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Why won't some regular DVDs upconvert?

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Why won't some regular DVDs upconvert?

Old 02-13-08 | 01:36 PM
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Why won't some regular DVDs upconvert?

I have a Toshiba HD-A30 and also a Sony blu-ray player.. I haven't tried it on the blu-ray player, but I noticed that some DVDs the Toshiba says it won't upconvert (a little window appears on screen saying the DVD prohibited it or something). As an example, the Disney Pocahontas DVD. As it plays, I see that it is reporting just 480p output.

Just curious why this is.
Old 02-13-08 | 01:40 PM
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They think HD is a niche format and doesn't want to deal with the war.

Seriously though, I htink most older DVD's do not have progressive scan which keeps them from going past 480. I'm certain more people know though. I have noticed this on a couple of flipper DVD's I got from way back in the day.
Old 02-13-08 | 01:41 PM
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Upconversion only works over HDMI. If you player is connected in any other way, you are maxed at 480P.
Old 02-13-08 | 01:42 PM
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It's hooked up via HDMI. And most DVDs do upconvert .. but as I said, some don't.
Old 02-13-08 | 01:44 PM
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Well, it will work if the disc doesn't have a form of protection. I don't know if it's Macrovision or CSS, but one of those will prevent it. So many commercial discs have it though, so for all practical purposes you could say it doesn't work.
Old 02-13-08 | 01:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Phod
It's hooked up via HDMI. And most DVDs do upconvert .. but as I said, some don't.
I have an A2 and I've also experienced a couple DVDs that have said something about being prohibited and switching to 480. Over the weekend, this happend with Rob Zombie's re-envisioning of "Halloween." Anyone know why this is?
Old 02-13-08 | 01:50 PM
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I don't think it has anything to do with the DVD at all. I've seen this error before, but I reboot my player and it doesn't give it to me the second time. I suspect it's an HDMI handshaking issue.
Old 02-13-08 | 02:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Tracer Bullet
I don't think it has anything to do with the DVD at all. I've seen this error before, but I reboot my player and it doesn't give it to me the second time. I suspect it's an HDMI handshaking issue.
That's sort of what I suspected.
Old 02-13-08 | 04:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Drexl
Well, it will work if the disc doesn't have a form of protection. I don't know if it's Macrovision or CSS, but one of those will prevent it. So many commercial discs have it though, so for all practical purposes you could say it doesn't work.
You're talking about the Image Constraint Token, which seems to be rearing its ugly head for the OP for some season.

The Wikipedia page about it is here.
Old 02-13-08 | 05:04 PM
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Does the PS3 have this issue?

I only ask because I played the same disc as bookcase 3 (Rob Zombie's Halloween) via HDMI on my PS3 not too long ago. I didn't get any kind of message pop on-screen regarding any errors.
Old 02-13-08 | 05:20 PM
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I have never come across a dvd that has yet to upconvert and I've upconverted thousands of dvds over HDMI on various players. I always check to make sure the display is getting 1080P even. Are these real pressed studio dvds? That's the only thing I can think of.
Old 02-13-08 | 06:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Mr. Salty
You're talking about the Image Constraint Token, which seems to be rearing its ugly head for the OP for some season.

The Wikipedia page about it is here.
That only applies to actual HD content. When using component output, players aren't allowed to upscale protected DVDs. I missed the part where he said it was hooked up with HDMI, or maybe I didn't hit "submit" until he posted it.

It's funny how PhantomStranger asks if they are real studio discs. When using component, the bootlegs would actually upconvert while the studio discs would not.
Old 02-13-08 | 09:08 PM
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Originally Posted by PhantomStranger
I have never come across a dvd that has yet to upconvert and I've upconverted thousands of dvds over HDMI on various players. I always check to make sure the display is getting 1080P even. Are these real pressed studio dvds? That's the only thing I can think of.
If they were not, you wouldn't need HDMI in the first place. Meaning, that's a good thing.
Old 02-14-08 | 10:01 AM
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Originally Posted by bookcase3
I have an A2 and I've also experienced a couple DVDs that have said something about being prohibited and switching to 480. Over the weekend, this happend with Rob Zombie's re-envisioning of "Halloween." Anyone know why this is?

My XA1 upconverted Halloween just fine.
Old 02-14-08 | 10:06 AM
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Again, I think TB is correct... Reboot and try again, sounds like a handshake issue to me.

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