Hi All,

My SXRD (rptv) doesn't like a diet of anything other than 60Hz material and I'm looking around for anything that will do the frame rate conversion from 50Hz on anything other than standard def content. I've tried a few small boxes with tricks I picked up from my local electronics chain, and none of them deal with anything above standard 576i. Even 720p would be fine, and 1080i would be a bonus, but my SXRD is a 2005 model and won't take 1080p. My source is a Sky HD box, although I have other US sources which is why I've kept the SXRD.

What are my options? Any suggestions appreciated!

I would recommend the DVDO iScan line of products.

In my view, they do the best frame rate conversion in the industry today. There are some cheaper variations on their products.

Any VP that we discuss here on a regular basis (Crystalio II, Lumagen line of products, Key Digital products) all do frame rate conversion. I have not tested them all, of course.

Thanks for the reply.

So it looks like I need at least a VP20, correct? Is that going to be OK with a 1080i50 input -> 1080i60 output? My display won't accept 1080p :(

Yes but it won't do a fantastic job of it. You're much better off with a vp50. Personally I don't like the 60Hz output (from a 50Hz source) of the vp50, it still judders too much for me.

Wouldn't you be better off with a European TV? They can take US sources.

Thanks for the info. The VP50 sounds great but for the same price I can have a European-spec Sony 55" SXRD delivered. Decisions decisions...

european spec displays will accept 50 Hz and 60 Hz signals, but they might not sync their refresh rate to them. So you would be stuck with the frame rate conversion in the displays.

Most European spec displays seem to sync correctly - the models I've seen pan smoothly with 50Hz and 60Hz sources.

50 to 60 Hz looks pretty horrible even when done well (e.g. with a C2).

ahh, that's good to know, John.

A very good frame rate converter is this one (actually it should be the best one available right now):

ShibaSoku VC31A Multi-format Standards Converter:

http://www.shibasoku.com/products/avc/c01.html

http://www.shibasoku.com/download/avc/vc31_e.pdf

Sounds great, but I'm scared to ask how much :(

Hi TS,

Sorry to high jack the thread but I am also looking for such a Multi video format converter/scan converter/frame rate but the VC31 is of broadcast quality and thus broadcast price . I am very sure it is 5digits pricing .

And other lower priced models ?Anyone ?

I had also found kramer and cobalt but do not know of their performance .

Would a AV receiver do the conversion from 50 to 60 if connected to the HDTV by HDMI/DVI ?

AVRs don't do Frame Rate Conversion.

Do you already own the SXRD TV? If so, you're stuck.

The Lumagen HDP/Q, the ABT VP50, and the other processors of similar quality will output 1080i@30 (60i; 60 fields per second) to match the TV but they must de-interlace incoming 1080i@25 first. Then your choice is to output 720p@60 that the TV will simply scale up, or output 1080i@30 that the TV will (re)de-interlace. You'll have to compare to see what looks better. Chances are that out of these two alternatives, any judder will be about the same.

A few more thoughts: there is a tendency for displays to accept a handful of standard 50Hz timings, i.e 576p, 720p and 1080i but nothing else, and these are then scaled to the display res (1366 x 768 or whatever....not ideal). Pixel mapping via VGA i/p, for example, may only be available at 60Hz. I've only seen one no nonsense LCD display (1920x1080 native, have a look at crtprojectors.co.uk) which does its best to emulate a CRT monitor.

I'd have said that over VGA it's less of a problem, quite a few screens will take native@50Hz. Over HDMI / DVI though ... annoyingly few do.

I have had my set for over a year and am very happy with it overall. I haven't been able to convince it to accept a 50Hz signal by HDMI or Firewire (which I thought might have a chance). Haven't even bothered trying the analog connections.

The short-term solution I've taken is using a TV tuner card... the input is restricted to 576i, but at least I actually get to see something. Interestingly, the TV appears to accept a 1024x576@60Hz mode, which is interesting because there should be no further scaling necessary (outside of the TV). The computer-based output does have some minor judder, but I'm quite surprised at how little it is.

As for 720p/1080i... still not sure what I'm going to do about that. I need to try the VGA input, although for the XBR1 SXRD it doesn't do fullscreen over that connection (ie 1080i)

The new Elixio box from Pixel Magic mentions that the VE04 model includes 50>60Hz frame rate conversion.
It's primarily a noise reducer, so unless you think you would benefit from that, it's probably not worth it. But you get a 4-port HDMI switch, noise reduction and detail enhancement in the package.
Unless someone has more info from CES, the VE04 model doesn't have a price yet, but the VE02 model is $999.
Re: resolutions - I think it just outputs whatever was input up to 1080p.
BTW it's only HDMI in and out.
http://www.pixelmagicsystems.com/images/new/Pixel_Magic_Elixio_brochure.pdf