PS3 - no up-scalling for DVDs

[Jazar]

(sorry for the title typo)

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/740/740601p4.html

On a down note, SCE informed us that DVD upscaling was not part of the PS3 multimedia feature set. The Xbox 360 upscales DVDs, so it's surprising to see SCE go without the feature.

This really pisses me off. I was hoping to have the PS3 replace most all of my components and now I'll be missing out on an upscalling player? I have a 360 but it only upscalles if you have a VGA input. Damnit Sony you better include that in a fw update!

[Blackraven]

What do you mean by up-scaling? Does it have to........

Oh, I think I understand. You mean the 480i/p to 720p<-1080i->1080p

Well, that's probably one disadvantage of using a PS3 as a Blu-ray player.

Oh well, at least it will still display movies that are better than DVDs.

[Jazar]

Originally Posted by Blackraven

What do you mean by up-scaling? Does it have to........

Oh, I think I understand. You mean the 480i/p to 720p<-1080i->1080p

Well, that's probably one disadvantage of using a PS3 as a Blu-ray player.

Oh well, at least it will still display movies that are better than DVDs.

Yes exactly. There also won't be any upscaling for PS1 or PS2 games. That's a little dissapointing but not as much as the DVD outputting at 480p/i only. Good news for other CE companies I guess.

[krisztoforo]

Originally Posted by Jazar

This really pisses me off. I was hoping to have the PS3 replace most all of my components and now I'll be missing out on an upscalling player? I have a 360 but it only upscalles if you have a VGA input. Damnit Sony you better include that in a fw update!

Pardon my ignorance, since I never used an upscaling player. What's the advantage to upscaling a DVD? I mean you're not getting any more information that's on the disk anyway, is that really that noticable? Are there any comparisons/articles about this online?

[GoldenRedux]

Originally Posted by krisztoforo

Pardon my ignorance, since I never used an upscaling player. What's the advantage to upscaling a DVD? I mean you're not getting any more information that's on the disk anyway, is that really that noticable? Are there any comparisons/articles about this online?

The only advantage is if the scaler in your HD set is not as good as the one in the player. All HD sets scale SD to their native resolution, so it's a matter of which component does it better, IMO.

Personally, I've seen ups-caling DVD players (I use one) and some pricey outboard scalers, and though they can make SD look much better, none of them have ever looked even close to HD, IMO, not even in comparison to HD-lite on DirecTV or Dish Network

[Ascended_Saiyan]

Originally Posted by krisztoforo

Pardon my ignorance, since I never used an upscaling player. What's the advantage to upscaling a DVD? I mean you're not getting any more information that's on the disk anyway, is that really that noticable? Are there any comparisons/articles about this online?

UPSCALING

[partridge]

I hope there is a bit of misunderstanding here, I was certain that Sony were going to upscale PS2 games for better image on an HDtv. I didn't know anything about the DVD, but hoped it would upscale.

Hmm, well, we'll soon know the facts from the fiction - retail PS3's will soon be arriving at magazine and game site headquarters for review purposes.

[krisztoforo]

Originally Posted by GoldenRedux

The only advantage is if the scaler in your HD set is not as good as the one in the player. All HD sets scale SD to their native resolution, so it's a matter of which component does it better, IMO.

Thanks for the replies guys.
That's what I thought..so why are people so disappointed of the PS3 lack of DVD upscaling? (or even PS2 games) Am I missing something else here? Do current plasma/LCD sets have inadequate upscaling quality?

[Jazar]

Here's a post from someone with upsaling experience:

I have HBO-HD and I saw Batman Begins in HD and it looked amazing. That, and Star Wars:Episode III. When I played these movies on my regular Sony DVD player, it looked pretty bad in comparison. Not unviewable, but bad. Pixely is a good word to descibe it. So, I went out and bought a Sony upscaler DVD and plugged it up via a $12 HDMI cable. I was pleasantly surprised. From the beginning, things looked much clearer.

Now, since then, I have been doing comparisons. Recently, Saving Private Ryan was on HBO-HD. I compared it to my disc played back on the upscaler DVD player and I could hardly tell a difference. So, in the end, I am pretty convinced that DVD's look bad on my HDTV if they are not upscaled.

So yes, I do think most current plasma/LCD sets have inadequate upscaling quality.

[BTBuck1]

best description i have seen for upscaling is,

if standard def 480 is a 6 in pq

and HD is a 10 in PQ

then upconvert makes it an 8.5

all upconverts are not created equal. IMO the hd-a1 is the best mix of upscaling/cost next is the oppo and if you are on a tighter budget and dont care about hddvd (hd-a1) or cant find the oppo either, sony makes a fantastic bargain upscalers (even a 5 disc model)

also a company was comming out with a software that allows the ps2 to upconvert to hd resolutions, I posted it here a while back.
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...ight=upconvert

buy it here:
http://www.xploder.net/ps2/products/...DTV-Player.htm

[krisztoforo]

Originally Posted by Jazar

Here's a post from someone with upsaling experience:

So yes, I do think most current plasma/LCD sets have inadequate upscaling quality.

I see...although given the amount of features they're cramming into the PS3 for that price we'd probably not get the highest quality upscaler in it anyway.

[phloyd]

I have never really understood the demand for upscaling since if you DVD player doesn't do it, your TV will.

I understand that some DVD players are better than others in this regard (and better than most TVs perhaps) but really and fixed pixel or fixed scan rate TV will upscale the DVD output to its native resolution.

[PeterTHX]

First of all, the 360 does NOT upscale DVDs. Only original XBOX games.

Second, upscaling requires HDMI (copyright protection). There already was a big error in the article. Perhaps the PS3 only scales thru HDMI...which isn't included (the cable) with the PS3? Since ALL Blu-ray players upscale DVDs this is a weird development.

Phloyd, one thing upscaling does is get rid of the subtle scan lines in DVD video on digital displays.
Depending on the descaler results can be FANTASTIC.

[Jazar]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

First of all, the 360 does NOT upscale DVDs. Only original XBOX games.

Incorrect. The Xbox360 can upscale DVDs using the VGA cable (not component). Currently they can be converted to 720p/1080i. With the next update this fall that will be changed to 1080p.