Silicon Optix’ HQV is being used more and more by consumers electronics manufacturers like Denon, Yamaha, and Runco. So I decided to take a look at what it is and what it does.

HQV is an acronym for “Hollywood Quality Video”. Yeah, I know. They’re probably better off if it didn’t stand for anything at all. But still it points to what the HQV chipset is all about. Making great quality video.

From their website it’s hard to pin down exactly what the HQV does, but it’s main functions seems to be video deinterlacing and scaling. It seems to do a particulary good job at scaling SD video up to HD resolutions. It also deinterlaces 1080i to 1080p without throwing away any information, for the best possible picture quality.

To create good-looking video, HQV uses noise reduction, detail enhancement, proper 3:2 pulldown, and true 10-bit processing.

HQV chips are used in Denon DVD players to deinterlace and scale video up to HD resolutions. HQV is also used in Yamaha’s new DPX-1300 (MSRP $12,495.95) DLP projector. It could probably also be used in preprocessors, receivers, and standalone video scalers.

I’ve heard lots of good things about HQV, and if you’re looking for a new component for your home theater, you might want to check out HQV. If, on the other hand, you already have a DVD player or some other component that includes HQV, I’d like to hear from you. What do you think?

Silicon Optix - HQV Features