Posted by Pete on 06/05/07 23:42

Lloyd Parsons wrote:
> In article <f42jnr02q0e@enews5.newsguy.com>, "Pete" <pete@nospam.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Will an upconverting dvd player, play an actual "high def" dvd like
>> "Planet Earth", in true 1080i (Planet Earth was filmed in 1080i from
>> the get go with high def cameras), or do upconverting dvd's only
>> upscale lower definitions like 480i or 480p, etc.
>>
>> In other words does it accept a true original 1080i dvd, and just
>> pass it on to the high def tv, without trying to upscale it (and the
>> picture is true 1080i), or does it do something squirrelly.
>>
>> Thanks...Pete
>
> No.
>
> You need to get it in either BluRay or HDDVD and have the appropriate
> player to do that.
>
> If you put a HDDVD or BluRay disc in an upconverting player, nothing
> will play at all.

Thanks Lloyd....But I am still confused about this. I have the Planet Earth
discs and they play in my high def tv with my 480 p dvd player (but not
crisp), and my regular tv which has a 480i dvd player hooked up to it. Does
that mean that my planet earth discs are not HD even though though the whole
series was photographed with high def cameras (I assumed they were HD, but I
guess I was wrong). Do HDDVD's say they are high def right on the box
somewhere, versus saying that they used high def photography to film the
series. Are all dvds basically 480i if they do not specifically say they
are "High Def ", or are there some that are 480 p.

So do the upconverting dvd players take 480 i or 480 p discs only, and
upscale them to 720 p, or 1080i or 1080 p. My high def tv plays up to 1080
i ( no 108O p). Are dvd players that play 480 p inherently called upscaling
or upconverting, even though they are only going from 480 i to 480 p.

Is the upscaling to 1080 i (on upconverting dvd players) just a bogus thing
and the picture will not be near as good as true 1080 i which was broadcast
in 1080 i. I was going to get one of the cheap upscalable dvd players
(Magnavox sells one for 50 bucks which includes an HDMI cable), just to see
if it played the planet earth discs better. I am thinking the picture will
not be near as good as true 1080 i, but I would think it would be better
than the 480 p which I get now. Do you think it is worth try. I will never
buy HDDVD's, but I assume the video stores will start stocking them more and
for renting, but still keep the 480 i's.

Please give me your thoughts on buying a cheap upconvering dvd player, and
how good will the picture be if it upscales to 1080 i (compared to a true
1080 i broadcast).

Thanks...Pete

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