[Mics49]

Honestly no idea = genuine question.
A Denon 3800BD feeds a JVC HD750 with mostly bd discs -> HD material via HD player to HD projector. What difference would a scaler make and how? Cheers.

[badkarma]

Maybe in a straightforward setup as you mention (1080p >> 1080p) you don't but there are many without such.

In which case sources may range from 480i to 1080p, all can be dealt with by a VP (refuse to use the term scaler here, this is a mis-nomer IMO) and output to the display at optimum refresh rate and resolution, with some noise reduction and image tweaking in between.

Wrap this up in box that can do e.g. dual outputs, auto video switching and lip sync correction and you have a solution waiting for a problem that it can't solve

Others I'm sure will put this more eloquently.

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

Wat he said...plus the scaler may do the colourspace conversion to a higher degree of accuracy..and it may allow superior manipulation of the gamma curve allowing a more filmic presentation if that is your thing. (the former for HD only)

For SD as above...plus a good scaler like a Radiance has superior upscaling than any display or source component. It can also be configrured to do the correct or different colourspace and gamma manipulations on the fly with no user inntervention (NTSC, PAL and HD all should have different colourspace presentations)

[Mics49]

Thanks BK, Gordon.

I assume to make real use of a VP's capabilities, I would require the services of a professional ("calibrator") in the course?
Also, from a lot of reading here, I kind of gather that DVDOs are more the entry level whereas Lumagens are of high/er performance (and price). The point, would I benefit (no tv upscaling required at present) from a DVDO Edge or iScanDuo or would I need to invest more into a Radiance to see a difference?
Last, I take it that if I ever were to get an anamorphic lens, then I would need a scaler for sure to do the horizontal stretching, right?

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

For your HD stuff a DVDO/ABT is essentialy useless. For SD video source material it's pretty good although I am not a fan of the upscaling. They have no calibration features of any use though, imho.

If you wanted to make use of the nutter calibration stuff in a Lumagen then you would ideally want to have a professional calibrator install it and sort all that out for you...and yes, they (and dvdo/sbt) can do the anamorphic lens scaling.

P.S. I am the Lumagen distributor (in case you didn't know.....but I think generally I'm pretty fair in my description of competitors products strengths and weaknesses)

[Avi]

Originally Posted by Gordon @ Convergent AV

For your HD stuff a DVDO/ABT is essentialy useless. For SD video source material it's pretty good although I am not a fan of the upscaling. They have no calibration features of any use though, imho.

If you wanted to make use of the nutter calibration stuff in a Lumagen then you would ideally want to have a professional calibrator install it and sort all that out for you...and yes, they (and dvdo/sbt) can do the anamorphic lens scaling.

P.S. I am the Lumagen distributor (in case you didn't know.....but I think generally I'm pretty fair in my description of competitors products strengths and weaknesses)

I use both and think that's a fair summary.

AVI

[Barcoing Mad]

The scaler built into the HD750 is pretty good.

[Avi]

Originally Posted by Barcoing Mad

The scaler built into the HD750 is pretty good.

IIRC it uses the IDT REON. That said the earlier JVC models also had quality processing chips but for whatever reason the JVC implementation was relatively poor with standard def compared to the same solution in other products.

AVI

[Mics49]

Thanks a lot guys. That's very helpful indeed and settles it for me. I'm going to wait until I can stretch to a lens and/or want to make use of SD processing capabilities. Quite happy as the recent spending spree takes some recovery (hd750, 3800bd, st130g3, submersive , all new)
And no worries Gordon, I knew about your relations. Pity I've left England likely for good otherwise there would have been a good chance for us to meet eventually.

[themagician]

Can I hijack this thread and get some opinions on whether it's something that may be useful for me?

From the above comments it seems people think they do work well for SD broadcasts, which sounds promising.

I've recently bough a 50" Panasonic Panasonic TX-P50G10B

I've never had a large TV before, one thing I've noticed is standard Freeview can look a bit pixellated - I know that's to be expected and I was just wondering if a scaler would really provide some noticeable improvement for regular UK Freeview broadcasts. I don't currently get Freesat or any HD channels.

I have a Topfield freeview tuner which is outputting the signal at 720p (so the setting in the PVR tells me) so maybe some upscaling is going on already.
HDMI interconnects used exclusively.

This is all running through my Sony STRDH800 A/V receiver.

Cheers

[choddo2006]

Yes, some upscaling must already be going on in order for the Topfield to push out 720p

but some upscaling would be going on somewhere no matter what you did as the source is 576i and the screen is 1080p so if the Topfield didn't do it, the Panny would have to.

The G10 is a bit rubbish with 576i so getting the Toppy to do the work is probably the right choice.

Scalers can make SD stuff like freeview look quite a bit better - I couldn't live without mine now although I use Sky so the source is generally (apart from ITV) a bit better than freeview.