Topic: 4K UPSCALE vs NATIVE 1080P

[LETOR]

Would there be a significant improvement in picture quality if a native 1080P material is upscaled to 4K? Some A/V Receivers now a days have upscaler to 4K. 

[dm1179]

Would there be a significant improvement in picture quality if a native 1080P material is upscaled to 4K? Some A/V Receivers now a days have upscaler to 4K. 

Not really. Let's do the math.

720p = 1280x720 = 921,600 pixels
1080p = 1920x1080 = 2,073,600 pixels
Ultra HD (4K) = 3840×2160 = 8,294,400 pixels

1080p has 2.25 times more pixel than 720p.

Ultra HD (4K) has 4 times more pixel than 1080p. This requires more processing power for video interpolation. More mistakes could happen when upconverting 1080p to 4K.

IMHO, it is still better to just get 1080p TV specially if you only have 1080p video sources.

[Toslink]

Would there be a significant improvement in picture quality if a native 1080P material is upscaled to 4K? Some A/V Receivers now a days have upscaler to 4K. 

yes there is!!... no need to upscale 1080p sources from your receiver if your 4KTV alone can do it, on my Sammy 78hu9000 lahat ng inputs are upscaled to 4K automatically and the outputs are WOW!!! - my viewing distance is @ 9ft - currently using my HTPC > Onkyo 818 > 4KTV, i'll upgrade my AVR soon once na may lumabas na na "real" 4K player at dumami na 4K content!!! as of now im really enjoying "upscaled" 4K from all sources (BD/MKV/Sky Cable HD) - 2D and 3D

[Verbl Kint]

Is there any discernible/observable input lag when upscaling?

[Stagea]

Not really. Let's do the math.

720p = 1280x720 = 921,600 pixels
1080p = 1920x1080 = 2,073,600 pixels
Ultra HD (4K) = 3840×2160 = 8,294,400 pixels

1080p has 2.25 times more pixel than 720p.

Ultra HD (4K) has 4 times more pixel than 1080p. This requires more processing power for video interpolation. More mistakes could happen when upconverting 1080p to 4K.

IMHO, it is still better to just get 1080p TV specially if you only have 1080p video sources.

720p to 1080p conversion is worse than 1080p to 2160p conversion or even 720p to 2160p conversion.

The reason is that 720p to 1080p is not an integer scale. The image width and height changes by 50%. Lines and details tend to blur because of this, unless additional sharpening is added.

1080p to 2160p is a straight up 100% increase in horizontal and vertical dimensions. Less post-processing is needed to make the picture look good because of this. A 2160p screen can be made to look exactly like a 1080p screen if no post-processing is applied (straight scaling), resulting in a square of 4 panel pixels per 1080p image pixel.

720p to 2160p is the same, as it is a 200% increase in horizontal and vertical dimensions. If no post-processing is applied, this will result in a square of 9 panel pixels per 720p image pixel.

[dm1179]

720p to 1080p conversion is worse than 1080p to 2160p conversion or even 720p to 2160p conversion.

The reason is that 720p to 1080p is not an integer scale. The image width and height changes by 50%. Lines and details tend to blur because of this, unless additional sharpening is added.

1080p to 2160p is a straight up 100% increase in horizontal and vertical dimensions. Less post-processing is needed to make the picture look good because of this. A 2160p screen can be made to look exactly like a 1080p screen if no post-processing is applied (straight scaling), resulting in a square of 4 panel pixels per 1080p image pixel.

720p to 2160p is the same, as it is a 200% increase in horizontal and vertical dimensions. If no post-processing is applied, this will result in a square of 9 panel pixels per 1080p image pixel.

that's good to know.

[LETOR]

How about watching a 1080p material without up conversion from an Ultra HD TV compared to a regular 1080p HD TV. Would there be a difference in picture quality considering that ultra HD has a finer panel pixels (whatever you call that) compared to Full HD only?   

[Stagea]

How about watching a 1080p material without up conversion from an Ultra HD TV compared to a regular 1080p HD TV. Would there be a difference in picture quality considering that ultra HD has a finer panel pixels (whatever you call that) compared to Full HD only?   

Most branded TVs upconvert and process the signal to get some use out of the additional pixels. Whether or not you'd like the effect is upto you.

[stib9]

You can use the PC mode option on some TVs like the LG, it will turn off most of the upscaling effects. Aliasing will be present though, lalo na on graphics.