In DTV, the conversion from a lower-resolution input signal to a TV capable of displaying higher resolutions, such as from an SDTV 480p signal to an HDTV 1080i native display.

The process which increases the number of pixels or frame rate used to represent an image by creating new pixels at closer spacing. For instance SDTV video having 720 x 480 pixels may be upconverted to 1280 x 720 pixels for use as HDTV. The upconversion process does not increase the resolution of image.

The term used to describe the conversion of a lower apparent resolution to a higher number, such as "upconverting" 720p to 1080i. This is a misnomer, though, since to accomplish this, the horizontal scanning frequency is actually lowered from 45kHz to 33.75kHz. Resolution quality is not improved by this method.