how does upsacling on the a/v amplifiers work?

[V_Game]

Okay I know what upscaling mean but, what i am unclear about it on an amplifier like the Denon AVR-1909 which does 1080p or the Onkyo TC-SR606 which does 720p/1080i. What does it upscale. Dose it upscale freeview from my TV. is it like an option I have a choice to upscale or not.

Is it something I really need my amplifier to do?
Also I have a Xbox 360 does that upscale DVDs, if so I wouldn’t need my amplifier to upscale would i?

[rwniel]

It upscales analogue sources to hdmi generally speaking i.e. those connected by s-video, composite or component connection. However an av amp/receiver won't upscale in-built freeview, as the video output won't be via one of the source inputs. You'd otherwise need SD sources going into the av amp/receveiver first which is then output by the av amp/receiver directly to the tv; however, bear in mind that assuming the native resolution of the television is higher the television will be doing it's own upscaling/processing of connected sources anyway. So for external SD sources it otherwise comes down to the quality of the scaling done by the av amp/receiver (compared to that done either by the television itself or the source in the case of an upscaling dvd player). Using the Denon AVR-1909 as an example, you can switch the scaling on or off on a per input basis and also set the output resolution (480p/576p, 1080i, 720p or 1080p) subject to certain limitions (such as not being able to convert 1080i input signals to 720p or 720p to 1080i for example).

Hence it's not something you 'need' as such; via the Xbox 360, as you said it can do its own dvd upscaling. Once you get above a certain model in the range, upscaling is usually offered as an option - it's then a case of experimenting to see what it offers over processing done elsewhere in the chain.

Robert

[V_Game]

thank for that so i dont really need upscaling. then i might just buy the Sony STG DG820 as it has no upscaling and has come recomened to my by friends.