SONY D50 and HDfury2

Hi all.

I own the Sony VPH-D50 HTM for around 7 years (bought new and installed after 3 (!!!) years, so run for only 4 years with now 590 hours on the counter. Last 2 years I bought and enjoyed the first of my 2 Toshiba HD-XE1 connected to the projector through analog component 1080i.
There is improvement from standard DVD's but as my projector with it's small 5.5 inch tubes cannot do full justice to hi-definition, I had to learn to live with that. In fact the picture looks quite satisfactory in 1080i.

So, as I always thought that my collection of around 140 HD-DVDs deserved it, three days ago I made the move and ordered the HDfury2 from UK to see if I would get any more improvement comparing to the analog component.

Yesterday morning it arrived only after 3 days of order time (and with the weekend between!!!) to Greece, complete with the power adaptor and the VGA-5BNC breakout cable as I had ordered the green edition. The HDfury they sent was actually the blue edition with the VGA-component breakout adaptor inside but as I ordered the green, they included with no added cost the VGA-5BNC breakout as well.

In a very brief install as it was daylight outside and I just wanted to check if it works, I moved the Toshiba close to the projector and connected the HDfury (without 5V power) through component to the same input used from before, as I have not set the SONY to RGBHV.

In the beginning I had the set-up menu of the Toshiba but when it started playing the disc, just after 2-3 seconds after the Universal logo appeared, the picture was lost. I tried it again and the same happened. Then I connected as well the 5V additional power supply and the image was restored.

From a very brief checkout I could see some improvement, basically as better sharpness and a more solid picture, but again,
1) it was daylight outside and
2) I used component and not RGBHV.
Anyway, the picture looks promising and right now I ordered a 16 foot HDMI-HDMI 1.3b cable which when it will arrive I will set the SONY A input to RGBHV 1080i and leave the B input as is (component 1080i) to compare.

I will inform you after final tests.

Sorry for delay but I am very busy these days.

Well a few days ago I got the HDMI cable and connected the Toshiba HD-XE1 straight to the RGBHV input A.
At first try no signal.
At once I connected the 5V supply and picture was restored.
BUT, picture was clearly worst than the analog component from the player, in the sharpness area mostly. The RGBHV from the HDfury2 was way softer, but with better brightness and more precise colors.
Immediate thoughts for selling the HDfury came to mind.
Then I remembered that the HDfury they send me was the blue edition actually (component breakout cable in box, but as I had ordered the green edition, they included the 5BNC breakout I had tested).

Well, with the component connection (and the small switch at the fury's side set to component YPbPr) picture was a different story. Maybe just a little better sharpness, but way better brightness than the analog component (which was connected at the B input and made immediate comparison easy) which (the analog component) had more compressed black levels.

That test was with HD-DVDs.

When I tried standard DVDs there was the most obvious difference, which I could not believe. On NTSC Gladiator chapter 8 (Maximus's execution) it was like watching an HD movie, WAY sharper and brighter than the analog YPbPr. Colors also were more natural.

Overall I am very pleased with that little thing's performance and I believe it fully justifies it's modest price. It is a must for small 7inch CRTs.