Which component is decoding/upconverting?

[msienkowski@att.net]

I need/want to upgrade my 10 year old equipment. I am looking to buy brand new in the mid-price range a blue ray player, av receiver, and an hdtv. Do all current components have the ability to decode all the current video and audio formats as well as upconvert SD to a higher resolution? If so, how does one know which component is doing the heavy lifting and how do you determine which component does the best job? For discussion purposes assume the equipment is the Panasonic blue ray BD55, the Panasonic plasma 46PZ800U, a midrange Integra av receiver 6.9/7.9 or a Rotel surround processor rsp 1069. Thanks!

[MrBoylan]

I need/want to upgrade my 10 year old equipment. I am looking to buy brand new in the mid-price range a blue ray player, av receiver, and an hdtv. Do all current components have the ability to decode all the current video and audio formats as well as upconvert SD to a higher resolution? If so, how does one know which component is doing the heavy lifting and how do you determine which component does the best job? For discussion purposes assume the equipment is the Panasonic blue ray BD55, the Panasonic plasma 46PZ800U, a midrange Integra av receiver 6.9/7.9 or a Rotel surround processor rsp 1069. Thanks!

Not all current equipment can "do it all" and among those components that can handle next gen audio or SD upconversion to HD, not all do it well.

In terms of the equipment on your list, the BD55, Integra receivers and Rotel pre/pro can all support next gen audio decoding (Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD, multi-channel PCM), but the BD55 may be overkill (the BD35 would be just as good) since these receivers and pre-pros can all convert these digital signals to analog. The primary difference between the BD35 and BD55 is the 55's multi-channel analog output.

But if you're looking at the Rotel pre/pro, you should also consider the Integra DHC9.9 pre/pro as it includes the superior Silicon Optix HQV video processor. Which brings us to the topic of upconversion...

Yes, most equipment these days *can* convert a 480i or 480p standard definition signal to 1080p - even a $79 DVD player - but they do so with varying degrees of quality. The BD35/BD55 are above average in SD upconversion, as is the PZ800 series of HDTVs. But the Integra pre/pro is a notch above, with its HQV processor. It's in the same class as the high-end processors from Marvell, Anchor Bay/DVDO and a select few others.

Most video components will allow you to bypass their own SD upconversion in one way or another. The Pioneer BD players include a handy "source direct" mode which passes 1080p Blu-ray Discs at 1080p, but passes 480i DVDs at 480i, allowing you to use an outboard processor for your video upconversion. This is the ideal solution for purists who want to use best of breed video processors without the necessity of having multiple source components. The BD35 and BD55 accomplish this a little differently.

On the BD35/BD55, you can use the HDMI output for Blu-ray and use the component video output simultaneously at 480i, which can then be processed by an external video processor/scaler (like the one in the Integra pre/pro). The only hitch here is that Panasonic actually converts the 480i SD signal on the DVD to 480p then back to 480i over the component output (based on the architecture of their MPEG decoder), but they claim this process is transparent as it uses the same code (reversed) to de-intelace and re-interlace the signal. I have not done extensive testing to verify whether this is true.

In terms of knowing which component is doing what, you have to keep track of that yourself based on display and status messages on the various components. For exampl, if you were sending a video signal to your TV at 480i, then hitting the "display" or "info" button on the TV remote would reflect that resolution on input, and then you know the TV is doing the scaling/de-interlacing. Similar status or info buttons exist on most devices in the chain (BD player and pre/pro, for example).

It doesn't take too long to get the hang of it once you know what you're looking at. And in terms of which to get, well keep reading those reviews and articles on BPBS and elsewhere. We'll try not to steer you wrong!

Later,

-Chris