Sky HD Upscaling

[admin_exported]

Hi All

I've had my Sky HD Box set to upscale to 1080i since I bought it pretty much 18 months ago and have been very happy with the picture. Whenever I switched to the Sky input on my amp (Sony STR STR-DA5200) I got a small "1080i sign" in the top left of my Sony Full HD TV and didn't think any more about it as the picture was good from all sources.

However, I read recently on one of the forums that the Sky upscaler is not very good and that it should be set to Auto and let the TV or amp do the upscaling. This I did but the little sign on the TV when I switch to the Sky source is now reading 576p most of the time.

Does this mean the picture is not being upscaled to 1080i anymore? I've read the manual for both the TV and amp and there's nothing about upscaling although the amp does upscale analog signals to 1080i.

I'm beginning to think a little knowledge is dangerous in my case. I think the picture was better how I had the sky box set before (1080i) but am I missing something?

Did I also read that a full HD TV upscales to 1080i/p automatically or am I mixing two threads on the forums?

Thanks for any comments that'll help with my understanding.

 

[The_Lhc]

Wovian: I've had my Sky HD Box set to upscale to 1080i since I bought it pretty much 18 months ago and have been very happy with the picture. Whenever I switched to the Sky input on my amp (Sony STR STR-DA5200) I got a small "1080i sign" in the top left of my Sony Full HD TV and didn't think any more about it as the picture was good from all sources.

However, I read recently on one of the forums that the Sky upscaler is not very good and that it should be set to Auto and let the TV or amp do the upscaling. This I did but the little sign on the TV when I switch to the Sky source is now reading 576p most of the time.

Does this mean the picture is not being upscaled to 1080i anymore? I've read the manual for both the TV and amp and there's nothing about upscaling although the amp does upscale analog signals to 1080i.

I'm beginning to think a little knowledge is dangerous in my case. I think the picture was better how I had the sky box set before (1080i) but am I missing something?

Did I also read that a full HD TV upscales to 1080i/p automatically or am I mixing two threads on the forums?

Thanks for any comments that'll help with my understanding.

If you think about it the TV has to upscale any signal that is lower than its native resolution, so it's not something you can turn off (otherwise you'd get a smaller picture in the middle of the screen).

Which looks best will depend entirely on your equipment, my Pioneer plasma does a much better job of upscaling than my SkyHD box does, so I leave Sky set to auto, however the upscaler in your TV (you haven't said what it is) may not be so capable. So really you just need to try it and choose whatever you feel looks the best.

Incidentally if the amp doesn't specifically say it upscales HDMI inputs then it may not be doing anything at all for SkyHD.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

If I understand you correctly, the sign on my TV (It's a sony W series) must be referring to the input it receives via HDMI from the sky HD box , it then upscales it to 1080i/p but I will not see this happening or indeed find a setting for it.

The amp is probably not doing anything. I'm a bit disappointed with the amp in that case as it was rated 5 stars by WHF a couple of years back. (I know that's a long time in the world of AV). It's therefore destined for the kids room!

 

[The_Lhc]

Wovian: Thanks for taking the time to respond.

If I understand you correctly, the sign on my TV (It's a sony W series) must be referring to the input it receives via HDMI from the sky HD box , it then upscales it to 1080i/p but I will not see this happening or indeed find a setting for it.

That's correct, the TV is simply telling you what format it's receiving the picture in, so you know you're watching a TV-upscaled SD picture when it says 576p, if it says 1080i it's either native HD or upscaled by something external.

The amp is probably not doing anything. I'm a bit disappointed with the amp in that case as it was rated 5 stars by WHF a couple of years back. (I know that's a long time in the world of AV). It's therefore destined for the kids room!

Well HDMI is a very new technology, it's leaping on all the time, so it's not that surprising really. The amp probably was one of the best in its class a few years ago, it's just been superceded.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks a lot. You've saved me another night trawling through manuals and set up screens!

 

[Andrew Everard]

The amp will upscale video to 1080p, but not from an HDMI input. If you want it to upscale the output from your Sky+HD box, and you have one of the Sky boxes with component video output - not all the boxes have this - you could take a component video feed from the box into the amp, upscale it and feed it out via HDMI to the TV.

 

[Alec]

Does anyone get a popping noise when the sky+ hd box is set to auto, when the resolution changes? Bugged me so I've set it to 1080i.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Is this through your speakers rather than the TV? If so, It's probably the DAC in the speakers unlocking from the signal and then locking on again...

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Andrew.

I did see an option within the amp video settings to upscale analog input to 1080i/p. Is this how I'd achieve this?

I currently have an HDMI running the video from the Sky HD box to the amp. Would the outlay on the component cable be visible given the current two options of letting the Sky HD Box or the TV perform the upscaling?

 

[Anonymous]

I don't get a popping noise but there is a momentary blank screen when you change channels

 

[Andrew Everard]

Frankly I'd leave it with the TV doing it. You can buy component cables from the usual ebay-type cable companies for not much money - less than £10 - if you fancy experimenting, but please do check that your Sky box actually has the outputs required before you buy the cables. As I said, not all Sky HD boxes have them...

 

[Andrew Everard]

Wovian:I don't get a popping noise but there is a momentary blank screen when you change channels

That'll be the TV re-synching to the new picture resolution.

 

[Alec]

Andrew Everard:Is this through your speakers rather than the TV? If so, It's probably the DAC in the speakers unlocking from the signal and then locking on again...

No, just the TV's speakers. It goes momentarily blank too.

I should probably start a thread with Sky+ HD box issues. I've had a few - very brief - pauses, and im confused as to why i get sidebars when someone is on video link on teh news or somesuch, think thats also happenned on the odd (old) film.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Ah, in which case it's the TV unlocking then locking on again. There's a muting relay in there which stops nasty digital noises coming through for the moment this happens - sounds like it's doing its job a bit savagely.

 

[Anonymous]

Noted Andrew - thanks again

 

[Sorreltiger]

Don't write off your amp just because it doesn't upscale HDMI sources. Unless you pay a great deal of money, you're probably better off leaving this to the source (Blu-ray player upscaling DVD, for example) or the TV, if it has excellent upscaling capability. Find out which is best by trying each in turn.

 

[3937edwards]

hi has anyone out there got a sky + hd box connected to a samsung led tv ive been reading about the upscaling issue i have mine set to 1080i but would like to know if it would be better on auto with this particular set i have a samsung ue40c6530

 

[The_Lhc]

Try it and see, only you can be the judge.