I just got a new 42" LCD and my movies don't look as good as they did on my Sony 32 TV ( tube) and on my LCD when I play a DVD I see the setting is 480i is that what regular DVD's are recorded in? Also they say the new HD DVD players can upconvert a regular DVD to almost HD quality, is that true??
Regular DVD's are mastered in 480i. Progressive scan DVD players convert this to 480p. Upconverting DVD players and the BluRay and HD-DVD players can convert the signal to 720p or 1080i.
On the DVD players that can up convert are there some that upconvert to 720 and others to 1080 ? and does it really make it look that good?????
You usually have a menu option somewhere or a remote control button to choose b/w 720p or 1080i. There are very good upconverters that are worth a look especially the Oppo players and the Toshiba HD-A1. The improvement is worth it if you have a decent HDTV. The Toshiba that you bought is a good 1080p set (good price too) and a 1080i upconverted picture should look great on it.
It depends on you. It seems to add some contrast to the picture, but it also changes the colors (I think it is due to the HDMI/DVI vs. Component/RCA/S-Video). Personally, I think it looks worse and I don't use it. If you are going for next gen, then maybe wait, or if you know you are getting a PS3, then get an HD-DVD player (the HD-A1 that was recommended by eatsushi). There is a chance you will like it more than non-upconverted.
