This may be a dumb question. I know both a regular dvd player and a blu ray will upconvert regular dvds when connected to my HD TV via an HDMI cable.

But, will a blu ray do a better job upconverting or is the quality the same with either type of machine?

I reason I want to know is: most movies I rent are small independent movies that are not available in blu ray. So at the moment I don't see that I have a great need for blu ray player. But I saw a Magnavox for $78 and am wondering if I should go ahead and buy one.

Thanks

To be honest I haven't seen that big of an advantage to upconversion from a BR player. As an experiment we hooked up my uncle's old SONY DVD player, and I do mean old and compared the same discs to his BDP550. Neither of us really saw any difference. And the older player doesn't upconvert. So based on what I've seen upconverting is overrated.

I have a Panasonic BR player and I've done comparisons with my Toshiba DVD player. The BR player does a slightly better job of upconverting. Not a big difference but it is noticeable to me.

Of course, YMMV depending on players/tv/your eyes.

I have 2 Upconvert players. One is a 2 year old Zenith/LG and a 6 month old Samsung. It seems to me the Samsung does a better job of upconverting than the Zenith. However, the Samsung has a high pitched whine while playing.

I know they all call it that, including the manufacturers. But what you're talking about is actually upscaling. The Oppo BDP-83 is supposed to be the best upscaling BD player, and it does an excellent job. I've not compared it to any others though. I wouldn't expect a $78 - $100 BD player to upscale any better than most upscaling dvd players though.

Upconverting is when a receiver will take a lesser connection (composite, s-video, or component), and upconvert the signal to go out over HDMI, so you only have a single cable going to the tv. This is usually the required connection (HDMI), for the video to be upscaled to 1080p.
Just a FYI tidbit............

Thanks for the info. Both are hooked up using HDMI cable. My Vizio TVs are only 720p and I have both players set for that. To my eye they both look better set that way on these TV than when set for 1080i.

Video processors are not all the same. It depends on what processor is in each player, and your TVs. If you would like a serious processor that will beat all of these and still be within the price range of mere mortals, Google "DVDO Edge".

You will almost certainly have the best pic with a 720/768 TV when sending it a 480 or 720 signal (depending on the processors). There is no reason to convert all the way to 1080 only to have it scaled back to 720 by the TV, as you noticed.

For me, the upconverting done by my Sony Blu Ray is a big difference between SDVD. ZERO screen door effect, richer colors and a tad sharper. I throw a 120 image with a hi def projector and upconversion WORKS. Not as good as a blu ray but if ya arent going blu yet, than yes...upconversion with a GOOD player works

Keep in mind that all HDTVs perform their own upconverting (or upscaling, as emoxley calls it). So if you sent a 480i signal to a 1080p LCD, the TV will upconvert it to 1080p. Depending on how well your TV upconverts, this may not look any different (or possibly better) than the output from an upconverting DVD player. As Spiky pointed out, it's all about the processors.

So a BD player could have better upconverting than your current DVD player, but it's not guaranteed.

I just found it odd that he had a top of the line SONY 48" Bravia and the BDP 550 and we couldn't see any difference in the display between his 550 and his crappy 10 year old SD player.

Why do you think it was crappy? Because it's 10 years old? Considering all the devices were Sony, it's not surprising that outputting a 480i signal that's upconverted by the TV to 1080p looks about the same as a 1080p signal coming from the DVD player.

Didn't realize the TV would upconvert

Modern digital TV's show their native resolution all the time. So in fact they could be "down converting". Push a 1080p source such as a BD player thru a TV that is 720p and it will show 720p. On the other hand, a 1080p set aways shows 1080p regardless of source.

Don't get to hung up on resolution however. Only about the 4th most important factor in overall pic quality. Plus depending on size of the set and sitting distance, you might not see all that resolution anyway.

They all have to, as Sdallnct says.

Only a few TVs at the beginning of each tech didn't do all of the upconversion that might be necessary. (every TV did some, just not ALL) So, a few CRT rear-projection units didn't back when they first went to HD. And a few LCDs didn't when flat panels were just hitting the market. Probably plasma, too, although I don't recall.

It was just stupidity in the processor design, the tech was certainly available each time. IMO.

I recently bought one of those $60 Sylvania BR players from Amazon (Funai built - like the Mag the O.P. is considering). I also have a Yamaha DVD-S1800 and Oppo DV-981HD (both with Faroudja chips). My TV is a Vizio 37" LCD.

1. The two upscaling DVD players are better than the TV's built in scaling.
2. The Sylvania Blu-Ray player is as good at upscaling as the two older, much more expensive DVD players.

The second point really surprised me. In some cases its better than either one of them, not having the macro-blocking errors on some badly transfered DVDs that can happen with Faroudja players. Basically, they're getting sold for what I can get out of them used - I really don't need them anymore.

So why do we need upconverting players then?

Marketing.

Seriously though, the upconversion on some older or less expensive TVs isn't that great, so upconverting DVD players offer a way to improve that by upconverting the signal before it reaches the TV, resulting in a better quality image. However, like progressive scan before it, it's become a prevalent feature in DVD players even if not every TV needs it (or, in the case of SDTVs, can utilize the feature at all).

I have a 720p projector (meaning it shows 720p all the time regardless of source). Yet I remember seeing an improvement on SD DVD's when the PS3 added upconverting with a FW upgrade. And without a doubt (now, after some calibration) BD and HD DVD is better than SD DVD.

The really odd thing on my pj is that some say setting your source (PS3) to 1080p gives the best picture. Which makes no sense to me. Currently I have everything set to 720p.

I still find SD Dishnetwork almost unwatchable on my 94" screen. HD looks great!

A theory:

Most "720p" TVs are not 1280x720, but actually 1366x768, which is a 13% increase in resolution. A 720p source sent to these TVs will have to be upconverted slightly, while a 1080p source will be downcoverted. Therefore, the 1080p source may be able to supply a 13% increase in detail when downconverted, while the 720p source may introduced artifacts when upconverted.

Of course, I think the difference would only be noticeable on material that is originally 1080p (a Blu-ray or 1080p-native video game).

Ah...fair point. I hadn't thought of that. A given chip might be better at upconverting or downconverting...

In my case, it appears my PJ is 720p,

Optoma HD70 Home Theater Projector: Basic Specs
MSRP: $999
Technology: Darkchip2 DLP projector
Native Resolution: WXGA 1280x720
Brightness: 1000 lumens
Contrast: 4000:1 (AI mode) 3000:1 (AI off)
Zoom Lens ratio: 1.2:1
Lens shift: None
Lamp life: 2000 hours full power, 3000 hours eco-mode
Weight: 5.6 lbs.
Warranty: 2 years parts and labor

I looked at some dvds on my ps3 and they do look a bit better than on my dvd player, but nothing to write home about.