[fa66ster]

Hi,

I have a Panasonic Dmr Ex77 which has a recordable hard drive function, I have it connected to my LCD screen via HDMI lead and as a result I watch the Tv through the tuner on the DVD recorder, the picture is much better than standard DTV picture. So am I right in presuming I am getting an upscaled picture as a result of connecting via HDMI?

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by fa66ster

Hi,

I have a Panasonic Dmr Ex77 which has a recordable hard drive function, I have it connected to my LCD screen via HDMI lead and as a result I watch the Tv through the tuner on the DVD recorder, the picture is much better than standard DTV picture. So am I right in presuming I am getting an upscaled picture as a result of connecting via HDMI?

Yes you are... but that may not be the reason that you think the picture is better.

In a deliberate and cynical bid to improve the subjective impression of HDMI use , TV manufacturers typically default the HDMI input to an 'over-egged' rich picture quality setting.

At more normal settings the subjective improvement may be a lot less.

[fa66ster]

I hear what you are saying, but when watching via HDMI the info button on my LCD screen indicates 1920 x 1080 and when I switch back to DTV it indicates 576!

[Boostrail]

Whilst not disagreeing with Gavtechs comments I think the question is the comparative capability of the upscaler in the TV and the DVD recorder.

If the TV has an onboard DVB-T tuner then the TV is upscaling the received 576i signal to the native resolution of the TV.

Using the DVDR as the tuner connected by an HDMI cable then it is the DVDR that is doing the upscaling.

If for example the DVDR is a top brand as in this case and the TV is a cheaper brand then the likelihood is that the picture from the DVDR will be better. However cheao DVDR and top brand TV and the reverse may be the case.

Another issue is de-interlacing. 576i not only has to be upscaled to the TV's native resolution but as modern displays are progressive it has also to be de-interlaced. In the case of the internal tuner the TV of course is de-interlacing With the DVDR it is usually possible to output 720p or 1080p or 1080i with the DVDR deinterlacing at 720p and 1080p, and the TV still doing it at 1080i. To see which is best watch rolling white on black text (credits at the end of a programme or film)