Converting standard-definition video to high-definition video involves resizing an image to contain as much as six times the number of pixels it had originally.  How this is done determines the quality of the resized image.

The most basic video processors perform their scaling calculations by analyzing no more than four pixels in the source image to create one pixel in the final image. This represents what is called a 4-tap scaler. (Without getting too technical, the number of 'taps' determines the number of pixels that are analyzed.) With all other things being equal, a larger number of taps will result in better scaling quality. The average scaler uses no more than 16 taps. However, even this level of scaling can still produce blurry images.

HQV processing uses a scaler with an unprecedented 1024 taps. This level of quality reflects the fact that HQV processing has its roots in Teranex algorithms, which were developed for defense and military image analysis. For every pixel, the HQV processor evaluates the surrounding 1024 pixels in order to provide the best image quality when scaling the image up from standard definition. Again, when this advanced upsampling technology is combined with HQV Detail Enhancement, standard-definition broadcast TV and DVD can be enjoyed with near-HD quality.

Click here to read the Home Theater article on Scaling