Better scaler in STB or TV

[Agentbolt]

I'm not sure which is generally going to be the better scaler. I have a pretty low-end LCD 32 inch LCD TV (Astar M32-DB) with a 13xx by 7xx (can't remember the specific res, it's the common one for LCDs and Plasmas that's not quite 720P) with Cox HD service.

I'm curious whether I should set the picture format to passthrough (letting the TV scaler turn 1080i images into 720P) or fixed (where the set top box changes everything to 720P). Generally speaking, which do people usually go with? I've tried it myself and couldn't really notice a difference, but I'm pretty unable to tell the differences generally anyway.

 

[cubby1223]

Not really going to see a difference with 1080i > 720p whether it be in the cable box or in the tv, so just have the cable box take care of it so the tv is not adjusting to different resolutions often (probably doesn't matter at all on an lcd set anyways).

You will see a huge difference in 480i > 720p by letting the cable box handle that instead of the tv.

 

[spidey07]

Best way is to throw up some test patterns. The only real way to tell is with patterns or pausing a scene and looking for scaling artifacts. Look at edges of contrasting color for dead giveaways.