I have an HD CRT directview set that can display 480p or 1080i without scaling. All other resolutions are scaled to one of these two.

I picked up a Faroudja NRS that's currently set to 720p output and I'm considering upgrading it for multiple resolutions.

What I'm wondering is which resolution, 480p or 1080i would be preferable to scale LD to? 1080i obviously gibes you more picture information but takes more digital scaling and processing. 480p would be essentially de-interlaced and then "scaled" in an analog way to fill the screen due to how CRTs work.

480p is what I'm leaning toward because at the current output of 720p it seems to be magnifying some of the defects in the video during the scaling process. I feel the lower resolution 480p would hide some of that. I suppose I won't know until I try it out but I'm looking for opinions and thoughts.

I agree. To get it to 1080i, it would still have to first be deinterlaced to be able to scale it and then be interlaced again. Although, if you can go back and forth between 1080i and 480p, I guess you can always just try both.

I don't know what your set is, but I have the same situation with a Sony 34" HD XBR widescreen set. It scales to 480p or 1080i like yours.

I found that I liked the 480p better for LDs, CEDs, VHS, than scaling to the 1080i because the image seemed to me to be a little clearer and with less pronounced defects and that effect of too much processing of the video. It also allowed use of the TV set's aspect ratio controls that the HD setting did not.

That's not a problem if your scaler has aspect ration controls with it, but I was able to use a very simple and low-priced DVDO device to get the 480p with outstanding results.

My Pioneer CRT rear projector has built-in 480p scaling and gives fine results even when using the RF input on channel 3 or 4

I also have a 34" Sony XBR. I feel when I let the TV's internal deinterlacer process the video it looks pretty decent at 480p but it does far too much noise reduction which causes the image to smear.

I used to own a dvdo iscan pro I believe it was when I had a CRT RPTV. The results were decent but the TV then scaled everything to 540p or 1080i which it didn't do too well.

I'm thinking about getting another cheap deinterlacer, but I'm concerned about film vs video cadence issues. I have a large number of Star Trek TNG laserdiscs and they mix film with video and can fool the less sophisticated deinterlacers. The NRS with DCDi is spot on while the one in my TV shows combing for a short period every time the scene changes or there are video effects in the scene.

Have you had any issues with your dvdo?