Originally posted by bokes
I was having a problem with the Auto Input function not detecting devices and now I have a worse problem.
Does anyone know what may be causing my iscan to loose the digital handshake with my cable box everytime I switch inputs or shut off the cable box?
I have to re-set my cable box by unplugging it everytime I want to switch back and play it through the iscan.
I realize it could be the cable box, but it worked fine for over a year. The only thing new is the iscan.

I have the same problem, I thought it was my DVI switcher(EX tend it). I also have to um plug the device then plug back again to recognize that it is connected. Has anybody else having the same problem? and Does anyone knows if or when ISCAN DVDO hd+ with two DVI out be on the market?

Originally posted by suffolk112000
Is anyone using the new iScan HD+ with the Panny AE-700?
If so, does this combo seem to mesh well together?
Do you see a positive improvement?
I Did a search of this thread looking for the answer and came up empty.

Craig


I finally got everything set up last night and the HD+ and the AE-700 worked perfectly together. I had no issues with set up or configuration. I am not a sophisticated viewer, but both standard definition and HD coming from my Cable Box via DVI looked great. Standard Definition was a vast improvement over just plugging the cable box into the projector. As I said, I am a beginner and will continue to tweak.

I have a Sim2 300+....which has a DVI input but I don't think it's HDCP compliant. My video source is the Esoteric DV-50S....which IS HDCP compliant. As a result, I can't watch movies using DVI. Would the DVDO help in this situation?
Javry

javry - We cannot strip off the HDCP encryption that is on the DVI signal coming from the Esoteric DV-50S. If you connect up your DV-50s you will not be able to connect the DVI output to a non-HDCP display and get a picture. You could connect up the DV-50s to the iScan HD+ using component video (480i preferably) and then the connect iScan HD+ up to your display via DVI.

javry - Thanks for pointing out my typo

Originally posted by Josh@dvdo
....... If you connect up your DV-50s you will be able to connect the DVI output to a non-HDCP display and get a picture.......

Josh
I've tried going directly from the DV-50s to the Sim2 several times but all I get is a snow screen. As far as using interlaced, I typically use it anyway. It seems to work better when I let the chip in the projector convert to progressive....so I'm assuming there wouldn't be any difference if I sent an interlaced signal to the iscan+. I'm assuming it will still upconvert to 720p. How about PQ will I loose anything by not having DVI all the way through the system. Also, is the DVI signal that much better than component?
Javry

Originally posted by wavebrad
I finally got everything set up last night and the HD+ and the AE-700 worked perfectly together. I had no issues with set up or configuration. I am not a sophisticated viewer, but both standard definition and HD coming from my Cable Box via DVI looked great. Standard Definition was a vast improvement over just plugging the cable box into the projector. As I said, I am a beginner and will continue to tweak.

Wavebrad,

Thanks for the feed back.

Craig

Can anyone who has the 59AVi and PW6 (the basic consumer model) in use with iscan HD+ tell me what kind of combination of settings have worked best for you for the best PQ?

I am also wondering how do I see when there is a 1:1 pixel mapping and native resolution for plasma in use with HD+, what to look for?

AM_F

Alot depends on the display you are using but for now i just use 480i component in and output 1080i thru dvi on the iscan and the picture is incredible.
I am waiting for the supposed firmware upgrade that will allow 480i thru hdmi and output 1080i thru dvi on the iscan but I really doubt we will see the upgrade as they will more than likely want us to trade in our HD+ and pay another $800 on the new HD+++ and it will be included in the new processor.

Finally got my HD+ today. Hooked it up with an SDI-modded, multi-region Denon 5900 and my initial impressions are WoW, I'm happy, and I haven't even started playing around with it yet.

Thanks, DVDO, for a great product. :)

P.S. Anyone with the same setup who might have some settings for the iSCAN that might improve the picture from the stock setup? Using a Mits RPTV for a display currently. Thanks.

is there such a thing as a "street price" for these things?

Originally posted by javry
is there such a thing as a "street price" for these things?

You have PM.

... I meant to ask, that with what kind of settings you are running the 59AVi against the HD+, i.e different film modes (auto 1 etc.) in 59AVi?

AM_F

I am having some occasional blank screen issues when changing channels on a SA 3100HD comcast cable box via S-Video. Switching to another input and back again fixes it. I'm not sure, but it may be only when changing using the cable boxes OSD. I'm getting the new pvr next week, so that may eliminate the problem.
Everything else is wonderful. I use it with an AE700, 3910 at 480i and cable... All currently going to the ae700 over component video.
(Playing with new iMac mini to ae700 using HDMI)

OK be patient with this simplistic question, but I dont know....

1) Is this device a replacement for a "line doubler"?

2) After the desired output setting is made (ie 720p) is it a plug and play device or is there any manual switching that will have to take place while switching between different inputs?

3) If I feed all of my video components through a receiver unit and take the output the receiver into the HD+ would I be able to output onto DVI or HDMI----- to the projector?


Sorry about all the questions but I am treading in unfamiliar territory with my HT plans. Just trying to learn EVERYTHING! :)

BroncoSport,

1. Yes. Line doublers are very old technology. Scalers include deinterlacers (newspeak for line doublers).

2. It's not magic - it can either autosense the active input (on a prioirty basis) or just show you the input you selected on your remote.

3. You probably want to get all your components hooked up to the HD+ directly if you can - you'll get a better picture that way.

Hello,

Is anybody using the HD+ with a Epson 500 projector? One question if the projector is native 720p and if your input signal to the projector is 720p does the projector do all the video processing or is it the HD+ doing the video processing?

Thanks for your reply,

rmlowz

If you upconvert all your signals to 720p in an iScan HD+ and you are sending the output to a native 720p projector, most projectors will not process the signal. All the video processing is done in the iScan HD+.

Thanks Josh for your reply. The projector has DCDI built into it. Does that mean the HD+ will still process the video going into the projector?

I have a (hopefully easy) feature request for a future iScan HD+ firmware update.

Could you add a 0 IRE field to the test patterns? The ColorFacts gray scale wizard wants you to start with a pure black field and then asks you to step through the gray scale in 10IRE intervals. The current patterns are great for this except that I need to dig up a black field from an external source.

While your at it, a whiter than white field (ie. r255 g255 b255) would be handy for establishing the limits of the display. I know that there's a whiter than white field in the brightness/contrast pattern, but its a bit small to get a meter on.

- Collin

Originally posted by collinp
I have a (hopefully easy) feature request for a future iScan HD+ firmware update.

Could you add a 0 IRE field to the test patterns? The ColorFacts gray scale wizard wants you to start with a pure black field and then asks you to step through the gray scale in 10IRE intervals. The current patterns are great for this except that I need to dig up a black field from an external source.

While your at it, a whiter than white field (ie. r255 g255 b255) would be handy for establishing the limits of the display. I know that there's a whiter than white field in the brightness/contrast pattern, but its a bit small to get a meter on.

- Collin

Can't you use the curtain feature for black ?

Daniel.

Originally posted by rmlowz
Thanks Josh for your reply. The projector has DCDI built into it. Does that mean the HD+ will still process the video going into the projector?

DCDi is a technology used exclusively for deinterlacing. If the signal coming into the projector is a progressive signal (720p for example), this video processing in your projector will be bypassed.

Originally posted by danielo
Can't you use the curtain feature for black ?

Daniel.

Ah, good idea. I always forget about that feature. Having a black test pattern would still be more convenient as you could just step forward through all the grey levels, but I'll use curtain for now.

I've always wondered about curtain. It seems like a strange feature. I've never quite found a use for it until now. What are folks using it for?

- Collin

Hi Guys! Just got my IScan HD upgraded to HD+. All I can say is that cross-conversion from 1080i to 720p is fantastic.

Originally posted by vinodk
Hi Guys! Just got my IScan HD upgraded to HD+. All I can say is that cross-conversion from 1080i to 720p is fantastic.

Excellent. I just bought "Ray" a couple of days ago. I think I'll wait until I purchase the Iscan+ before watching it.
Javry

Originally posted by collinp
Ah, good idea. I always forget about that feature. Having a black test pattern would still be more convenient as you could just step forward through all the grey levels, but I'll use curtain for now.

I've always wondered about curtain. It seems like a strange feature. I've never quite found a use for it until now. What are folks using it for?

- Collin

For getting 0,0,0 :). Also i use it if i feel a disc blacklevel is wrong i pick a whole black scene in the movie (mostly in the intro) and calbibrate the blacklevel by making the blackbars from curtain come in. Nice touch is that the curtain option works when your in the menu !!. at times this means a -2 to +2 shift per disc.


Greetings,

Daniel.

Originally posted by Josh@dvdo
DCDi is a technology used exclusively for deinterlacing. If the signal coming into the projector is a progressive signal (720p for example), this video processing in your projector will be bypassed.

Without putting too much pressure when is it ok for us to ask about the next software release ? Nobody asked about it for weeks now and well....


Daniel.

Originally posted by vinodk
Hi Guys! Just got my IScan HD upgraded to HD+. All I can say is that cross-conversion from 1080i to 720p is fantastic.

How quick was the turn around when you sent it in to get upgraded? I need to wait until Summer to get mine upgraded since I use it almost every day right now. Plus I won't have a set with digital in until I get my 1080P set later this year. Or are there some new products from DVDO that will be out this Summer that are better than the iScanHD+?

Turnaround time was approx 10 days with shipping from west coast. DVDO is supposed come out with next generation scaler with HDMI inputs sometime later this year.

I'm sure that this has been answered before but I have searched and can't find an answer....so my apologies in advance.

On the HD+, I would like to set the output format to 1024 x 768. I can't figure out how to do this. Can someone help??

Thanks!

Originally posted by stlblufan
I'm sure that this has been answered before but I have searched and can't find an answer....so my apologies in advance.

On the HD+, I would like to set the output format to 1024 x 768. I can't figure out how to do this. Can someone help??

Thanks!

Punch Menu> Output Format> select 1024-768 press enter, then back out of menu.

Originally posted by keenan
Punch Menu> Output Format> select 1024-768 press enter, then back out of menu.

Sorry. I wasn't clear enough. 1024 x 768 is not a preset format, so I'll have to create it myself. I understand that is possible but I don't know how.

Originally posted by stlblufan
Sorry. I wasn't clear enough. 1024 x 768 is not a preset format, so I'll have to create it myself. I understand that is possible but I don't know how.

Thats because its under the pc names, vga, svga xga

xga=1024x768

Daniel.

I see what you mean, it's listed in the manual but it doesn't show up on the OSD menu as 1024x768, it's listed as "XGA". Have you tried that?

Originally posted by keenan
I see what you mean, it's listed in the manual but it doesn't show up on the OSD menu as 1024x768, it's listed as "XGA". Have you tried that?

Ahh...okay, tried that. Oddly, it doesn't work on my screen (Panasonic TH42PX20), which claims to have a max resolution equal to 1024x768. Or maybe I'm misreading that and it's only applicable to the computer input. Hmmm.

Originally posted by stlblufan
Or maybe I'm misreading that and it's only applicable to the computer input. Hmmm.

I'm not familiar with your display, but that would make sense to me. Does it have a RGB/15 pin jack?

It does have the RGB jack on the front. I am connected via a DVI/HDMI cable. I've confirmed that the native rez is 1024x768 but when I change the output on HD+ to that setting (figured this out--XGA is an option, or you can change to "advanced mode" and alter values directly) I get a scrambled picture. So I guess I'm stuck having my Panny scale the 1080i output.

stlblufan - Many of the new Panasonic plasmas, TH42PX20 included, will only accept 480p or 1080i on their HDMI or component inputs (even though the native resolution may be neither one of these). The PC input will accept 720p, but I am not sure if it will accept an XGA resolution (1024x768) and display it correctly. There are also many displays that will format a PC signal (XGA) to 4:3 even though the display may be 16:9.

Stupid Panasonic.

stlblufan,

Switch to advanced mode. Then, make sure you're using 59.94Hz (on 60Hz sources). Make sure NOTHING is connected to the unit's inputs.

Next, change the timing to the following:
HSize= 1024
HFront= 62
Hsync= 96
HBack= 163
(HTotal= 1345)

VSize= 768
VFront= 3
VSync= 6
VBack= 29
VTotal= 806

Try H-V- as DVI sync polarity. It works for me on a NEC with identical resolution.

You can also try these VESA timings for this resolution:

[1024X768 60Hz]
HFreq= 48.4kHz
HActive pixels = 1024
HFront porch = 32
HSync width = 128
HBack porch = 160

VActive lines = 768
VFront porch = 3
VSync = 6
VBack porch = 29

polarity H-V-

An alternate Horizontal one for 60Hz is:

HActive = 1024
HFront porch = 24
HSync = 136
HBack porch = 160

This was posted a little while back...

"We will release new software, with much improved aspect ratio control and support for anamorphic/panamorphic lenses next."

I'm wondering if this firmware update has been created and made available for downloading ? If it has , then I'll be able to start bugging people on how well it works with Anamorphic lenses :D

Scott......................

Scott, this software is not out yet. There are several beta testers checking it out right now, trying to find any major bugs. We should have this software out soon. (I am not going to be specific until I have an actual date).

Oferlaor--

Thanks for this. I tried all of these settings but to no avail. I simply can't get it to sync properly. Maybe I'll check in with Panny and see if they'll provide me with timing numbers.

Thanks again.


Originally posted by oferlaor
stlblufan,

Switch to advanced mode. Then, make sure you're using 59.94Hz (on 60Hz sources). Make sure NOTHING is connected to the unit's inputs.

Next, change the timing to the following:
HSize= 1024
HFront= 62
Hsync= 96
HBack= 163
(HTotal= 1345)

VSize= 768
VFront= 3
VSync= 6
VBack= 29
VTotal= 806

Try H-V- as DVI sync polarity. It works for me on a NEC with identical resolution.

You can also try these VESA timings for this resolution:

[1024X768 60Hz]
HFreq= 48.4kHz
HActive pixels = 1024
HFront porch = 32
HSync width = 128
HBack porch = 160

VActive lines = 768
VFront porch = 3
VSync = 6
VBack porch = 29

polarity H-V-

An alternate Horizontal one for 60Hz is:

HActive = 1024
HFront porch = 24
HSync = 136
HBack porch = 160

Originally posted by Josh@dvdo
Scott, this software is not out yet. There are several beta testers checking it out right now, trying to find any major bugs. We should have this software out soon. (I am not going to be specific until I have an actual date).
I'm not sure what changes there will be, but using the vertical zoom on the HD+ works for me for 2.35:1 movies and an anamorphic lens. I imagine that people who use a lens like this full time might want some compression ability, but taking the lens on and off has worked pretty well for me so far.

--Darin

Originally posted by stlblufan
Oferlaor--

Thanks for this. I tried all of these settings but to no avail. I simply can't get it to sync properly. Maybe I'll check in with Panny and see if they'll provide me with timing numbers.

Thanks again.

By any chance are you feeding the iScanHD+ a HDMI 480i signal? Because if you are it will never sync.

Originally posted by gdemott
By any chance are you feeding the iScanHD+ a HDMI 480i signal? Because if you are it will never sync.

No. I'm using a SA8300HD box, which won't output 480i over HDMI. I've tried both 480p and 1080i, though.

Thanks Josh ,

You've actually got me seriously thinking of a B-Stock HD+ and then waiting for the firmware to arrive . Thanks .

Do you have any idea on how "Positive" DVDO is percieved simply because your products are upgradeable ? :D Amazing .

Thanks in advance ,

Scott........................................

Hi all. Have noticed something odd and was hoping to find an explanation or validation. I have Dish Network and have an 811 which is their HD receiver. The other day I purchased a series 2 Tivo partially for it's ability as a media hub for digital music and photos and also to control live tv and do some recording. Not willing to spend the $550 yet for a Dish 921 as they seem buggy and are being discontinued. I am outputing s-video out of the 811 into the Tivo and then s-video out of the Tivo into the HD+. The HD+ then outputs via DVI to my Samsung HLN5065 DLP TV. Initially I had the output of the HD+ set to 720P as this is the native resolution of the DLP set. I was less than impressed with many of the channels but figured this was mostly due to using s-video out of the 811 versus the DVI out that I have been using for upconverted SD and HD content. For the heck of it I set the HD+ to output 1080i which means the DCDi in the set converts it to 720P. To me the picture looks better this way despite the extra conversion going on. Does this make any sense? For DVD I use component 480i out of my RP91 and have the HD+ output 720P via DVI into the Samsung and it looks great. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Bill

yes, it can make sense if your DLP has a hard time processing native 720p.

Try playing with different output resolutions and try to look at the HD+'s test patterns to see what works better.

Originally posted by oferlaor
yes, it can make sense if your DLP has a hard time processing native 720p.

Try playing with different output resolutions and try to look at the HD+'s test patterns to see what works better.

Though in theory a 720p native DLP should have no trouble processing a 720p feed.

- Collin

You are correct, collinp, "in theory a 720p native DLP should have no trouble processing a 720p feed." In reality this is not always the case. As an example if you drive a 720p signal to a Toshiba DLP (1280x720 native) you would think that all internal processing would be bypassed. This is not the case. When you bring up the horizontal or vertical line test patterns you can see obvious scaling, and the 1:1 checkerboard is even worse.

Ok... change the output from 720P to 1080P and it cleared up some issues I had with the picture....The picture got "cleaner" .. dont know how to explane it... but I had some combing trouble with the TV brodcasts and they almost disaperd?!.. Feels even as the picture got sharper and a bit more stable..

I have the projectiondesign Model One MK111 (DC3 DMD)projector that accepts the 1080P signal.

So from now on it will be 1080P on my 720 panel DMD..

BTW Josh..
Any news on if the new firmware will make it possible to send 480i and 576i by DVI to the HD+?
And mabye some new news the it might show up?

Regards
Daniel

I won't mention any names, but there has even been the occurance where one of these 720P DLP displays that couldn't even accept a 720P input at all. And then we have the Dish HD DVR that won't even output in 720P, too bad they left an option to select 720P anyways, which will leave you up that creek. All these reasons make the suggestion of a scaler even that much more necessary. Heck, I have used the HD+ just to get around a sets lack of discreet input control.

Originally posted by SethS
I won't mention any names, but there has even been the occurance where one of these 720P DLP displays that couldn't even accept a 720P input at all. And then we have the Dish HD DVR that won't even output in 720P, too bad they left an option to select 720P anyways, which will leave you up that creek. All these reasons make the suggestion of a scaler even that much more necessary. Heck, I have used the HD+ just to get around a sets lack of discreet input control.

I don't understand your comment. Assume you are referring to a Dish 921. You can select 720p or 1080i and it does output this. My projector correctly identifies this when selected. I'm using the 720p output from the 921 into my iSCAN and then routed to my projector. SJ

Hi all. Just wanted to update you all. After doing some further calibration on my set I have the 720P out from the HD+ using the Tivo looking better. Still not as good as going DVi from the 811 but it would be a miracle if it did. After all I am taking a digital signal converting to analog, converting back to digital then back to analog again and finally back to digital so some degredation is expected. For the record the Samsung does a good job at accepting a 720P input. Looking at the crosshatch test pattern it is perfectly clear and razor sharp aith the HD+ set at 720P. When outputing 1080i on the same test pattern the sets internal scaler is clearly visible with fuzziness around the crosses. Thanks for all the input on his issue. These forums are great.

Bill

I'm sure the HDX will have fantastic scaling/deinterlacing capabilities. Their products have always impressed me because of the cost- performance value. Rumor says that the realta chip will be the one to beat and DVDO will put something great together in trying. The issue that I have is a scaler's ability to remove the horrible digital noise that exists in Satellite broadcast. 95% of my viewing (I'm sure most people's) is TV. Algolith has claimed that the Dragonfly will have many of these noise processing features. This ability can, and most time does, have the greatest affect on perceived clarity. A scaler must implement this feature in order to be considered, just like receivers must in the near future implement DTS-HD and Dolby Digital Plus.

Marc

I have the iScan HD+ with an SDI modded DVD player and I understand how 48Hz playback works for that, but I'm wondering about 1080i input with 1280x720 selected to lock at 48Hz should work. I had been thinking that since they basically deinterlace 1080i to 540p that this indicated no real 3:2 pulldown and therefore no 48Hz playback with 1080i film input. However, I notice that the iScan HD+ can be put into this mode with 1080i in. I haven't tested with any test patterns and I'm wondering if anybody has any insight into how well this should work.

BTW: In the future it would be nice to have a way to get 720/48p for HD-DVD and BluRay. I doubt those players will support that, so a scaler that can take 1080/24p or 1080/24psf and output 720/48p would be nice.

Thanks,
Darin

I have the HD+ connected to, among other things, the Scientific Atlantic 8300HD cable box. I have been using an HDMI-->DVI cable to connect the two, but last night I added a component connection to the mix. Why? I wanted to be able to output 480i to the HD+ on SD channels, because I have heard that this is the best way to take advantage of the processing by the HD+. The digital connection was outputting 480p on SD channels and 1080i on HD channels, so my thought was I'd switch to component for SD and get 480i, and then back to digital for HD for 1080i.

Much to my surprise, the picture looked significantly worse over component. I didn't have time to do a calibration, though, so maybe this was the problem? Does anyone else have the 8300 and, if so, how are you connecting it? I don't think it's a problem with the HD+, but I am trying to come up with the best connection schematic and it hasn't proven easy.

A second question. Using the HDMI-->DVI connection to the HD+ and a DVI-->HDMI connection to my plasma, I can't EVER get the HD+ to properly handshake when I first turn everything on (using a macro). I've tried every combination I can think of -- cable box first, tv first, tv last, HD+ first, etc -- but inevitably I end up with a blue screen and a blinking blue light on the HD+. After that, it usually takes me several attempts at turning off and on the tv and cable box to get everything working. Any ideas as to how to get this working properly?

Josh, can a HD plus do anything for my InFocus 4800? It's native is 600X800 and is now playing@ 480i. Can it get to 1080i, or will it down-convert it back to the native res?

Originally posted by Christanna
Josh, can a HD plus do anything for my InFocus 4800? It's native is 600X800 and is now playing@ 480i. Can it get to 1080i, or will it down-convert it back to the native res?

Your projector's native resolution will always be 800x600. That's all the pixels it will ever have. Any other resolution that is input into it will be scaled by the projector down to 800x600. The point of using an external processor such as the iScan is to do your scaling to the projector's native resolution externally, meaning that the projector has to do nothing but display it, under the assumption that the processor will do a better job with the scaling that whatever chip was built into the projector.

So if you bought an iScan, you'd set it for 800x600 and it would scale everything down to that for you. You will never get true 1080i or any other resolution on your projector. 800x600 is all it can do.

Has anyone tried to use the DVDO with 48Hz? I have a Lumagen which supposedly supports 48Hz but it still has issues at that rate. The picture judders terribly (although it shouldn't). I was wondering if the DVDO has any issues at 48Hz.

I use my HD+ at 48Hz for all NTSC film. No judder, and the only time I ever see NTSC running smoothly. Almost as good as PAL..... :)

Philps 963SA <SDI> HD+ <VGA> 42PHD7 plasma

Can't the HD+ also output at 72Hz for displays that can handle such a signal? I have read that it can give an exceptionally smooth picture.

Originally posted by Jon S
Has anyone tried to use the DVDO with 48Hz? I have a Lumagen which supposedly supports 48Hz but it still has issues at that rate. The picture judders terribly (although it shouldn't). I was wondering if the DVDO has any issues at 48Hz.

You sure it's not your display that has a problem with 48hz, rather than the scaler?

Originally posted by keenan
Can't the HD+ also output at 72Hz for displays that can handle such a signal? I have read that it can give an exceptionally smooth picture.

Indeed! You will need a 480i source for this such as SDI or 480i component. You will also need a display (mostly analog) that can handle a 72Hz refresh such as a FP CRT. This is what I run.

Yep - it's still not the next-gen 1080i to 1080p dream processor tho.

------------ Wherefore art tho, oh Juliet? --------------

Any news on the new firmware for the HD+?

Regards

Daniel:)

I have used the DVDO at 50hz and the screen flickers like crazy. I have also tried to use it at 72 hz in which case I ruined my monitor.

Originally posted by Abbas
I have used the DVDO at 50hz and the screen flickers like crazy. I have also tried to use it at 72 hz in which case I ruined my monitor.

Not sure what this remark is about, ive tested the hd+ on a lcd (nec) monitor both using the dvi and analog out without any problems.

Daniel.

Originally posted by demon
Any news on the new firmware for the HD+?

Regards

Daniel:)

It could be out by Friday, next week at the latest.

Originally posted by danielo
Not sure what this remark is about, ive tested the hd+ on a lcd (nec) monitor both using the dvi and analog out without any problems.

Daniel.

I am not sure who Abbas was responding to, but he has the Sharp 45" (1080p) which is not supposed to work at 72Hz (and apparently doesn't).

Originally posted by Josh@dvdo
I am not sure who Abbas was responding to, but he has the Sharp 45" (1080p) which is not supposed to work at 72Hz (and apparently doesn't).

Whoops..:( ..I'll bet he's none to happy...

AFAIK Sharp has already replaced his panel.

Well that's good...:)

Originally posted by Josh@dvdo
javry - We cannot strip off the HDCP encryption that is on the DVI signal coming from the Esoteric DV-50S. If you connect up your DV-50s you will not be able to connect the DVI output to a non-HDCP display and get a picture. You could connect up the DV-50s to the iScan HD+ using component video (480i preferably) and then the connect iScan HD+ up to your display via DVI.

javry - Thanks for pointing out my typo

Hey Josh,
Just got in the Iscan+ but I'm still having problems. I'm hooking it up to the DV50 using component cable as you recommended and then running DVI to the Sim2 300+. I get a reat blue screen and I can see the menu from the HD+ just fine.....but I can't seem to get a picture. Your thoughts?
Javry

Originally posted by javry
Hey Josh,
Just got in the Iscan+ but I'm still having problems. I'm hooking it up to the DV50 using component cable as you recommended and then running DVI to the Sim2 300+. I get a reat blue screen and I can see the menu from the HD+ just fine.....but I can't seem to get a picture. Your thoughts?
Javry

Have you tried both component inputs? How about the S-Video and composite inputs, do they function correctly? If not, do a factory default and everything should be okay.

Hi,
I currently have a Denon 910 DVD player. Viewing on a Sony 60 inch 955 series.
Should I be buying this processor?
Should I be upgrading the Denon to a 2910 or 3910?
Or, both?
I don't know if this is true but a friend of mine said he believed I'd be better off processing a signal from the 910 than the 3910.

Really, I've no idea............
Thanks
How786

Originally posted by Josh@dvdo
Have you tried both component inputs? How about the S-Video and composite inputs, do they function correctly? If not, do a factory default and everything should be okay.

I have done the factory default but have not tried the s video or any other. I have tried both component inputs but still get nothing. By the way, what does the HDCP OFF option mean?
Thanks
Javry

Originally posted by javry
By the way, what does the HDCP OFF option mean?


If you are connected via DVI to a display without HDCP and all your sources are non-HDCP you can turn off authentication. Also some sources that are DVI-HDCP will turn off HDCP if the display (or in this case, the iScan HD+) does not make the HDCP handshake, allowing you to go in DVI and out analog.

So...I guess the FW update will be next week?...:)

Josh,
okay. I tried using the s video input. It works great. I still don't understand why the component video input doesn't work though. Also, eventhough I know my PJ doesn't do 1080p, I set the DVDO to do it anyway and I get a picture....a pretty good one....and it makes the PJ a lot quieter. What's up with that? Is there any harm in leaving it there?
Thanks
Javry

Javry - I just PM'd you.

So...I guess the FW update will be next week?...

Guess so!
:D

It looks like Monday is the day for the new beta software for the HD+. Trust me, it is worth the wait.

cool!

Been using the beta for a while without significant bugs.

Very cool!

Looking forward to monday!:D

JOSH.
Can you post some of the changes in the new firmware?

Daniel

If you order a new hd+ from a dealer. How do you know if it has the new firmware installed?

Originally posted by Josh@dvdo
It looks like Monday is the day for the new beta software for the HD+. Trust me, it is worth the wait.

How stable will this version of the software be? Are there any issues with installing beta software that a user should be aware of before installation?

Thank you Josh!

From the other iScan-HD thread:

Originally posted by Josh@dvdo
Yes, this is possible in new software. This feature is actually called 'Display Profiles' and you will be able to save four different 'displays'. All of the settings in the 'Output Setup' menu are saved with each profile.

Josh, can you clarify whether there are 4 "display profiles" per input, or 4 in total?

With the large number of components I have attached to the scaler, and my admittedly complicated display requirements, I forsee the need for 8 separate picture calibration profiles across 4 different inputs. Right now I've already got 4 saved (1 per input) and would love to be able to add 4 more (2 profiles per input).

I do not think that there is a gamma control in this device. How much of a concern is this?

Josh Z,

The profiles are output profiles. Each input has specific calibration under different settings (e.g., 480i vs. 576i vs. HD) for each of those memories.

Josh@dvdo,

Is there a DVDO FAQ on how to configure the HD+ custom resolution?

I just bought the Iscan HD+, and I would like to use it with my Sony
VPL-HS20 projector. As you know, the Sony is approximately 1368x768 resolution, it also has a peculiar refresh rate (56hz vs 60hz VESA std). Having read many a thread in this AVSF area, I know that people are using their Iscan HDs an HD+' with this projector (and the HS10s & the grand wegas). The question is: how do I create a 1:1 pixel mapping? I cant seem to find a faq or forum post for creating custom configs on the HD+ (or HD) series.

1. I gather I need to be in DVI/PC mode. 2. These are the values I
have for my Momitsu V880n which is 1:1 mapped to the Sony:

H. Freq: 44968
Video With: 1368
H Sync Total: 1784
H Sync Active: 0144
V Sync Total: 0803
V Sync Active: 0011
Video Height: 0768
Pre HS: 0056
Post HS: 0216
Pre VS: 0001
Post VS: 0023
H SP: 0000
V SP: 0000

Can you possibly point me to concrete definitions so I can convert the above set to this nomenclature (copied from HD+ OSD menu ("Format")):

H Shift
H Size
H Front
H Sync
H Back
H Total
V Shift
V Size
V Front
V Sync
V Back
V Total

Thanks.

Originally posted by oferlaor
The profiles are output profiles. Each input has specific calibration under different settings (e.g., 480i vs. 576i vs. HD) for each of those memories.

I thought along with this would be the ability to save calibration settings for the "output", no? Is it just resolution and timing, then?

Originally posted by melechmet
Josh@dvdo,

Is there a DVDO FAQ on how to configure the HD+ custom resolution?



Funny....I've been asking Josh the same question. Except, I'm using a Sim2 300+ and I haven't a clue as to what to do with all those settings.
Javry

Originally posted by javry
Funny....I've been asking Josh the same question. Except, I'm using a Sim2 300+ and I haven't a clue as to what to do with all those settings.
Javry

It's probably obvious to some people, not to me. Minimally it would be nice to have these ISCAN setting matched with/expressed in VESA nomenclature, or even a linux modeline. I hesitate to play around with the settings; no knowing if I'll put the SONY beyond it's range and damage some electronics...looks like a sore documentation shortcoming to me.

Good luck Jarvy.

UPDATE:

Here is a resource, for the brave and inquisitive:

http://www.knowplace.org/timings.html

It looks like Monday is the day for the new beta software for the HD+. Trust me, it is worth the wait.

And monday is gone and no new firmware...:(

But its always nice to have something to look forward to.....;)

demon

Didn't say which Monday. :)

Any new news on when the Beta software will be available? I have the unit out of my rack, waiting......

Originally posted by tsteves
Any new news on when the Beta software will be available? I have the unit out of my rack, waiting......

We are doing our best to get it on the site tonight.

if it's any consilation josh.....better late and right than early and wrong.
Javry

[i]1. I gather I need to be in DVI/PC mode. [/B]

DVI-Video and DVI-PC output has nothing to do with the flexibiliy of adjusting the output resolution. It is a control of the black/white levels of the output. You may want to try both and see which looks on your display.

[i]2. These are the values I
have for my Momitsu V880n which is 1:1 mapped to the Sony:

H. Freq: 44968
Video With: 1368
H Sync Total: 1784
H Sync Active: 0144
V Sync Total: 0803
V Sync Active: 0011
Video Height: 0768
Pre HS: 0056
Post HS: 0216
Pre VS: 0001
Post VS: 0023
H SP: 0000
V SP: 0000

Can you possibly point me to concrete definitions so I can convert the above set to this nomenclature (copied from HD+ OSD menu ("Format")):
[/B]

I had one of our engineers take a look at this and this is what he suspects would be the correct settings. The nomenclature that Momitsu uses is not standard. The only thing that was not totally clear was Front Porch and Back Porch numbers so they may be reversed (both H and V). Also Sync Polarity matters, although almost all custom formats use negative syncs.

H Shift ( This is derived from HSize, HFront,Hsync, HBack )
H Size 1368
H Front 56
H Sync 144
H Back 216
H Total 1784
V Shift ( This is derived from VSize, VFront,Vsync, VBack )
V Size 768
V Front 1
V Sync 11
V Back 23
V Total 803

Originally posted by Josh@dvdo
DVI-Video and DVI-PC output has nothing to do with the flexibiliy of adjusting the output resolution. It is a control of the black/white levels of the output. You may want to try both and see which looks on your display.

I had one of our engineers take a look at this and this is what he suspects would be the correct settings. The nomenclature that Momitsu uses is not standard. The only thing that was not totally clear was Front Porch and Back Porch numbers so they may be reversed (both H and V). Also Sync Polarity matters, although almost all custom formats use negative syncs.


Thanks Josh,

I finally dug up my htpc config and it seems to correspond well with your engineers reconstruction of the Momitsu config:

Generic timing details for 1368x768:
HFP=56 HSW=144 HBP=216 kHz=45 VFP=1 VSW=11 VBP=23 Hz=56

Linux modeline parameters:
"1368x768" 80.285 1368 1424 1568 1784 768 769 780 803 -hsync -vsync

It was the H/V Shift & H/V Total, together with the lack of a refresh rate field, that confused me. I thought "H total" = 45 kHz and "V Total" == refresh rate = 56 Hz. Is RR entered or derived anywhere in the "format" menu?

FYI: This Sony will allow bypass of internal scaler only in the [DVI] PC mode or color space and then only in 56 hz (this is beyond the comical appeal of "going native rez" at 1368 x 768 on panels rated at 1388 x 788! :confused: ).

Originally posted by JimP
demon

Didn't say which Monday. :)

Or which international time zone it was in.....;)

Or which international time zone it was in.....

He he he true!:D

I guess you guys are almost a day after us in Sweden!
Right now its wednsday morning (09.20) here in Sweden..

Originally posted by demon
He he he true!:D

I guess you guys are almost a day after us in Sweden!
Right now its wednsday morning (09.20) here in Sweden..

And right now, it's almost 3:20am Wed. Here in Chicago IL in the US. So, it's not quite a full days difference.

Originally posted by Johnla
And right now, it's almost 3:20am Wed. Here in Chicago IL in the US. So, it's not quite a full days difference.

A full day would be kinda tricky in the design of our current earth...

Daniel.

The Beta software is on our web site now at:

www.dvdo.com/update

Enjoy!:D

Thanks Josh. Sorry if this has already been discussed, but I haven't seen it. I use an HD+ being fed with an SDI moded RP82. I've noticed what looks like edge enhancement or ringing on the AVIA Pro sharpness pattern on two different projectors. And one of these is one that I believe did not have any with another DVD player (the Momitsu V880) once I adjusted the projector to make sure it wasn't adding any. And the other is being fed 1:1 with internal scaling deselected. I notice that the Sharpness control is disabled for DVI out on the HD+. Is there some way you know of that I could get rid of this? Am I wrong that it is the iScan HD+ adding it?

Thanks,
Darin

which disc and which pattern are you referring to on Avia Pro. I can take a look if I know which pattern you are talking about.

Just installed the new iScanHD+ Beta release. Downloaded and installed without any problems!

Originally posted by Josh@dvdo
The Beta software is on our web site now at:

www.dvdo.com/update

Enjoy!:D

Tnx it installed without a problem....

But i still don't see how to 'shift' a 2.36 within a 16:9 panel. Maybe i am overlooking something but all seems to work from the middle.

What i want todo is 'slide' the 2.35 of a movie to the lowest part of the screen

---------------16/9---------------
black area
-------------2.35 content ------
asdadsasdsad
asdasdasdasdasdsa
asdasddsa
-------------end of 2.35---------
black area
--------- end of 16/9 -----------

I want to be able to slide the 2.35 in the 16:9 output area so i get a bigger black area above
and none below

--------- 16/9--------------------
blackarea
blackarea
--------- 2.35 content ----------
asdaddsadadd
asdsadsadsadsad
asdasddssa
------end of 16/9 and 2.35-----

Am i missing something or is this still not possible ?, i would expect if i select a 2.35 input aspect ratio that i can then shift in the 16:9 output box but i don't see how.

Daniel.

Originally posted by Josh@dvdo
which disc and which pattern are you referring to on Avia Pro. I can take a look if I know which pattern you are talking about. I don't have it with me right now, so I can get more specific later. But it is the first disk and the Sharpness test pattern. I'm not sure if it is under "Geometry", "Other Tests", or another category. There are some vertical bars at the top alternating between black and white and above the black bars I see a little white outline. This is running 720p.

Thanks,
Darin

Josh:

I have an HD cable box (the SA 8300HD). I connect the box to the HD+ in two ways: I use a component connection for SD channels to feed the HD+ a 480i signal; and an HDMI-->DVI connection for HD channels to feed the HD+ a 1080i signal. I have turned off all scaling on the box so that on SD channels it feeds a "quasi" 4:3 signal to the HD+, but the box adds borders to the 4:3 picture so it really sends a pillarboxed 16:9 picture. With the new software (which I downloaded and installed without a hitch), is there a setting that will eliminate the pillarboxes or am I best off just zooming each time I watch SD?

Amazed that there's not more beta talk here....

Had a good look around the new firmware, then flashed back. It really is a huge improvement, and I can't really see a circumstance where I can't set my video exactly as I want it, recall it, and then decide how I'll display it. I love the way the picture now smoothly changes as the AR changes. Looks great when watching UK TV as the picture flicks between 4:3 and anamorphic 16:9.

Excellent job.

Had to flash back, since the serial codes being sent by my PARC209 do the wrong thing to the Iscan, and it seemed to error every time I switched it off. Beta stuff I presume.

Andrew (pottsy) - I have passed your comments on to our engineers. Do I understand you correctly that this was implemented correctly in the 2.32 software, but not the beta 2.73?

Thanks for the compliments, we are quite proud of the new aspect ratio control.

For some reason my HD+ will not display the OnScreen menu. I'm still running the HDP-5.6-2.32 that came with the unit in January. I did not do any firmware installs. Connected via DVI output.

I tried the Factory default reset but I still don't have the menu. Any ideas???

Originally posted by Josh@dvdo
Andrew (pottsy) - I have passed your comments on to our engineers. Do I understand you correctly that this was implemented correctly in the 2.32 software, but not the beta 2.73?

Thanks for the compliments, we are quite proud of the new aspect ratio control.

Josh any help on my question relating to sliding a 2.35 window inside the 16:9 output window ? I have a feeling this is a very normal question and maybe i am just over looking the way todo it.

Daniel.

Originally posted by whsbuss
For some reason my HD+ will not display the OnScreen menu. I'm still running the HDP-5.6-2.32 that came with the unit in January. I did not do any firmware installs. Connected via DVI output.

I tried the Factory default reset but I still don't have the menu. Any ideas???

UPDATE:

I reloaded HDP-5.6-2.32 and I still do not have the OSD.

JOSH@DVDO -> is there anything I'm missing to get the OSD working again?

How long does the Beta period generally last before the firmware is declared finalized?

Originally posted by whsbuss
UPDATE:

I reloaded HDP-5.6-2.32 and I still do not have the OSD.

JOSH@DVDO -> is there anything I'm missing to get the OSD working again?

Do you get video, but no OSD? Or no OSD, no video, no nothing? Did you ever have an OSD? What are your sources and how are things connected?

Two things to consider -

- The HD+ will pass the signal straight through if it doesn't understand the signal. A 1080p signal would do this. 480i digital signals would do this. In this case you may see video, but will definitely not see an OSD.

- You need to configure the output of the HD+ using the front panel interface before any video or OSD will be output via DVI.

- Collin

Originally posted by collinp
Do you get video, but no OSD? Or no OSD, no video, no nothing? Did you ever have an OSD? What are your sources and how are things connected?

Two things to consider -

- The HD+ will pass the signal straight through if it doesn't understand the signal. A 1080p signal would do this. 480i digital signals would do this. In this case you may see video, but will definitely not see an OSD.

- You need to configure the output of the HD+ using the front panel interface before any video or OSD will be output via DVI.

- Collin

I get video via the DVI out to my Samsung TV, but no OSD. The OSD always worked fine with my setup:

- HMDI->DVI input from my HD Tivo to HD+ DVI input
- HD Tivo set for 1080i (but even at 720p I got no OSD)

I just tried the Comp1 input from my DVD player (set at 480i) and the OSD does show on the TV.

It must be something with the DVI input from the HD Tivo.

Originally posted by whsbuss
I get video via the DVI out to my Samsung TV, but no OSD. The OSD always worked fine with my setup:

- HMDI->DVI input from my HD Tivo to HD+ DVI input
- HD Tivo set for 1080i (but even at 720p I got no OSD)

I just tried the Comp1 input from my DVD player (set at 480i) and the OSD does show on the TV.

It must be something with the DVI input from the HD Tivo.

OK, I think I know what happened here. I recently got a new F/w update from DTV for the HR10-250 HD Tivo (3.1.5f). According to the thread on tivocommunity.com, this was a fix for the Sharp HMDI problems.

However, I'm connected via an HMDI->DVI cable to the HD+ and the HDCP signal is what the problem seem to be. Before the update I was able to switch to 480i on the Tivo and still get a signal thru the HD+ (unprocesed - green LED). Now I get no signal regardless of the HDCP setting on the HD+ (off, on, auto).

In 480p, 720p, 1080i input I get a signal but no OSD. Also, when I switch between off-on-auto in the HDCP menu on the HD+, the OSD displays briefly, then disappears.

I wonder if anyone who has the HD Tivo is experiencing the same thing! All worked fine before the 3.1.5f update.

Originally posted by whsbuss
OK, I think I know what happened here. I recently got a new F/w update from DTV for the HR10-250 HD Tivo (3.1.5f). According to the thread on tivocommunity.com, this was a fix for the Sharp HMDI problems.

However, I'm connected via an HMDI->DVI cable to the HD+ and the HDCP signal is what the problem seem to be. Before the update I was able to switch to 480i on the Tivo and still get a signal thru the HD+ (unprocesed - green LED). Now I get no signal regardless of the HDCP setting on the HD+ (off, on, auto).

In 480p, 720p, 1080i input I get a signal but no OSD. Also, when I switch between off-on-auto in the HDCP menu on the HD+, the OSD displays briefly, then disappears.

I wonder if anyone who has the HD Tivo is experiencing the same thing! All worked fine before the 3.1.5f update.

Ok I'll take a wild guess. I have a HD Tivo (1.2.5fupdate) and an iScanHD+. I can duplicate your problem if I select input adjust..... DVI and then select Passthru. Once you do this the only way to get the OSD and start processing the DVI signal is via the FRONT PANEL ONLY. Once you take it off Passthru your OSD will work.

Originally posted by danielo
Josh any help on my question relating to sliding a 2.35 window inside the 16:9 output window ? I have a feeling this is a very normal question and maybe i am just over looking the way todo it.

Daniel.

This is a feature that I have also let our engineers know about. I will let you know as soon as I do if it is somthing that can be implemented in the production version of the current Beta software or if it will be in the next version.

Originally posted by gdemott
Ok I'll take a wild guess. I have a HD Tivo (1.2.5fupdate) and an iScanHD+. I can duplicate your problem if I select input adjust..... DVI and then select Passthru. Once you do this the only way to get the OSD and start processing the DVI signal is via the FRONT PANEL ONLY. Once you take it off Passthru your OSD will work.

You beat me to it.

This was the exact situation that I was going to describe.

To correct this follow these instructions:

Input Adjust (IADJ) -> DVI Input (DVII) -> Auto (AUTO)

() = What is displayed on the Front Panel of your iScan HD/HD+

Originally posted by danielo
Josh any help on my question relating to sliding a 2.35 window inside the 16:9 output window ? I have a feeling this is a very normal question and maybe i am just over looking the way todo it.

Daniel.

Okay, I'll bite. Why exactly do you want to do this? Do you have some overlay at the top or something? I don't think it's as typical a request as you assume.

- Collin

This is a common request by people with front projection systems. They would like to drop the 2.35:1 image, which is probably way above their comfortable sight line, down to the bottom of their screens so they can comfortably watch their films.

Originally posted by Josh@dvdo
This is a common request by people with front projection systems. They would like to drop the 2.35:1 image, which is probably way above their comfortable sight line, down to the bottom of their screens so they can comfortably watch their films.

Ah, I see. That makes a certain amount of sense particularly if you project very large. I'm a rear projection guy I wouldn't even notice on my little screen.

- Collin

It can be done manually though using the line offset setting, no?

Originally posted by keenan
It can be done manually though using the line offset setting, no?

Only for an SDI input and the risk you run is that film-mode detection may be thrown off by the extra 'garbage' on the screen.

:) Learn something new every day.

Originally posted by Josh@dvdo
You beat me to it.

This was the exact situation that I was going to describe.

To correct this follow these instructions:

Input Adjust (IADJ) -> DVI Input (DVII) -> Auto (AUTO)

() = What is displayed on the Front Panel of your iScan HD/HD+

I tried this from the Front Panel and I still do not get the OSD nor can I process 480i via DVI input. Any other ideas?

Josh,

Does the new beta software facilitate accepting 480i over DVI?

Originally posted by Josh@dvdo
This is a common request by people with front projection systems. They would like to drop the 2.35:1 image, which is probably way above their comfortable sight line, down to the bottom of their screens so they can comfortably watch their films.

Indeed, The second reason is you only need (frontprojection) to mask on 1 side (top) since the blackbar at the bottom of the screen can then be used for any height.

Ive played a little more with the beta release and i infact think its a bug that this doesn't work. If you select a 2.35 input aspect in a 16:9 frame you can use 'pan' (correct since well you have something to pan sizes are not the same anymore. But if you now 'pan' down it doesn't pan it more crops at the bottom. imho it should slide the whole thing now inside the 16:9 window. I don't see what other use pan can have in this case since you already selected the active 2.35 area.

A other way could be to add x/y offset for the selected area within the 16:9 or 4:3 frame.

I hope this can be added since more and more people use native in to their display and most then remove options like this from the display device on dvi. Also even new movies more and more use weird aspects (like incrediles now with 2.39 instead of 2.35 or 2.40) allowing us to move the inside window means we can make better use of our masking.

Thanks i am more than willing to test, The rest of the upgrade worked fine and the dynamic zooming is nice.

Small remark, the curtain function now also starts in gray and becomes black after its 100% closed, can this be changed to black again ? i use it to check blacklevels on each dvd by moving the curtains in and out this use is now gone. Also think curtains make alot more sense in black :)

Daniel.

PS: ill check the sdi in (only works for my dvd's but) don't think that works

Originally posted by whsbuss
I tried this from the Front Panel and I still do not get the OSD nor can I process 480i via DVI input. Any other ideas?

Take it off 480i DVI input !

The iScanHD+ does not currently process 480i DVI. What is probably happening is that the iScan is in passthru mode and that is why you cannot see the OSD. The ON SCREEN MENU is only visible when there is processing taking place not during passthru.

Gary

Originally posted by gdemott
Take it off 480i DVI input !

The iScanHD+ does not currently process 480i DVI. What is probably happening is that the iScan is in passthru mode and that is why you cannot see the OSD. The ON SCREEN MENU is only visible when there is processing taking place not during passthru.

Gary

I can tell you I am in AUTO mode and not passthru mode. I was always able to set the input from the HD Tivo to 480i via the HMDI->DVI connection to the HD+ and although it did not process the input (green LED) I could still see it and OSD worked.

Now OSD in not working at any input resolution.

I have the "f" software on the HD Tivo and cannot get the iScan HD+ OSD or signal with the Tivo set to output 480i. I do get the OSD on all other Tivo outputs. I am connected HDMI>DVI and in AUTO HDCP mode.

I think I previously was able to send 480i to the HD+, but I don't watch SD over my projector so it is not something I did often, only when playing with the settings.

Originally posted by wensteph
I have the "f" software on the HD Tivo and cannot get the iScan HD+ OSD or signal with the Tivo set to output 480i. I do get the OSD on all other Tivo outputs. I am connected HDMI>DVI and in AUTO HDCP mode.

I think I previously was able to send 480i to the HD+, but I don't watch SD over my projector so it is not something I did often, only when playing with the settings.

Just what I suspected. The HD Tivo update has definately affected the HD+ via DVI input. I've also tried setting the HD+ HDCP mode to OFF, ON, AUTO, and I briefly see the OSD but it quickly disappears. I have no idea what the "f" software did to affect the HMDI output on the HD Tivo.

So I decided to give the new beta firmware spin last night. I don't generally like to play with software until is been fully QA'd, but I was feeling adventurous. Its clear to me that I really needed to play around with the new aspect ratio settings to understand what they're all about. Its pretty cool. Good job guys.

I've only been running the software for less than 24 hours, but it seems very stable once you've got it setup. There do seem to be a lot of rough edges when you are actually tweaking the new settings, but that is to be expected.

The top issues I ran into connected to my Samsung DLP RPTV.

HDCP breakdown - There seem to be a large number of setting combinations that will cause loss of image and static to appear on the screen. Disabling HDCP on the iScan works around the issue. One combination which caused this every time was selecting any underscan value greater than 0 and trying to watch an s-video feed in a 4:3 aspect ratio. The problem did not occur in 16:9. I don't know if this is source dependent as I only tried it on an s-video feed.

Cosmetic issues in borders - There appear to be several aspect ratio combinations that during a transition will cause some of the border areas to turn gray and fade to black while other parts of the borders will stay solid black the whole time. Once the transition is over everything looks fine.

Completely Black Screen - Once while I was fiddling with some very strange aspect ratio combinations output went completely black and I could only get things back by unplugging and replugging the iScan. The set was not complaining about a loss of signal from the iScan, but there was no video or OSD. This has not reproduced.

Anyway, none of these issues were show stoppers for me and things are working well for me now. Keep up the good work.

- Collin

whsbuss,

I don't want to subscribe an evil personality to HD Tivos, but they do odd things over DVI. Runco replaced two 710's when they failed to turn on after sitting all night conneceted to an HR10-250 via DVI while it updated software or whatever it does at night. The correlation was that the Tivo was also locked up and needed rebooting. Runco came up with a beyond odds answer, but I think they were tap dancing. My installer and I both think the Tivo somehow corrupted the start sequence of the Runco software. One of the reasons I got an iScan was to act as some sort of DVI gatekeeper between the two. I'm anxiously awaiting Mpeg 4 and DirecTV replacing the HR10-250s this year.

Originally posted by wensteph
whsbuss,

I don't want to subscribe an evil personality to HD Tivos, but they do odd things over DVI. Runco replaced two 710's when they failed to turn on after sitting all night conneceted to an HR10-250 via DVI while it updated software or whatever it does at night. The correlation was that the Tivo was also locked up and needed rebooting. Runco came up with a beyond odds answer, but I think they were tap dancing. My installer and I both think the Tivo somehow corrupted the start sequence of the Runco software. One of the reasons I got an iScan was to act as some sort of DVI gatekeeper between the two. I'm anxiously awaiting Mpeg 4 and DirecTV replacing the HR10-250s this year.

Well the HD Tivo DVI connection is now dead. Happened after I power cycled the Tivo. I spoke with DTV 2nd level support and they said many problems are starting to show since they updated to the "f" software.

I connected the Tivo direct with s-video and noticed that in the system info screen, the HMDI Status shows HDCP not enabled. When I unplug and connect the cable it changes from not connected to HDCP not enabled. Doesn't matter if I'm connected direct or thru the iScan.

I sure hope the new Mpeg4 unit works better than this unit. I've had nothing but trouble and now I have to see if I can get another replacement unit.

Originally posted by whsbuss

I sure hope the new Mpeg4 unit works better than this unit. I've had nothing but trouble and now I have to see if I can get another replacement unit.


We can all wish about how well MPEG 4 will work, but I don't see any reason why it would be more stable than MPEG 2 that's been around for quite a while. There's probably a better argument that it'll be less stable. :(

Originally posted by whsbuss
Well the HD Tivo DVI connection is now dead. Happened after I power cycled the Tivo. I spoke with DTV 2nd level support and they said many problems are starting to show since they updated to the "f" software.

I connected the Tivo direct with s-video and noticed that in the system info screen, the HMDI Status shows HDCP not enabled. When I unplug and connect the cable it changes from not connected to HDCP not enabled. Doesn't matter if I'm connected direct or thru the iScan.

I sure hope the new Mpeg4 unit works better than this unit. I've had nothing but trouble and now I have to see if I can get another replacement unit.

Have you tried setting HDCP=OFF on the iScanHD ????

When I do this the HD-250 stops sending HDCP. This works wonderfull with my setup because with HDCP enabled the iScanHD+ will not output analog VGA signals that have HDCP on the DVI input. Magically the HD250 stops sending and looking for a HDCP output device when setting the iScanHD+ to HDCP OFF.

Gary

Originally posted by gdemott
Have you tried setting HDCP=OFF on the iScanHD ????

When I do this the HD-250 stops sending HDCP. This works wonderfull with my setup because with HDCP enabled the iScanHD+ will not output analog VGA signals that have HDCP on the DVI input. Magically the HD250 stops sending and looking for a HDCP output device when setting the iScanHD+ to HDCP OFF.

Gary

Yes I tried this. When I go from HDCP=on, to off, the screen goes blank for a second then the blue screen returns. I am able to see the OSD which was the original symptom I noticed. Gotta think the HMDI port on the HD-250 is just dead now. The HD+ info screen shows No Signal on the input section.

I've got a cable box connected to the HD+ via. RGB/s, but since the format of the programs are 4:3/16:9/letterbox ect. i have to manually adjust the zoom+pan every time i change the format ( the broadcasts here seem to have some blank/blue lines on the left).

Would be great to have also the pan&zoon settings for each input aspect ratio to save along with the input select. Any way to get this to work, or should i just hope for a sw upgrade?

Also i've got panasonic s97 connected to the HD+ via HDMI and i can't get the picture to show since HD+ cannot validate the HDCP on my projector through the VGA and the s97 refuses to work if i set the HDCP off in the HD+. Any clues how to get this to work, other than buying a DVI->HDMI cable for the projector?

as a reply to my own question, it seems that the Beta version 2.73 already has these features, verynice. Didn't fix the s97 issue of course since its a player issue.

Originally posted by pahvo
Also i've got panasonic s97 connected to the HD+ via HDMI and i can't get the picture to show since HD+ cannot validate the HDCP on my projector through the VGA and the s97 refuses to work if i set the HDCP off in the HD+. Any clues how to get this to work, other than buying a DVI->HDMI cable for the projector?

The iScan will not decrypt HDCP. If you input a DVI signal with HDCP, the iScan must output that via DVI to a display that is HDCP compatible in order to complete the "handshake". If your projector is HDCP-compliant but only via HDMI, you just need a DVI-to-HDMI adaptor.

Josh,

Technically, it does decrypt it, processes it and then just reencrypts it again...

Would be nice if it would just tell the source that 'yes yes, the display device is very hdcp compliant' eventough it could be connected to a toaster or something.

would effectively nullify the whole idea of hdcp though :)

Question:

For HD signals (720p, 1080i) on the component inputs, does the HD+ only passthru to the analog output or can it be configured to passthru to the DVI output?

Since my HD-Tivo HDMI port is now dead, I would like to reconnect the HD+ via component inputs and display via DVI output to my Samsung HLN.

The iScan HD and HD+ will pass-thru a 720p or 1080i signal on the component inputs. Pass-thru = no processing of any kind including deinterlacing, scaling and transcoding. Transcoding is what would be necessary to take an analog HD signal and output it over DVI.

You may want to call D* to see if they can replace your HD-TiVo because of the faulty HDMI output. I was able to get our unit replaced rather quickly when the HDMI output went bad. The trick is that you need to explain to them that it was working before and now it doesn't work.

Originally posted by Josh@dvdo
The iScan HD and HD+ will pass-thru a 720p or 1080i signal on the component inputs. Pass-thru = no processing of any kind including deinterlacing, scaling and transcoding. Transcoding is what would be necessary to take an analog HD signal and output it over DVI.

You may want to call D* to see if they can replace your HD-TiVo because of the faulty HDMI output. I was able to get our unit replaced rather quickly when the HDMI output went bad. The trick is that you need to explain to them that it was working before and now it doesn't work.

Thanks Josh. That's what I thought.

I'm waiting for D* to call back. Apparently they are not replacing units as easily as before. Their latest "f" update has caused many HMDI problems and they are promising a fix in April(?).

whsbuss - the problem is not software... it is hardware. I have exchanged 6 already before I got a good one. Keep calling them until you get somene that will exchange it for you...

Abbas

Originally posted by Abbas
whsbuss - the problem is not software... it is hardware. I have exchanged 6 already before I got a good one. Keep calling them until you get somene that will exchange it for you...

Abbas

Thanks Abbas - I will.

Originally posted by Josh@dvdo
The iScan HD and HD+ will pass-thru a 720p or 1080i signal on the component inputs. Pass-thru = no processing of any kind including deinterlacing, scaling and transcoding. Transcoding is what would be necessary to take an analog HD signal and output it over DVI.



This is the same kind of setup I have with my Sim2 300 Plus. It has DVI in but it's not HDCP compliant. So I'm running component out of my DV-50s instead of DVI, which is HDCP compliant. I'm upgrading to the 300e which will allow me to use the DVI out from the DV-50s. I'm assuming that since the 300e uses HDMI instead of DVI, there won't be any problems in processing the video signal? Any issues with a DVI to HDMI cable that I should be aware of?
Javry

I have my HR10-250 HD Tivo connected to the HD+ via the DVI connection. I've set the Tivo to 1080i on the DVI for SD and HD viewing.

Since the HD+ cannot process 480i on the DVI input, has anyone tried using the s-video from the Tivo to the HD+ for SD programming (component is disabled with HDMI connected to the Tivo)?

Is there any noticible difference with the HD+ doing all the processing vs. the Tivo at 1080i? Any comments are welcome.

Thanks.

PS: love to see the HD+ process 480i via DVI !!

Loaded the new beta firmware, most important thing (for me) is the choice of image settings (not just USER anymore).
Any chance on releasing discrete remote codes for my Pronto?
One thing I noted was the zoom (vert.) not extending very far, tried the pan but that only shifted the image vertically.
Am I miissing something?

Hi. I tried a similar solution with my Dish 811. When I used s-video on the 811 to output 480i to my HD+ and then output 720P via DVI to my Samsung HLN the picture was noticably softer than outputting 1080i via DVI from the 811 to the HD+. think it is simply the limitation of using s-video. 480i out from my RP91 via component looks excellent.

Bill

I sat down and watched a Kubrick film for the first time since I updated to the beta firmware. Kubrick's passion for 1.66 used to be a real bother as very few consumer electronics devices would frame it properly, but not so with the new firmware. It is quite a pleasure to be able to watch the intended film aspect ratios without simultaneous letter and pillar boxing. Its also a pleasure to be able to properly crop some of his early films which were transferred to DVD as full negative without proper matting. I'm thinking in particular of "The Killing" which was intended to be framed in 1.66.

Anyway, great job guys. This firmware update rocks.

- Collin

I just got an email about the 2.73 FW. It mentions final stages of testing. Is the FW that is on the site now any different than when it was first available, and/or are there any expected changes before it's released as good to go? IOW, do I or will I need to update the HD+ again?

Thanks.

The version 2.73 Beta software that posted on our site is no different than the version 2.73 that you already downloaded. The only immediate changes are correcting several bugs that we have found in this software.

Thanks..:)

Josh,

Any chance you'll sneak in 480i deinterlacing and scaling via the DVI input when you update the 2.73 FW and take it from BETA to operational???

Now THAT would make a lot of us 59avi users VERY happy:D!!!!!!!!!!!

........and also shut up a lot of umagen losers, errrrr.....ahhhhh, ......I mean Lumagen users;)!!!

Dave - We are well aware of this request. 480i over DVI is not a simple feature that we can just throw in when we update 2.73.

Thanks Josh, I totally understand that. I just figured I'd keep that issue in the forefront so we're not forgotten;)

I was just thinking maybe you were gonna' surprise us:D

Here's a strange one for you folks!

Things were working fine here- had a Denon 3910, the HD+ and a Panny plasma with dvi board.

Now I changed the Denon for a Marantz DV-9500 (also hdmi) and it works well into the HD+ when I plug in the cable.
Next day when I start up the gear all I get is a blue screen...
All the other inputs to the scaler upconvert happily, only the dvdp is dead...
Component from the Marantz into the scaler is OK.
So I have to disconnect the hdmi-to-dvi cable and reconnect it, voila!
Tried a different cable, same thing!

Could you please think with me on this one, guys?

Thanks
Barend

Originally posted by barend
Here's a strange one for you folks!

Things were working fine here- had a Denon 3910, the HD+ and a Panny plasma with dvi board.

Now I changed the Denon for a Marantz DV-9500 (also hdmi) and it works well into the HD+ when I plug in the cable.
Next day when I start up the gear all I get is a blue screen...
All the other inputs to the scaler upconvert happily, only the dvdp is dead...
Component from the Marantz into the scaler is OK.
So I have to disconnect the hdmi-to-dvi cable and reconnect it, voila!
Tried a different cable, same thing!

Could you please think with me on this one, guys?

Thanks
Barend

Seems like a HDCP handshake problem.

Go into the iScanHD+ configuration setup and try switching HDCP to OFF (default is AUTO), if that does not work, try switching HDCP to always ON.

Gary

Originally posted by barend
...................Next day when I start up the gear all I get is a blue screen...
..............Could you please think with me on this one, guys?

Thanks
Barend

Barend,
Can you get the HD+ menu to show up on the screen?
Javry

Sounds like you're on analog with digital out or vice versa.

Thanks for your quick replies!

@Javry:
Yes I see the HD+ menu. So the output settings are correct, right?

@:JimP and gdemott:
Settings are entirely as they were when it worked. Seems more like a sync problem than an hdcp issue to me, so tonight I will try a full reset of the scaler (not just the reset as in config). Could also be heat realated, after 10 hrs or so the problem goes away (but not always).
Will also check whether merely connecting dvd component-to-scalerinput will help.
Does not seem logical as that inpit isn't even selected, but maybe the sync on green gets through somehow?
And will remove dvd setting from MULTI to PAL (or NTSC) since I noticed the Marantz does a lot of switching in MULTI (and sometimes failed).
So did the 3910, as I remember.

Any new thoughts very welcome!
Cheers
Barend

PS
Don't you love those new firmware settings?
Made a whole range of zoom/pan settings for my favorite stations, for unletterboxing and for removing some ugly moving logos...
Let's hope the discrete remote codes will come soon, so I can couple them for the channel selection on my Pronto!
BTW, never managed to produce 576p into my Panny but now with some tweaking of the hor timings it's a cinch...
This weekend I will try adding a resistor to the blue ligfhthouse...

barend

Verify that you're on the correct input.

Originally posted by barend
Thanks for your quick replies!

@Javry:
Yes I see the HD+ menu. So the output settings are correct, right?..............


Yes, I would say that the output settings are correct. In other words, the HD+ is talking to the PJ fine.

One other test; Try going DVI/HDMI bypassing the HD+ directly into the Marantz. If you get a picture, it's the input to the HD+ [that would be time to talk with Josh]. If you still don't get a picture, then it's the Denon or the cable...and there are several "narrow-down" tests to do there.
Javry

barend - First try what Javry suggested above, if that doesn't work, please post your answers to these questions:

When you get a blue screen when you go to your DVI input, what color is the status LED at the bottom right of your iScan?

What do you have the 'HDCP Mode' setting in the 'Configuration' menu set to?

What do you have the 'DVI Input' setting in the 'Input Adjust' menu set to?

Hi all,
Been fiddling some more, and thanks Josh for joing the rescue team.
First, everybody contemplating replacing or dimming the blue lighthouse LED, don't do it!
You'll have to remove the pcb and also all the rear sockets, plus the front because else the flexcable to the front board is pulled out and it's not easy to wriggle in.
All this work only leads to the discovery that the LED is very closely soldered to the (multilayered) board.
As I didn't want to ruin a 1500$ unit I stopped right there.

Now to the issue:
I found that WHEN it happens it can't be rectified no matter what, resetting the DVD nor the Iscan helps.
Removing the power from the system and waiting for half a day before trying again usually brings an OK picture on dvi.
Setting the DVD to PAL (from MULTI) leads to less switching, but doesn't stop the problem.
Bypass mode won't work as I need the output settings to tweak some parameters in order to get a pic in 576p.
But wiring the DVD directly to the Plasma used to work for ntsc discs only in 480p, will see if that helps any...

Seems to me it's an issue in the way the DVD and the HD+ talk to each other- but I don't have any other dvi/hdmi kit, so can't try which it is.
Will try this now:
- switching off the dvd only and let it cool down;
- same for the Iscan;
- try a DVD-Audio (with pics) and a standard DVD and see what happens.

I really appreciate your input guys!

Josh, I do have a q for you:
What's the difference between the config reset and the full hardware reset?
And I will look what the status LED does.

Barend

Originally posted by barend
Hi all,
Been fiddling some more, and thanks Josh for joing the rescue team.
First, everybody contemplating replacing or dimming the blue lighthouse LED, don't do it!
You'll have to remove the pcb and also all the rear sockets, plus the front because else the flexcable to the front board is pulled out and it's not easy to wriggle in.
All this work only leads to the discovery that the LED is very closely soldered to the (multilayered) board.
As I didn't want to ruin a 1500$ unit I stopped right there.



You might have saved yourself a lot of trouble if you checked in the Configuration Menu under Power LED. There's a setting to shut the LED off after 30 secs. My unit is completely dark about 30 secs after making a selection. :)

Yeah I know Keenan, but I want it always on to show the unit is switched on.
Barend

Originally posted by barend
Yeah I know Keenan, but I want it always on to show the unit is switched on.
Barend

Cut some neutral density filter to go over it.

Here's kind of a strange "request/idea:"

A lot of people find that their cable company's STB's are trash, for all intents and purposes.

Many of us own HD sets that already have tuners in them by now and so we're content to just have the coax cable go right from the wall to the TV for the sake of obviously better PQ. In my case, the difference was laughably obvious. Even my mother noticed it, so we ditched the cable STB's and have never looked back.

The same goes for the OTA folks.

What I'd love to see an any Iscan would be an Antenna in and out and acoax cable in and out that work in the same exact manner as any of the other inputs/outputs on the device.

As it stands, the Iscan is great for people using STB's, but if you don't have an STB, it shuts the door on you pretty fast.

I'm not talking about adding an ATSC or an HD tuner to the IScan or anything like that. We're simply talking about two more inputs/outputs for Antenna OTA and straight coax cable sans any STB's.

I think this would open the door to a lot of new customers. If I saw that capability on any video processor, I'd buy it right now. That's something I can gain serious benefit from even before upgrading my display in the Fall, to say nothing about afterwards.

I hope this makes some sense. ;)

Originally posted by Q of BanditZ
Here's kind of a strange "request/idea:"

A lot of people find that their cable company's STB's are trash, for all intents and purposes.

Many of us own HD sets that already have tuners in them by now and so we're content to just have the coax cable go right from the wall to the TV for the sake of obviously better PQ. In my case, the difference was laughably obvious. Even my mother noticed it, so we ditched the cable STB's and have never looked back.

The same goes for the OTA folks.

What I'd love to see an any Iscan would be an Antenna in and out and acoax cable in and out that work in the same exact manner as any of the other inputs/outputs on the device.

As it stands, the Iscan is great for people using STB's, but if you don't have an STB, it shuts the door on you pretty fast.

I'm not talking about adding an ATSC or an HD tuner to the IScan or anything like that. We're simply talking about two more inputs/outputs for Antenna OTA and straight coax cable sans any STB's.

I think this would open the door to a lot of new customers. If I saw that capability on any video processor, I'd buy it right now. That's something I can gain serious benefit from even before upgrading my display in the Fall, to say nothing about afterwards.

I hope this makes some sense. ;)

You're right, "strange request/idea"....:p

What would you have the iSCAN unit do? With no tuner onboard it could only only pass the signal, not sure I see any point to that....?

Originally posted by keenan
You're right, "strange request/idea"....:p

What would you have the iSCAN unit do? With no tuner onboard it could only only pass the signal, not sure I see any point to that....?

I see.

I guess I'm misunderstanding how something works.

I was hoping you could pass the signal from either OTA or cable through and then be able to use the Iscan's features on that signal.

In other words, I'm trying to avoid having to use the cable company's crappy STB. I don't even think the Iscan can salvage how horrible the PQ becomes when I go from straight cable-TV to using one of their boxes.

My TV already has a tuner. I was hoping it was possible, at least on paper, to have an antenna in and out and coax cable in an out that function just like any of the other inputs/outputs on the device. The signals would be past through and you could use all of the Iscan's nifty features on those signals as well.


No can do?

No, you would have to have a tuner upstream from the iSCAN.

Originally posted by keenan
No, you would have to have a tuner upstream from the iSCAN.
\
Fair enough. The cable thing was kind of a tacked-on, backhand idea. I was really curious about what OTA folks do.

Come this Fall, when I upgrade my display, I suspect I'm going to finally dump the cable and go with satellite anyways, rendering all of this moot.

I may go OTA as well, to complement the DirectTV, especially since I don't get local channels in my area.

Thanks for your help as always, Keenan. :)

Why not integrate digital tuners into a new high-end iScan model (call it the HDxi), to address the very valid issue that Q of BanditZ raises? I see real value in adding LG's fifth-generation (or similar quality) ATSC and Clear QAM tuners with a CableCARD slot to a video processor. This eliminates an extra link in the signal chain and reduces the proliferation of boxes. It's conceptually similar to Faroudja's NRS-DCS, with its integrated DVD drive.

Originally posted by RU Geekman
Why not integrate digital tuners into a new high-end iScan model (call it the HDxi), to address the very valid issue that Q of BanditZ raises? I see real value in adding LG's fifth-generation (or similar quality) ATSC and Clear QAM tuners with a CableCARD slot to a video processor. This eliminates an extra link in the signal chain and reduces the proliferation of boxes. It's conceptually similar to Faroudja's NRS-DCS, with its integrated DVD drive.

^^

He said it a lot better than I did. :p That sounds awesome!

My guess would be there is probably not much of a market for it. Now STBs that are receptive to SDI mods would be nice but with cablecos and satcos in the rental and leasing model, modding those are out of the question.

What is the point of a tuner without a DVR. I couldn't imagine going back to watching TV in realtime. After almost 4 years of watching timeshifted HD, I couldn't go back.

Originally posted by aaronwt
What is the point of a tuner without a DVR. I couldn't imagine going back to watching TV in realtime. After almost 4 years of watching timeshifted HD, I couldn't go back.

The DVR is a third party STB for most people, yes? Some new TV's will even have it built in.

What's the problem? You'd hook the DVR into the Iscan like you already probably do, via component video, DVI, or HDMI?

I'm not sure I see where your problem is...

I think his point is that if you already have a HD-PVR, an HD-STB built into a scaler does not benefit him because he does not want to watch content in real time which would be required if he were to take advantage of this integrated tuner.

A lot of the HD-PVRs on the market don't have great performance when it comes to their tuners. Besides, not everyone has a passion for time-shifting. That's why it would be optional. It's all about choice. That is why there are a thousand breakfast cereals available... You could market it as 'the tuner that does so much more.' This would allow your company to pursue a whole new market, in addition to the 'enthusiasts' whom I imagine now comprise the bulk of your customer base. The question is, just how many people like Q of BanditZ are there? While you're at it, why not offer an optional integrated HD-PVR for a few hundred bucks more (the HDxi Turbo)? That would be very appealing for apartment dwellers, where equipment shelf-space is at a premium. Hey, these are just ideas!

Please don't burden new products with tuners. Give us switching, scaling, multiple outputs. Make it modular. But don't burden us with tuners.

Originally posted by rogo
Please don't burden new products with tuners. Give us switching, scaling, multiple outputs. Make it modular. But don't burden us with tuners.

My toughts exactly.

Originally posted by rogo
Please don't burden new products with tuners. Give us switching, scaling, multiple outputs. Make it modular. But don't burden us with tuners.

Now that I understand the logistics of what my stray idea would entail, I agree with you as well.

RU Geekman suggests one possible way to execute it: OPTIONAL bonus accessories that DVDO could charge extra for, make money, and cover that many more customers out there. If they ever deemed it worth their time.

I personally have my own doubts as to what kind of demand there really would be for this: While you're at it, why not offer an optional integrated HD-PVR for a few hundred bucks more (the HDxi Turbo)? That would be very appealing for apartment dwellers, where equipment shelf-space is at a premium. Hey, these are just ideas!

I'd probably buy it because I know DVDO would make a slam bang product vs. ANY cable company and probably even the satellite companies.

I'm probably going to jump to satellite this Fall, after I upgrade my display, but even at that, I'd certainly look to a company like DVDO first, even over the satellite company.

But if it's OPTIONAL and seperate from the core product, the majority of people like Levesque, rogo, and others simply don't have to be bothered. Everyone wins.

It would be up to DVDO's marketing brand to decide whether there's any money to be made offering "bonus peripherals" like that or not. I'm realistic enough to say that it's probably questionable, at best.

RU Geekman

You're making the assumption that the poor signal from your CBS affiliate is improvable with a processor. Awfully big assumption.

Originally posted by Q of BanditZ
I'd probably buy it because I know DVDO would make a slam bang product vs. ANY cable company and probably even the satellite companies.Exactly. Also, in consumer electronics the trend is toward more integrated functionality, so I don't think it's an off-the-wall idea. It's not like I'm suggesting you need to include a veg-o-matic or an automatic garage door-opener. These functions are all interrelated. You can't time-shift a signal that you can't capture because of poor tuners. And, different video processing techniques could be applied to different signals, which would be easier to program if the tuning and processing functions were well-integrated. For example, in my area the local CBS affiliate's signal looks terrible on cable. With such a device, I could automatically apply 'extra-strength' processing on that channel that might be counter-productive on other 'cleaner' channels. In other words, you'd easily be able to tweak your processing settings not just by source (DVD, cable, OTA), but, for the later two, on a channel-by-channel basis. I'd be inclined to buy such an all-in-one scaler-processor/tuner/HD-PVR, especially if it used the new fifth-generation LG demod chipset and was easy to program.

Oops, I accidentally deleted the above post when I tried to edit it. I am no expert in video processing, but it seems like the channel could benefit from some noise reduction.

Can anyone with the new firmware confirm or deny that it now offers a "vertical stretch" option for 2.35:1 Anamorphic sources for those wishing to use an Anamorphic Lens ?

Alan Gouger has started a new Topic and is requesting input regarding Projectors , DVD Players and outboard Scalers that will provide this feature...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=537491

Please comment if you can ,

Scott.................:)

Originally posted by Scott_R_K
Can anyone with the new firmware confirm or deny that it now offers a "vertical stretch" option for 2.35:1 Anamorphic sources for those wishing to use an Anamorphic Lens ?
Well, I wouldn't call it a "vertical stretch", but I think the current beta software for the iScan HD+ does what you're asking for. You can specify an arbitrary aspect ratio for the display, including 2.35:1. The iScan will then scale the input image appropriately, letterboxing for source aspect ratios wider than2.23:1, and pillarboxing for those which are narrower. (2.35:1 sources completely fill the screen, of course. ;) )

- Dale Adams

The satellite cos. have zero interest in 3rd-party decoders and, despite CableCard, the cable cos.' interest is about as tepid.

Originally posted by rogo
The satellite cos. have zero interest in 3rd-party decoders and, despite CableCard, the cable cos.' interest is about as tepid.

Pity.

Hi Dale ,

Thanks for the reply .

Is there any way you could actually try this and post a pic of the image ? If the "vertical stretch" is working correctly , all of the 16:9 panel will be used with no black (or grey) bars and the resulting image will appear too tall and thin thus presenting a Horizontal Stretch lens , like the Prismasonic H-500 or H-1000 , with exactly what it needs to render a properly AR'd 2.35:1 display .(assuming an Anamorphic 2.35:1 DVD movie to begin with)

Thanks again ,

Scott..................:)

Originally posted by Scott_R_K
Is there any way you could actually try this and post a pic of the image ? If the "vertical stretch" is working correctly , all of the 16:9 panel will be used with no black (or grey) bars and the resulting image will appear too tall and thin thus presenting a Horizontal Stretch lens , like the Prismasonic H-500 or H-1000 , with exactly what it needs to render a properly AR'd 2.35:1 display .(assuming an Anamorphic 2.35:1 DVD movie to begin with)

Scott, the latest HD+ firmware does what you need. I can confirm it.

It has separate settings for the aspect ratio of the display and the content being watched. If you set it for a 2.35:1 display and a 2.35:1 movie, you'll get the effect you describe (stretched to fill a 16:9 frame, meant to be squeezed back to proportion by an anamorphic lens). If you set it for a 2.35:1 display and a 16:9 or 4:3 movie, the movie image will be pillarboxed in the center of the 2.35:1 frame.

Thanks Joshua ,

This is perfect ! If you have no objections I'd like to link Alan to your reply so he can go ahead and add the IScan HD+(version 2.73 Beta software) to the growing list of products that will support the 2.35:1 CinemaScope presentation .

DVDO should "flog" this as a big PLUS ! What do you guys think ?:D

Thanks again ,

Scott...........:)

Originally posted by rogo
The satellite cos. have zero interest in 3rd-party decoders and, despite CableCard, the cable cos.' interest is about as tepid. There are a multitude of companies manufacturing satellite STBs, while Motorola and Scientific-Atlantic dominate the market for cable boxes. And, you can buy a satellite box and use it anywhere in the continental U.S., which is not true for cable boxes. Both of these reasons were cited back in 1998 when the FCC decided to exempt the DBS market from new rules intended to create a commercial market for set-top boxes. I wouldn't compare the willingness of DirecTV and Dish to promote competition -- both with each other and with cable -- to the cable industry's preoccupation with controlling all aspects of the user experience.

The FCC has just set a revised deadline of mid-2007 to make the retail market for cable set-top boxes more competitive. The current CableCARD standard is just one step in this process. By way of background, under this initiative cable operators will be prohibited from offering leased boxes which integrate proprietary security and general navigation functions. This was voluntarily set forth in the "Memorandum of Understanding Among Cable MSOs and Consumer Electronics Manufacturers" signed in December, 2002, but it became law in March, 2003.

You are correct that cable companies have been lukewarm about this regulation since its inception, citing the cost involved. This is just a smokescreen, however, because it will eventually save them the expense of maintaining millions of STBs. Besides, the regulation applies only to new hook-ups, so the phase-in will be gradual (they won't have to replace units already in service). Their real opposition stems from the fact that they don't like the current one-way standard. As you know, it doesn't support bi-directional services like interactive electronic program guides (which generate advertising revenue), video-on-demand, season sports packages, enhanced services such as games and customized news, and impulse pay-per-view (i.e., using your remote to order). Simply put, cable operators are afraid the cards are going to cost them more in revenues than they will save. That's why they lobbied the FCC to repeal next year's deadline. The extension of that deadline to July 1st, 2007, was a reasonable compromise designed to give cable companies and consumer electronics manufacturers more time to explore whether it might be feasible to implement downloadable security (which would be even less expensive to implement), as well as to establish a bi-directional and multi-stream CableCARD standard. Once those objectives are achieved, cable operators will embrace the new paradigm.

In the end, these rules are going to level the playing field for others to compete in the STB market. Instead of the generally sub-par cable boxes available today, consumers will be able to choose from among a great variety of multi-function devices at reasonable prices. Who knows, maybe a scaler/tuner/HD-PVR will be among them...

Originally posted by Scott_R_K
Thanks Joshua ,

This is perfect ! If you have no objections I'd like to link Alan to your reply so he can go ahead and add the IScan HD+(version 2.73 Beta software) to the growing list of products that will support the 2.35:1 CinemaScope presentation .

DVDO should "flog" this as a big PLUS ! What do you guys think ?:D

Thanks again ,

Scott...........:)

I mentioned this to Alan ~ a month ago when I talked to him after I got my HD+ from him. He mentioned to me he needed a solution like this for his constant height setup and I highly recommended the HD+. I'm surprised he hasn't tried it yet.

Originally posted by Scott_R_K
This is perfect ! If you have no objections I'd like to link Alan to your reply so he can go ahead and add the IScan HD+(version 2.73 Beta software) to the growing list of products that will support the 2.35:1 CinemaScope presentation.

Go for it.

I have just read many messages here and on other forums regarding upscaling and the DVDOs. I currently love the quality of HD from Dtv. I have a Samsung 43" DLP in the living room and just added a Panny 42" Plasma PX50U to the bedroom. I am running a Samsung TS160 receiver in the living room and a Hughes H10 in the bedroom.

If I add a DVDO iScan HD+ will I have HD quality video on all channels from Directv whether HD or not ? Will my DVDs also get an increased video quality. Currently I have a very good Pioneer Elite DV59-AVi running through DVI. Channels on Dtv such as 76 in 1080i look amazing and I would hope to acheive this quality with DVDO but may be expecting too much.

Finally, should I just wait for HD DVD since the investment in a DVDO in pretty steep?

I have just read many messages here and on other forums regarding upscaling and the DVDOs. I currently love the quality of HD from Dtv. I have a Samsung 43" DLP in the living room and just added a Panny 42" Plasma PX50U to the bedroom. I am running a Samsung TS160 receiver in the living room and a Hughes H10 in the bedroom.

If I add a DVDO iScan HD+ will I have HD quality video on all channels from Directv whether HD or not ? Will my DVDs also get an increased video quality. Currently I have a very good Pioneer Elite DV59-AVi running through DVI. Channels on Dtv such as 76 in 1080i look amazing and I would hope to acheive this quality with DVDO but may be expecting too much.

Finally, should I just wait for HD DVD since the investment in a DVDO in pretty steep?

Thats a lot to respond to. First DTV. I have Directv. Their HD doesn't hold a stick to off-air HD. Directv's compression is the route of that issue. The image looks washed out and less sharp than off-air. Their SD channels are even worse (much much worse actually). Compression mosquitos (mpeg artifacts) destroy the image. This issue cannot be resolved with any scaler on the market. Its my opinion that the removal of these artifacts would make the biggest night & day difference you might be looking for with DTV. A good scaler will improve your picture, but not as much. The science behind good scaling/deinterlacing is long and better explained by sources already out there. In a nut shell, because the frames of an image are better combined with an offboard scaler the picture looks sharper...etc, etc. You will not experience HD quality on DTV SD channels using a scaler. Garbage in garbage out.

Your DVD player is a different story. The DV59-AVi can send a 480i signal via its HDMI output. If you use the DVDO to receive this 480i signal, deinterlace it and scale it to the native resolution of your plasma panel the difference will astound you. How much will it astound you? It should be night and day. That claim is scalable. The better the scaler the better the image. DVDO makes a fantastic product. I have had two of their scalers in the past. Like all technology though it will, and now does have at least one rival. Scaling and deinterlacing is all about the algorthms and the chips that run them. The product to beat now is the Algolith Dragonfly. BUT...the price is considerably higher. I don't doubt for a second that DVDO will come out with a competing unit in the future (they always do) but for now it can be considered a great unit that will make a huge difference in your dvd and some difference in your Sat. If you don't want to spend the extra $, no problem because you will be getting a great product anyway.

As for the device that would help Directv's SD channels.... it is expensive as well, Algolith's Mosquito.

Originally posted by Morg111

Your DVD player is a different story. The DV59-AVi can send a 480i signal via its HDMI output. If you use the DVDO to receive this 480i signal, deinterlace it and scale it to the native resolution of your plasma panel the difference will astound you.

Your response implies that the DVDO can scale from a 480i HDMI source however this is not currently posible.

Gary

Originally posted by Morg111
Thats a lot to respond to. First DTV. I have Directv. Their HD doesn't hold a stick to off-air HD. Directv's compression is the route of that issue. The image looks washed out and less sharp than off-air. Their SD channels are even worse (much much worse actually). Compression mosquitos (mpeg artifacts) destroy the image. This issue cannot be resolved with any scaler on the market. Its my opinion that the removal of these artifacts would make the biggest night & day difference you might be looking for with DTV. A good scaler will improve your picture, but not as much. The science behind good scaling/deinterlacing is long and better explained by sources already out there. In a nut shell, because the frames of an image are better combined with an offboard scaler the picture looks sharper...etc, etc. You will not experience HD quality on DTV SD channels using a scaler. Garbage in garbage out.

I'm seeing a lot of simillar posts in the HD and SD satellite forums. Sadly, I'm getting the idea that I shouldn't bother to jump from my "heh-ok" cable to satellite because it's not the Promised Land like it once was.

Is mediocrity the only choice we really have? Or is OTA the only answer?

Your response implies that the DVDO can scale from a 480i HDMI source however this is not currently possible.

REALLY? I thought it does take 480i in. Thats a huge con if it can't do that. I would advise against the DVDO without that support.


I'm seeing a lot of similar posts in the HD and SD satellite forums. Sadly, I'm getting the idea that I shouldn't bother to jump from my "heh-ok" cable to satellite because it's not the Promised Land like it once was.

Digital Cable isn't any better though its no worse either. We'll see what happens with Directv's new mpeg4 system. It will be a huge improvement though I'm sure it will just encourage them to compress more. Directv is no longer a better option; it has the technology, but the company leadership is making an abortion out of it. Their HD used to be broadcast at 1080i (1920x1080) though they downrezed it to 1280x1080 a while ago. Way to go D*, thanks for your attention to quality!

Originally posted by Q of BanditZ


I'm seeing a lot of simillar posts in the HD and SD satellite forums. Sadly, I'm getting the idea that I shouldn't bother to jump from my "heh-ok" cable to satellite because it's not the Promised Land like it once was.

Is mediocrity the only choice we really have? Or is OTA the only answer? [/B]
I find my Comcast cable much better than I had with DTV. They are compressing the hell out of their signals. The HD channels on my comcast system are far superior to their DirecTV counterparts and it's easy to see.

Yes, mediocrity is pretty much our only chioce anymore. Even OTA (see PBS) is starting to down-res to fit more channels into their 6MHz BW.

That being said, I agree that OTA always seems to offer the best pix for network HD....so far:rolleyes:

I agree that no 480i support for the DVI input is a big mistake. They have said for months that they would make it available, but no dice. This is one of the reasons I may be selling the HD+ I just got. The Algolith unit is looking better and better.

Originally posted by Morg111
REALLY? I thought it does take 480i in. Thats a huge con if it can't do that. I would advise against the DVDO without that support.




Digital Cable isn't any better though its no worse either. We'll see what happens with Directv's new mpeg4 system. It will be a huge improvement though I'm sure it will just encourage them to compress more. Directv is no longer a better option; it has the technology, but the company leadership is making an abortion out of it. Their HD used to be broadcast at 1080i (1920x1080) though they downrezed it to 1280x1080 a while ago. Way to D*, thanks for your attention to quality!

Jeez. How's DISH then? All of this really does underscore how tragic the loss of VOOM is.

I find my Comcast cable much better than I had with DTV. They are compressing the hell out of their signals. The HD channels on my comcast system are far superior to their DirecTV counterparts and it's easy to see.

I wouldn't doubt it. I haven't revisited the the Digital cable vs DTV issue in a while. Directv has gotten so bad SD is almost unwatchable. True, I have HD to compare and I have a plasma that shows all the imperfections, but it doesn't have to look like it does. The ridiculous goal of quantity over quality really will push me to other options when they present themselves. Anyway..... Your are psyched that you have comcast. Their new DVR's will be Tivo based. I wish I had comcast I would be switching as soon as the HD tivo version of comcasts reciever came out. My cable provider is Cablevision, SD picture quality is horrible, the company is run terribly, and their DVR is no match for Tivo.

We are getting off topic here though. A scaler must have DVI/HDMI 480i support, the difference is just too considerable when scaling DVD via this method of connection. The best scaler setup on the market today is not the DVDO. The future DVDO should have better chips and algorithms that not only scale/deinterlace but reduce noise (specifically mpeg compression) because media providers seem to care less about quality and further compress their signals.

Morg111, thanks for your response to my questions.

Morg111, thanks for your response to my questions.

np

Jeez. How's DISH then? All of this really does underscore how tragic the loss of VOOM is.

If Voom was able to stay a float (despite horrible corporate practices by its owners) it would have added channels and reduced its resolution to meet quantity bandwidth constraints just like all the other money focused media distribution services.

Originally posted by Morg111
As for the device that would help Directv's SD channels.... it is expensive as well, Algolith's Mosquito. I'm hoping to see a scaler that incorporates Mosquito technology, soon. I'm not too keen about the idea of buying two processors (Dragonfly and Mosquito) that cost nearly as much as my display! Too bad DVDO can't license Mosquito technology...

Originally posted by RU Geekman
I'm hoping to see a scaler that incorporates Mosquito technology, soon. I'm not too keen about the idea of buying two processors (Dragonfly and Mosquito) that cost nearly as much as my display! Too bad DVDO can't license Mosquito technology...

I agree, but you owe it to yourself to PM or email Jason Turk about the preorder special on the Dragonfly/Mosquito combination.

Originally posted by Q of BanditZ
Jeez. How's DISH then? All of this really does underscore how tragic the loss of VOOM is.

Yes Q. VOOM was light years ahead in terms of PQ and SQ. Even the SD channels on on my regular 19 and 27 inch TV's were unbelievably crisp.

Dish HD is not too bad. The SQ is nowhere near VOOM's high resolution sound quality.

Back on track here:

If your DVD player has the SIL504 chip for de-interlacing, would it be a mute point if you send a 480P signal to the ISCAN HD+ via the DVI input. If so, then the lack of 480i support via DVI in this situation would not really matter.

Any comments or feedback on this??

Originally posted by RU Geekman
I'm hoping to see a scaler that incorporates Mosquito technology, soon. I'm not too keen about the idea of buying two processors (Dragonfly and Mosquito) that cost nearly as much as my display! Too bad DVDO can't license Mosquito technology...

Doesn't the Dragonfly incorporate the some of their Mosquito technology as well? I was under the impression it performed the artifact reduction before it got to the Realta stuff...

Doesn't the Dragonfly incorporate the some of their Mosquito technology as well? I was under the impression it performed the artifact reduction before it got to the Realta stuff...

It does do simple background noise reduction but not artifact removal. When comparing the noise removal functions of the two it is easier said that the Dragonfly has no noise reduction capabilities because of the difference.

-M

Yes, you really need both the Dragonfly and the Mosquito to get the full effect. Too pricey IMHO, even with the special offer...

Originally posted by RU Geekman
Yes, you really need both the Dragonfly and the Mosquito to get the full effect. Too pricey IMHO, even with the special offer...


I think the perception is that it'll make a poor SD signal look magically HD.

People in this price league will drop $5K and not return it if really doesn't do anything. (for the most part, there is always exceptions)

Given the lack of high frequency response in the 006, I doubt anybody has a picture similar to the before picture give in their example below. The before is on the left and the after is on the right. This is for the mosquito and not the dragonfly. Also note the loss of detail in other areas such as the ladies skirt.

http://www.algolith.com/fileadmin/images/MosquitoDNR.jpg

Edit: Maybe this is why the 006 doesn't display the high frequency patterns as we might expect. Its already filtering the mosquito noise.

fellas,

you may not have noticed, but this is the iScan HD+ thread. Please focus on this topic for this thread.

Thanks.

I've been looking at buying the HS51. I've have read that some recommend adding the DVDO Iscan HD+ scaler. I've also read though the iscan HD+ forums and I'm confused. If I scale everything to 1080i they say the HD+ used bob and weave which is not good. On the other hand if I scale to 720p there are issues with the HS51 cropping 720p? Can anyone set me staight?

I will be using the following sources:

DirecTv HD Tivo
DVD (still don't know which yet)
HTPC
XBox

With the sources I have where is the Iscan HD+ going to help me with the HS51?

Thanks, JG

I've been looking at buying the HS51. I've have read that some recommend adding the DVDO Iscan HD+ scaler. I've also read though the iscan HD+ forums and I'm confused. If I scale everything to 1080i they say the HD+ used bob and weave which is not good.

The issue with bob & weave has to do with deinterlacing 1080i content, not with scaling standard-def material up to 1080i.

On the other hand if I scale to 720p there are issues with the HS51 cropping 720p? Can anyone set me staight?

The HS51 is a native 720p projector. The goal in scaling is to scale directly to the display's native resolution, bypassing any scaling in the display itself. You would want to use 720p output from the scaler. If you used 1080i output, your picture would be scaled twice, once by the scaler and again by the projector. That is not a good thing.

If the HS51 has a problem with pixel cropping on 720p inputs, the iScan HD+ has an "underscan" negative zoom setting which will allow you to shrink the picture so that it all appears on screen.

Hi Mr. Josh Allen,

My set up: G-15 projector (4:3 panel, 1365x1024) with 16:9AR Panamorph Lens and a 2.35AR Panamorph Lens. DVD player component output. HD satellite DVI output.

First question: Is the DVI output DVI-D or DVI-I. DVDO site gives conflicting info on this. Specs says DVI-I and the flow diagram says DVI-D. I need to take the DVI output and go into my 5BNC RGBHV projector input.

Second set of questions: Say I'm selecting the component input on the HD+, can I take a 2.35AR DVD and stretch it's picture to fill the entire 4:3 panel (to use my 2.35AR Panamorph)? And then with the push of only one button, using the same input with a 16:9AR DVD and stretch it's picture to fill the entire 4:3 panel (to use my 16:9AR Panamorph)? I'm hoping to be able to switch between different DVDs and not have to go through multiple setting adjustments (ie pan and zoom, AR changes) every time.

Third set of questions: Just to make sure, will the HD+ take 720P or 1080i and stretch it to fill my 4:3 panel? And is there a "One Button" switch back and forth like in my second question on the DVI input/output?

Thanks,
Paul

The DVI input and output are DVI-I connectors pinned out for DVI-D, What that means is that you can connect a DVI-I cable but nothing will be on the analog pins. The HD15 output is where you would connect a RGBHV breakout cable.

You can save four preset aspect ratios on the 2.73 Beta software that is on our web site which will allow to use a constant height setup with both lenses. These features should be in production software very soon.

If the HD signal is coming in via the DVI input on the HD+ and your display is HDCP compliant (because most HD STBs have HDCP) then you could have similar aspect ratio control for HD content. The HD+ will only process HD on the DVI input. With your request for RGBHV output on the first question it sounds like this is not the case in your situation.

Wow, thanks Josh for the quick reply.

Just to make sure I understand, given my situation where I'm limited to using the HD15 output on the HD+, I will not be able to take advantage of HD+ ability to process HD (720p, 1080i) because it's only outputted on the DVI, correct?

I don't think so, but will I be able to at least stretch the 16x9 AR HD video on the HD15 output to fill my 4:3 panel so I don't have to have my projector's processor do it?

Thanks again,
Paul

Just to make sure I understand, given my situation where I'm limited to using the HD15 output on the HD+, I will not be able to take advantage of HD+ ability to process HD (720p, 1080i) because it's only outputted on the DVI, correct?

Correct.

I don't think so, but will I be able to at least stretch the 16x9 AR HD video on the HD15 output to fill my 4:3 panel so I don't have to have my projector's processor do it?

No, if you're using the HD15 output, all 1080i or 720p signals will simply be passed through the iScan with no processing whatsoever.

A question for the DVDO folks: Is the HD+'s accomodation for the 2.35:1 ratio really 2.35:1, or is it 2.39:1?

Josh - The 2.35:1 preset really is 2.35:1. The 'User' setting can be set to anything between 1.00:1 and 3.00:1.

Hi guys, i need to know something, i am planing to buy a Samsung DLP HL-R5087W, the use is mainly for gaming, right now PS2, Xbox and GameCube is it true that the PS2 has Lag with this DLP set because most games are only 480i? if it is true wich HDTV set will you recomend me to buy? or will the iScan correct this?
i want to buy an iScan HD+, i know it is a great piece of hardware, but how much difference it will make with the consoles i currently have? will it make the PS2 games look better in the Samsung DLP HL-R5087W? and will the iScan upscale the 480i PS2 signal (via Componet Cable) all the way to 720p without degradation of the image?
guys any help or advice is really appreciated, thanks in advance

is it true that the PS2 has Lag with this DLP set because most games are only 480i?

Mark, the following is quoted from a review (http://www.dvdfile.com/reviews/hardware/dvdo/iscan.html) of the iScan-HD that I wrote when it first came out:

If you are unable to route all of your audio through the scaler (there are frankly not enough audio inputs for all of the video inputs), but have a receiver that will allow you to manually adjust an audio delay, the following processing delay times were provided to me by an Anchor Bay Technologies technical support rep. The delay times are specified in periods of frame periods, since these vary for NTSC (16.7 mS) and PAL (20 mS):

Pass-through without processing: 0 frames
Deinterlacing: 4 frames
Scaling / aspect ratio conversion: 0.4 frames
Frame rate conversion: variable from 0.5 to 1.5 frames, but 1 frame can be used as an average.
These time delays are additive. If you are doing both deinterlacing and scaling, the combined delay would be 4.4 frames (approximately a 73 mS delay on an NTSC signal). Deinterlacing, scaling, and converting the frame rate on a PAL signal would take 5.4 frames (108 mS).

It does take longer to both deinterlace and scale than it would to just scale, but we're talking milliseconds. Although theoretically it's possible that this lag could effect gameplay, I've never noticed it in any of the videogames I've played on my projector.

Now available on our website (http://www.dvdo.com/update/update_usb.html) is the new beta software (2.87).

This pre-release version of our software contains the following new features:

480i/576i DVI Support (RGB 4:4:4)
This feature will allow users to send a 480i signal from a source that has a DVI or HDMI output to the iScan HD+ to be deinterlaced and scaled. This software has been tested with the following sources:
DirecTV HR10-250
Sony DVP-NS975V
LG LSS-3200A
Arcam DV79
Note: The ‘Line Offset’ function in the ‘Input Adjust’ menu also controls the DVI input in addition to the SDI input. This function is to be used if you need to vertically shift the image for this input. This adjustment will not affect any other inputs. Only RGB 4:4:4 is supported.

Image Shift
This feature allows a user to adjust the location of the image on their screen both horizontally and vertically when the ‘Screen’ aspect ratio is not equal to the ‘Display’ aspect ratio. For example, if you have a 4:3 projector and a 16:9 screen, you can shift the image to match the exact location of your screen.

Enjoy!

Excellent news on both new features! Thanks, DVDO!

Josh, I think I reported (asked) this before, but here goes (in detail!!).

Us European users have to deal with the fact that programming comes in with constantly changing aspect ratio. Our receivers (both old fashioned analogue and DVB-t) receive a signal that shows whether the signal is regular 4:3 or anamorphic 16:9. Our widescreen TV's pick up this signal via a wire in the scart lead and auto-switch between normal 4:3 (with black bars on the outside) and correct 16:9.

Any devices that does not use scart (plasmas, scalers etc) are therefore stuck. So we use a gizmo called a Plasma Aspect Ratio Controller (PARC). This PARC listens to the signal coming from the scart output of the receiver, and then sends an RS232 signal to either the plasma or the scaler causing the plasma/scaler to switch display modes. I'd bet that nearly every DVDO user in the UK at least uses one of these boxes to avoid pressing a button on the remote once every few minutes.

Up to, and including, 2.32 everything is fine. The PARC sends the RS232 codes that equate to pressing either the 4:3 or 16:9 buttons on the remote. On the two betas though, it is broken. The codes that are being sent, well, one does nothing and the other causes 14:9 zoom. I guess you have changed the RS232 protocols.

Please can you change the serial protocols back? So that the old 16:9 and 4:3 codes still do the same thing? Otherwise we will be forever stuck at version 2.32. The PARC is not firmware upgradeable, so they cannot follow you.

Thank you! (Otherwise, the new firmware looks great and would solve a couple of problems for me).

Link to a PARC:
PARC209 (http://www.multi-region.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=679)
(This page doesn't say it, but this model works with DVDO and Lumagen scalers - you select the output device via DIP switches).

Andrew

PS - If I've missed something cunning and you've covered this problem by setting the "Input AR scaling Auto DVBT control" to "on", please let me know!

I've just downloaded the new firmware. I'd like to shift a 2.35:1 image all the way to the bottom of a 16:9 screen. I set the iScan for 16:9 screen with 2.35:1 active and then used the Image Shift. A few initial observations:

- The Image Shift does not move the 2.35:1 portion all the way to the top or bottom of the screen. It only goes to a setting of 50 in either direction, which is short of touching the edge. Was this intentional?

- The direction of movement is counterintuitive. By pushing the Up button on the remote and going into positive numbers the image moves down, and vice versa. I expected that by pushing Up the picture would move up. Not a big deal, but it feels strange to use.

- The Image Shift resets to 0 if you change the active screen to 16:9 and back. My screen has a variable ratio configuration; sometimes it's 16:9 and other times it's 2.35:1. There does not appear to be a way to save the Image Shift settings. Perhaps the next firmware could allow presets for the Output aspect ratio as well as the Input aspect ratios?

Now available on our website (http://www.dvdo.com/update/update_usb.html) is the new beta software (2.87).

This pre-release version of our software contains the following new features:

480i/576i DVI Support (RGB 4:4:4)

Thanks. Does anybody know if this will allow smooth 48Hz playback like can be done with SDI input from a DVD player?

--Darin

I've just downloaded the new firmware. I'd like to shift a 2.35:1 image all the way to the bottom of a 16:9 screen. I set the iScan for 16:9 screen with 2.35:1 active and then used the Image Shift. A few initial observations:

- The Image Shift does not move the 2.35:1 portion all the way to the top or bottom of the screen. It only goes to a setting of 50 in either direction, which is short of touching the edge. Was this intentional?


Hai,

I just also installed the new version, and indeed the function is working fine but seems to be limited to 50pixels. As far as i can tellt his should be 88pixels on a 720 display. (on a 720 height 2.35 is 545 pixels = 175 pixels so thats 175/2=88 pixels up or down to shift it fully to the border). By allowing a 50pixels shift the problem is partly 'solved' for people who mask but not at all for people who have a hardmask at the 16:9 border.

I hope this can be fixed in the next beta since this is getting close now :).

Daniel.

This software has been tested with the following sources:
DirecTV HR10-250
Sony DVP-NS975V
LG LSS-3200A
Arcam DV79


The new beta firmware is working also with the Pioneer 59avi. I just finished watching Return of The King completely without a glitch by sending 480i over HDMI to the IScan!

Thank you DVDO. You just saved me an SDI mod. :D

I am packing up my HD to convert to HD+. THANKS

Now to find a 975 or 59avi.

Thank you DVDO. You just saved me an SDI mod. :D

ahhh SDI is better anyway ..... sorry just had to say something hehe.

Nice that this is working i wonder is their a list of devices that give a 'clean' dvi signal (as in no processing is done on it before it leaves the player) seem that would be helpful now we have 2 processors out supporting this over dvi.

Daniel.

This is very good to me!
I have already downloaded the software and look forward to test its functionalities.
Indeed, to have a working DVI with interlaced input should help me to use new european HD SAT decoders, thus completing all the inputs:
SDI - Pioneer 868 (59avi)
DVI - HD SAT
Comp1 - DVD-R
Comp2 - SD SAT (rgbs)
S-vid1 - s-vhs vcr
Vid1 - xbox
Vid2 - ps

Hooray!

This is very good to me!
I have already downloaded the software and look forward to test its functionalities.
Indeed, to have a working DVI with interlaced input should help me to use new european HD SAT decoders, thus completing all the inputs:
SDI - Pioneer 868 (59avi)
DVI - HD SAT
Comp1 - DVD-R
Comp2 - SD SAT (rgbs)
S-vid1 - s-vhs vcr
Vid1 - xbox
Vid2 - ps

Hooray!

ehmm HD interlace was not changed in the update it was about SD 480i/576i signals only. Your HD signals will probably work fine (and worked fine).

Daniel.

[QUOTE=Josh@dvdo]Now available on our website (http://www.dvdo.com/update/update_usb.html) is the new beta software (2.87).

This pre-release version of our software contains the following new features:

480i/576i DVI Support (RGB 4:4:4)
QUOTE]

Has anyone yet tested this against a SDI-input and if so how did it compare to the SDI-input ?

I am packing up my HD to convert to HD+. THANKS

Now to find a 975 or 59avi.

Too bad you didn't hold on to the 59avi you had!

:p

Rob,

Yes, well at the time I don't think I could have pulled off the 59 and SP1000 under one roof but now that I've got a dedicated projector room project approved it may be a reality in the coming weeks. The 1000 will get plently of action still pulling audio and video in the living room where I just couldn't put a projector due to vaulted ceilings, lighting and funiture etc.

Thanks for the update Josh!

The 1000 will get plently of action still pulling audio and video in the living room where I just couldn't put a projector due to vaulted ceilings, lighting and funiture etc.

So the SP1000 will be your "spare" player, and your combo 59avi+IScan HD+ will be on your main projector?

And all this time I taught that the SP1000 was the best thing since the invention of the flushing toilet! :D ;)

Hey Mimason,

I've had my dedicated projector room approved for about a year now. Watch out for those wifely caveats!

Hoping to start building it sometime this summer or fall.