Toshiba SUCs: The Nonexistent Threat of SRT Technology

 

What would you say if I told you you could get true HD video from an SD source, using a new upconversion technique that would revolutionize the world?  If you'd say I was a snake oil salesman, you would be right.

Having lost the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD battle earlier this year, Toshiba decided that rather than conceding defeat and creating a Blu-ray Disc player, they would attempt to continue milking the standard-definition DVD format for all it is worth.

As Blu-ray has 6 times the resolution as DVD, and includes support for advanced features and lossless audio, it would seem to many that DVD's days as a viable format for those who truly appreciate the best video and audio quality are numbered. 

Toshiba, however, begs to differ.  They have announced TVs and laptop computers (with DVD players possibly to follow) that feature 4-core Cell processors with the processing power to analyze 9 frames of standard-definition video and attempt to extrapolate a 960p image from 480p sources.  The technology has been alternatively called "Super up-conversion" (SUC) or "Super resolution technology" (SRT), depending on how much one wants to mock Toshiba. 

Super resolution is not a new concept.  It has been used by NASA on still photos and various law enforcement agencies for some time now.  If a series of photos or a video can show basically the same image from a very slightly altered perspective in adjoining frames, then those frames can potentially be combined to create a higher-definition image.

The problem with using this technology for home theatre use, however, is that movies and TV shows are not shot in this manner.  This means that only rarely will SRT be able to really gather significant information from surrounding frames in its attempt to upscale the standard-definition image.  SRT algorithms are also written to quadruple the pixel count in a given image... thus, a 720x480 DVD image would become a 1440x960 image that would need to be scaled AGAIN using other methods to 1080p or 720p in order to play on HDTVs.

So how well will SRT work in the real world?  It's hard to say at the moment.  When Toshiba demoed the technology to journalists, they would only show it up against an SD source... not up against Blu-ray or even competing upscaling solutions.  That certainly doesn't show much confidence in the product. 

They were naturally called out on this at their press event, with "fanciable nonsense" reportedly being one of the kinder remarks describing the technology.  Toshiba reps also became noticeably upset by the myriad of press questions regarding their technology's necessity given the success of the native 1080p Blu-ray format.

At the end of the day, Toshiba is just starting to look silly.  Rather than getting onboard the Blu-ray bandwagon, they are trying to milk DVD royalties through any means possible.  Currently, that means an overpriced laptop (prices start at $2500) that can maybe upscale regular DVDs better than... other laptops.  Wow!  Quite the dynamite product. 

Of course, the Cell processor eats quite a bit of power so you'll need to keep that laptop plugged in while watching movies with SRT enabled... but, hey, for those looking to spend $2500 for a device that can make DVDs look nowhere near the quality of a Blu-ray Disc on a $300-400 player, then look no further.  The future is here!  (I'm sure Sony and Panasonic are quivering right now.)