Do HD Upconverting DVD players really work?

Question

Many manufacturers offer "HD Upconverting" DVD players which claim to play standard definition DVDs at "near HD" resolution. I'm wondering if anyone knows whether or not they really are any better than any other standard def players, and possibly how they accomplish this? I mean, you can't create resolution out of nowhere, can you?

Answer 1

You are correct, you can't get resolution out of nowhere.
These players use the same technology used by HDTVs when they need to scale up Standard-definition signals.
So it is arguable as to whether a DVD player can do a better job than your HDTV. DVD players are such a low-commodity now that DVD manufacturers try anything to differentiate.