Upscaling DVD players and HD screens

[theo cupier]

I read the following which had been posted on the DVD forum about possible problems with HD screens and upscaling DVD players and I wonder if anyone can clarify, confirm or explain (I know the post is about PHD7s but it seems relevant to other HD screens, including the PHD8. Does any of it still apply?):

I toyed with the idea of buying a HD7, but decided against it after I did a bit of research regarding image scaling.

Isn't there a problem when upscaling and not using a 1:1 resolution match?

Using upscaling DVD players on 768 line screens you would have to get the player to upscale the image to 720, then the screen would scale it again to 768.
I thought double scaling was a no-no and introduced all sorts of nasty things like increased macroblocking etc?

If it was a 720 line screen then that would be a different kettle of fish.

I'm planning on getting an HD DVD player (or Bluray, whatever) when those hit a bearable price, but wondered if perhaps a prog scan player - possibly with upscaling to take more strain off the panel's processing - would give me better PQ than my trusty old SD-220. I'd seen some good reports about the Pio 575 and Samsung 850 and thought that £100 or so might be worth spending to tide me over. My reading of the above is that this would NOT be the case.

Any thoughts?

 

[X6TUS]

I was thinking along the same lines as you. I've just bought my Hi-Def panel (Panny TH42-PHD8) and I already have a Arcam DV88 with component out. I didn't really want to go and spend another £1000 on an Arcam DV79/DV27a to get HDMI output at the higher resolution because like you when the BlueRay/DVD-HD stuff becomes realistic I want to get one of those and I am guessing that will be within the next 2 years or so and I'd kind of like my DVD player to last a bit longer than that. My current DV88 is four years old now!

In the meantime as a compromise to support my new Plasma I got my Arcam DV88 upgraded to support Progressive scan output as a cheaper alternative but hopefully a worthwhile one.