New DVDO iScan VP30 [Text View] - Page 25

HTSteve

03-01-07, 09:32 AM

I am currently running 1.07 FW. I have not been compelled to change the FW because I am happy with the way the VP30 is performing and I don't want to mess with success, so to speak (I don't seem to have many of the issues that others have).

BUT, later this summer, I will Beta testing a new consumer product (yet to be announced) that will output 1080p in various forms (24, 30, 48 and 60Hz).

Will my VP30 pass this signal through? What FW version is required?

I have posed this question (at least a week ago) to DVDO technical support via their website, but I have not received a response.

My PJ will will handle these inputs and downscale to 720p, but I want my VP to pass this signal through. It will be a real PIA if I have to by-pass my VP30 every time I want to watch/evaluate this new product.

Thanks.

attfuzz

03-01-07, 08:53 PM

Did you select 1080p-50 or 1080p-60 as an output format?

The HD2K is not capable of syncing to 50Hz unless you change a setting on it, but I believe the default settings are to accept 1080p-60.

1080p-60 is the only option, 50 is greyed out and not selectable.

attfuzz

03-01-07, 09:01 PM

Were your previous settings retained also after the upgrade?

thx, Tom

Not on ours, I'll have to go back and re-calibrate everything again, I wish that it would retain the settings. On a side note, when I was loading the abt file, I went to move the window on top so I could see the one on the bottom and the load failed and crashed. When I started the second load, my laptop battery gave out on me, so these two failed loads may have erased the previous settings.???

Gard

03-02-07, 03:55 AM

That's my experience with Tera Term too. After starting the download(upload?), don't touch it. Also make sure your screensaver don't kick in, before you start the download.

LonelyDodger

03-02-07, 01:13 PM

...when I was loading the abt file, I went to move the window on top so I could see the one on the bottom and the load failed and crashed...

This is an issue with primarily Tera Term. With Tera Term - it can only "think" about one thing at a time, and unfortunately it doesn't let go of the CPU very often so if you do much of anything with the mouse while it is transmitting a file to a device (not just a DVDO box), it will stop doing what it's doing (i.e. transmitting). The DVDO box has a time-out for the data transfer (where after a few seconds if it doesn't see and incoming data - it assumes the link has been broken) so it will stop trying to receive data. This way there is no user-intervention to "quit" to firmware update (and it's probably easier to understand and program this way). Basically both of these circumstances conspire to "crash" a download.

There's a utility a guy named Barry Gordon wrote, which he is offereing for free on his web-site - that can do firmware updates and can save all available settings (apparently some can be saved due to some sort of input memory thing in the iScan). His program actually allows you to click the mouse off of the "utility" and use the computer for something else. Plus it can control the iScan by setting it to "Advanced user mode".

Cheers!

-LD :cool:

Gard

03-02-07, 01:36 PM

Yes, but I think Barry Gordons program needs to updated due to DVDO's change to Anchor Bay. At least they have to put out a new autoupdate.txt

LonelyDodger

03-02-07, 02:07 PM

...I think Barry Gordons program needs to updated due to DVDO's change to Anchor Bay...

When the heck did that happen? All I heard was that "Anchor Bay Technologies, Inc." changed their logo/name to "Anchor Bay". The DVDO brand of system products is still retaining it's "DVDO" brand name, and "iScan" product name, and "VPxx" series name.

This is like General Motors being shortening to "GM" but still making Chevrolet, GMC, Pontiac, Saturn, Cadillac, Hummer... etc. (i.e. a Chevy Corvette is still a Chevy Corvette :p). The company is still the same - they just fly a differrent banner :rolleyes:.

A quote form the Anchor Bay web page: (http://www.anchorbaytech.com/products/systems/)

"...When Silicon Image, Inc. acquired DVDO in 2000, the brand continued to grow, with the help of the original [DVDO] team. In April 2003, Anchor Bay was founded and reacquired the DVDO brand and product line from Silicon Image, and continues to develop [DVDO]..."

As far as I know the DVDO Utility that Barry wrote - is a piece of software Barry wrote, and he claims he's doing all of the support for it. In my mind that means he can do whatever he pleases with his program as it has no direct relation to Anchor Bay other than the product it's controlling :eek:. Anyway - I don't think his DVDO Utility can program Anchor Bay chips directly (the other thing Anchor Bay does).

Cheers!

-LD :cool:

barrygordon

03-02-07, 02:58 PM

Okay time for me to weigh in.

1) Barry is good enough as that is my first name and it just sounds better. I can't stand Mr. Barry, (as some have referred to me as), as that makes me sound like a hairdresser, not that I have anything against Hairdressers, I am just not one.

2) The Utility I wrote is mine. and I do maintain it. I am under NDA to DVDO/ABT because they told me certain things about their software system that is proprietary.

3) If there is something that does not work, e.g. the web site access I will fix that if it is pointed out to me. I do not use the utility much as the basic root code is integrated into my theater system. In fact the URL for accessing the DVDO web site is in the ini file and if the URL no longer works it is a trivial change to fix (I believe as humble as I am).

4) The code for loading firmware is very "nasty" in that DVDO took a very simplistic (read that as easy to implement, fast, and low code overhead in memory requirements) approach. Any problems at all will cause the load to fail with the only option being to restart. There is no recovery possible ( at least to my humble knowledge).

5) I have used the root code of the utility (the firmware loader) many many times with a VP30 and a VP50. It does not fail unless there is some external event such as a battery shutdown or power loss. If someone has information to the contrary I will dust the cobwebs off and look at the code.

6) The loader code does require resetting some basic operating parameters of the Windows communications drivers due to its simplistic nature. I suspect quite a few USB to RS232 adapters do not lke that or may inhibit that. I do know that the edgeport line works flawlessly in every instance I have tried including loading abt firmware.

7) The utility can not program anchor bay chips. It jsut does what the documentation says it does.

8) I am still patiently waiting for DVDO/ABT to provide some basic code to save/restore settings that is not dependent upon current input. The non current settings must be stored someplace, but they are not exposed at the RS232 interface. The current settings are what subset of all recorded settings are used based upon input signal type and resolution.

9) DVDO has been very nice (cooperative) to me. I have made many changes at their request to simplify the program, correct it where it is wrong and make it easier to use. The latest version on my web site does properly handle (I humbly believe) the generation of all IR discrete codes. This changed with the VP 50 which had many more ennumerable options.

Hope this helps/clarifies

barrygordon

03-02-07, 03:15 PM

I just looked at the new ABT web site. The old website provided a way to get the list of available firmware files without having to write "Screen dependent code". This allowed me to be able to show the available firmware in the utility and to provide the utility user with a convenient single click method to downlaod said firmware.

The current web site has removed that capability. Sorry. ABT/DVDO had no obligation to tell me that they removed it or how it was altered and they did not.

Bottom Line the code is what it is, and I will not be changing it unless they tell me how to retrieve the information with out analyzing screen images that are subject to change beyond my control.

When teaching Computer Science I used to have a saying, "The program that can not be written is the one whose specifications change faster than one can write code". I no longer try to write programs I can not ever complete.

Axatax

03-03-07, 08:15 AM

The new web site is too corporate.

They're using the all-to-familiar shrinkwrapped images of the "couple sitting on the couch, in front a plasma screen mounted one foot from the top of the ceiling, with a bottle of cheap wine".

These images have become so cliche. Only an MBA would find this even remotely interesting. And Yes, I meant to insult MBAs.

HTSteve

03-04-07, 11:39 PM

I have a problem that "just" appeared and I cannot see any thing that changed to cause it.

I have my SA8300HD box set to pass through what ever content is received (480i, 720p or 1080i).

I have a IF7210, which is native 720p. I have the PJ set up as native.

If I am viewing 720p content as transmitted by Comcast, everything looks fine, but 1080i my screen is not completely filled (it used to be). I have bars on each side, but not as big as on 4:3 content - about half as big.

For example, when I change channels to NBCHD (1080i) I see the DVDO searching window it shows "720p" the quotes are included, where it normally shows 720p without the quotes. If I check the info button on the DVDO, everything appears as normal. Input and output AR is both set as 16:9

I also recorded some "old" movies on HBOHD (recorded in 1080i) and I got bars on all 4 sides.

I am sure it is something simple, but this is getting irritating.

ailean

03-05-07, 02:45 AM

Pertti

03-05-07, 06:08 AM

I'm new VP30+ABT102D+SDI owner from Finland, so i load this new firmware and lost HDMI-output, picture goes on and off few second periods. Then i go back to ver.1.10 and all is fine ( except audio ). And back to 1.11b and same again HDMI doesn't work properly??????? Analog output is OK. all the time so i can watch my tv. Is there something different default settings these two versions?? or what??? HDMI goes to pana PT-AX100 projector, so its useless now.
Hello Josh! Can you give me some solution to this problem? I run my own AV rental business and this new software is the main reason to buy this device. I try to load this new software 3 times back and forth and every time is the same. Is this only device in the world with this kind of difficulties?

Pertti

barrygordon

03-05-07, 06:27 AM

HTsteve,

I am pretty sure this is a transmission problem. Where are you located? I am in central FL with BHN as my cable supplier and am seeing the same thing. I believe it is either a BHN or originating station problem not a VP30 problem.

RPM2

03-05-07, 12:54 PM

I have to say that the 1.11 beta is no improvement for me and is actually worse. I was running 1.10 and would get a dropout every now and then. Usually one per movie. Now I get several per movie. Some don't last very long and are almost like a pop rather then a dropout. I use component video and digital coax audio.
Also get it with HDMI video/ coax audio.

I see people talking about not getting dropouts after this update but I think most are using HDMI audio/video.

Wanted to add that most of the time I play DTS track if possible and since my player is a Toshiba HD-A1 all the HDMI video/coax audio is DTS from HD-DVDs.

One other thing that I have seen lately is nothing in this section of the forum stays on topic due to so many posts in the same thread. Why not break it down to certain topics withing the VP30 heading. Several hundred pages is a little long.

Josh@dvdo

03-05-07, 10:26 PM

Hello Josh! Can you give me some solution to this problem? I run my own AV rental business and this new software is the main reason to buy this device. I try to load this new software 3 times back and forth and every time is the same. Is this only device in the world with this kind of difficulties?

Pertti

Have you contacted our distributor in Finland to see if they can assist you?

Highend Studio
Kappelitie 6B
02200 Espoo
Finland
contact: Tapani Isoranta
phone: +358 9 4553 685
fax: +358 9 4553 785

Do you have any other HDMI/DVI displays that you can connect to to verify if the output is inactive or incompatible with your PT-AX100?

Josh@dvdo

03-05-07, 10:28 PM

RPM2 - What kind of output are you using to your AV Receiver/Processor and which AV Receiver/Processor do you have?

Josh@dvdo

03-05-07, 10:34 PM

The new web site is too corporate.

They're using the all-to-familiar shrinkwrapped images of the "couple sitting on the couch, in front a plasma screen mounted one foot from the top of the ceiling, with a bottle of cheap wine".

I am not sure you went to the right website.

www.anchorbaytech.com

Yes, there is a couple sitting on the couch (this does happens in real life) but I don't see any bottle of wine or plasma screens mounted one-foot from the "top of the ceiling"(?). :)

I do know who's literature you are thinking of though... :p

RPM2

03-06-07, 12:35 PM

Josh.
I can use optical, coax, and analog.
I have noticed the problem on Coax and optical. I didn't have analog hooked up very long and I bypassed the VP30. I have an Outlaw Audio 990/7700 combo. The dropouts also occurred with my Pioneer 1015. Like I said, it wasn't a big deal when it only happened once during a movie.(With both the 990 and Pioneer) Now it happens more frequently and the duration seems to be short. (milliseconds) Before it would dropout for 1/2 a second or so. (just a guess) I think it wouldn't be very noticeable at all if the Outlaw didn't take a moment to re-sync the signal from the feed. I have always noticed a dropout at the layer break of a disc but that is not the VP30's fault as far as I know.

It happens more frequently with DTS but does occur with DD.

Guess it would help to give the entire equipment rundown.
Panasonic PT-AE900U connected HDMI to VP30.
Toshiba HD-A1 hooked to VP30 by HDMI for 1080i feed and component for 480i feed.
HD-A1 hooked to VP30 both optical and coax(digital)
VP30 hooked to Outlaw 990 by optical and coax out from VP30.
No lip sync added by Outlaw 990.
990 hooked to Velodyne SMS-1 for bass correction. (had dropout before adding this also) 2 SVS PB12+/2
Onix Rocket RS1Ks for maines, bigfoot center, 4 - RS 300s for surround.

greyjay

03-06-07, 04:39 PM

I have just ordered a VP30 with ABT102 and will shortly be getting a 9UK. I would obvious benefit from knowledge of your experience over the last few months with this combo. Specifically, did you go with the DVI or HDMI blade and were there any problems with the conversion of HDMI output from the VP30 to DVI input into the 9UK? Obviously, native rate is much to be preferred if there are no problems. Any advice would be most appreciated.

Jack_T

03-06-07, 06:20 PM

I have just ordered a VP30 with ABT102 and will shortly be getting a 9UK.

I just ordered all three of those as well! We are HT twins. :)

yohjo

03-06-07, 09:25 PM

New question. I have a dish network hd receiver hooked up to a vp30. When I use an hdmi connection the audio is not in dd. When I use a digital optical connection to the vp30 I get dd. The vp30 connects to a display via hdmi and to a surround reciver via rca digital. Isn't the vp30 supposed to pass the audio signal through as dd even when the audio input is hdmi and the output is rca digital?

Andy64

03-07-07, 01:35 AM

Yohjo,

If its a Dish VIP622, it doesn't provide DD on the HDMI connection at this time. There's supposed to be a software upgrade any time now that will provide DD on the HDMI connector.

You can find more information on it here: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=81389

Gard

03-07-07, 05:14 AM

mchaney

03-07-07, 02:00 PM

Josh,

I tried to email you but so many spam filters are overzealous these days I don't know if you got my email. Are there any plans to include the relative zoom that you developed last year into the 1.11 firmware? You sent me a test version with the relative zoom prior to the 1.10 release but it never got into 1.10 final and now it looks like it still won't be in 1.11. I'm wondering why you are so reluctant to implement it as it sure beats the faulty (distorted and limited) zoom that was there before. Unfortunately for me, I'm stuck at the pre-110 beta because I refuse to give up the relative zoom feature which is essential for being able to zoom properly. I'd like to try the 111 beta and the final 111 to see if it improves my audio dropouts but I can't if it's going to delete that relative zoom feature. Can the relative zoom be put into 111? I've been using it for a long time and it works perfectly. For reference, here's a link that explains the problems with the non-relative (old/existing) zoom:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8041280&&#post8041280

Thanks,
Mike

yohjo

03-08-07, 01:17 AM

Thanks Gary A.

rpauls

03-08-07, 05:35 PM

Hi Guys. I have not posted in this thread before but I need some scaler advice and this looks like the right place.

I have the following equipment:
panasonic plasma 50PH9UK monitor (768 line native input by DVI),
Oppo 970 dvd player (with 480i hdmi ability),
Toshiba A2 hddvd
VHS player, composite
SD satellite Dishnet 381, DVI

I am considering a mid priced scaler to tie this together. I have been considering the Lumagen VisionDHP, and possibly one of the DVDO line, then there is the upcoming, and incredibly inexpensive Genfen HTS.

Question:

(1) Which is the best choice in the 1000.00 range? Does the DVDO VP30 beat the Lumagen VisionHDP?

(2) Would the combination of the oppo 970 and Scaler provide better PQ than the A2 by itself?

Where is a good place to buy one of these and how much should I expect to pay?

Thanks for your help,

Rich

Gard

03-09-07, 04:02 AM

Cannot answer regarding the VisionHDP. But the answer on 2 is definitively yes. But I believe the A2 also can put out 480i (on HDMI), so with a vp you may not need the oppo

rpauls

03-09-07, 06:49 AM

Cannot answer regarding the VisionHDP. But the answer on 2 is definitively yes. But I believe the A2 also can put out 480i (on HDMI), so with a vp you may not need the oppo

Thanks Gard.
Yes, the A2 can output 480i via hdmi as well. The only advantage of the 970 is that it is much faster to load/respond. Also, it is a lot less expensive.

I am actually considering returning the A2 and only running the 970/vp combo since sd dvd is my main interest for now anyway. I have not decided yet.

I read recently that the DVDO VP30 can not accept a 480i digital input. Is this correct or was I missinformed?

If so this would rule out this choice.

THanks
RIch

fvale

03-09-07, 07:19 AM

There's a thing I don't understand. If I connect a dvd player or satellite via hdmi to inputs 3 and 4 everything is ok, I get a picture, HDCP works. But not on inputs 1 and 2! Pressing the VP30 info key it shows the correct input "qualities" but no picture! What could it be?

bobloblaw

03-09-07, 09:15 AM

I read recently that the DVDO VP30 can not accept a 480i digital input. Is this correct or was I misinformed?

Hi Rich,

You were misinformed. The VP30 can accept a 480i digital input. In fact, I believe that DVDO was recommending the OPPO 970 at one point for use with the VP30, although I can't find this on their new website.

barrygordon

03-09-07, 10:02 AM

Since HDMI inputs 1 and 2 are on the same chip, perhaps there is a hardware failure?

Butchyboy

03-13-07, 07:54 PM

Have you contacted our distributor in Finland to see if they can assist you?

Highend Studio
Kappelitie 6B
02200 Espoo
Finland
contact: Tapani Isoranta
phone: +358 9 4553 685
fax: +358 9 4553 785

Do you have any other HDMI/DVI displays that you can connect to to verify if the output is inactive or incompatible with your PT-AX100?

Hi Josh - I am getting identical results to Pertti with the .11 sw. LED is blue and hdmi video flashes - Sony VPL-HS51 front projector continuously clicking. Unfortunately, I have no other hdmi capable displays I can swap in to test. When I go back to .10, all is good. Tried factory default, power reset, messing with settings - no luck with .11

Daniel Cheung

03-17-07, 02:34 AM

An update on my dropouts: I again experienced multiple dropouts when watching DTS tracks from DVD. Switching to DD5.1 seemed to minimize the problem, but I'll have to spend some more time with it...

Same findngs here. Last night tested with The Phantom Of The Opera with DTS 96/24 audio selected from the DVD, there were very brief audio drops every now and then. By-passing VP30 and fed optical cable directly from Panasonic RP91 to Yahama RV1700, no drop outs found.

Pertti

03-17-07, 09:28 AM

Hi Josh - I am getting identical results to Pertti with the .11 sw. LED is blue and hdmi video flashes - Sony VPL-HS51 front projector continuously clicking. Unfortunately, I have no other hdmi capable displays I can swap in to test. When I go back to .10, all is good. Tried factory default, power reset, messing with settings - no luck with .11

Hi Josh, It works, it works!!! I just tested v. 1.11 with Samsung HD-ready TV set, no problem. I don't understand this, if you change audio sw. then hdmi-video doesn't work to panasonic, sony,,,. What shall we do with the .... ? I think that you have to change back these video levels, timings, sync., etc.. as it is in v. 1.10,

mchaney

03-18-07, 07:33 PM

cyborgx

03-19-07, 10:05 AM

Any update on the illusive 1080p passthrough and how the audio is processed?

It has been a year now since the promise to the guy at Widescreen magazine quoted on their website http://www.anchorbaytech.com/docs/pdf/wsr107DVDO.pdf

IF they make promises like this to tech reviewers AND ALSO publish the article on their website, I think they should give a decent and true response at least.

If there has been a recent response that I have missed, I apologise in advance, but I haven't seen one....

Kanvas

03-19-07, 12:13 PM

Does the VP30 not support DD and DTS over HDMI? I can only use PCM from my DVD player Pioneer DVR-545HX-S. If I set the pioneer to output DD I only get a lot of noise, and with DTS nothing at all.
There is no problem if I use the digital coax input.

barrygordon

03-19-07, 01:18 PM

As I recall, the VP30 does support DD and DTS over HDMI. They should be available not only at the HDMI output but also at the Coaxila S/PDIF and Toslink audio outputs.

The real question is wether the Pioneer is seeing information from the VP30 that it (the VP30) supports DD and DTS as part of the HDMI handshake. If it does not, then I suspect it will not put out those streams but rather down-convert them to PCM. I know of no place in the VP30 setup to configure what audio is acceptable. If your HDMI feed from the VP30 is going to a device that puts out audio capability that does not include DD and DTS then I believe the VP30 will forward that to the source precluding DD and DTS from appearing on the HDMI cable from the source

I can definately say that my retired VP30 (I now have a vp50) worked with DD and DTS coming over HDMI from SA8300HD set top cable DVR's. My audio processor clearly stated it was seeing those audio streams from the VP30. I used the coaxial output to feed the audio processor and The HDMI output as a DVI signal to feed the PJ.

Kanvas

03-20-07, 02:03 PM

Well! My HDMI feed from the VP30 is to a Benq PE8720 Projector, and from the VP30 coax to a Yamaha DSPZ9.... Perhaps this is the answer. I have no problems when I use coax from Pioneer to DVDO.

barrygordon

03-20-07, 02:28 PM

I have the Benq 8700. I connect from the VPxx to the Benq with an HDMI cable and a HDMI to DVI adapter at the other end. Since DVI knows nothing about returning an audio configuration (as far as I know) and the Benq processes no audio, then it would appear that the VPxx tells the source that all audio formats are acceptable; as per my experience

ailean

03-21-07, 03:24 AM

Well! My HDMI feed from the VP30 is to a Benq PE8720 Projector, and from the VP30 coax to a Yamaha DSPZ9.... Perhaps this is the answer. I have no problems when I use coax from Pioneer to DVDO.
I suspect it's the pioneer that's at issue here, I've got several HDMI devices going to the VP50 (some of which went to the VP30 before I upgraded) and then via Coax/opti to my Z9.

Some of my source devices did have issues with outputting DD/DTS via HDMI but they all turned out to be problems with the firmware of the device (some of which have been fixed but others don't seem interested in adding that 'feature' :rolleyes: ).

I think it's usually because the VPxx are acting as HDMI repeaters and some devices get confused by this as they haven't followed the HDMI specs completely. If I remember right firmware 1.00 for the VP30 originally made it act as a HDMI display which did help with some of these dubious sources but this wasn't what the HDMI specs said a device like this should be and I think this and some licensing regulations lead to DVDO changing to a repeater mode.

You could try looking for the latest firmware for the Pioneer or look for posts/solutions for it when used with a HDMI repeater, chances are it's not isolated to just the VP30.

The PS3 makes a good HDMI debug tool as it appears to grey out any of the 20+ audio formats in the menus that it doesn't detect your display/scaler can handle, it certainly lists a lot more formats then either of my displays could handle so it must be getting that from the VP50 (I think the only ones it thinks aren't valid are the SACD formats which makes sense as they need HDMI 1.2a(?) and the VP50 acts as a 1.1 device).

DirectViewer

03-21-07, 03:36 AM

My HDMI feed from the VP30 is to a Benq PE8720 Projector

Kanvas, on a separate issue, do you use any sources with HDCP copy protection? I ask because my Oppo 70HD will not work with my VP30 and PE8720 via HDMI. Both Oppo and ABT claim that their devices are working correctly and that the BenQ is at fault.

The Oppo works with BenQ when hooked together directly. The failure occurs when the VP30 is added, but ABT says that is because the BenQ can't handle a repeater (e.g. the VP30) properly even though it can handle a source.

What has your experience been?

Gard

03-21-07, 04:24 AM

snip...
What has your experience been?

In short? HDMI sucks, HDCP too...

Kanvas

03-21-07, 11:26 AM

I have no problem with the picture Pioneer- VP30-BenQ PE8720!!! Only the sound. It`s no big deal because I use HDMI to picture and coax to sound instead.

barrygordon

03-21-07, 04:33 PM

Does the Benq 8720 have a DVI or HDMI connector? My Benq 8700 has a DVI connector. That implies (to me) that the benq returns no information about audio capability since the DVI spec does not provide for that. The DVI spec was originally made for connecting monitors to PC's, no audio involved.

My setup is close to yours. I have two real HDMI sources (Video and audio). They are both 8300HD DVR's from my cable company. I have no issue with them. They put out AC-3 audio which my AVP processes. The VP50 states it is DTS audio which I guess is correct since AC3 was the original name for DTS in the laserdisc days.

My 8700 is 1:1 pixel mapped to the VP50 as it was to the VP30 when I ran that. I take audio out of the VP50 as Toslink and feed it to a lexicon MC-1 AVP which now just an audio processor.

My component inputs go to the VP50 through a switcher (4x1) and come out the same way as the HDMI signals.

Hope the above sheds some light.

-Hitman-

03-22-07, 04:45 AM

Hi Josh,

I posted in another thread with regard to having EDID or PRep added to the VP30 but found this one which seems more active(appologise) :o .

I am about 2 days from taking the plunge and buying a VP30+102D addon but could you tell me if you will indeed add the function to force progressive sources to ouput 480i/576i?

Will we have this in the next (mid March) update please, as this is a very important factor to whether i go ahead and get the VP30 as most of my sources are fixed to Progessive outputs and i wouldn't be able to make use of the ABT102D processing. :(

Any info on this would be very appreciative.

Thanks.

Kanvas

03-22-07, 05:53 AM

DirectViewer

03-22-07, 07:16 AM

I have no problem with the picture Pioneer- VP30-BenQ PE8720!!! Only the sound. It`s no big deal because I use HDMI to picture and coax to sound instead.

Is the Pioneer turning on HDCP? That's where the problem arises.

Andy64

03-22-07, 07:28 PM

barend

03-23-07, 08:51 AM

The codes from DVDO's list of remote codes to select aspect presets did not work.
Was told by DVDO that they were working on it.
Has this been resolved in the Feb. 1.11b firmware?
Barend

Slonk

03-23-07, 04:08 PM

The codes from DVDO's list of remote codes to select aspect presets did not work.
Was told by DVDO that they were working on it.
Has this been resolved in the Feb. 1.11b firmware?
Barend
No. Josh@DVDO has indicated that the discrete code issues will be solved with the march FW update. 1.11b only contains audio updates. I wonder if anyone is testing a later than 1.11 beta fw.

DirectViewer

03-23-07, 05:29 PM

DirectViewer,

I had similar problems with my VP30, OPPO 970 and an Infocus SP333. They would work fine most of the time but occassionally - at the worst possible times - the "curtains" would close and the blue light on the VP30 would be flashing.

Hated to do it, but I eventually installed the hack software on the OPPO and the problem went away - at least for now. I don't have any other HDCP sources at this time, so we'll see what happens later!

Andy,

That's very interesting. ABT blamed the problem on the BenQ; it appears the Infocus has the same problem. I wound up using the Oppo hack as well, but I'm concerned that I won't be able to buy an HD sat receiver or an HD or Blu-ray DVD player because the VP30 will close its curtain.

I wonder if the problem really does lie with the VP30. That's why I think it would be interesting to know whether yet another major manufacturer -- Pioneer -- has the same problem.

Rutgar

03-25-07, 12:30 PM

Axatax

03-25-07, 07:58 PM

With a 480i input, does the VP-30 (with deinterlacer card) output 1080p/24? Looking at the manual, I only see 1080p @ 50/60 fps. If not, does the VP-50 do 1080p/24?

This option _is_ available in the framerate menu. I have never tried it.

gulliBELL

03-26-07, 07:28 AM

Sorry if this is already answered somewhere in this thread.

With a 480i input, does the VP-30 (with deinterlacer card) output 1080p/24? Looking at the manual, I only see 1080p @ 50/60 fps. If not, does the VP-50 do 1080p/24?

You need some serious horsepower to do that conversion, VP30 would probably struggle to cope, but I haven't tried it.

gulliBELL

03-26-07, 08:30 AM

... my Oppo 70HD will not work with my VP30 and PE8720 via HDMI. Both Oppo and ABT claim that their devices are working correctly and that the BenQ is at fault.

The Oppo works with BenQ when hooked together directly. The failure occurs when the VP30 is added, but ABT says that is because the BenQ can't handle a repeater (e.g. the VP30) properly even though it can handle a source.

I have OPPO 970HD>VP30abt102>BenQ PE8720 connected via HDMI and it works all the time, never had a HDCP or curtain issue.

Andy64

03-26-07, 01:57 PM

I could never pinpoint the location of "the" problem - maybe it was a combination of things.

The thing that was/is really confusing is that I never had any problems with the video or HDMI audio - like it was just HDCP that was causing problems. None HDCP sources worked fine.

When I first had problems, I was using a 35ft HDMI cable from Monoprice between the VP30 and the pj. The cable is one with heavier guage conductors than some. When I tried a smaller guage 25ft cable I always had problems - although the same cable connected to my PC's DVI connection worked fine with the PJ.

After changing the OPPO firmware, I rerouted the connections, now I use the same 35ft cable with an additional wall connector(4 inch pigtail), additional 6ft HDMI cable to the rack and an 8 inch pigtail to the VP30 output. Everything's working fine. Its almost like the VP30's output driver isn't as robust as some others.

I had assumed that HDCP was embedded in the Video or audio data but it acts like its more complicated than I thought.

I too am concerned about what happens when I get another HDCP compliant source.

Rutgar

03-26-07, 08:26 PM

This option _is_ available in the framerate menu. I have never tried it.

Not on my VP-30. Under the framerate menu, I only have the options for 50Hz and 60Hz. However, I'm running at 720p. My screen goes blank when I select 1080p. So I don't know if the 24fps option is then available. I guess the VP-30 doesn't do any kind of 3:2 pulldown for any resolution?

Again, if not, what about the VP-50?

Axatax

03-26-07, 11:52 PM

Not on my VP-30. Under the framerate menu, I only have the options for 50Hz and 60Hz. However, I'm running at 720p. My screen goes blank when I select 1080p. So I don't know if the 24fps option is then available. I guess the VP-30 doesn't do any kind of 3:2 pulldown for any resolution?

Again, if not, what about the VP-50?

It's there on mine. You have to set the frame rate to 50 or 60Hz locked, then you have the option of 24/48/72Hz. The options are there regardless of output resolution.

I'm going by memory on this one, so I may be completely off the mark.

Rutgar

03-27-07, 02:14 PM

It's there on mine. You have to set the frame rate to 50 or 60Hz locked, then you have the option of 24/48/72Hz. The options are there regardless of output resolution.

I'm going by memory on this one, so I may be completely off the mark.

I believe I have the "locked" mode selected. But, I'll have to double check when I get home tonight.

davidcrowe

03-27-07, 05:11 PM

the latest beta seems to have fixed the audio dropouts I have always had. 5 movies in 3 days without a single dropout.

Axatax

03-27-07, 05:53 PM

I believe I have the "locked" mode selected. But, I'll have to double check when I get home tonight.

Once you selected 60Hz locked, press the right arrow, and you should have the option for 24/48/72Hz. 48 and 72 are definitely there, but again, I seem to recall a 24Hz options.

Rutgar

03-27-07, 08:57 PM

Once you selected 60Hz locked, press the right arrow, and you should have the option for 24/48/72Hz. 48 and 72 are definitely there, but again, I seem to recall a 24Hz options.

Ah... okay. That's it. I didn't realize that you could arrow to the right of the 60hz lock selection. Thank you very much.

antand

03-27-07, 10:01 PM

Slonk

03-28-07, 03:56 AM

Anyone think DVDO would ever consider some noise reduction technology for the VP30? Even if it was to a lesser degree than what's being implemented in the VP50, could the processor in the VP30 handle any noise reduction algorithms or is it just too much to ask.I think "unlikely" to "forget it". Noise reduction was recently pulled from a public leaflet for the VP50, and it was never promised by Josh at the VP50 thread. Also, after some delay, fw support has been picked up, but there seems to be quite some hesitation to introduce new features. Lastly, there have been hints that the VP30 lacks sufficient hardware. My feeling is that the VP30/VP20 is getting close to be feature freezed, with passtrough and some bug-fixes pending.

John Williams

03-28-07, 11:07 AM

Passthrough and bug-fixes would be enough for me, IMO. I don't really mind (and won't be surprised by) DVDO/ABT "buttoning up" the VP30 in terms of new development as long as most of the sky-is-falling kind of bugs that we've seen are fixed.

Related to that, so far so good (great!) on the new firmware. Not one single VP30-generated dropout that I've been able to see. Now the only time I get drops on any source is on cable when there's a signal issue that includes a visual hiccup (MPEG garbage.)

Not just get 1080p (24 and 60) passthrough working and I'll be happy, at least with my setup.

-John

antand

03-28-07, 07:53 PM

Amen on the audio dropouts. Been using the beta firmware since its release and haven't had any problems.

gulliBELL

03-28-07, 11:06 PM

Any inside scoop on when the 1 to 3 week trial of the V1.11b is going to production status? We're at the 5 week mark now so hopefully it should be close?

Slonk

03-29-07, 05:32 AM

Any inside scoop on when the 1 to 3 week trial of the V1.11b is going to production status? We're at the 5 week mark now so hopefully it should be close?If I am not mistaken Josh has indicated that 1.11b will be followed up by a new public beta, containing passtrough and some fixes (like discrete IR code's), so I assume 1.11b will not get promoted to production status.

hmuller

04-02-07, 05:44 AM

Hi all,

Been running 1.11b since it was released and like many I have been very happy with the improvement in the audio dropout problems. I say improvement since I have had one or two dropouts since using 1.11b but they have been so few and far between I didnt know if it was the VP30 or the source. But now I think I may have some proof that the audio bug is not entirely squashed.

I recently bought a PS3 and noticed that you can listen to SACD's on it but only via HDMI or analog, not via optical out. So tried using the audio over HDMI into my VP30 and can now listen to DSD converted to 88.2khz PCM stereo from my VP30 digitcal coax out. (my amp doesnt support HDMI input so no multichannel PCM)

I was rather impressed with the sound until I noticed that in this configuration the dropouts seem to have returned. Listening to two albums last night there were three audio dropouts of about half a second - just like before 1.11b. Can anyone with a PS3 and SACD's confirm that they are also getting dropouts too?

I realise that this isnt exactly an everyday use for the VP30 but maybe it can help the DVDO guys since this seems to be a faily predictable test with a single known source.

Oh for the record I did listen via the analog out of the PS3 and there were no dropouts there but then thats also not very conclusive since it may be a fault in the DSD to LPCM conversion within the PS3. I did check and couldnt find any forum articles on PS3 owners with HDMI amps complaining of dropouts so this may well be the VP30 again.

Oh my amp also reports the PCM as being at 88.2khz so not sure if that helps.

I have also sent this report through to DVDO support email.

Hans

bobloblaw

04-02-07, 10:45 AM

Perhaps someone with a OPPO 970HD could check on this error Hans is seeing as well? It's the only other player I'm aware of that will convert DSD to PCM and output via HDMI.

supershawn

04-04-07, 10:05 PM

Why the heck can't I find "game mode" on my VP-30? I'd like to try it to see if it makes a difference.

Thanks!

gulliBELL

04-05-07, 04:32 AM

MAIN MENU>INPUT ADJUST>DEINTERLACING
Game mode 1 & 2 are there, but only if an interlaced signal is sensed at the input.

John Williams

04-05-07, 11:56 AM

...and I think only if you have the ABT102 add-on card, correct?

-John

bobloblaw

04-06-07, 12:26 PM

...and I think only if you have the ABT102 add-on card, correct?

-John

Correct, see the ABT102 card specs in the first post of this thread.

inbox4sumit

04-10-07, 05:31 PM

Hello

I am using Dish Vip622 Receiver, sending signals at 480i via HDMI and connected to VP30/ABT102D. I don't see any improvements in the picture quality with or without ABT102D.

Are there any settings etc that I need to be aware of?

Thanks

barend

04-11-07, 11:20 AM

Loaded latest VP30 firmware, discrete remote codes from their hex list still faulty.
Asked their helpdesk, answer "I believe this was sorted".
Guy obviously did not take the trouble to post a serious reply.
Old story: good stuff, lousy support.

Josh@dvdo

04-11-07, 11:22 AM

Which codes do you need?

barend

04-11-07, 11:30 AM

Wow, that's quick!
What I need is a corrected version of the IAR discrete codes 1 through X.
(from DVDO's file).
Right now I have to adjust pan & zoom everytime I want to fill up the screen...

Here's one of the nonworkers (IAR #4)
0000 006C 001B 0000 0064 0064 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0044 0044 0016 0064

Josh@dvdo

04-11-07, 11:39 AM

Are there others that you have tried that did (or did not) work for you?

Josh@dvdo

04-11-07, 01:14 PM

Slonk

04-11-07, 04:03 PM

This is the correct code for Preset 4:

0000 006c 001b 0000 0064 0064 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0044 0044 0016 0001

Notice, that the last four numbers are different.
Mmm, this is interesting, Barry's utility (version 2.0.0.93) generates the following code:

0000 006C 001B 0000 0064 0064 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0044 0044 0016 0001

which clearly is not identical. Which code would be correct?

Josh@dvdo

04-11-07, 04:37 PM

Mmm, this is interesting, Barry's utility (version 2.0.0.93) generates the following code:

which clearly is not identical. Which code would be correct?

I tested the code that I posted today with version 1.11b.

barrygordon

04-11-07, 06:03 PM

I believe the code you generated from the utility is for the VP50. I just placed a revised version of the ini file that drives the program on my WEB site (www.the-gordons.net) [My bad, it was not updated when I found out about the differences]. Downloading the upgrade package will give you the latest version of the program plus the latest version of the ini file.

The ini file controls the program. One of the directives, 'Model', should be set to the model of your DVDO scaler (e.g. Model=VP30 or Model=VP50). If the program is able to communicate with the DVDO scaler it should set the model correctly, if the loaded firmware responds to the command that queries the model name.

In the command section I had to duplicate certain command sequences from which the IR is derived since they changed between the VP30 and the VP50. You will notice in the ini file that the key word (part before the = sign) of some entries now have something that looks like (M:VP30) or (M:VP50). This causes that entry to only be processed for the appropriate model.

Perusing the ini file will give you great insight in how the program actually works. I even added some explanatory comments (rare for me).

I believe the utility generates the proper code but it needs to know it is a VP30 and not a vP50. Please let me know if this is not so.

Josh@dvdo

04-11-07, 06:06 PM

Thanks, Barry!

Slonk

04-11-07, 07:16 PM

I just placed a revised version of the ini file that drives the program on my WEB site (www.the-gordons.net) [My bad, it was not updated when I found out about the differences]. Barry, your newly released ini file produces the exact same code as posted by Josh. BTW, if every professional software supplier would document and comment software as you do, we would have a better world :)

The old ini file was correctly set to VP30 but it could never produce working codes because of the lacking lacking M:VPxx prefixes for some commands. VP30 owners: upgrade the ini file!

Issues:
1. the VP30 also has 10 presets, but only 4 are present in the utility
2. the VP30 with ABT card has DI modes as defined for the VP50, but the utility gives some Film mode options which probably are usefull for non-ABT102 versions of VP30

It seems the utility does not look to "option=ABTDI". Maybe it would be better to create two model entries VP30 and VP30ABT102 and use just use the syntax M:VP30 and M:VP30ABT102 to discriminate between commands?

barrygordon

04-12-07, 12:01 AM

Okay I looked again. All I see for the VP30 is 8 presets and they are all in the ini file coded for the VP30.

4:3 Full frame
Letterbox
16:9 Full Frame
Preset 1
Preset 2
Preset 3
Preset 4
User

Can you tell me where you are getting your information from?

I will also make it so we can declare the ABT102 option as you suggest. Should be able to do all of that tomorrow and update the web site.

barrygordon

04-12-07, 11:39 AM

My DVDO utility program has been updated at my web site (www.the-gordons.net). The update consists of a new version of the program (2.0.108). and a New "Prototype ini file. The ini file should be altered in the "System" section to reflect the configuration of the DVDO scaler you are using and the options for how you wish the program to operate (beginner mode, advanced mode, ports, etc.)

The update fixes some problems with the generation of "Discrete" IR codes based upon what the model of the device is (VP30 vs VP50) and what options are installed (e.g. ABTDI). If the program actaully connects to the scaler it will query the scaler for model, firmware version and the SDI option. The ability to reply to these queries is dependent upon the firmware version installed so setting the proper data in the ini file is the best approach. It is unable to check for the presence of the ABTDI-102 at this time so that must be set manually.

Please let me know if there are any problems or questions.

Slonk

04-12-07, 11:51 AM

Okay I looked again. All I see for the VP30 is 8 presets and they are all in the ini file coded for the VP30.

4:3 Full frame
Letterbox
16:9 Full Frame
Preset 1
Preset 2
Preset 3
Preset 4
User
Barry, the VP30 has Preset 1 upto-and-including Preset 10, so 10 user configurable presets. Including the 3 fixed presets and the "user" preset this would amount to 14 settings in total. I think only HD and older HD+ firmware had 4 user configurable presets, but I'm not sure of that. VP30 also has 10 display profiles. New version of the utility looks nice, I can add the extra profiles and presets myself, but a new ini file would probably be handy for the community.

barend

04-12-07, 01:35 PM

Are there others that you have tried that did (or did not) work for you?

Here are all non-working IAR preset codes:

IAR preset 1
0000 006C 001B 0000 0064 0064 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0044 0044 0016 0064

IAR preset 2
0000 006C 001B 0000 0064 0064 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0044 0044 0016 0064

IAR preset 3
0000 006C 001B 0000 0064 0064 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0044 0044 0016 0064

IAR preset 4
0000 006C 001B 0000 0064 0064 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0044 0044 0016 0064

barend

04-12-07, 05:01 PM

This is the correct code for Preset 4:

0000 006c 001b 0000 0064 0064 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0041 0016 0041 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0044 0044 0016 0001

Notice, that the last four numbers are different.

Tried it briefly, and it seems the same issue still occurs, it works only once!
Returning to 16/9 and evoking iar-4 again for the second time won't work...
Will try Barrygordon's utility tomorrow, but it seemed none of the iar codes worked, although it said vp30 in the top line.
Maybe I should alter the ini.

Slonk

04-12-07, 05:22 PM

Tried it briefly, and it seems the same issue still occurs, it works only once!
Returning to 16/9 and evoking iar-4 again for the second time won't work...
Will try Barrygordon's utility tomorrow, but it seemed none of the iar codes worked, although it said vp30 in the top line.
Maybe I should alter the ini.Barend, the VP30 contains a well known bug regarding discrete code's (carried over from the HD series). Sometimes they work, but often they stop working after a (short) while. The bug is confirmed by dvdo and solved in the latest VP50 1.03 beta. If I am not mistaken dvdo is/was planning to give us the same fix in the next fw release. I have no idea when this fw will be available. Until then discrete codes are not really usable for the VP30.

barrygordon

04-12-07, 06:34 PM

Slonk,

I do not doubt what you are saying, but I can find no information on that in any VP30 documentation.

The presets form what I call an enumeration set. An enumeration set is a set of names for each of the members of the set e.g "Preset 1". Associatef with each member of the set is in index number, basically the position of that member in the set. I need to know the index number for each member of the set along with the designated name. The name appears in the menu system, the index number is what is needed for RS232 and Discrete IR commands. If you can point me to the information, I will be glad to alter the ini file of my program.

Josh@DVDO, could you chime in on this and help me out by pointing me to the information?

Barend, I believe the latest version of my program produces the same IR codes as shown on the DVDO site as Siscrete IR codes for the VP30.

Slonk

04-12-07, 07:23 PM

I do not doubt what you are saying, but I can find no information on that in any VP30 documentation.
Barry, you are correct, it's not in the documentation. This must mean that the 10 in stead of 4 preset/profile expansion has been introduced in some fw version (and not in the HD+ as I assumed). Unfortunately, the release notes of old fw are not online (nor the even older fw versions), so I cannot point you to the fw revision which introduced this. With the current fw I have no motivation to find the index numbers because discrete codes do not work reliably anyway. At the moment this changes I will be happy to search for the index numbers.

barrygordon

04-12-07, 08:14 PM

Slonk etal,

No need I just received the documentation I needed from DVDO. I will update the ini file and the program (if necessary, but should not be) sometime this weekend. I will then post it to the web site, anounce it in the VP30 and VP50 forums, and hopefully close the book.

barrygordon

04-16-07, 12:39 AM

R Miyashiro

04-16-07, 03:44 AM

Thank you Josh, Barry and the rest of you who worked on the VP30. I debated over the last year on buying this but had some concerns with the audio dropout issues. The 1.11 patch seems to be getting a general approval here, so I decided to finally buy the VP30. I love the processor, although I had to buy a new screwdriver (since I couldn't get proper leverage with the small ones and the big one I owned would not fit) and just ordered a PCI serial card. I still haven't updated my Harmony 880, but I don't plan on using the packaged remote.

I love the improved quality of text on my SXRD 60" which I also use as a computer monitor. The underscan feature on the VP 30 is easier to access than opening the Nvidia utilities in the computer, plus I hear that the new 8800 drivers don't have this option. It is also neat to compare side by side the power of 1:1 pixel mapping as the quality shifts when underscan is applied. I think there is a market for PC users who don't know much about video processors since I've seen a number of others in the same situation.

By far the most amazing thing is the zoom quality for those letterboxed non-animorphic DVDs. I'm so used to the awful Oppo zoom and was surprised at how well the VP30 handles zooming.

I just tried the 576 to 1080 conversion on my PAL DVDs and the job that the VP30 does is vastly superior to the OPPO's internal scaler. This is great news since I have a good number of R2 PAL DVDs!

barend

04-16-07, 10:42 AM

I have just placed the latest revision to the DVDO utility on my web site (www.the-gordons.net). DVDO is in the process of placing a lot of uniformity in the way the various models handle the automation interface (RS232 and Discrete IR). This version is in line with that effort, but may be subject to some slight changes as they progress.

This version also has a configuration feature so touching the INI file should not be necessary. The first time you run it with the supplied INI file it will solict information from the user and the rewrite the INI file so it is tailored to your system.

Downloaded this weekend's BarryGordon's IR SUPPORT utility only, because I did not want to unconnect the VP30 and schlep it upstairs, where my only RS232 capable computer is.
It says Firmware 1.01, which is obviously wrong, mine is 1.11, but I suppose the utility can't know that since I didn't hook it up to the VP30.
Copied PRESETS 1 thru 4 to my Pronto, and again it's not working...
Are we back on square one, guys?
@barrygordon
Wonder what documentation you had from Anchor Bay?
Barend

barrygordon

04-16-07, 11:17 AM

The question is what did you download. I saw that someone downloaded the VP30IR codes archive and that is old. I have just removed all archives except two, the DVDO utility Setup and the DVDO utility Upgrade. The Upgrade package should be all that you need if you are running Windows XP or better. The setup package is needed if you are on an older version of windows which does not have built in native support for VB programs, i.e. the VB6 runtime is not loaded.

The proper thing to download is the dvdo Utility Upgrade. It is version 2.0.119. It should start out by asking you some configuration information. One of the choices is to ask it to configure itself as an IRgenerator only. If you do that you do not have to connect to the device.

It also asks for the Model name of the device (drop down list), Installed options (SDI or ABTDI-102) , and the firmware version loaded in the machine. It requires the ini file that is packaged with the program. This ini file will be modified during the initialization process to reflect your configuration as entered.

It appears to be working for me, but I could have screwed up.

Re the documentation, I am under NDA to DVDO so I can not say. My understanding is they intend to release this documentation in the future.

barend

04-16-07, 04:17 PM

@Barrygordon
I downloaded DVDU2upgrade.zip (April 16, 342kB) and copied the contents to the existing utility's directory.
I'm sure you did a fine job, and I thank you!
I wonder, did Anchor Bay really look into the discrete commands issue before they issued v111b build- I'm not the only one noticing the failures of these numbered iar commands.
Did you try and load them into a Pronto or other remote where you can insert hex codes?

barrygordon

04-16-07, 05:38 PM

Yes, I have insreted them into my Pronto Pro and they work fine on with a VP50 with FW vers 1.03.

The issue on a VP30 is what will the firmware accept. I do not believe that the VP30 firmware will accpet the majority of the "Discrete IR" commands I do not have a VP30 to test it with any longer.

barend

04-17-07, 06:27 AM

barrygordon

04-17-07, 09:10 AM

I do believe, through informal discussions with DVDO but nothing official, that they do intend to make the IR codes work in an identical manner across all units of the line.

Now having said that will they issue firmware changes for HD+, VP20? I do not know but would not think so. Many of the newer IR/RS232 commands have to do with features not in those systems.

For the VP30 some of the same issues, but a VP30 with an ABTDI card is somewhat similar to a VP50 in many respects. Will they do a firmware update for the VP30 to correct all IR/RS232 isssues within the capability of the VP30? I have no idea although I think I have seen it implied on this BBS that they were going to do that.

donatelloa

04-17-07, 09:22 PM

I was told to post over here on this thread also --Does anyone have their VP30 running with a Panny 58" 60 with a native res of 1366x768 running with Directv through HDMI. I was curious what the setup was for your output.

Josh@dvdo

04-17-07, 10:57 PM

I am very sure that the Panasonic 58" does not support native resolution (1366x768) on the HDMI input. This is true of most consumer plasmas.

donatelloa

04-17-07, 11:30 PM

I am very sure that the Panasonic 58" does not support native resolution (1366x768) on the HDMI input. This is true of most consumer plasmas.

Thanks josh --so what would you recommend that I use for the output setting? or did I just waste some serious cash?

Josh@dvdo

04-17-07, 11:44 PM

Thanks josh --so what would you recommend that I use for the output setting? or did I just waste some serious cash?

I think that setting the iScan to output 720p (1280x720) will give you the best picture with the Panasonic 58" plasma.

Axatax

04-18-07, 01:19 AM

So it seems DVDO only addressed the VP50 remote codes issue, and did not do anything about it in the 1.11 update.

I may be wrong, but the 1.11b release notes don't mention anything about a discreet IR code fix. I think this is pure conjecture.

I believe it was stated this was to be introduced in a later firmware.

barend

04-18-07, 03:02 AM

I may be wrong, but the 1.11b release notes don't mention anything about a discreet IR code fix. I think this is pure conjecture.

I believe it was stated this was to be introduced in a later firmware.

No conjecture from my part, I mailed DVDO and got the answer that it should have been dealt with in 1.11.
I will not mail them very often again, on the whole their helpline doesn't seem very in the know nor very serious.
I also wonder why the issue seems to have been resolved for the VP50 but not for the VP30- marketing push?
Anyway, some of us (including Barrygordon I think) have been spending some fruitless hours for nothing because of this ignorant e mail statement.

darryl b

04-18-07, 08:34 AM

i'm looking at using my vp 30 to try to tone down color saturation in my projector.
can anyone say if the vp 30 saturation control is effective for this? does adjusting saturation in the vp truly, only effects saturation?

pjr

04-21-07, 05:30 PM

Tom in OH

04-21-07, 09:15 PM

I just got the D* HR20 box and I am having a problem. I tried to send native resolution to the VP30 and get a very narrow picture. Could someone point me in the right direction or provide some insight into the settings I need? :confused:

Hi,
I've been looking forward to hearing how the HR20 plays with the VP30(50). Are you connected using hdmi? Does it work if you set the HR20 to just output 1080i? By 'narrow', do you mean unnaturally squished with bars on top and bottom or something else?

thx, Tom

pjr

04-22-07, 12:16 PM

Tom in OH

04-22-07, 01:20 PM

I have it hooked up via HDMI and currently outputting 1080i, but then get no processing on the VP30. With it set to native, I get two sets of bars on the sides with SD channels and a very narrow picture. :(

It's probably an aspect ratio or another setting on the HR20 or the VP30 that will be the fix. Have you set up an output profile to suit your display? Be sure to check hdcp settings (on or off) for both input and output(probably both need to be on).

I like to keep(under input asp. ratio) frame and active ratio at 16:9 & 1.78.

keep us posted,
Tom

Mark Hoy

04-22-07, 03:18 PM

pjr: It's almost certainly an aspect ratio control somewhere.

One of: HR20, VP30 or the TV/Projector.

Set TV/HR20 for a 16:9 or wide screen.
Does the picture look correct without the VP30?

Be clear when you say "native resolution" what is this? 1080i?

Tom in OH

04-22-07, 09:46 PM

Be clear when you say "native resolution" what is this? 1080i?

I think by 'native', pjr means he wants the HR20 to output native res. for whatever channel he's tuned to (480i, 720p or 1080i)which allows the VP30 to do the processing.

We use the HDTivo in the same way but have to manually switch it.

Does everyone leave the frame and active asp. ratio to 16:9 and 1.78?(on VP30 menu-->input asp. rat.) This setup seems to always prevent bars on left & right and bars on top & bottom only when a movie or show (like Stargate) is ar 2.35:1.

thx, Tom

Mark Hoy

04-22-07, 11:54 PM

Ah, that is indeed native, wish I didn't have to keep switching over my HDTivo (HR10-250) back and forth...

DCulver

04-23-07, 08:28 AM

Per this thread on DBSTalk.com (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=81801) , for proper display of SD material, you should also set "Format" to pillarbox in addition to Native=On. This is how I have two HR-20's outputting via HDMI to a VP50 and it works fine letting the VP50 do all the processing. I also have two HR10-250 HDTivo's connected to the VP50 via component, but of course the Tivo's can't pass native.

Jack_T

04-23-07, 06:27 PM

I just got my system setup and have noticed "stuttering" audio with the DVD source. I am using the VP30 (firmware 1.10) with an OPPO DV970HD (4A-0111) as the source. I am using HDMI between the two, and am routing audio to my receiver from the VP30 via digital audio out from the VP30.

By "stuttering" audio I mean constant, periodic dropouts. Does this sound like a VP30 audio problem, or should I be looking elsewhere? (So far I have observed this only with Dolby Digital.)

pjr

04-23-07, 06:40 PM

Thank you everyone. It was the input aspect ration on the VP30. All is well with the world. :)

gulliBELL

04-23-07, 10:48 PM

Where a VP30/ABT102 forms part of a video display system which has been ISF calibrated, can that VP30 be swapped out of the system for a VP50, with its calibration settings transferred to the VP50 (or another VP30 for that matter), and the display system still remain within calibration?

I would like to upgrade my VP30 to a VP50, but not at the expense of upsetting the ISF calibration status. Any comments from esteemed forum members appreciated.

barrygordon

04-23-07, 10:52 PM

Axatax

04-24-07, 02:20 AM

By "stuttering" audio I mean constant, periodic dropouts. Does this sound like a VP30 audio problem, or should I be looking elsewhere? (So far I have observed this only with Dolby Digital.)

Jack,

The 1.11b firmware has a fix for audio dropouts. Give this a shot - It worked in my setup, but apparently has issues with certain source components.

Mark Hoy

04-24-07, 02:25 AM

With a bit more time under my belt with the latest firmware, I've still noticed occasional dropouts, but to a much lesser degree than before. It's funny how easy it is to fool the eye, while the ear is great at picking up problems.

ailean

04-24-07, 02:26 AM

IMHO if the calibration was done "Correctly", it should have been done with the VP30/50 out of the loop. The idea is to calibrate the display system, not the video chain. The calibration should start with known test signals of very high quality connected to the display. No other components in the loop.
In an ideal world maybe but alas most sources are not perfect so you need to at least adjust brightness/contrast per source and possibly saturation. That would normally be done at the VP point unless the source has good controls.

From what I remember when the VP50 came out there were a number of comments about it being 'darker' then the VP30 so I suspect there are differences, also the sharpness setting on the VP30 is at 0 when off and at -1 for the equivalent on the VP50.

I think ISFing normally calibrates the display to the VP internal test patterns then works on the sources till they match or get as close as the controls will allow (I know the Lumas are normally better for this as they have more fine adjustments).

inol

04-24-07, 04:15 AM

Perhaps this has been discussed earlier in the thread, if it has
I ask for your forgiveness. It is a bit difficult to find things as
the thread is now more than 200 pages long...

I am thinking about butying a VP30 with the ABT102 or a VP50.
The VP30 is considerably cheaper so I need to know what the difference
between them?

Thanks for your help!

/Ingvar

gulliBELL

04-24-07, 04:36 AM

I am thinking about butying a VP30 with the ABT102 or a VP50.
The VP30 is considerably cheaper so I need to know what the difference
between them?
/Ingvar

In a nutshell, the VP50 performs precision de-interlacing on SD and HD signals, and the processing algorithms for both are firmware upgradeable. The VP30 performs precision de-interlacing on SD signals only, but only again with the optional ABT102 card. The processing algorithms on the ABT102 are not firmware upgradeable.

If your sources are SD, a VP30/ABT102 will work for you. If your sources are HD, the VP50 is the better choice.

The price difference between the VP30 and VP50 might surprise you. If you shop around you can buy a b-stock VP50 for less than a new VP30/ABT102.

gulliBELL

04-24-07, 04:41 AM

I think ISFing normally calibrates the display to the VP internal test patterns then works on the sources till they match or get as close as the controls will allow (I know the Lumas are normally better for this as they have more fine adjustments).

Yes, that is what the ISF technician told me (the VP is in the loop for calibrating the projector; after the VP and PJ are calibrated together, the sources get calibrated to the VP).

What he didn't know was whether the calibration settings were readily transportable between the two models.

barrygordon

04-24-07, 01:04 PM

AFAIK There is no way to dump and reload the settings, hence move the settings between two VP devices

gulliBELL

04-24-07, 07:58 PM

AFAIK There is no way to dump and reload the settings, hence move the settings between two VP devices

Just to elaborate further. The question is in the context of taking a calibrated VP30 out of a video system, manually transferring the calibration settings to another VP machine, and putting that new machine back in the video system with the old machines calibration. In this instance would you expect the system to remain within calibration?

ailean

04-25-07, 02:56 AM

Just to elaborate further. The question is in the context of taking a calibrated VP30 out of a video system, manually transferring the calibration settings to another VP machine, and putting that new machine back in the video system with the old machines calibration. In this instance would you expect the system to remain within calibration?

Most of the menus and picture controls are the same but you may find the values are effectively different. I'm not certain if the value ranges changed much between the 30 and 50, as mentioned the sharpness setting definitely changed. In the vp30 it went from 0-? and defaulted to 1 (0 being switched off) and in the vp50 it went from -1-? and defaulted to 0 (-1 being switched off).

If you have a list of the calibrated values that were changed on your vp30 I should think you'll be able to get a vp50 very close and it may only come down to something like the brightness having to be increased by one point. DVDO did at the launch make a fuss about the VP50 being classed as reference quality on it's video level output and was going to have a THX logo of approval so I think they did tune the output/defaults different then the VP30 plus there are a couple of different video chips on the board which could account for a change in levels.

If you really want to know I think the only people who could tell you are ISFers who do a lot of VP30/VP50 setups, they will no doubt have a list of values for each that they start from when calibrating.

barrygordon

04-27-07, 06:30 PM

Re My (Barry's) Utility.

There is a new version located at my web site (www.the-gordons.net). No changes the in the "Firmware Loader" portion

The new version has a lot of fixes re IR code generation, mostly for the VP30 but also for the VP50. It now has an initial configuration utility that allows you to easily customize it for what you want and the equipment you own.

As Far as I can tell it generates IR patterns in the Pronto Hex format which are precisely to the specs/information provided by DVDO under NDA so please do not ask me for that data. I believe they plan to release a lot of it in the future as "Automation Protocol".

There was one lurking bug re searching for Com ports (in the case that the only com port on the PC was in use so none were found) that was also fixed.

I have gotten at least one report that when the discrete IR codes (which all end with 0001) are pasted into a Pronto Editor, the Pronto editor changes that value to 0064. I have not seen that and can not duplicate it with the pronto editor I use (iPronto Edit 2.5.2 and Pronto Edit 4.0.5). In any evnt is should make no difference That value is the amount of off time for the last IR burst and is then followed by IR being off until the next IR pattern is sent. ergo is can be almost anything. It does however control how quickly the next IR pattern can be sent, but the patterns the program generates are not Repeat patterns so it should not matter.

This version must be run with the assocaited version of the INI control file. It will then make a customized INI file for your use.

As usual let me know of any problems and I will assist/fix.

Jack_T

05-08-07, 07:44 AM

Does anyone use the Harmony 880 with the VP30? I have noticed that the provided AspectLBX command does not work. This is a nice button to have because there is no such button on the native remote.

barrygordon

05-08-07, 08:24 AM

gmanhdtv

05-08-07, 06:08 PM

Re My Utility Program

It has been updated and will now generate a pronto ccf, or a text file containing all possible IR codes. Several minor issues have been repaired at the same time. The file is in its usual place at www.the-gordons.net.

The De-interlacing command "Auto" does not operate. the generated IR code is correct. The DVDO device does not properly handle it (Confirmed by DVDO).

Barry,

I downloaded the file today and can't get the program to run. Also is the hex.ccf file and actual pronto file? Pronto edit will not open the ccf file.

Thanks,

Glenn

barrygordon

05-08-07, 07:18 PM

gmanhdtv

05-08-07, 10:24 PM

If you can't get the program to run, then how did you get it to produce a ccf file? I am confused. One thing at a time. When you said you can't get the program to run, what does it do. Any messages? any thing at all? When you do get it to run, the produced ccf is proper for pronto edit. If you are talking about the file HEX2CCF.exe that is the program that will produce the Pronto ccf file. It is called automatically by the utility.

Where is Windermere FL? I am in Merritt Island FL.

Barry,

When trying to run the utility, get error message "there is no ini file, program cannot continue to run". My bad trying to run the ccf.exe, I guess I don't understand that part? Windermere is located in West Orlando, next to Disney, home to Tiger Woods, Shaq, Ken Griffy Jr, etc, and more humble types like me! ;)

Thanks in advance for anyhelp you can provide.

Glenn

barrygordon

05-08-07, 11:17 PM

In the folder that the DVDOU2.exe is there should also be a file called DVDO.ini Both of them are in the update archive on the website. There are 5 files in the archive. Extract all 5 files (2 are .exe, 2 are .doc and one is a .ini) to the same folder and your problem should go away. The only file you should execute is the DVDOU2.exe. It will use the program Hex2CCF.exe when it needs it to make a pronto ccf.

goatwuss

05-09-07, 09:58 AM

Hello

Sorry if this is redundant... but there is something that I think needs to be cleared up (vague) for many.

Let's say I have a BluRay player that is putting out 1080p24 (what I understand as the cleanest res from the BD) and this is going into my VP30, which is feeding Panasonic plasmat at 720P HDMI.

Will this work? If not - is the only reason because the VP30 doesn't accept 1080p? (Would the VP50 work?)

Usually, is it better to convert to 60hz in the player or in the vp?

In my situation, what would be the ideal BluRay setup?

BR player -> VP30 -> Pan. Plasma HDMI 720P

thanks

CycloneMike

05-09-07, 02:03 PM

HELP!

My VP-30 froze up last night and no longer works. When plugged in to power the green light and the following briefly appear “Powered by ABT” they then disappear, the red light by the power switch comes on and at the same time “DVDO iScan VP30 Powered by ABT” shows on the display. The unit is then frozen as it will not react to front panel commands, remote commands, or switching on or off input sources.

I have tried all three methods of the hard reset, but none has any impact.

I have e-mailed anchor bay tech with the problems, but based on past experience and the show coming up this weekend, don't expect a quick response.

I was using the projector for my Time Warner 8300HD box and my Denon DVD5900. The VP30 was taking these inputs, detinterlacing as needed and scaling to 1366x768 to match my projector. The output is via the RGBHV connector as I do not have a digital input on the projector.

After the VP30 failed last night I reconnected the HD Box and the Denon directly to the projector and now realize the wonderful job the VP30 was doing, especially on 480i program material and it was also doing a much better job of scaling to my projectors native rate (1366 x 768) than the projector was doing.

After only a little while I was already missing the VP-30!!!!

Josh@dvdo

05-09-07, 11:02 PM

I have tried all three methods of the hard reset, but none has any impact.

I have e-mailed anchor bay tech with the problems, but based on past experience and the show coming up this weekend, don't expect a quick response.

I am not sure which show we are missing but it sounds like a front panel button on your VP30 may be stuck. We can certainly service this under warranty but if you would like to fix it your self and avoid any down time (and you will not be voiding your warranty).There are 2 ways to do this. If the first one does not work, then I would try the second.

First, loosen the 4 screws that attach the front panel 2 screws on the top/front, and 2 screws on the bottom/front. While you are looking straight at the front panel wrap your thumbs underneath the front panel and place your fingertips on the top of the front panel and see if you can pull the face plate further away from the main chassis. You do not need to move it very far, just enough to so that the button is not depressed.

If this does not work remove the top cover (3 more screws on each side and 1 on the back/top/center). You can now remove the top cover and the front panel. I would put the top cover back on, just to protect the board, and plug the unit back in and check to see if it responds to IR commands. After you have completed this, replace the front panel and tighten the bottom screws. Before replacing the top cover, I would suggest checking to make sure that the remote control and front panel controls still work.

Josh@dvdo

05-10-07, 12:04 AM

All discrete codes for the VP30 are now available in .ccf format here:http://www.anchorbaytech.com/support/documentation/automation.php

Also note that there is a macro for Panamorph Mode 1 and Mode 2 for those that are using Panamorphic, or anamorphic lenses.

Gard

05-10-07, 06:47 AM

Josh, will we see passthrough on the VPx models soon? Especially they who use 1366x768, will need this to get the most out of computers and game consoles. Will it also be possible to set EDID so that computers easier can send the native res to the VPx. VPx's should be able to axcept any signal that it sends out.

CycloneMike

05-10-07, 10:00 AM

I am not sure which show we are missing but it sounds like a front panel button on your VP30 may be stuck. We can certainly service this under warranty but if you would like to fix it your self and avoid any down time (and you will not be voiding your warranty).There are 2 ways to do this. If the first one does not work, then I would try the second.

First, loosen the 4 screws that attach the front panel 2 screws on the top/front, and 2 screws on the bottom/front. While you are looking straight at the front panel wrap your thumbs underneath the front panel and place your fingertips on the top of the front panel and see if you can pull the face plate further away from the main chassis. You do not need to move it very far, just enough to so that the button is not depressed.

If this does not work remove the top cover (3 more screws on each side and 1 on the back/top/center). You can now remove the top cover and the front panel. I would put the top cover back on, just to protect the board, and plug the unit back in and check to see if it responds to IR commands. After you have completed this, replace the front panel and tighten the bottom screws. Before replacing the top cover, I would suggest checking to make sure that the remote control and front panel controls still work.

Thank you. I will give it a try tonight. I am used to opening the unit as this is already a replacement unit as my first one I received would not recognize the ABT102 card and the component inputs did not work. When I was sent a replacement the ABT102 card was left out and it was shipped to me later and I had to install it myself per the instructions provided by DVDO.

Once again, thank you for the quick response.

Mike

Josh@dvdo

05-10-07, 12:19 PM

iScan VP30 1.12 Beta Software is now available: http://www.anchorbaytech.com/support/software_downloads/update/vp30.beta_agreement.php

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

-New Passthrough Mode

The new Passthrough mode allows digital and analog signals to be passed through without any deinterlacing or scaling. Resolutions up to 1080p can be passed through. Passthrough mode allows an HDMI input signal to be passed through to the HDMI output and an analog input, on the BNC input, to be passed through to the BNC output. Passthrough mode does still allow colorspace conversion to be done on the HDMI inputs, so if an input signal is 1080p YCbCr 4:4:4 and you would like to output this to a 1080p display with a DVI input, the iScan VP50 can convert this signal to a 1080p RGB 4:4:4 output. Menu selections that are not available while the signal is passed through are grayed out in the OSD. While in Passthrough mode an error condition is reported over the RS232 protocol if a function which does not work is accessed. Like the ‘Deinterlacing’ and ‘Overscan’ options in the ‘Input Adjust’ menu, ‘Passthrough’ can be set up on a per input/per format basis. Signals with a resolution of to 1080p-60 can be passed through the VP30.

-Added Image Shift Input Adjust menu item.

This new option in the OSD combines the previously available ‘Line Offset’ control with a new horizontal image shift control. ‘Line Offset’ has been replaced by a Vertical Image Shift Control. The Image Shift Option is available when:

The SDI or HDMI input is selected and the input signal is 480i (Same control as ‘Line Offset’)

The Component (1 or 2) or RGBHV input is selected and the input signal is 480p, 576p, 720p, 1080i, VGA-SXGA@60Hz

-Added Brackets Around Selections For Front Panel Navigation

Items that are grayed out in the OSD are now shown on the front panel display with brackets around the selection to denote that it is unavailable, given the current conditions.

This software version also addresses and corrects the following bugs:
-Fix Discrete IR Reliability
-Fixed problem with 720p50 Analog Input Signal

CycloneMike

05-10-07, 07:36 PM

Josh@dvdo

05-10-07, 07:51 PM

Tried it. No luck, the front panel button was not stuck. It still has a little "click" sound when depressed and released.

What is next?

I would suggest that you call our tech support, 866-423-3836 extension 333.

Or, if you'd like you can send me an email, Josh@anchorbaytech.com, and I can have them call you.

Mark Hoy

05-10-07, 10:39 PM

Thank you for the posting of the discrete codes. I can now fix up my smart remote.

dvreid

05-10-07, 11:24 PM

Is there a way to get the discrete codes into my harmony remote?

Doug

Axatax

05-11-07, 02:40 AM

It's not in the release notes, but with 1.12, gamma can now be adjusted seperately for R, G, and B.

Meenenator

05-11-07, 04:13 AM

Finally......!! A pass-thru option for 1080p :)

It feels like I have been waiting for this forever... will give it a try later tonight.

Thank you DVDO.

M.

Gard

05-11-07, 04:15 AM

Is there a way to get the discrete codes into my harmony remote?

Doug

Send the discretes to harmony support. They will add them to your account.

Meenenator

05-11-07, 04:57 AM

Hi all!

Have a question regarding VP30 and PS3 wrt. sound settings.
I have a PS3 on load for a few weeks, so I try to make the most of it ;)
However I have some issues with sound.

In games etc it works fine (as far as I can tell), but for BD movies I only get PCM 2 channel sound into my receiver. It also seems that I get only the surround sound, but into my front speakers. Yes, it is weird...

I have tried both sound on HDMI and optical. No difference.
Have anybody have success getting 5.1 sound through the VP30 on either HDMI or optical, and with what settings on the PS3 (there are not many settings wrt sound on the VP30 I think)?

While I'm at it, are there any issues wrt HDDVD players and VP30 (soundwise)?

Thanks!

M.

goatwuss

05-11-07, 08:42 AM

So now the VP30 can pass through 1080p...... can it scale it down to 720p?

Gard

05-11-07, 09:02 AM

So now the VP30 can pass through 1080p...... can it scale it down to 720p?

Then it wouldn't be passthrough. But you should be able to send the 720p through the VP30.

Josh@dvdo

05-11-07, 09:42 AM

Hi all!

Have a question regarding VP30 and PS3 wrt. sound settings.
I have a PS3 on load for a few weeks, so I try to make the most of it ;)
However I have some issues with sound.

In games etc it works fine (as far as I can tell), but for BD movies I only get PCM 2 channel sound into my receiver. It also seems that I get only the surround sound, but into my front speakers. Yes, it is weird...

I have tried both sound on HDMI and optical. No difference.
Have anybody have success getting 5.1 sound through the VP30 on either HDMI or optical, and with what settings on the PS3 (there are not many settings wrt sound on the VP30 I think)?

What software version do you have in the VP30. V1.11 is the current Production release: http://www.anchorbaytech.com/support/software_downloads/update/vp30_1.11.php

yohjo

05-11-07, 10:04 AM

Help! I am having the same problem downloading release 1.12 that I did with 1.11. I keep getting cycled back to the main page. Tried from office computer and home computer and two different browsers. Any tricks? I am inputting the requested information.

Thanks

tierrebi

05-11-07, 04:52 PM

I have a problem with my vp30 and my lcd sony 40w2000.

Whit firmware 1.10 i can select in output HDMI 1080p-50 and 1080p-60, now whit firmware 1.12 i can select only 1080p-60.

- EDIT -

after a reset all ok! :)

Meenenator

05-11-07, 06:30 PM

What software version do you have in the VP30. V1.11 is the current Production release: http://www.anchorbaytech.com/support/software_downloads/update/vp30_1.11.php

Josh,

Thank you for the feedback!
I was running 1.10 (I think?), but after some digging I found another sound setting on the PS3 (under BD/DVD playback settings or similiar). I had to change from PCM to bitstream, then I got 5.1 sound out of the bugger ;)

Anyway, running 1.12 now and it seems good.
The only issue I have with the pass-thru is that the picture is larger than before on my PJ (I use underscan normally). Not a big deal, but it would be great to have some aspect ratio adjustment even for the pass-thru.
Played a whole BD movie, no audio dropouts using HDMI from the PS3.

btw, when was 1.11 released as a production release? Have only seen beta releases the last months I've checked. No biggie, as I was waiting for the pass-thru.

M.

Josh@dvdo

05-11-07, 06:35 PM

Anyway, running 1.12 now and it seems good.
The only issue I have with the pass-thru is that the picture is larger than before on my PJ (I use underscan normally). Not a big deal, but it would be great to have some aspect ratio adjustment even for the pass-thru.

Passthrough means NO scaling and NO deinterlacing. The Underscan control requires scaling.

btw, when was 1.11 released as a production release? Have only seen beta releases the last months I've checked. No biggie, as I was waiting for the pass-thru.

v1.11 was released as production software on May 9th. http://www.anchorbaytech.com/support/software_downloads/vp.php

Meenenator

05-11-07, 06:42 PM

Passthrough means NO scaling and NO deinterlacing. The Underscan control requires scaling.

v1.11 was released as production software on May 9th. http://www.anchorbaytech.com/support/software_downloads/vp.php

Wow, that was quick ;)
Ok, I understand what you are saying.
The picture is not too oversized, so I can live with it. Just happy I finally got the pass-thru. Now I only need a 1080p PJ ;)

Thanks Josh!

M.

gulliBELL

05-11-07, 08:15 PM

It's not in the release notes, but with 1.12, gamma can now be adjusted seperately for R, G, and B.

Can you please elaborate what this means in practice? I have just had my VP30 ISF calibrated (v1.10 installed) and the calibrator noted that only very course gamma correction was possible. With v1.11 now available for VP30, what might I need to do to get the best gamma correction (I can't get the calibrator to come back and do this for me) ?

CycloneMike

05-11-07, 11:14 PM

Josh:

Thank you for your help with my VP-30. Your technical departments response was received this afternoon and I look forward to receiving the service from your firm that was recommended for my situation.

Thank you again.

Great Job.

Thank you.

JoeFinn

05-12-07, 06:52 AM

iScan VP30 1.12 Beta Software is now available: http://www.anchorbaytech.com/support/software_downloads/update/vp30.beta_agreement.php

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

-New Passthrough Mode

The new Passthrough mode allows digital and analog signals to be passed through without any deinterlacing or scaling. Resolutions up to 1080p can be passed through. Passthrough mode allows an HDMI input signal to be passed through to the HDMI output and an analog input, on the BNC input, to be passed through to the BNC output. Passthrough mode does still allow colorspace conversion to be done on the HDMI inputs, so if an input signal is 1080p YCbCr 4:4:4 and you would like to output this to a 1080p display with a DVI input, the iScan VP50 can convert this signal to a 1080p RGB 4:4:4 output. Menu selections that are not available while the signal is passed through are grayed out in the OSD. While in Passthrough mode an error condition is reported over the RS232 protocol if a function which does not work is accessed. Like the ‘Deinterlacing’ and ‘Overscan’ options in the ‘Input Adjust’ menu, ‘Passthrough’ can be set up on a per input/per format basis. Signals with a resolution of to 1080p-60 can be passed through the VP30.

This software version also addresses and corrects the following bugs:
-Fix Discrete IR Reliability
-Fixed problem with 720p50 Analog Input Signal

Finally! Thank you very much!! Can't wait to get it downloaded!

Quick question though, will saturation, gamma etc. controls work with pass through signals?

Slonk

05-12-07, 11:08 AM

yohjo

05-12-07, 10:05 PM

The beta offers nice improvements. After loading and performing a full hardware reset I noticed two (new) problems:

1) Horizontal zoom does not work properly. If the zoom is touched, is moves between 1x and 2x. There are no steps in between! So horizontal zoom is not usable. (Vertical zoom is OK, overscan is OK.)

2) Horizontal border. When the border is touched, it immediately moves from 0 to 846 or someting. This results in a completely hidden screen. It cannot be brought back to 0. You have to do a factory reset which is a bit unpractical.

Anyone has the same issues?

Solved in beta 1.12: Vertical line test pattern did not work correctly with my 852x480 plasma, now it does.

1. My horizontal zoom does not work either. Same jump from 1x to 2x.
2. No problems with horizontal border.

Kanvas

05-13-07, 06:39 AM

1. My horizontal zoom does not work either. Same jump from 1x to 2x.
2. No problems with horizontal border.

Exactly the same on my VP30 :(

Slonk

05-16-07, 06:00 PM

The beta offers nice improvements. After loading and performing a full hardware reset I noticed two (new) problems:

1) Horizontal zoom does not work properly. If the zoom is touched, is moves between 1x and 2x. There are no steps in between! So horizontal zoom is not usable. (Vertical zoom is OK, overscan is OK.)

2) Horizontal border. When the border is touched, it immediately moves from 0 to 846 or someting. This results in a completely hidden screen. It cannot be brought back to 0. You have to do a factory reset which is a bit unpractical..Turns out that issue #2 only occurs with (some) output modes. My output settings are: Analog/852x480/RGB. Indeed when I select an output setting like 720p-50 the border issue disappears. A few notes: the horizontal border takes a few steps to close (not one step). Up or down always increase the border is steps like 4-12-44-172-635, but sometimes other steps. It is possible to reset the border to zero using the 4:3 or 16:9 button from the remote control. All in all the horizontal border is not usable but no factory reset is needed.

Josh@dvdo

05-16-07, 07:02 PM

The beta offers nice improvements. After loading and performing a full hardware reset I noticed two (new) problems:

1) Horizontal zoom does not work properly. If the zoom is touched, is moves between 1x and 2x. There are no steps in between! So horizontal zoom is not usable. (Vertical zoom is OK, overscan is OK.)

2) Horizontal border. When the border is touched, it immediately moves from 0 to 846 or someting. This results in a completely hidden screen. It cannot be brought back to 0. You have to do a factory reset which is a bit unpractical.

Anyone has the same issues?

Solved in beta 1.12: Vertical line test pattern did not work correctly with my 852x480 plasma, now it does.

We have indentified both of these issues and we plan on having a release for the VP30 with these corrected early next week.

SteveLgBch

05-16-07, 07:06 PM

It may be answered in the thousands of posts, but I couldn't distill the answer I was looking for, so here's my question. Right now, I let my HD3 Tivo and my Toshiba HD-A2 scale output to 720p for my Optoma 72 720p projector. Would using a VP30 appreciably increase the PQ in my system. I'm thinking running HDMI from my Oppo 971 as 480i for SD DVDs to the VP30, maybe 1080i from my HD-A2 with HD movies, Native (480i, 720p, 1080i) from the Tivo. And then 1080p when I upgrade the projector and maybe get Blu-Ray. Also right now I have a Denon 2807 which does the switching duties. Would the VP20 or 30 be a good move for a much better picture? By the way, as it is, I think that quality of the 720p converson of my existing equipment is very good. Thanks.

fubarduck

05-17-07, 03:34 AM

We have indentified both of these issues and we plan on having a release for the VP30 with these corrected early next week.

Any chance for 59.XXhz support for VGA on the BNC inputs like the VP50?

Korsar

05-17-07, 04:13 PM

Hi folks,
having read hundreds of posts I couldn´t find an answer to my Problem:
I´m trying to update my vp30-Abt102 (fw1.07) to 1.11 or 1.12b
Using Barrys tool the file transmission ended after about 2 hours with an error.
Since then every update (using Barrys tool or tera term pro) ends with the following message just after starting the transmission (Com-Port with Baudrate 57600 on both devices)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------
| ABT Bootloader |
| powered by Anchor Bay Technologies, Inc. |
| Version: 3.31 |
--------------------------------------------

Please load the .abt file now...
Loading...Failure
Data file corrupt. Check File.
Press front panel button to restart.
System Reset...ok

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Barrys tool the following sequence is shown:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
43:15.15 Resp: (STX)01051(NUL)30(NUL)5C(ETX)
43:15.15 Sent: (STX)3005A2(NUL)6(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
43:15.15 Resp: (STX)01051(NUL)30(NUL)5C(ETX)
43:15.15 Sent: (STX)3005A2(NUL)4(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
43:14.14 Resp: (STX)01051(NUL)30(NUL)5C(ETX)
43:14.14 Sent: (STX)3005A2(NUL)6(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
43:14.14 Resp: (STX)01051(NUL)30(NUL)5C(ETX)
43:14.14 Sent: (STX)3005A2(NUL)4(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
43:13.13 Resp: (STX)01051(NUL)30(NUL)5C(ETX)
43:13.13 Sent: (STX)3005A2(NUL)4(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
43:13.13 Resp: (STX)01051(NUL)30(NUL)5C(ETX)
43:13.13 Sent: (STX)3005A2(NUL)4(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
43:12.12 Resp: (STX)01051(NUL)30(NUL)5C(ETX)
43:12.12 Sent: (STX)3005A2(NUL)4(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
43:12.12 Resp: (STX)01051(NUL)30(NUL)5C(ETX)
43:12.12 Sent: (STX)3005A2(NUL)4(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
43:11.11 Resp: (STX)01051(NUL)30(NUL)5C(ETX)
43:11.11 Sent: (STX)3005A2(NUL)4(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
43:10.10 Resp: (STX)01051(NUL)30(NUL)5C(ETX)
43:10.10 Sent: (STX)3005A2(NUL)6(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
43:10.10 Resp: (STX)01051(NUL)30(NUL)5C(ETX)
43:10.10 Sent: (STX)3005A2(NUL)4(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
43:09.9 Resp: (STX)01051(NUL)30(NUL)5C(ETX)
43:09.9 Sent: (STX)3005A2(NUL)4(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
43:09.9 Resp: (STX)01051(NUL)30(NUL)5C(ETX)
43:09.9 Sent: (STX)3005A2(NUL)4(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
43:08.8 Resp: (STX)01051(NUL)30(NUL)5C(ETX)
43:08.8 Sent: (STX)3005A2(NUL)4(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
43:08.8 Resp: (STX)01051(NUL)30(NUL)5C(ETX)
43:08.8 Sent: (STX)3005A2(NUL)5(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
40:09.9 There is no SDI interface module installed in the device
40:08.8 System Returned 'Bad Command' Response (error), Received: (STX)02022(NUL)F8(ETX)
40:08.8 Sent: (STX)2003A8(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
39:47.47 System Returned 'Bad Command' Response (error), Received: (STX)02022(NUL)F8(ETX)
39:47.47 Sent: (STX)2003A9(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
39:47.47 Rply: (STX)2105A1(NUL)1(NUL)6D(ETX)
39:47.47 Sent: (STX)2003A1(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 57600
39:47.47 Transmission Timed Out (1), Resending Command
39:47.47 Sent: (STX)2003A1(NUL)(ETX) on COM1 @ 19200
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I tried out reseting the vp30, reinstallation of the tools, downloading the files (1.11/1.12b) from the dvdo-pages again, even renaming the files to DOS-compatible filenames.
The error is still the same.

Any ideas?

Thanks for Your help in advance!

Greets from Germany, Jörg

Josh@dvdo

05-17-07, 04:17 PM

Are you using a USB-to-Serial Adapter?

If so, did you read this?

PLEASE READ THIS FIRST BEFORE DOWNLOADING SOFTWARE!!!!

We have found problems with the newest FTDI USB-to-serial driver (1.0.2176.0). If you have this driver and use it to install any .abt file, you will not be able to complete the installation and your iScan will be in a useless state until you can install an .abt file with the driver we have available below or a serial-to-serial connection. We are attempting to get this corrected in the next driver version, but we would like to provide a solution for this problem now. If you revert to the previous version driver there are no issues. Note: this only applies to adapters with the FTDI chip-set.

Korsar

05-17-07, 04:23 PM

Hi Josh,
that was quick!
No adapter is used. I use the serial-cable that was supplied with my vp30 on the serial port of my pc.
And the vp30 still works with the 1.07 firmware.
Greets, Jörg

barrygordon

05-17-07, 07:09 PM

Korsar et al

First of all decoding what all of that sent reply stuff is easy. The two hex characters before the (NUL) are the command. Look in the ini file in the command section. After the '=' sign, just before the ';' will be 2 hex characters e.g. A1=Power, A8=model, A9=Firmware version, A2 is navigation (cursour up, down, left, right etc). If there is a character after the (NUL) but before the (ETX) that is the sub command (look in the ini file to see the subcommands of a command). If it is a reply, the format is similar with the character after the (NUL) being the reply (eg if the command was Power then the reply is 1 for on, 0 for off).

Whenever the program sends a command that is not a query (like get version) it immediately issues a query for the state. That is if I command power on, I wait till the query of power returns "1" for on.

None of that stuff has anything to do with the loader other than putting the VPxx in the correct state to do the load.

The load is obviously failing and according to the VPxx the data file is corrupted. Sorry that is all I can see, but you already see that. Try:

(1) power off the VP30 for a few minutes
(2) look in the directory where the utility is running out of (where the exe is stored) and see if there is a file named 'RestartLoader.txt' and if it exists erase it. As long as that file is there it will attempt to restart the loader with what it had before and that may be the problem.

JStears

05-17-07, 10:13 PM

Josh,

The new beta appears to have resolved the long outstanding issues in my setup, so thanks. The new features are also nice and the ones I use all seem to work as advertised. Just a note, when I upgraded to 1.12 from 1.11, I lost some, but not all, of my settings but I can live with that.

I have been experiencing a new issue since the software update, however. Occasionally, using HDMI, the color turns pastel. I have to do a hard reset to get normal color back. This only occurs when I use HDMI and not when I use other feeds, component or s-video. The "pastel" effect happens when using pass thru and when not using pass thru with HDMI. The color change occurs sometimes when the unit is first turned on, sometimes when I switch from another source, s-video for example, to HDMI or sometimes in the middle of a show when I'm not doing anything at all. If anyone has any thoughts on the subject, please let me know.

Thanks.

Josh@dvdo

05-17-07, 11:09 PM

I have been experiencing a new issue since the software update, however. Occasionally, using HDMI, the color turns pastel. I have to do a hard reset to get normal color back. This only occurs when I use HDMI and not when I use other feeds, component or s-video. The "pastel" effect happens when using pass thru and when not using pass thru with HDMI. The color change occurs sometimes when the unit is first turned on, sometimes when I switch from another source, s-video for example, to HDMI or sometimes in the middle of a show when I'm not doing anything at all. If anyone has any thoughts on the subject, please let me know.

It sounds like it may be a colorspace issue. Do you have 'Auto Colorspace' set to 'On' or 'Off'?

Input Adjust → HDMI Config → Auto Colorspace → On or Off

JStears

05-18-07, 10:33 AM

Josh,

I thought it was a colorspace issue also. This problem has happened with Auto Colorspace set to ON and set to OFF. Just out of curiosity, why would this happen with either setting?

bobloblaw

05-18-07, 02:19 PM

Any chance it's the HDMI cable? Sounds like you could have a loose contact.

Korsar

05-18-07, 02:45 PM

(1) power off the VP30 for a few minutes
(2) look in the directory where the utility is running out of (where the exe is stored) and see if there is a file named 'RestartLoader.txt' and if it exists erase it. As long as that file is there it will attempt to restart the loader with what it had before and that may be the problem.

@Barry:
Thanks for your answer, but the problem is still persisting :(

@Josh:
What to do now?
Return machine to dealer?

Greets, Jörg

Josh@dvdo

05-18-07, 07:36 PM

@Josh:
What to do now?
Return machine to dealer?

Have you contacted our technical support team?

Korsar

05-19-07, 09:25 AM

Hi Josh!

I´ll send them an e-mail!

Thanx, Jörg

goatwuss

05-19-07, 11:06 AM

Question - Can the VP30 pass through 1080P 24hz??

malichai

05-19-07, 06:16 PM

Question - Can the VP30 pass through 1080P 24hz??

Can it accept 1080p 24 (or 48), vertically stretch for use with an anamorphic lens, then pass 1080p 24 (or 48) back out? DVDO would be my new heroes if this is the case.

Nedellion

05-21-07, 04:57 PM

Hi All,

I recently purchased a VP30 with the deinterlacing card (version 1.11b) and am using it to send a 1080p signal to my Samsung LN-T4665F. The Samsung has a "just scan" display option which displays an incoming signal with no scaling, etc. I have a PS2, Wii, and Xbox 360 that I've tried hooking up to the component inputs of the VP30 and outputting to the TV. I've noticed that if I use the TV's "just scan" setting, then there are unused pixels (varies to about 1/2 to 1 inch in width) around the border of the picture for the PS2 and Wii, and the Xbox 360 if its resolution is set to 480p. If I set the 360 output to 720p then all pixels are used. Moreover, if I play a DVD on the PS2 or the 360 then all pixels are used. The only time I see unused pixels are for the 480i or 480p games. Also, the amount of unused pixels is not the same for any of the consoles, i.e., the "border" is different for the PS2, Wii, and 360 (set to 480p). Now I could just set my TV to "16:9" and the TV would then do the rest of the scaling, but that isn't the most desirable option. I've contacted Anchor Bay and am trading emails with them, but I'm interested if any of you have seen this before. Should I expect this or is there a problem with my settings or hardware? Note that the "just scan" setting has no unused pixels for an Oppo upscaling DVD player or a PS3.

Thanks!

Slonk

05-21-07, 05:30 PM

I recently purchased a VP30 with the deinterlacing card (version 1.11b) and am using it to send a 1080p signal to my Samsung LN-T4665F. The Samsung has a "just scan" display option which displays an incoming signal with no scaling, etc. I have a PS2, Wii, and Xbox 360 that I've tried hooking up to the component inputs of the VP30 and outputting to the TV. I've noticed that if I use the TV's "just scan" setting, then there are unused pixels (varies to about 1/2 to 1 inch in width) around the border of the picture for the PS2 and Wii, ... Note that the "just scan" setting has no unused pixels for an Oppo upscaling DVD player or a PS3.I have a (PAL) Wii. It has quite some underscan, so your observations seem correct. Just compensate for this using the overscan feature from your VP30 and all is fine.

Nedellion

05-22-07, 03:28 AM

I have a (PAL) Wii. It has quite some underscan, so your observations seem correct. Just compensate for this using the overscan feature from your VP30 and all is fine.

Great, thanks for the help; that indeed improves things. Now that I google "underscan" along with "PS2" and "Wii", I see that this is a known issue. Thanks again.

Josh@dvdo

05-22-07, 02:53 PM

iScan VP30 1.13 Beta Software is now available: http://www.anchorbaytech.com/support/software_downloads/update/vp30.beta_agreement.php

This pre-release version of our software addresses the following bugs that initially appeared in the previous Beta version (v1.12 – May 12, 2007):

Fixed Horizontal Zoom bug which limited the selections to 1X and 2X (Rather than 1X to 2X)
Fixed Border bug that showed up on some analog formats which caused the Borders to act erratic.
Fixed Vertical Panning bug which put the unit in a state that required a reset (Typically with Zoom set to 2X)

This pre-release version of our software also addresses the following bug:

Fixed issue with some minor inconsistent front panel and OSD indicators

The previous Beta version (v1.12 – May 12, 2007) contained the follow new features which are also included in this release:

New Passthrough Mode

The new Passthrough mode allows digital and analog signals to be passed through without any deinterlacing or scaling. Passthrough mode allows an HDMI input signal to be passed through to the HDMI output and an analog input, on the BNC input, to be passed through to the BNC output. Passthrough mode does still allow colorspace conversion to be done on the HDMI inputs, so if an input signal is 1080p YCbCr 4:4:4 and you would like to output this to a 1080p display with a DVI input, the iScan VP50 can convert this signal to a 1080p RGB 4:4:4 output. Menu selections that are not available while the signal is passed through are grayed out in the OSD. While in Passthrough mode an error condition is reported over the RS232 protocol if a function which does not work is accessed. Like the ‘Deinterlacing’ and ‘Overscan’ options in the ‘Input Adjust’ menu, ‘Passthrough’ can be set up on a per input/per format basis. Signals with a resolution of to 1080p-60 can be passed through the VP30.

Added Image Shift Input Adjust menu item

This new option in the OSD combines the previously available ‘Line Offset’ control with a new horizontal image shift control. 'Line Offset' has been replaced by a Vertical Image Shift Control. The Image Shift Option is available when:

The SDI or HDMI input is selected and the input signal is 480i (Same control as ‘Line Offset’)

The Component (1 or 2) or RGBHV input is selected and the input signal is 480p, 576p, 720p, 1080i, VGA-SXGA@60Hz
Added Brackets Around Selections For Front Panel Navigation

Items that are grayed out in the OSD are now shown on the front panel display with brackets around the selection to denote that it is unavailable, given the current conditions.

The previous Beta version (v1.12 – May 12, 2007) also addressed and corrected the following bugs, which are also addressed in this release:

Fix Discrete IR Reliability
Fixed problem with 720p50 Analog Input Signal

Meenenator

05-23-07, 04:43 AM

iScan VP30 1.13 Beta Software is now available: http://www.anchorbaytech.com/support/software_downloads/update/vp30.beta_agreement.php

Thanks Josh!

Will check it out quite soon.
Great work, and fast turn around time ;)

M.

Meenenator

05-23-07, 10:39 AM

Barry, if you're out there....

I just wanted to ask you if your current DVDO utility will work with the latest 1.12/1.13 firmware wrt. saving/restoring settings.

I upgraded to 1.12 maybe a week or so ago, but want to move to 1.13 quite soon.
As the restore of VP30 settings are quite a cumbersome, I thought I would check out your little program ;)

Thanks in advance!

M.

barrygordon

05-23-07, 12:26 PM

Sorry, I gave up on trying to do Save/Restore correctly, so the short answer is no, it does what it does.

The problem is that in order to do save restore in today's VPxx you must be able to set the VPxx source to each input, and then for each input, set to each resolution that can be received over that input. This is because most of the settings are stored major by input, minor by resolution. I am told that there are close to 1000 total settings.

What Is needed is a way to dump from the VPxx memory a file containing the settings independently of what the VPxx is set to, and then be able to reload them. Complicating this are such things as:

Range of values changing between FW versions
Location of where stored in memory changing between FW versions
Meaning of a setting changing between FW versions

DVDO has indicated that they would like to address this but . . .

I personally think they will, but I am not sure it will be in my lifetime (I am old).

snurr

05-23-07, 02:01 PM

First post, easy question?

I used Barry's utility to upgrade to 1.12, but now the VP30 will not open it's serial-port unless I choose Software Upload from the Config menu.

I've tried several programs, as soon as I choose Software Update they will connect. Have tried different speeds and other com-port options, unplugging and pluggings of the cable, but no connection.

After connection I see the Please upload .abt file message, but I've like to have a look at my settings in Barry-world before I upgrade to 1.13.

Any thoughts?

barrygordon

05-23-07, 02:18 PM

Barry World ???

OK, that is very strange. I suspect that the serial port is open but not at the correct speed. Using my program, in the ini file set autostart=false, and start the program.

When the program starts set the com port to the correct port in the drop down list (it may already be there) set the com port to the com port on your PC. Set the port speed to ???? in the drop down list and click connect. It will now look for the VP30 by going through all speeds using the port you stated. It should find it at which time that is the speed it is at. When it is found, then you should be able to see all of your settings and change those (right click on the setting) you wish to.

let me know how you make out. Remember a setting depends upon what is selected as the current input and what the resolution is on that input

snurr

05-23-07, 02:58 PM

Thanks for a speedy reply!

Sorry, Barry, there is absolutely no way to connect. I thought first that the problem was with your program and changed the .ini file, reinstalled and so on, but the VP30 does not open it's serial-port! It's not your program, it's not the cable, it's must be the VP30.

Can get a connection in Hyper Terminal only after selecting Software Upgrade, then it happens at once, but until then, nothing.

Your program worked fine with 1.11, but after the upgrade to 1.12 the VP30 will not accept any connections over the com-port before I select Software Update. Have tried hardware resets, still no connections.

Speed settings and other com options match and work, but only when the VP30 wants to open its port.

barrygordon

05-23-07, 03:36 PM

Interesting,

Make sure you drop an official note to Josh or DVDO support. What you are saying is that no RS232 automation systems will work properly with VP 30 software levels 1.12+ as they all tend to use the RS232 port.

By the way, the program never has to be "re-installed". You can change the ini file all you want and just restart the program.

snurr

05-23-07, 04:37 PM

Re-install was the easiest way to get the .ini file back to something that should work after I had played with it for a while.

I'll do a new hard-reset and try to upgrade to 1.13, I've had some other issues as well, so losing my settings is probably a good thing.

Passthrough never work 100%, some setting would change to random values and one sources (PC) would not work if I changed input (PC at HDMI 3 looking good, change input to something else, then back to HDMI 3, no picture. Reboot, OK again).

Looks like my VP30 needs a total wipe, I just hoped there were something easy to do to get the com-port back to life again.

fubarduck

05-23-07, 05:05 PM

iScan VP30 1.13 Beta Software is now available:

1080p Pass-through functionality via HDMI no longer works with 1.13, I get a solid green light indicating pass-through and a blank screen. Worked fine with 1.12.

1.12 also had a glitch to where 1080p pass-through would sometimes not "sync" properly (I would get an image, followed by blinking on and off), so I would have to power cycle my PS3 to get a non-blinking image. This was why I upgraded to 1.13 in the first place, to see if that was addressed. Instead, I now get no image whatsoever =P

Edit: a Hard Reset seems to have fixed the problem. Will post again if anything else comes up ~

fubarduck

05-23-07, 05:19 PM

OK, 1.13 definitely still has the same glitch as 1.12 and it seems to have gotten a bit worse. I have to power cycle my PS3 two or three times now to get a stable image with 1080p passthrough.

barrygordon

05-23-07, 05:38 PM

I am glad to see some people are playing with the ini file. The entire operation of the program is driven by that file.

If by hard reset you mean a commanded reset to factory defaults, that might just clear up your problem. AFAIK a reset to factopry defaults is different than a reboot.

snurr

05-23-07, 06:12 PM

If by hard reset you mean a commanded reset to factory defaults, that might just clear up your problem. AFAIK a reset to factopry defaults is different than a reboot.

I've tried removing power, Factory Defaults and hard reset (menu + exit, then power on) just after the upgrade to 1.12, but none of these activated the com-port. I dropped it and did all the settings, but with four or five sources I had hoped to save some time by looking at them in your utility.

It's after midnight here now, but I'll try upgrading to 1.13 tomorrow, hopefully this resolves the matter.

Edit: Is there some small command I can send to the VP30 that allways returns something? Would be easy to create a script that just try to connect and send something to test if the com-port is ready.

shoot2score67

05-23-07, 10:05 PM

Hi-

I've been considering a scaler now since I had new home theater put in our family room last month. We have 119". AX-100U projector. Sit about 14ft back.

Are there any threads or sites that show "before" / "after" comparisons with and without VP30 or VP50? I'd like to know in layman's terms if this really would have any impact before spending over $1,000.

I'm new at this, but I'd like to achieve 2 things:

1. Better performance of plain old DVD (I use HDMI)

2. Removal or reduction of letterbox bars on 1.85 and 2.35 content (without using a lens)

Should I be considering a scaler? Any thoughts or pointers to sites that show actual photos of effectiveness would be appreciated!

BTW- I have PS3 and blu-ray on big screen is great... guess it's making me pickier now!!

Thanks

dvreid

05-24-07, 12:00 AM

I had the same problem updating to 1.13 snurr is describing. The DVDO Utility from Barry would not open a port. The only way I got the firmware loaded was be activating the update from the VP30 and using Tera Term Pro. I had 1.12 loaded prior to the upgrade. I did not have this trouble when I went from 1.11 to 1.12. I will play with it tomorrow night if I have time.

DVReid

Meenenator

05-24-07, 02:28 AM

Meenenator

05-24-07, 03:26 AM

OK, 1.13 definitely still has the same glitch as 1.12 and it seems to have gotten a bit worse. I have to power cycle my PS3 two or three times now to get a stable image with 1080p passthrough.

I had a PS3 (on loan) while I was playing with 1.12. I was checking out PQ from a DVD-player vs a BD movie from the PS3(using pass-thru). I recall I had some issues switching sources, as if the VP30 didn't acquire the signal or something.
It usually fixed itself when I selected another HDMI input port, and back to the HDMI port used by the PS3. At least faster than cycling power on the PS3.

hmuller

05-24-07, 06:32 AM

First off let me say a big thank you to Josh and the team for the recent updates to the VP30. There was a very dark patch there where it looked like we had all bought a dud but thankfully with the recent firmwares things are indeed looking brighter. Im so happy I have even started thinking about the VP50 even though I dont have a 1080p screen yet :)

Anyway, I did update to 1.13beta last night and for good measure did a full factory reset and recalibrated everything trying out passthru for my PS3, HDDVD and Sky. I have to say that I really like this feature and so thanks again DVDO. One little thing I did notice though is that compared to 1.11 (my previous firmware) the remote does seem a tad bit more sluggish to respond than before and its like I have to be more careful with making sure the remote is pointed directly at the VP30 for it to accept commands. Previously with 1.11 it seemed a lot more forgiving. I do however like the fact that the pronto discretes should now work and I will be playing with that tonight. Anyone else notice that the remote is a bit less responsive??

Also Josh I have read in previous posts that some people think that the RGBHV input can accept interlaced PAL with a firmware change, other say its not possible because of the hardware. I for one would love to be able to use that input for PAL as my other two component inputs are already doing that service for other devices and as luck would have it I have three interlaced output devices that need connecting. If you added that feature to the VP30 I would pretty much have the perfect scalar.

Hans

Meenenator

05-24-07, 09:37 AM

One little thing I did notice though is that compared to 1.11 (my previous firmware) the remote does seem a tad bit more sluggish to respond than before and its like I have to be more careful with making sure the remote is pointed directly at the VP30 for it to accept commands. Previously with 1.11 it seemed a lot more forgiving. I do however like the fact that the pronto discretes should now work and I will be playing with that tonight. Anyone else notice that the remote is a bit less responsive??

Hans
When you say it like that I'm inclined to agree with you... setting up the VP30 after 1.12 upgrade was a pain since the remote never seemed to work properly.
I had to paint a bullseye on IR receiver :p

Hmmm?

M.

cinema mad

05-24-07, 10:19 AM

Hi All I was just wondering if the new RGB Gamma feature would allow for more accurate gamma curve settings in the new 1.13 firmware as the first gamma feature in earlier firmware was to Aggressive.
Jason

barrygordon

05-24-07, 10:26 AM

I believe snurr stated that the Utility would load software, but not do normal communications.

Unfortunately I no longer have a VP30 to test the Utility with. I do not believe anything has changed in the utility to have caused that behavior. There is nothing that a program can do to force the other side of a comm link to open its port. The VP30 either opens it or not.

However, here are some comm lines other than 2, 3, and 5 that could have a bearing, in fact two additional ones are required for the loader function. The utility does not use the DTR (Data Terminal Ready) control line as the VPxx documentation indicated it was not used. RTS/CTS are used during the load process to pace the data transmission. In fact the utility always uses RTS/CTS to pace all transmissions. That is, it tells the PC port to use RTS handshake. If The VP30 firmware no longer asserts CTS, data will no longer be sent by the utility. In prior versions CTS was always asserted and dropped only during the firmware load function to pace the transmission. Perhaps that has changed

In normal operation the utility just sends a command and waits for a response. The hardware waits for CTS from the VP30 prior to sending the data since handshaking has been set to RTS (Request to Send)

If any one wishes to work with me on this issue I will give them a PC program that will test the state of the various lines and attempt communications with the VP30 even if CTS is not asserted. Please email me at barry@the-gordons.net if you have the problem and wish to assist me in resolving it. If that is the problem, the fix to the utility will be trivial.

Gard

05-24-07, 12:35 PM

Meenenator

05-24-07, 01:10 PM

Then snurr is your man, if he can find the time.
Norwegians to the rescue ;)

(glad to see a few others lurking around here...)

Meenenator

05-24-07, 01:27 PM

Josh,

Is it just my luck or are the settings on V30 now retained during an upgrade?

I just upgraded from 1.12 to 1.13, and my settings are still there.
Did not doing anything special, just used the Tera Pro program, flashed, and let the unit reset itself.

1.13 is shown under the info, so it should have been updated. The horizontal zoom has also been fixed.

Just wondering?

M.

Gard

05-24-07, 02:27 PM

snurr

05-24-07, 02:50 PM

I believe snurr stated that the Utility would load software, but not do normal communications.

As the utility tries to send some commands to the VP30 after connection and the VP30 is in firmware upgrade mode, which then goes into error because this command is not a firmware upload, I had to use Tera Term to upgrade to 1.13. The utility worked fine under 1.11, used it to upgrade to 1.12.

1.13 has the same problem, can't get a com-port connection. Tera Term/Hyper Terminal act sort of connected, but I can't send anything and there's no response from the VP30. My real e-mail is in your inbox, Barry, I'll be happy to try anything you'd like to try.

Glad to see that others have the same issue as I do...

CycloneMike

05-24-07, 02:58 PM

Used Tera Term to update my VP30 to 1.13. No problems at all. It did not keep my settings, but I had not tweeked the unit yet, so that was not a bog loss.

Mike

snurr

05-24-07, 03:01 PM

yupp, snurr did the upgrade earlier today and the settings was still there.

Funny, how would you know?!? :-) Did I somehow buy your old, semi-broken(?) VP30 at a too high price?!? Give me some support! ;-)

Most my settings did survive the upgrade, alas, also the passthrough problem with the PC. With the screen is connected directly to the PC I get a perfect 1366x768 1:1 pixel-mapped picture. As soon as i connect the VP30 to the screen and the PC to the VP30 there's no picture, passthrough enabled or not.

1280x720 does look OK when watching pictures or movies, but surfing or reading text is a pain. 1024x768 is better for this, but I really hoped for 1:1 pixel-mapping in passthrough mode.

I herebye humbly ask for at totally new, all raw, mode. In this mode the VP30 acts like a dumb cable and allows no changes in pallette or other settings. Possible?

barrygordon

05-24-07, 03:09 PM

I have just spoken to a contact at DVDO. He acknowledges that there are some major problems with 1.12/1.13. They (the problems) were introduced by error (obviously they did not do it on purpose and we are all human) and it will be fixed with an emergency priority as they (especially my contact) are quite embarassed/chagrined.

He indicated that communications is broken (except for the loader which is obviously completely seperate from the firmware communications processes). Besides comm being broken (which actually does not affect the basic menu driven interface which is the UI for must users) there is an issue with zoom and some other items.

He asked me to post this.

Gard

05-24-07, 03:32 PM

Funny, how would you know?!? :-) Did I somehow buy your old, semi-broken(?) VP30 at a too high price?!? Give me some support! ;-)

Oh you, whiner :D you probably got the only VP30 that never had any problems at all. Suddenly, when you got your hands on it, it started mocking up. Go figure... :cool:

snurr

05-24-07, 03:44 PM

I have just spoken to a contact at DVDO. He acknowledges that there are some major problems with 1.12/1.13. They (the problems) were introduced by error (obviously they did not do it on purpose and we are all human) and it will be fixed with an emergency priority as they (especially my contact) are quite embarassed/chagrined.

As long as the problem has been found and will be fixed, I'm happy. Uploading all these new versions have made me a master to set the settings back to optimal again, most of the time in a upgrade cycle is spent in getting Tera Term to upload the file.

Thanks for your replys, Garry, it seems that your contacts have saved the day.

snurr

05-24-07, 04:04 PM

Oh you, whiner :D you probably got the only VP30 that never had any problems at all. Suddenly, when you got your hands on it, it started mocking up. Go figure... :cool:
Well, this isn't the first time I've bought something from you and I somehow have to spend a lot of time on it to get it to work... Does the word Dreambox mean anything to you?

And when will you fix the problem with DVE and the HD-E1?!?

Better end this internal 'fight' now before we're thrown out of here, see you at work tomorrow.

Slonk

05-24-07, 05:31 PM

fubarduck

05-24-07, 05:58 PM

I had a PS3 (on loan) while I was playing with 1.12. I was checking out PQ from a DVD-player vs a BD movie from the PS3(using pass-thru). I recall I had some issues switching sources, as if the VP30 didn't acquire the signal or something.
It usually fixed itself when I selected another HDMI input port, and back to the HDMI port used by the PS3. At least faster than cycling power on the PS3.

Tried this (switching HDMI inputs); didn't work for me. I have to power-cycle the PS3 completely. Sometimes it will stop blinking if I leave it on for a minute or so, sometimes it won't. Annoyance level: 9 (out of 10).

barrygordon

05-24-07, 06:10 PM

Sorry, the only one I am sure of is the communications (RS232) issue.

Meenenator

05-24-07, 07:12 PM

Any indication which problems these would be "zoom and some other items"? I tested extensively (only with 480i/576i) and zoom seemed perfect to me?
Didn't see any issues either. Tried various resultions (and zoom on some of them), nothing much to report though.

One thing though, but maybe not due to 1.13. When scanning trough a few HD clips (720, 1080i) (and not in pass-thru) I notice that the picture is slightly smaller on some clips (just a few pixels in upper right corner on my PJ). Change to another clip, and back to how ot should be. A minor thing...

M.

Meenenator

05-24-07, 07:17 PM

Tried this (switching HDMI inputs); didn't work for me. I have to power-cycle the PS3 completely. Sometimes it will stop blinking if I leave it on for a minute or so, sometimes it won't. Annoyance level: 9 (out of 10).
So you tried physically to change HDMI port or using the remote?
I did it only using the remote.
Irritating though!

You mentioned blinking... blinking blue LED? That's a HDCP issue if I'm not mistaken.

How is the new 1.80 FW treating you btw.? 720p for BD f.ex. No idea about your screen though. Maybe you're a 1080p guy ;)

fubarduck

05-24-07, 08:32 PM

So you tried physically to change HDMI port or using the remote?
I did it only using the remote.
Irritating though!

You mentioned blinking... blinking blue LED? That's a HDCP issue if I'm not mistaken.

How is the new 1.80 FW treating you btw.? 720p for BD f.ex. No idea about your screen though. Maybe you're a 1080p guy ;)

No, I meant changing HDMI inputs with the remote, like you. That doesn't fix the problem. I have to completely power cycle the PS3.

Also: Pass-through works fine with 720p and 1080i, it's only 1080p pass-through that has issues.

When I mentioned blinking, I mean that the actual image from the PS3 on my HDTV will blink constantly. The light on my VP30 is solid green, indicating pass-through with no issues.

And yeah, I'm a 1080p guy--although I'm unhappy with the 1.8 firmware since it forces lag on PS1/PS2 games. This is a day one issue that still hasn't been fixed, not even with 1.8 Firmware. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=753069)

Meenenator

05-25-07, 04:12 AM

[QUOTE=fubarduck]No, I meant changing HDMI inputs with the remote, like you. That doesn't fix the problem. I have to completely power cycle the PS3.

Also: Pass-through works fine with 720p and 1080i, it's only 1080p pass-through that has issues.

When I mentioned blinking, I mean that the actual image from the PS3 on my HDTV will blink constantly. The light on my VP30 is solid green, indicating pass-through with no issues.
QUOTE]
Hmmm? I'm almost out of new ideas to try out.
If I still have had the PS3 I could give it a go, but it is returned... (maybe I will buy one, but I've never been a console gamer)
Does DVDO have any ideas for you?
Your cables etc are 1080p compatible etc... it could be that they are barely good enough...
And you have forced pass-thru? (I've seen that it is not 100% fool proof. Let's say I go from 1080p to 480 it will go off, but go from 1080p to 720p it is still on, but going from 480 to 720 its stays off, even from 480 to 1080i stays oss...)

M.

movie_fan

05-25-07, 06:15 AM

Meenenator

05-25-07, 10:33 AM

Hi,

I'm getting a solid blue led and a blue screen when selecting the DVD input on the VP30.

This only started to happen when I connected my PS3 to the VP. Before that, all was well. I notice I'm still running firmware 1.07.

Any suggestions, apart from upgrading FW?

Both are using HDMI?
You might want to look into you input priority list. Maybe change the DVD input to a higher one than your PS3.

I saw something similar when I connected a Tvix to my system using HDMI, while my DVD is component. The HDMI output from the tvix didn't always shut completely off. A priority change fixed that.

Give it a try at least.

M.

movie_fan

05-25-07, 10:56 AM

Both are using HDMI?
You might want to look into you input priority list. Maybe change the DVD input to a higher one than your PS3.

I saw something similar when I connected a Tvix to my system using HDMI, while my DVD is component. The HDMI output from the tvix didn't always shut completely off. A priority change fixed that.

Give it a try at least.

M.

Hi Meenenator,

yes, both are using HDMI. Still, this continued to happen with PS3 powered down. Anyway, later today I'm going to try a priority change. If that does no good, maybe a hard reset.

Thanks!

movie_fan

05-25-07, 06:45 PM

Well, so far so good!!

This is how it went: tried the priority thing like Meenenator suggested, but nothing happened.

Did a factory reset and a hard reset, still nothing. At this point I noticed that ABT102 wasn't showing up in the INFO screen.

Updated FW to 1.11: still nothing new. Took the VP30 lid off, pressed firmly the ABT102 card and voila! I can get a picture from my dvd player! I guess it all came down to this. :)

Now I've still got its lid off while updating PS3 to firmware 1.80... Hey it complains that data is corrupt!!! :mad: This is one of those days... :o

movie_fan

05-26-07, 08:13 AM

Jack,

The 1.11b firmware has a fix for audio dropouts. Give this a shot - It worked in my setup, but apparently has issues with certain source components.

Well, I'm getting audio dropouts with 1.11b firmware. And audio drops quite frequently. Audio goes through coax and optical, not HDMI.

Josh@dvdo

05-26-07, 05:11 PM

Also Josh I have read in previous posts that some people think that the RGBHV input can accept interlaced PAL with a firmware change, other say its not possible because of the hardware. I for one would love to be able to use that input for PAL as my other two component inputs are already doing that service for other devices and as luck would have it I have three interlaced output devices that need connecting.

Hans - This is a hardware limitation that can not be addressed through a firmware change.

movie_fan

05-26-07, 05:19 PM

Hi Josh,

I'm trying to send you a PM, but you've exceeded your PM storage quota.

Josh@dvdo

05-26-07, 05:21 PM

Hi Josh,

I'm trying to send you a PM, but you've exceeded your PM storage quota.

Taken care of.

hmuller

05-27-07, 10:24 AM

Hans - This is a hardware limitation that can not be addressed through a firmware change.

Thanks Josh for the reply. Propably need to look at a cheap component to HDMI converter then that will leave the interlaced output untouched. Anyone have any recomendations?

Oh and BTW Josh. Are there plans for a VPxx that has more HDMI and component inputs in the future or does it look more and more like extra HDMI's are the only real requirement?

Regards
Hans

hmuller

05-27-07, 10:55 AM

Been playing with 1.13 over the weekend and noticed the following....

1. As stated before the remote response is definitely not as good as it was with 1.11. Went back to 1.11 just to check and there is a difference using both my Pronto and the original remote. In fact the original is so bad I thought that the IR lens had somehow switched back to the old one. With the Pronto its not so bad so maybe the multiple IR transmitters on the Pronto are compensating a little.

2. Passthru is confusing my Panny 500 series plasma from time to time. I change input and all I get is snow on the screen even through the DVDO LED is solid so it would seem it isnt an hdmi problem. Previously I had different profiles for 1080i and 720p so the VP used to switch between the two output profiles as needed. That never seemed to confuse the display like it is now with the passthru. I would say it happens about 1 in 10 input changes. To get the display to resync I either need to standby the DVDO and in some cases when that doesnt work standby the plasma.

3. I also recently upgraded my PS3 to firmware 1.80. I have noticed that PCM audio through the HDMI to the VP30 is blanking out for a few seconds at a time. DD and DTS output is fine but PCM seems to be having problems. Bypassed the VP30 and plugged HDMI straight into my plasma and the PCM audio was fine with no dropouts. Wierd one this as I am not sure its the PS3 or the VP30 that could be the culprit but it would appear to be another HDMI compatibility issue. BTW if anyone wants to test its blatant while playing Rampage. The 2 channel PCM sound comes and goes throughtout the game and this used to be fine before I upgraded my VP30 and PS3.

If anyone else can confirm any of these then I would appreciate it.

Regards
Hans