Upscaling video

[DevilMayCry42]

Does anyone know of any software that I can use to upscale DVDs or just plain *.avi files?

I don't have an upscaling DVD player, but I do have a decent PC. I don't mind if its not on the fly, i.e. it upscales it and resaves it as a new file. . . Just want to know if its possible?

Thanks in advance.

[Funkstar]

Try this Stand Alone Filters pack.

http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/co...-vc-1-a-44614/

It was meant for MediaPortal (which is picky about how your directshow filters are working) but this combined with MediaPlayerClassic HC should give you what you want.

It is also setup to give you the best quality output on whatever system you are using. All this should be possible at the playback stage, no need to re-encode. (upscaling and re-encoding also gives you generational quality loss).

[DevilMayCry42]

So it wouldn't be worth it to upscale then re-save a DVD or .avi? My computer isn't with my TV, so i was hoping to do it then chuck it on a hard drive.

I've heard that graphics cards upscale inthemselves when you play DVD's in a computer.
I suppose that'd pale in comparison with this software though...?

[Funkstar]

See it all depends on what you mean by up-scaling

If you have a PC set to anything other that 720x576 (the native resolution of a DVD or other SD footage) and play SD or smaller footage through a TV, then you are up-scaling, regardless of the software doing it. In the old days we just used to call this stretching. So if you have a PC set to 1920x1080 plugged into a TV and play a DVD using any old software, you are upscaling, because the signal sent to the TV is larger than the source footage.

So it wouldn't be worth it to upscale then re-save a DVD or .avi? My computer isn't with my TV, so i was hoping to do it then chuck it on a hard drive.

So how are you going to play them on your TV if not through a PC? If you were to do this, you would want to save with the best compression and the highest bitrate possible to try and avoid compression artifacts. But then you are also increasing the horsepower needed to playback these videos, so it also depends on the playback device. I would suspect that you are just as well using watever you were planning on using to playback on for the "upscaling" as well.

Remember up-scalling is just a fancy word for stretching. Granted you can do it well or you can do it badly.

I've heard that graphics cards upscale inthemselves when you play DVD's in a computer.
I suppose that'd pale in comparison with this software though...?

The stuff I linked to before just tries to ensure that the scaling is done with the best algorithms possible. Graphics cards these days do pretty damned good jobs as stretching video anyway.

Personally, I believe you can get much better results from modern graphics cards (using HDMI/DVI) and software than dedicated hardware boxes of old.

[DevilMayCry42]

So how are you going to play them on your TV if not through a PC?

Well, that was kinda bugging me

My comp looks fugly when I take it into the living room, but all the other computers in my house are wimps..... So for now this'll do untill I we get something proper for the living room...

Cheers!