Progressive scan

[Gawaine]

Is this the same as upscaling?

[andykn]

No.

"Normal" TV pictures are interlaced - the odd lines are shown first, 1, 3, 5 etc then the even lines 2, 4, 6. This leads to flicker.

DVDs of films are encoded differently often using a technique called 3:2 pulldown. If yourr DVD player and TV both support it, the DVD player can output the film progressively, line 1 then line 2, then line 3 etc. Less flicker, better picture, but still the same number of lines overall.

Upscaling is where the source is, say, 576 lines and your screen has, say, 768 lines. Somewhere extra lines have to be added in otherwise the picture wouldn't fit. This is upscaling and can be done by the source (Sky HD box, DVD player) screen or a separate box in between like a Lumagen or an AV receiver.

Don't forget that:

1/ If your TV panels's native resolution is greater than 576 lines it will have an upscaler built in.
2/ The black lines top and bottom when watching films are because the film is in letterbox format not because its not upscaled properly.