Getting the best out of Standard Def.?

[StanleyNTL]

Can  we really turn a sow's ear (most HD TV - SD performance) into a silk purse (CRT SD performance)?

I was in a local dealers recently and was blown away by the JVC LCD's HD performance, shame its SD performance (Freeview) was pitiful. The sets I were looking at gave the most real looking HD I've seen. Other HD performers merely look good, or like refined CRT in large scale.

When scaling is outsourced for analogue SD sources, can DVB (SKY, Freeview), and Component really be done justice, when they are upconverted to a HD format?
Will these HD sets weaknesses in SD be removed, by virtue (possibly) of their better HD picture processing?

Can these video processors deal with aspect ratio switching, such that the format will be correct prior to upconversion? And what about audio lip sync with the video source being converted?

What would be a good entry level model to consider? It would have to deal with RGB Scarts, Component, Svideo, RF Tuner (for those who don't have Freeview ).

Reviews of different processors/scalers would be helpful too.

[Colin]

  You can't really get anything out of SD...I just hope if dies quicker so that we can all get on. Most processing to `improve' HD involve some sort of filtering, leading to loss of detail! It looks better because it is sharper or hides some artifacts.

I am no expert at the use of video processors but am fairly familiar with how they work. There are retailers over at the avforums, so post your question there and see what  they have to say.

Yes aspect ratio and lip synch problems may be an issue with the earlier processors.

Lower range Lumagen hdp and DVDO iscan HD+ might be your best bet.