The Truth about Up-Scaling DVD players.

In one short sentence, it’s not a magical player that will make that old Top Gun DVD look sharp on that new big screen HDTV.

When you watch a DVD, you must consider the disc itself. A standard DVD is, well, a standard DVD. And no matter how much you spend for an up converting unit, this will not change. In order to watch movies at your set’s true potential I suggest either a BluRay DVD player with the appropriate BluRay disc, or a movie broadcast in HD on your cable or satellite feed.

The true and unique purpose of up converting DVD players is to scale your old DVD’s in a manner that will make them worthy of your new TV by respecting resolution and aspect ratios. This is caused by the fact that older DVD’s were shot in standard definition. This will adjust the original DVD content to your TV by respecting the original image specifications, therefore making sure that the image is not distorted or out of proportion. Also don’t forget that in order to most benefit from this type of equipment, you must use appropriate hook up cables (HDMI works best but component cables work as well) and to properly configure both the DVD player and the TV set. Some models include neat features such as a USB port or a media card reader. This is neat for connecting a hard drive or watching photos without the hassle of connecting your camera to the TV.