Upconversion Dilemma

I am trying to determine if buying a HDTV with upcoversion to 1080p is worth the extra expense?

My source of programming will be Direct TV and an over the air antenna. I know that I will have to subscribe to HDTV programming.

I do not have any HDTV or BlueRay DVDs. I know I can buy a DVD player that will upconvert Non HDTV DVDs/CDs to 1080p.

That leaves all of the over the air DVT channels (future) and those Non HDTV channels on DirectTV.

Will the upconversion feature of a HDTV set (with that feature) provide picture quality worth paying the difference between one (a HDTV) with and one without the upconversion feature?

I just do not want to end up watching my widescreen HDTV and have STD DVT programs make everyone look fat or widescreen programs still have a black strip on the top and bottom.

The difference in cost between a Sony kdl-46W3000 and a Vizio VW47LFHDTV10A is considerable.

I prefer Sony; but I have to justify the difference in cost to my spouse.

Share | Abuse |

Answers

Awarded Answer (What’s This?)

Answer 1 / 3 - Submitted 157 days ago...

secretagent

Professor (1,805)

Upconversion to 1080p would be my suggestion, as more and more movies and programming are going to be offered in HD, and you'll want to take advantage of it. That way, you wont want to upconvert for a few years; which might make the extra expenditure worthwhile for the Sony.

Share | Link | Abuse

Answer 2 / 3 - Submitted 150 days ago...

Sgtmike

Beginner (12)

I appreciate the response from secretagent.

I have since bought the Sony 'W' series and find that having the 'upcoversion' feature in the set does have value, since:

1. I watch more TV than DVDs of any kind;
2. Most TV is not 1080P HD, or any of the lower HD standards (it is SD);
3. For all TV, unless I receive a HD TV station broadcast (via antenna) or a HDTV channel from a cable or satellite provider, of a program taped in HD and broadcasted in HD, I will have to deal with a picture that does not 'fit' my screen;
4. For all recorded video, Only content recorded in HD and played by a HD compliant device will not have display format conversion issues. Any device that 'upconverts' a non 16:9 ration display format picture has to stretch, zoom, cut, or letter box the picture to display it on a 16:9 screen.

Therefore, the answer I sought has become moot and the question is now replaced with a whole host of questions that will most likely only have subjective or at best 'trial and error' answers, only of interest to someone who really needs to 'get a real life' unless someone is paying them alot to research these kind of questions.

The choices now are which device's upconversion feature from which manufacturer do you use for each type of input:
Antenna TV (SD or HD) I chose the Sony 'W' series TV set's;
Cable TV (SD or HD) I chose the Sony 'W' series TV set's;
Satellite TV (SD or HD) I chose the Sony 'W' series TV set's;
DVD (SD or HD) with or without upconversion feature TBD;
BluRay (SD or HD) TBD;
DVR/PC (SD or HD) IP not used to transmit picture TBD;
Web/Cell/Any source using IP to transmit Picture* TBD.

TBD: To Be Determined
*Note: My concern here is that any source that uses any 'Internet Protocol' transmission scheme to provide a signal over the airwaves, the internet, or any other transmission medium will have issues unique and separate from the other sources above.

Thanks again.

Share | Link | Abuse

Answer 3 / 3 - Submitted 150 days ago...

secretagent

Professor (1,805)

You're right, its going to be trial and error. However, with the upconvert feature on your Sony TV, you now have the ability to experiment. Were I to choose some input devices for your new TV, I would consider the following:

1) Cable for HDTV - cable generally has more HD programming than Satellite, giving you a few more choices.

2) Playstation 3 for BlueRay - Both your TV and PS3 will have upconvert features, and the PS3 can integrate with your WiFi for media delivery through third party channels.

3) TiVo for HD. Will not only give you HD, but will give you on demand access if you have NetFlix

4) Vudu (vudu.com) gives you on demand movies in 1080p format. You can both buy and rent movies.

Enjoy your new set and the trial and error that comes with it. Just make sure you got an HDMI cable and you should be good to go.

Oh, to answer your question - on WebAnswers, we're not really paid directly for our research and responses, we do it for fun and its advertising revenue for awarded answers. Alot of people who do respond, however, are pretty knowledgeable about the answers they give, so feel free to ask more.

Share | Link | Abuse

This Question was awarded 150 days ago therefore you can no longer post an Answer. However you may post a comment below.

Comments

Submitted 150 days ago...

Sgtmike

Beginner (12)

As the only one interested enough to even respond, thanks.

I came to the same conclusion and I am happy with the results. Upconversion in the set, gave me the HD experience on all video programming, not just HD Channels and DVDs.

HDTV lets you see details you did not realize were even there when you watched the same picture in standard definition (good and bad).

Upconversion, whether by the set manufacturer, or the media playing device, can really change your perception of a video you have watched before and your your sense of perspective in relationship to the camera.

The experience is definetly 'different'. Going digital is also making SD better as well.

Thanks again!

Share | Link | Abuse

Add A Comment