scaler for plasma, please help

keyser

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I know very little about this scaler stuff. Am I right in thinking that a scaler makes a progressive image from an interlaced source... and so progressive scan DVD players have inbuilt scalers.. and also the toshiba zd26p would have an inbuilt scaler?
So if you have a plasma with an inbuilt scaler then you really don´t need a progressive scan dvd player do you?
And if you buy an external scaler, then you wouldn´t actually need a progressive scan dvd player or an internal scaler in the plasma(although most or not all have them)? Is this correct?

But I reckon it would be best to have an external scaler that could produce progressive images from my vcr, my non progressive gamecube games and the tv and maybe the scaler could enhance the images even furthther somehow (comb filters or something and correct lip sync problems from those sources)?

I plan on getting a plasma (maybe a pioneer) how do I get the BEST possible picture from my gamecube, vcr, tv and DVD (currently have a pioneer 737), have heard something about DVI and SDI interface??

PLEASE HELP
 
Keyser, all fixed panel display systems ( LCD, DiLA, DMD, Plasma) are inherentley proggresive. They must internally scale all incoming signals to their native resolution. The ideal scenario would be a high quality external scaler wich would do this, but these are very expensive. The next best thing would be your 737 feeding the plasma a proggresive signal, because it de-interlaces the signal whilst it's still in the digital domain. As for the other sources, connect them via the highest quality interface available, and leave the scaling to the Plasma monitor.
The quality of the Plasma's scaling will be much better if it recognises 2-3 inverse telecine.
 
If you go the Pioneer route you may find that in the not to distant future you will be able to buy VERY high quality third party scaling boards that will replace the standard input board in the plasma. This will have SDI, DVI component, svideo and composite inputs as well as digital audio loop through to delay audio to sync with video.....Just a thought....

Gordon
 
Thanks for the help.

Are the pioneers the only models to offer this, a slot for these boards, is it not possible on the latest panasonic(which reviewers seem to think is the best plasma picture)? Does this SDI input not come standard on plasmas(what the heck is it anyways, also have another post on that)?
 
I guess in theory other plasma's could have their input boards replaced if someone designed alternatives. I just happen to knwo about the third party manufacturer who are doing the upgrade boards for Pioneers.

SDI is not standard on plasmas as a rule. It is an interlaced digital component signal. As such it needs to be de-interlaced by the display device then scaled anyway. So if the de-interlacer and scaler is not up to scratch inteh display you just get nice clean looking artefacts.......

Gordon
 
Why are they producing boards for the pioneer and not the panasonic.. isn´t the panasonic getting the best reviews??

I see the have increased the resolution of the 5th generation plasma.. that makes it more HDTV friendly doesn´t it... how much resolution am I likely to miss from hdtv (or from line doublers/quadrublers) on these plasmas? Does the panasonic do progressive scan for both ntsc and pal, 2:2 and 3:2 pulldown?

How bad is the lipsync problems on plasmas. Some say here that it´s hardly noticable.. but I remember on my old pioneer 505 dvd player it noticed lip sync problems on everything, pretty bad on some dvd´s. How does that compare to the plasma(progressive scan) delay?
 
I guess they are doing the Pioneer's as there are more of them and they are more popular in the country where the thing is being developed. I think you'll find that there are probably more 50" Pioneers around in UK than any other as well.

I am unaware if the new D5 Panasonics have 2:2 or 2:3 pulldown. Even if they did you still have to check how good they are at following this sequence and using the correct de-interlacing when it breaks down due to bad edits etc. Also the quality of the video decoders are likely to effect the performance of the de-interlacing solutions.

So, the answer is that specs alone cannot tell you how good any device is. They must be viewed to make final decisions.

Good luck ,

Gordon
 
Tanks for your help Gordon. I know from experience that viewing for yourself is the best way to appreciate a picture, for example the toshiba 36zd26p has gotten great reviews everywhere, but I bought it and couldn´t live with the thing(pretty bad glowing/smearing, white patches on black screens, bad geometry). But the problem is I live in Iceland and there are VERY limited number of tv´s here, for instance the panasonic dealer has NO plasma. The only ones I know of are an old version of sony.. and the pioneer dealer has an old 50" and some stores have plasmas with bad comercial loops on them. So I really can´t view any plasmas(or scalers or anything like that) and compare for myself. So the people in this forum and reviews are my eyes and ears. So I´m trying to learn how to build the best picture possible and all input is greatly appreciated

So what I´m wondering is what is the best plasma around(and if there any soon to be released models) 42"(most reviews say the panasonic)?
And how can I get the best pictures from my dvd(could buy another one, maybe chroma bug free?), gamecube, vcr and TV for a sane pricetag?
 
I just saw a huge pioneer plasma in a local store, it must have been the 60", it was in a greyish silver frame and there was no model number on the frame. I did think the blacks on that set were very grey, are they the same in the 43mxe?

Can anyone answer my previous question as to how the lipsync of progressive can compares to the 505 problem and is there some inexpensive fix for the problem??
 
The Panasonic have had an SDI board for ages its just an option instead of the BNC.
 
Is DVI worth getting for the panasonics? Does it make any difference to the picture from DVD?
 
Does the panasonic plasma and related models only have 480 vertical lines of resolution, and a pal image has 576 lines.. so your bound to loose 94 lines of resolution??
 

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