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Answer: |
Put
simply, scalers
take an incoming video or computer signal, and add or
subtract information to create, artificially, a higher
or lower resolution than was input. This is required for
digital display devices that have a ìfixed native
rateî resolution. Meaning, their internal image
display mechanisms only produce an image at one
resolution, requiring the projector to ìconvertî any
incoming resolution that doesnít match, to itís
ìnative rateî. Stand-alone scalers also benefit from
other high quality features like comb filtering and
excellent video decoding for all world video standards,
de-interlacing to rid the image of interlace artifacts,
and in the really high-end products, video
re-structuring, sync stabilization and video EQ-ing.
The
extent of itís scaling ability also plays a role in
quality as well as cost. Scalers come in fixed
resolutions in the form of doublers (doubling the
incoming resolution), triplers, quadruplers, as well as
native rate scalers. The native rate scalers are the
latest advancement, tailoring any incoming signal to a
fixed output resolution that matches the display
deviceís native rate, thereby eliminating internal
scaler artifacts from the typically cheap and lower
quality scalers used by projector manufacturers.
Ideally, you will want to use the scaler that most
closely matches the native rate or, for CRTís, the max
resolution your projector (and budget) can handle. |
