480p versus 1080p for dvd content. 480 will be better right in this scenario?

dvd player with normal 480p content projected at a true 480p

versus

dvd player upscaling a regular dvd to 1080p projected at 1080p.

It seems these upscalers are not "adding" any content - just stretching the image.

I understand if you have a 1080p native displaying 480p will be choppy - just like trying to watch regular cable on an hd tv.

You're right. These guys do not know what they are talking about. I know exactly what you are asking.

It sounds like we are talking about standard DVDs that are recorded in 480p.

A 480p DVD is going to look at best on a 480p TV. 1080p TVs or upconverting DVD players will create too much scaling and noise in the image. Scaling is bad regardless how good the scaler is. You want to always display the video at its native resolution.

Displaying 1080p content on a 480p TV will almost have similiar effect as the above situation. Downscaling will produce video artifacts as well.

Bottom line, a 480p TV will be the best than a 1080p TV. 1080p TV is only good if you are displaying 1080p content. Otherwise, a 1080p TV will make all other images look bad because of the scaling. I think you have heard one too many myths about upscalers.

If you can watch a 480p DVD upscaled to 1080p using _any_ kind of decent upscaler, then you should. It will never look worse than watching it at 480p.

Saying that it'll just stretch the image and hence imply that it will look worse would be like suggesting playing Quake 1 on a modern day PC with a state-of-the-art graphics card and high res screen would somehow be worse than using a period PC to play it. Always use the latest hardware you can get ... as long as it's good quality. Yes, there is no sense in inputing 1080p to a 480p projector. You won't see the benefit at all.