Hmmm...

Some A/V receivers can up-convert its analog video signal into 1080p HDMI out.

So, which one will be less blurry?

Scenario 1:
[GTX 280] ---direct DVI or HDMI---> [Monitor]

Scenario 2:
[GTX 280] ---DVI to VGA---> ---VGA to S-Video---> [A/V Receiver] ---HDMI---> [Monitor]

Yup, between the video card and the A/V Receiver, there is a convoluted conversion from VGA into S-Video, but then the A/V receiver will upscale the analog video signal into 1080p and then send the resulting digital video signal to the monitor via HDMI.

Is this a trick question?

1 of course!

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Is this a trick question?

1 of course!

It's not a trick question; I just wonder how good a receiver's upscale conversion is. Is it good enough to outweigh the signal degradation from converting DVI out to VGA and then to S-Video?

Too bad no AV receiver has direct VGA input, thus avoiding the conversion from VGA to S-Video.

Has anyone ever tried such convoluted experiment before? Just out of curiosity? I don't really mind convoluted configuration as long as it yelds the best result.

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

Is it good enough to outweigh the signal degradation from converting DVI out to VGA and then to S-Video?

Technically impossible...

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

Is it good enough to outweigh the signal degradation from converting DVI out to VGA and then to S-Video?

Technically impossible...

Agreed. It's the conversion to S-Video that will destroy your signal (especially since s-video is very resolution limited). Going from YPbPr at high resolution (like 1080p) and letting the receiver do an A/D conversion wouldn't be a bad connection though - similar to VGA into your LCD monitor (although the AVR may give you more control/adjustment options).

obobskivich wrote:

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

Is it good enough to outweigh the signal degradation from converting DVI out to VGA and then to S-Video?

Technically impossible...

Agreed. It's the conversion to S-Video that will destroy your signal (especially since s-video is very resolution limited). Going from YPbPr at high resolution (like 1080p) and letting the receiver do an A/D conversion wouldn't be a bad connection though - similar to VGA into your LCD monitor (although the AVR may give you more control/adjustment options).

I see, thanks!

Problem is, even if I'm using YPbPr instead of S-Video, I'll start from low resolution anyway - 640x480 and the likes. 😁

YPbPr will have much better color separation/definition than S-video, so it would be worth setting it up that way vs S-video if possible (although an old graphics card with YPbPr may not be as easily found as one with S-video). Colorspace converters exist to translate VGA (RGB) to YPbPr, which may be a reasonable consideration if you want to go through a receiver.

obobskivich wrote:

YPbPr will have much better color separation/definition than S-video, so it would be worth setting it up that way vs S-video if possible (although an old graphics card with YPbPr may not be as easily found as one with S-video). Colorspace converters exist to translate VGA (RGB) to YPbPr, which may be a reasonable consideration if you want to go through a receiver.

Interesting, and it may be worth trying. 😀

Anyway, would an Atlona VGA to HDMI scaler yield better result than (a) converting VGA to YPbPr, then (b) upscaling and converting YPbPr to HDMI on a receiver?

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

Anyway, would an Atlona VGA to HDMI scaler yield better result than (a) converting VGA to YPbPr, then (b) upscaling and converting YPbPr to HDMI on a receiver?

That's a trickier question - it depends on how good the Atlona is at A/D conversion and scaling I would guess. Newer graphics cards will generally be able to output YPbPr natively so this would only be a relevant discussion for an old card that would need conversion one way or another, and then it would just come down to which device had the better conversion quality - the VGA to YPbPr adapter or the Atlona HDMI adapter.

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

Anyway, would an Atlona VGA to HDMI scaler yield better result than (a) converting VGA to YPbPr, then (b) upscaling and converting YPbPr to HDMI on a receiver?

Yes. If you want the cleanest signal, you need the least conversions possible.

EDIT:
You still have the issue of figuring out what does oversampling. If you don't want blurriness, you need oversampling.