HDTVs - why can't they show SD DVDs and broadcasts as good as SD TVs?

Question

Greetings,
Why don't HDTVs have a feature, manual or auto, where they could show standard definition (SD) DVDs, VHS tapes, or SD TV broadcasts as good as the old SD TVs could? I'm aware of DVD players that upscale the SD resolution to look better (but not as good as original) on HDTVs but why can't the HDTVs scale down to make the SD media look as good as it does on SD TVs? Most people have tons of SD media that will never be able to be enjoyed at high quality again! Lastly, it's dissapointing to see text as jagged text on HDTVs. Text was always crisp, had straight edges and was non-jagged on SD TVs.
Thanks!

Answer 1

Simple....ALL HDTV sets operate with a 720 or 1080 scanning system...you can't simply change how many lines of picture the system scans....it would be UNGODLY expensive to do so.

But, you can save the video and convert it.....

And that's what they do....ON 1080 TV sets, they take EACH line of information and run it twice on the screen....that's called Line-Doubling....and that's why you see all the flaws....they're kind of MAGNIFYED when you line-double the picture....

Now, on 720 they take 2 lines and make 3 lines out of it, so 480 lines becomes 720....

Yeah it sucks....but what are you going to do?! THROW AWAY 50 YEARS OF CLASSIC TV SHOWS?!!

No Way!!

SDTVs don't do any LINE doubling at all...that's why they look good....UNTIL you try to look at an HDTV signal....THEN they show their shortcomings.....

Answer 2

I don't understand your problem. Every SD source I have (DVD, non-HD broadcast, non-HD satellite) looks better on by HDTVs than on any of my SD tv sets. Unless your TV has a very poor or defective scaling function, there is no reason for a degradation of an SD picture. If you are getting jaggies, perhaps you have not set the "cinema" mode on your TV when watching film sources. Most recent HDTVs will automatically detect film sources, but yours may not.

Answer 3

it depends if dvd player can upconvert the dvd to give it a better pix, it's not the tv, but the player