Bostich
11-02-07, 01:32 AM
I recently purchased an Audio Authority 1365 and have experienced a couple of issues. Paying return shipping + restocking fee gets old pretty quick so I figured I should look for some advice instead of blindly ordering something else.
Anyways, I have a Faroudja LD100 line doubler which I got so I could try to improve the picture quality from my old game systems. Specifically, this would be most beneficial for systems running at a "240p" resolution (essentially a modified 480i from what I understand). It would also benefit 480i signals, of course, but too a lesser degree.
On a standard definition TV, these games running at 240p would have visible scan lines; every other line would be black since it's only using half the lines. My HDTV tries to fill in these black lines to make the picture look better, and overall it does a decent job, but it could be better (it has comb artifacts). The main idea behind me getting the line doubler is that it should be better at deinterlacing than my TV (I've read nothing but good things about Faroudja).
The only problem with this line doubler is that it can only output VGA or RGBS/RGBHV. My TV can't take either of these signal types. My TV is a Sony KV36HS510 (36" high definition CRT). The only way to hook up the line doubler is through a transcoder. I decided to go the VGA to component route, although my TV also has DVI-D (dual link).
Initially, I had tried an Audio Authority 9A60. The Faroudja LD100 outputs 640x480/60Hz VGA, so the 9A60 seemed like a good match. I just needed to convert VGA to component without rescaling. The picture quality with the 9A60 was great--there was just one little problem. The picture was shifted to the right by about an inch, maybe a bit less. This meant I had a black border on the left which normally wasn't there. I did a little digging around and got into my TV's service menu so I could adjust the horizontal position. After shifting it to the left, it was perfect. The only problem was that the left shift applied to all inputs, meaning the output from line doubler was now centered, but everything else would be off center to the left. I debated about just making due with that setup, shifting the screen back and forth. Maybe I was just being overly paranoid, but I was worried about constantly changing settings in the service menu on a daily basis. It seems like its purpose is for occasional re-calibrations, not daily tweaks.
So I started looking for ways to shift the picture before it comes into the TV, which is where the AA 1365 comes into play. It seemed like it would do everything I needed, plus a lot of stuff I didn't really need (scaling all those other resolutions). I figured going from 640x480 to 480p should be a relatively easy transition for the scaler, so I didn't anticipate any issues from this. Most importantly, the AA 1365 lets you adjust the H/V position of the picture.
I have run into a couple of issues with the AA 1365:
1. There are vertical lines in the picture which sometimes are not too noticeable, but at other times very noticeable. The lines are stationary, so I suspect this is not interference of any sort, but rather an artifact of the scaler. An example of when the lines are really noticeable is the 1st stage of Mega Man X for the SNES.
2. The picture overall seems to be softened. The best way to describe it is that it's like when you have a LCD monitor running at a non-optimal resolution. It just looks like it's a little bit out of focus.
When performing these tests I had first connected my SNES to the line doubler with the 1st party Nintendo S-video cable. Later I hooked it up with a custom made RGBS cable. The results were the same in either case. It looked better just bypassing the Faroudja LD100/Audio Authority 1365 combo altogether and just running S-video straight into the TV. This wasn't the case when I was using the AA 9A60. It definitely looked better going through the LD100/9A60...it was just off center. So that leaves me with a few questions.
1. Are my findings with the AA 1365 considered to be normal, or do I have a defective unit?
2. When the picture was off center using the LD100/9A60 combo, I don't know which device was introducing the shift. If it was the 9A60, that raises the question of whether it is possible to convert VGA to component without introducing the shift. If the LD100 is at fault, it raises the question of whether it's possible to shift the picture back over before it enters the TV without degrading the picture quality.
3. Is it inherently bad to adjust your TV's service menu constantly? I was worried about doing this, but maybe I was just being overly cautious.
4. Is this Faroudja LD100 line doubler just a lost cause for my TV? (i.e., is there no way to get the VGA converted to component (or DVI) without experiencing any of the issues I've run into?). I haven't tried going the DVI route yet, so that could still be a possibility, but I wanted to look for advice first. I wasn't sure if DVI would even be noticeably better than component at 480p resolution.
Thanks, and sorry for the long post.
Anyways, I have a Faroudja LD100 line doubler which I got so I could try to improve the picture quality from my old game systems. Specifically, this would be most beneficial for systems running at a "240p" resolution (essentially a modified 480i from what I understand). It would also benefit 480i signals, of course, but too a lesser degree.
On a standard definition TV, these games running at 240p would have visible scan lines; every other line would be black since it's only using half the lines. My HDTV tries to fill in these black lines to make the picture look better, and overall it does a decent job, but it could be better (it has comb artifacts). The main idea behind me getting the line doubler is that it should be better at deinterlacing than my TV (I've read nothing but good things about Faroudja).
The only problem with this line doubler is that it can only output VGA or RGBS/RGBHV. My TV can't take either of these signal types. My TV is a Sony KV36HS510 (36" high definition CRT). The only way to hook up the line doubler is through a transcoder. I decided to go the VGA to component route, although my TV also has DVI-D (dual link).
Initially, I had tried an Audio Authority 9A60. The Faroudja LD100 outputs 640x480/60Hz VGA, so the 9A60 seemed like a good match. I just needed to convert VGA to component without rescaling. The picture quality with the 9A60 was great--there was just one little problem. The picture was shifted to the right by about an inch, maybe a bit less. This meant I had a black border on the left which normally wasn't there. I did a little digging around and got into my TV's service menu so I could adjust the horizontal position. After shifting it to the left, it was perfect. The only problem was that the left shift applied to all inputs, meaning the output from line doubler was now centered, but everything else would be off center to the left. I debated about just making due with that setup, shifting the screen back and forth. Maybe I was just being overly paranoid, but I was worried about constantly changing settings in the service menu on a daily basis. It seems like its purpose is for occasional re-calibrations, not daily tweaks.
So I started looking for ways to shift the picture before it comes into the TV, which is where the AA 1365 comes into play. It seemed like it would do everything I needed, plus a lot of stuff I didn't really need (scaling all those other resolutions). I figured going from 640x480 to 480p should be a relatively easy transition for the scaler, so I didn't anticipate any issues from this. Most importantly, the AA 1365 lets you adjust the H/V position of the picture.
I have run into a couple of issues with the AA 1365:
1. There are vertical lines in the picture which sometimes are not too noticeable, but at other times very noticeable. The lines are stationary, so I suspect this is not interference of any sort, but rather an artifact of the scaler. An example of when the lines are really noticeable is the 1st stage of Mega Man X for the SNES.
2. The picture overall seems to be softened. The best way to describe it is that it's like when you have a LCD monitor running at a non-optimal resolution. It just looks like it's a little bit out of focus.
When performing these tests I had first connected my SNES to the line doubler with the 1st party Nintendo S-video cable. Later I hooked it up with a custom made RGBS cable. The results were the same in either case. It looked better just bypassing the Faroudja LD100/Audio Authority 1365 combo altogether and just running S-video straight into the TV. This wasn't the case when I was using the AA 9A60. It definitely looked better going through the LD100/9A60...it was just off center. So that leaves me with a few questions.
1. Are my findings with the AA 1365 considered to be normal, or do I have a defective unit?
2. When the picture was off center using the LD100/9A60 combo, I don't know which device was introducing the shift. If it was the 9A60, that raises the question of whether it is possible to convert VGA to component without introducing the shift. If the LD100 is at fault, it raises the question of whether it's possible to shift the picture back over before it enters the TV without degrading the picture quality.
3. Is it inherently bad to adjust your TV's service menu constantly? I was worried about doing this, but maybe I was just being overly cautious.
4. Is this Faroudja LD100 line doubler just a lost cause for my TV? (i.e., is there no way to get the VGA converted to component (or DVI) without experiencing any of the issues I've run into?). I haven't tried going the DVI route yet, so that could still be a possibility, but I wanted to look for advice first. I wasn't sure if DVI would even be noticeably better than component at 480p resolution.
Thanks, and sorry for the long post.