Can somebody set me straight on Blueray upscaling 4k?

[robertjp]

So after doing some research on wether I need a new 4k upscaling blueray player for my new 4k TV, Im getting conflicting answers that dont make sense. The general consensus is that if the tv is 4k, you dont want 2 things doing the upscaling or the picture will be worse. So most say not needed.

I also read that it is a good idea to get a 4k upscaling BR for the 4k TV and it would make sense because why would they exist otherwise? You couldnt upscale 4k to a 1080p right? What purpose do they serve if the tv is not 4k? Are they for 1080p sets?

Can anybody set me straight? Thanks

 

[dfergie]

I let my Sony 4k tv upscale, it does just fine...

 

[dangue]

So after doing some research on wether I need a new 4k upscaling blueray player for my new 4k TV, Im getting conflicting answers that dont make sense. The general consensus is that if the tv is 4k, you dont want 2 things doing the upscaling or the picture will be worse. So most say not needed.

I also read that it is a good idea to get a 4k upscaling BR for the 4k TV and it would make sense because why would they exist otherwise? You couldnt upscale 4k to a 1080p right? What purpose do they serve if the tv is not 4k? Are they for 1080p sets?

Can anybody set me straight? Thanks

It will depend on the TV and the Bluray player. If you bought an entry level 4K TV that does not upscale well, it might be worth finding a Bluray player with good upscaling. If your TV already does a bang up job of upscaling, you wouldn't need that in a Bluray player (and if the upscaling hardware and algorithm in the Bluray player is worse than the TV's you'd get a worse picture).

I can't see how content would be upscaled twice. Presumably, the upscaling Bluray would output in 4K and the TV would see it as such and not try to re-upscale it. (That said, I haven't delved deeply into the technical standards involved, so there could be something going on that would cause double upscaling.)

Hope that helps.

 

[robertjp]

So who is a 4k upscaling BR designed for? A non 4k tv wouldnt show it and a 4k tv doesnt need it? Im going round and around with this one unless Im missing something here.

 

[dangue]

So who is a 4k upscaling BR designed for? A non 4k tv wouldnt show it and a 4k tv doesnt need it? Im going round and around with this one unless Im missing something here.

Someone with a 4K tv with bad built-in upscaling.

 

[navychop]

True "4K" BD players may be a primary source of genuine "4K" programming.

 

[jayn_j]

Doesn't seem much different than the audio codecs in the 2007 timeframe, or the upscaling to 1080p in either the player, receiver or TV about the same time.

The rule is always pick the best one to do the upscaling and disable the rest.

 

[harshness]

As close as we are to seeing Ultra HD Blu-ray players, I can't recommend spending extra to get an upconverting Blu-ray player. I'd set the money aside and pop for a UHD player when you simply can't stand Blu-ray anymore.

Of course I say this assuming that UHD Blu-ray players will be good Blu-ray players and that your TV's upconversion isn't insufferable.

 

[harshness]

Someone with a 4K tv with bad built-in upscaling.

This sums it up assuming that the upscaling Blu-ray player actually does a better job than the TV. I certainly wouldn't assume that to be the case.

 

[klang]

Isn't it likely the upscaling chips in the TV's are pretty much all the same?

 

[jayn_j]

Isn't it likely the upscaling chips in the TV's are pretty much all the same?

My guess is no. There is a lot of room for increased A/D depth, adaptive motion processing, etc from the top tier sets. Same thing happened with the DVD up conversion.

 

[klang]

My guess is no. There is a lot of room for increased A/D depth, adaptive motion processing, etc from the top tier sets. Same thing happened with the DVD up conversion.

I freely admit I don't really know. I'm just speculating that if the upscaling is handled by A chip it seems likely to me there are are only a limited number of suppliers that could produce said chip profitably.

I've read a fair number of professional reviews of 4K sets and I just don't recall any complaints about upscaling.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Someone with a 4K tv with bad built-in upscaling.

^^^

 

[harshness]

I'm just speculating that if the upscaling is handled by A chip it seems likely to me there are are only a limited number of suppliers that could produce said chip profitably.

The days of one chip (or board) per feature have long passed. The path to cheap is paved with massively integrated (VLSI) devices. See more at SoC.