Onkyo TS-NR905 Resolution Confusion

[pete321]

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice on how to set the HDMI output resolution on my Onkyo TS-NR905 feeding to my Sony KDL-40W2000 TV.

I've got (or will have) 4 components connected to it:

[*]V+ box set at 720p output via HDMI
[*]Home Theatre PC outputting at 1080p via HDMI (video only, audio via digital coax)
[*]Sony BDP-S350 Blu-Ray player (in the next couple of weeks!) via HDMI output
[*]Wii via component output.

I'm not sure what to set the resolution output of the Onkyo to cater for all components, or do I have to change it for every different connection?

The V+ is obviously already upscaling at 720p (except BBC HD broadcast which is native at that resolution), is there any benefit to then getting the Onk to upscale an already upscaled image to 1080p? The HTPC doesn't need any upscaling as it's outputting 1080p, whether native or not depends on the source palying through it. I assume the Sony BDP-S350 will be set to bitstream out and output a resolution based on the disc, i.e blu-ray or DVD. The Wii needs to be upscaled by the Onk to 1080p.

If I set it to Auto, is everything upscaled to 1080p, even images already received at 1080p. I know the V+ signal is and I don't know that it's a good thing to upscale an upscaled image. Obviously the through setting leaves things as they are. I'm assuming I've got to keep changing the setting depending on what I'm watching?

Thanks for your advice.

 

[Anonymous]

Your TV is full HD and the onkyo has a rather good set of HQV video processors built in, so I'd set it to output at 1080p and let it send that to the screen. In the case of already 1080p sources this will have no effect, but for the V+, BDP-350 with DVDs and Wii it'll upscale. As it'll probably do a better job than the screen will, I'd let the Onk handle the upscaling and sit back and relax.

What does everyone else think?

Oh and take a look here to find out about the HQV chips in your Onk.

http://www.hqv.com/

 

[pete321]

I know it will do a better job of upscaling non-HD sources, but that leaves me with 2 questions if I set the Onk 1080p output;

[*]will HQV try to upscale 1080p sources, be they native or already upscaled, i.e. a 1080p output via bitstream from the Blu-Ray player, shouldn't this be set to the 'Through' setting?
[*]is having HQV upscaling my already 720p upscaled video from my V+ box a good idea, there's no way round it because you can't turn the scaling off from the V+ box when it's connected via HDMI.

Ideally I just want to leave the out resolution on my Onk at one setting, but I'm not sure if I can?

 

[Anonymous]

You raise an interesting point, and one I'm suddenly curious about myself. Does the 905 try to upscale 1080p signals if you have the upscaler set to 1080p, or does it just intelligently know it's got a genuine 1080p source and let it alone (i.e. pass-through)?

 

[ear]

my advice is...fiddle fiddle fiddle.to know what results better

 

[pete321]

I think I'm going to leave it set to 'Through' as most of the sources I watch via (V+, HTPC, or Blu-Ray player) will be outputing a HD signal. It just means that if I watch a DVD via the Blu-Ray player or my son uses the Wii, I'll have to manually change the resolution to 1080p....what a waste of HQV processing!

 

[Anonymous]

You could always set the Onk to auto and let it decide what to do. I only have a 606 but it appears to be quite 'smart' at such options.

Personally I'd set all your kit to it's lowest resolution and then set the Onk at 1080p. With the possible exception of the Panny Blu ray, the HQV is probably the better upscaler.

KP

 

[pete321]

When I do that it upscales my V+ signal to 1080p, that signal is already upscaled by the V+ box to 720p (unless watching HD content which is native at 720p), I don't think that upscaling an already upscaled image is a good idea. Whilst I'd rather let the HQV processor in my onk do that, you can't switch off upscaling on V+ when connected via HDMI.

Plus, when the Onk is set to auto will it try to process 1080p signals, I assume not, but I'm not 100% sure. The manual gives very little description on what is quite an important point.

 

[pete321]

I've just spoken to Genserve who handle Onkyo's technical questions in the UK. The opinion was to set the 905's output resolution to 1080p. I was told that HQV will not try and process a signal received already at 1080p, but automatically send it as is to the TV.