Help needed upscaling file and encoding to MPEG-2

[DriftRoot]

I've tried everything I can think of to make this work, but am being foiled at every turn. I am not very good when it comes to this stuff, so I'm really hoping someone can help. Here's the situation:

I have an 848x480 file which I've been asked to upscale to 1280x720 and encode as an MPEG-2 in proper 16:9 format for a con. TMPGEnc is my usual MPEG-2 creator, but it seems very unhappy about spitting out an HD resolution MPEG-2, and flatly refuses even to try.

Without going into vast detail about my many failed experiments and research into solutions, what is the proper way to achieve both the MPEG-2 encode and the upscale? Is there another MPEG-2 encoder I can use? Am I being asked to create a file that I can't actually deliver?

[mirkosp]

HD res with MPEG-2 sounds stupid. Any hardware that supports HD resolutions would be able to playback better codecs as well, the MPEG-2 requirement should be only for old hardware decoders and with DVD resolution. I'd inquire about the contest rules first, it seems like it could very well be some typo/misunderstanding.

[DriftRoot]

Yes, seems there was a minor misunderstanding...but it's all cleared up, now - I had some incomplete information about the acceptable codecs, and the rules don't explicitly state at what resolution the contest is being played back (or how it's being played back). I will switch to an h.264 file, no problem.

Thanks.