We all love TVs, and we especially love TVs with great picture. There's nothing quite like walking into Best Buy, finding the biggest, most expensive TV on display, and taking a moment to enjoy the impressive picture quality it exhibits.
Unfortunately, most content we regularly watch on our TVs falls short of the eye-popping glory of the demo reels we see on the retail floor. While TV display technology has improved by leaps and bounds over just the last few years, content has struggled to keep pace. To account for this, TVs leverage a specific process to handle content produced at a lower resolution and spruce it up to make it look like what you saw at the store.
This process is called "upscaling", and while it's very useful, not all upscaling is the same. In this post, I'll discuss what upscaling is and how to avoid one specific mistake that many TV owners make.
TV Picture Basics
TV picture quality is usually measured in terms of resolution. That is, how many pixels comprise the picture. TVs with higher resolution generally have better picture quality, as the more pixels that comprise the picture being displayed, the more detail the TV is able to show.
Now, there are plenty of other factors to consider when measuring picture quality (such as contrast, brightness, color accuracy, etc.), but for the sake of simplicity, picture resolution is the most commonly used measurement.
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| The most common display resolutions. |
Today, the most common resolution for TVs is 4K (sometimes also called "UHD"). Almost every TV you see on the shelf at any electronics store features 4K resolution; in fact, you'll have to look hard to find one that isn't 4K.
That said, many of the movies and TV shows we regularly watch aren't produced in 4K. Instead, most of them are still produced in either 1080p or 720p (lower resolutions commonly called "HD").
So, how are movies and TV shows produced in lower resolutions like 1080p and 720p displayed on a 4K TV? The answer is via a process called upscaling.
Upscaling
Without getting into too much technical detail, upscaling is a process which converts lower-resolution video content (such as 1080p or 720p) to a higher resolution (such as 4K) so that it can be displayed on a higher resolution screen.
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| Sony TVs have some of the best upscaling technology on the market. |
TV manufacturers invest a lot of time and effort into upscaling technologies because they want all content viewed on their TVs to look good, and they know a lot of the content consumers watch is of lower resolution than 4K. In fact, the upscaling technology built into many premium TVs today is so good that the average viewer can't even tell the difference between content produced in 4K and content upscaled by their TV to 4K.
However, not all upscaling processes are created equal; some devices are better at upscaling than others, and many consumers make the mistake of not letting their TV handle upscaling duties.
The Device Chain
When trying to determine how to get the best picture quality for your TV, it's important to note how content gets to your TV. Many people have a streaming device (such as a Roku, Fire TV, or Apple TV), gaming console, cable box, or Blu-ray player connected to their TVs, as well as streaming apps built directly into the TV itself.
Together, the TV and all of the devices connected to it are called a device chain. An example of the device chain in my living room is below.
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| Good old MS Paint never disappoints. |
As you can see, I have an Xbox and a Roku connected to my TV. The Xbox and Roku send video and audio signals to the TV; the TV displays the video signal and sends the audio signal to the Sound System to be played.
Now, this is a very simple setup and all seems well and good. However, there is one problem.
My Roku contains all of the apps I use for streaming content (such as Netflix, Disney+, and YouTube TV), so most of the content I view goes from my Roku to my TV. The problem is that a lot of the content I watch (mostly sports and TV shows on YouTube TV, but also some movies on Netflix and Disney+) is produced in 1080p or 720p. Therefore, before it can be displayed on my TV, the content needs to be upscaled to 4K.
No problem! My TV will just handle the upscaling and everything will be great... right? Well, no. The problem is, my Roku actually upscales the content I'm watching before it's sent to the TV. Therefore, as far as the TV is concerned, it's getting a 4K signal from the Roku and no upscaling is needed.
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| An example of the upscaling process in my setup. 1080p content is streamed from Netflix (or another app) to my Roku, which then upscales the content to 4K before sending it to the TV. This is sub-optimal, as my TV's upscaling capabilities are better than my Roku's. |
The problem is that the Roku isn't as good at upscaling content as my TV is. You see, streaming devices like Rokus are designed to be portable and affordable; while they are capable of upscaling content, they're simply not as effective at it as TVs.
Today, TVs (especially premium ones) have very powerful processors and sophisticated upscaling algorithms that streaming devices simply can't match. Thus, to get the best picture quality possible, you need to ensure that your TV is handling upscaling duties, not your input device.
Roku Workaround
Some devices have a pass-thru option where all content streamed is passed to the TV without any sort of modification by the device itself. If your device has this option, it's probably in your best interest to enable it.
Unfortunately, Roku devices have no such option. However, there is a workaround that will allow you to send content in its native resolution from the Roku to the TV, which will in turn allow the TV to handle upscaling.
First, you need to know the resolution of the content you're planning to stream (ex. 1080p, 720p, etc.). Once you have that, you can set your Roku to output video at that specific resolution by going to Settings -> Display Type, and then selecting the resolution of the content you're planning to stream.
This essentially forces the Roku to output all video content at that specific resolution, and if that resolution is lower than what your TV supports, your TV will upscale it using its upscaling engine.
Now, I know this isn't the most convenient workaround, but it's really the only one that Roku leaves open to us. That said, I probably wouldn't bother trying to work around Roku's auto-upscaling unless I were preparing to watch a major event that I know is going to need to be upscaled (like the upcoming Super Bowl, which, despite being the world's second most-watched sporting event, is still being broadcast in 1080i. Ugh...). For casual viewing, allowing Roku to handle upscaling is acceptable in my book.
Conclusion
Upscaling is a powerful and (unfortunately) necessary technology in modern home entertainment. TVs today have become extremely effective at upscaling, so much so that the process almost goes unnoticed by the average consumer.
Upscaling is most effective when performed by your TV, and when certain devices get in the way and try to perform upscaling themselves, the result can be sub-optimal picture quality. Always do what you can to ensure that each device is performing the process for which it is best suited, and you'll have a quality viewing experience.
