Sony has updated their Digital Reality Creation-Multi Function (DRC-MF) chip, which is found in many Sony televisions, to version 3. DRC-MF is a proprietary Sony processing technology that attempts to give pictures more resolution. It can potentially quadruple the resolution of a normal broadcast image by using processing algorithms to analyse and then completely re-map the picture, calculating the appearance of each extra pixel based on the ‘real’ pixels around it. Previous DRC-MF chips allowed above average upscaling of standard definition content to 1080i, but this new version 3 chip allows upscaling to 1080p. There is also a note in the official press release that the DRC-MF chip lessens the blur and bleed effect common in upscaling.
Expect to see this in quite a few new televisions released by Sony later this year and the majority of 2009.
Information courtesy Sony Japan.