Upscaling

Your TV is already upscaling, so the question is which does the job better.

I think the Blu-Ray will do a better job considering my DVDs don't look as good as movies playing on HBO, but I'm still not sure whether Upscaling contributes to the soap opera effect. I've been trying to do some research, but some of this technology stuff is just confusing.

"If I use a Blu-Ray player for my DVDs will I notice a difference on a 42inch screen?"

Depends on how close you sit to the screen.

"Also, and this is a big issue for me, does Upscaling contribute to the soap opera effect in any way?"

By "soap opera effect", I assume you mean the frame-for-frame motion of strobey 24 frames-per-second movies looking like the smooth motion of 60i interlaced alternating fields of 30 frames-per-second soap operas.

Upscaling doesn't contribute to the "soap-opera effect". The "soap-opera effect" is your TV's 60hz or 120hz motion smoothing. Motion smoothing sort of aliases where it thinks motion should be between frames, interpolates, guesses, then smooths out motion between frames. Motion smoothing is great for sports, lousy for movies. Movies, our legacy storytelling format, are meant to have more strobey frame-for-frame movement.

Turn off motion smoothing for the particular TV input your DVD or blu-ray player is hooked into using the picture menu functions of your TV's remote control.

My TV does not have motion smoothing.

Another question, I read online that Upscaling can cause motion blur, is this true?

Ah, thanks for clarifying.

Haven't seen myself that upscaling can cause motion blur. Upscaling increases the resolution WITHIN each 1/24th of a second frame, not the frames-per-second rate.

I think what you're referring to is 3/2 pulldown, which had to be done prior to the days of progressive-scan video, when 24 frames-per-second film material had to be transferred with a 3/2 pulldown (3 progressive frames followed by 2 shimmering interlaced frames) to adapt 24 frames-per-second video to 30 frames-per-second divided into two half-resolution 1/60th of a second fields which, when sandwiched together, form each 1/30th of a second full-resolution frame.

Now, all DVD and blu-ray players do a good job of undoing 3/2 pulldown and presenting 24 frames-per-second material at true 24 frames-per-second on progressive-scan TVs.

Is your TV an older TV that only displays video interlaced? If so, upscaling won't create motion blurring but your TV might, and to my knowledge, there's no getting around it.

I have a Panasonic Viera Plasma TV, I'd say it's about six years old. The DVD player I currently use is just as old, if not older than the TV itself. The TV does have an option to turn on 3:2 pulldown, but I notice no difference with it on or off. I'm not really very smart about technical stuff.

I'm only asking because I just recently
bought an Ultra HD TV, Samsung, and I unfortunately had to return it because I was having issues with the soap opera effect. I also bought a new blu ray player to go with the TV, I did not return that though because I thought I might use it with my old TV. Anyways, after reading some stuff online I figured out that maybe it was not the soap opera effect I was experiencing, but actually a slight motion blur issue.

"If I use a Blu-Ray player for my DVDs will I notice a difference on a 42inch screen?"

A difference compared to what?

"Also, and this is a big issue for me, does Upscaling contribute to the soap opera effect in any way?"

No.

"Soap opera effect" is a pejorative term used by self-appointed "purists" who think that low frame rates are a virtue. If you doubt me, try blinking your eyes constantly and see how annoying it is. When you don't blink, that's the "soap opera effect", and for rational thinking people it's quite desirable!

Upscaling deals with areal issues, while the mythical "soap opera effect" is referring to temporal things, so there's no actual relation between the two, other than how little laypeople know about either.

"Anyways, after reading some stuff online..."

There's where you went wrong! ;) Seriously, don't let other people spend your money. Your opinion is the only one that counts. Don't waste your time on things that you can't see, and you'll have more attention to pay to the things that you can.