Video Asylum

Posted by Victor Khomenko (i) on December 12, 2000 at 04:36:29:

In Reply to: differences between : line-doubling vs. progressive scanning? posted by Mart on December 11, 2000 at 22:35:48:

This is if the progressive scan comes off the studio camera (or a movie transfer) - this is the "true" thing.

Another kind is what is found at the output of the "progressive scan" DVD players - there it is not the original signal, but a digitally restored one. This signal is restored differently depending upon the material and it is still different from what the line doubler would do given the interlaced analog signal. It is *supposed* to be far superior, and WILL be in most good players.

It doesn't cost much to do it well inside the player. But once the analog interlaced signal is out - it is much harder. Now to get the quality comparable to the progressive scan output of a $600 DVD machine you will need perhaps a $20,000 piece of equipment.

A typical "under $5000" line doubler will generally (of course, that technology is changing too) will have far more motion artifacts than the progressive scan output of your $600 DVD player. Same is generally true of the line doublers found inside most digital TV sets, they are sometimes quite good, but still not on the same level.