live and you can afford to go for it (and you have an HDTV), then by all means go for it, upscaling the SD picture is nothing but a stopgap that will not make you fully happy.

Hello Forum Members

I have a query regarding AV receivers up scaling capabilities.

I was planning to subscribe to HD TV (as I stay overseas) but I understand/read through this and other forums that a good AVR has up scaling capabilities wherein if you input standard cable & DVD native resolution it will upscale to 1080i/p. Is this true? Does it mean our Zee TV et al will all appear in HD resolution if we just route it through the AVR? If this is true then I will just invest in a good AVR that way I can save on extra subscription cost for HD TV.

A second query to the above is that if I route the cable & DVD via AVR irrespective whether it up scales or not do I have to keep the AVR on power up mode even if I want to watch regular cable? Just thinking about the extra electricty consumption as well as complications for my family when the watch television.

Appreciate all feedbacks.

Spiderman

 

[reju]

Upscaling will only help to bridge the gap between DVD quality and HD quality.
If you have a very good AVR then it may do a good job, but still it will not be as clear as HDTV.

To quantify the comparisons I have rated them on scale of 10. Where 10 is the BD or FHD quality (1080p)

DVD - 5
Upscaling - 6/7
HDTV - 9
BD - 10

This rating is purely opinion based on my individual experience. I would definitely go for HDTV.

Yes, you will need to switch ON the AVR to watch TV. You could get a Harmony remote and set activities for your family members, so that they can watch anything at touch of a single button.

 

[mahiruha]

Hello spiderman,
yes it is true that some AVR has upscaling capabilities. Only high end avr can upscale SD resolutions to HD. The avr that I know can do this is onkyo TX sr 705 upto 720 P and Onkyo tx sr 875 upto 1080P. Basically all these AVR have HDMI monitor out which sohuld be connected to projector or television. It should be set in such a such that it upscales the set top box video input which should be through composite , component or HDMI input depending on the connecting options available with the set top box. The logic used by AVR is if the input signal is already HD then output is simple pass through HD and if the input signal is SD then output is upscaled HD. Just a note of caution an upscaled HD will never be as good as original HD. It like a difference between blu ray and upscaled DVD movies.

Regarding your second query since you are routing the video signals through the receiver you have to keep it turned on irrespective of the fact you want upscaling or not.

If you have a specific receiver in mind just download its user manual from the net and read about its upscaling options.
Thanks.

 

[spiderman]

Thank you all for your quick replies it was helpful and insightful.

since I alreday have a basic AVR I will continue to use that and subscribe to HD channels.

Spiderman.

 

[psychotropic]

hey mahiruha, the Onkyo 606 upscales to 1080i/720p and deinterlaces using the Faroudja DCDi chip.

Hello spiderman,
yes it is true that some AVR has upscaling capabilities. Only high end avr can upscale SD resolutions to HD. The avr that I know can do this is onkyo TX sr 705 upto 720 P and Onkyo tx sr 875 upto 1080P. Basically all these AVR have HDMI monitor out which sohuld be connected to projector or television. It should be set in such a such that it upscales the set top box video input which should be through composite , component or HDMI input depending on the connecting options available with the set top box. The logic used by AVR is if the input signal is already HD then output is simple pass through HD and if the input signal is SD then output is upscaled HD. Just a note of caution an upscaled HD will never be as good as original HD. It like a difference between blu ray and upscaled DVD movies.

Regarding your second query since you are routing the video signals through the receiver you have to keep it turned on irrespective of the fact you want upscaling or not.

If you have a specific receiver in mind just download its user manual from the net and read about its upscaling options.
Thanks.

 

[hemantwaghe]

A simple priniple is AV data once stored can be enhanced a little bit but cannot be upgraded to next form!
A simple example is no matter how good an amp is mp3 will not sound like orignal cd source!! And amp,decoder,sound enhancer will not upgrade mp3 to orignal cd quality! The data lost in converting any song to cd is permanantly lost!
Same principle about when you click same scene with low resolution ( say 3 mp) and high resolution ( say 10 mp) camera -- no matter how good 3 mp camera is it cannot match details of 10 mp one!!!

Or another example is Dolby Pro Logic 2 - when yo listen a 2 channel source through it -it is psudo surround 5.1 and CANNOT match studio recorder 5.1!!

 

[marsilians]

A second query to the above is that if I route the cable & DVD via AVR irrespective whether it up scales or not do I have to keep the AVR on power up mode even if I want to watch regular cable? Just thinking about the extra electricty consumption as well as complications for my family when the watch television.

Yes, you need to as it does not matter if you watch HD or SD cable programmes, you still need the AVR to be on to take the signal from STB and pass onto the TV. Also it will handle the audio for the broadcasts