** OFFICIAL ** Denon AVR-3310CI/990 Owner's Thread - Page 6

Bummer indeed.
The link you provided certainly implies PReP is implemented in these receivers.

I wonder if this could be done via a future firmware update on the 3310.

I agree, the press release is misleading. It looks to me like it will be at least another model year or two before someone gets video processing right in an AVR. Right now all of the units that are reviewed as having great video processing have too many limitations in usability and convenience to really make these features worth much of anything.

This is what dissapoints me about marketing; the PReP feature is built directly into the chip and persons expect to own this AVR for a reasonably long period as opposed to updating every 12 months for one extra button. The feature should have been included.
It is common knowledge that the DVDO edge and Oppo BDP83 also carry the ABT2010. Could the lack of PReP in the 3310 be a way to protect the sales of the previously mentioned components ? Perhaps the DVDO edge is just over priced if a single chip accounts for 70% of its capability.

To me, the lack of PReP isn't the worst of it, the most significant issue is the lack of aspect ratio recognition and no zooming features. Also, settings per input apply to all resolutions (no way to let 1080p24 passthrough if you don't want to upconvert everything to 1080p24 - not necessarily ideal for many dvd's or other things - e.g. games). While PReP would be great those shortcomings are even more significant for me.

I have had the AVR-3310ci for about a week now, and so far so good, with a few exceptions. I have zone 2 set up for the bedroom, and I'm controlling it from the web browser interface. I've noticed the following:

1) Browser interface frequently locks up and control of the AVR is lost. Solution is to close the browser tab (Safari), reopen a new tab and browse back to the AVR. Sometimes even a hard power off of the unit is necessary. Very inconvenient.
2) iPhone PDA control does not allow for control of Zones 2 or 3. The manual shows that PDA control allows for multizone control, but the 'optimized' iPhone interface does not allow this.
3) When playing songs from the media server input (via the web interface), the search function is flaky. For example, if you search artists by character, then click on one, the interface refreshes back to the beginning of the list.

In general the web interface is very flaky. It functions like an alpha release of a web control app. I'm hoping Denon can improve this with firmware updates. Anybody have any Denon email contacts where I can report bugs?

-Tom

Is the 3310ci (or even the 4310ci) THX Select or Ultra certified?

They do not have certification.
I'm looking at purchasing one those receivers and I'm not too worried about them supplying good power to drive my mirage omnisat series speakers. I currently own a 3802 and never had issues with it.

I've narrowed my receiver choice down to the 3310CI and the Onkyo TX-NR906. I know all of you are biased towards the 3310CI, but I was wondering if you could share why you chose the Denon over a brand like Onkyo (perhaps share some personal experiences with both brands)? Also, the reason why I am comparing Onkyo's flagship receiver with a Denon model that is a couple of notches down from their flagship is because I can get a 906 from Amazon for $1639 (and the Denon's MSRP is $1500)...so they are around the same price. I'm trying not to spend more then $1700. Thanks everyone!

Thanks for the info...that's another receiver out of the equation...over to the Yamaha board

Does anyone know if the 3310ci can stream XM through XM's online streaming service?

actually, I wouldn't say that as the NR906 is in a different league from the Denon and I think most would realize that. It's the flagship of Onkyo's lineup and has a MSRP over half again as much as the 3310CI! Considering it weighs 54lbs and has HQV Reon video processing, it should probably be more fairly compared to 4308CI or 4310CI which are in that general msrp range. 3310CI is probably a fairer comp to the 806/876 level.

When you say "different league", would you say that the Onkyo 906 is better then the 3310ci? I know it's not an "apples to apples" situation, but right now they are around the same price. Is the HQV Reon better then the Anchor Bay processor that the new Denon's have?

Yes, I was hoping that was fairly obvious from my post!


only if you compare discount pricing on the 906 to msrp pricing on the 3310CI. For the $1600-1700 range you should be comparing to 4310CI or 4308CI, like I said. I don't follow the deals but I have to imagine street price on a 990/3310 Denon is more like $1200-ish.


it might be better but it's definitely at least as good. HQV Reon is the top of the line and the Onkyo implementation is well reviewed, read this (among others):
http://hometheatermag.com/receivers/...at/index4.html

The 3310CI does offer a couple of new features (more HDMI inputs, Dynamic Volume) but the 906 should be better in almost every way, especially in terms of the monster amp section (54lbs with torroidal transformer!) and MultEQ XT. Again, a fairer comparison is the 4308/4310 Denon model.

Now, all that being said...... the question for you is do you need a $2000 msrp receiver as opposed to a $1200-1500 msrp receiver? That's a side issue. It can simultaneously be true that the NR906 or the 4310CI is better than the 3310CI, but the 3310CI will still be the right receiver for YOU.

Hmm, in playing around with my Denon/PS3 today, I tested some of the different scaling settings in an attempt to try to remove the frequent flicker from the PS3 (apparently this is not an uncommon problem). I have the i/p scaler set to auto on the PS3 input, and it seems to pass 1080p/24 just fine, and then switch back to 1080p/60. My PS3 is set to upconvert video, so the PS3 is either outputting 1080p/60 (for DVDs and video files), or 1080p/24 for BDs. The auto switch seems to work just fine, ie. BDs are passed through at 1080p/24 and everything else at 1080p/60. I haven't recently done a s/w update (last 1.5 weeks). Has anybody else actually tested this to see if they get similar results? Now if I could just get rid of the damn PS3 flicker...

-Tom

It would definitely be good if people could test this for themselves; when the Denon is on "Auto" for resolution it is querying the display, and the exact behavior will probably depend on your individual display. Does your display report the input resolution? Is that how you are verifying what is coming through?

The display (LG) only reports 1080p (or 1080i, etc, but no frame rate). I'm basing it on the AVR's HDMI Information report that shows the incoming resolution, and what it's outputting to the display. This seems to reliably reflect the correct resolutions based on how I've set the video scaling.

those explanations sounds in line with my problems.
when switching from 1080p/60 to 1080p24 it looks like my pioneer display does not adjust properly and static snow then does appear on the screen. disabling the 24hz feature on the ps3 solved my problem.

I have also another hi def player (broadband tv + media player) and was obliged to drop the auto feature for the the manual 1080i/60hz setting to avoid image artifacts.

well, if you are getting "snow" and other artifacts that is not really the same issue. what that post (and the discussion context) was referring to was simply frame-rate conversion, but the image did not get ruined as you are describing.

Do you have a Pio plasma that can handle 24p? How does it look when you try to feed it 24p straight from the source (e.g. PS3 connected straight to display) and how about when you pass it through the Denon but disable video scaling (so it just passes the 24p through untouched)?

i have a 5090h which can handle 24p. When pass through is activated or ps3 is connected directly to the plasma the image is fine and the 24p mode is played correctly. whenever i try to play 24p images through the receiver I start having artifacts.
I also noticed snow problems with my dvr which were resolved by forcing manually rez to 1080i 60hz. 1080i 50hz rez would cause also some image pbs.

Edit: did another test today. I forced the video convert on the 1080p (instead of auto) setting and the artifacts seem to disappear. looks like the receiver can not negotiate the right rez correctly. still forcing 1080p instead of auto, will not enable the 24hz option. will try again tomorrow to confirm this.

unfortunately, as with all things HDMI it sure looks like the specific combination of source + AVR + display can cause funny things to happen Some people get perfect pass through with "auto" passing along 1080p/24 or 1080p/60 untouched... some people get weirdness like you and EVT. what a stupid connection technology....

Agreed. HDMI is a PITA. I am constantly having to force my PS3 display setting to auto (even if it's already set to auto) in order to remove the rainbow flicker that is happening with the Denon (funny that this doesn't happen with the PS3 direct to the display). Sometimes this works on the first try, sometimes it takes half a dozen times. It seems that all HDCP achieves is to annoy people who've spent several thousands of dollars on AV gear.

just like all other copyright protection schemes, the "innocent" consumer ends up suffering through a bunch of crap while the "pirates" are barely affected. when will the industry ever wise up?

hello TMo70, could you confirm that you get the same type of image pbs then I get?

see images below


http://img10.imageshack.us/i/img1394yjd.jpg/
http://img10.imageshack.us/i/img13882.jpg/



http://skydrive.live.com/play.aspx?p...61150332855427

If you're referring to the PS3 flicker I mentioned, here it is in a frame capture.

What I find strange about the auto setting on the 3310 is it seems to read the incoming signal off of my PS3 properly (identifying it as 1080p24) and it seems to identify that my display is capable of displaying 1080p24 but it chooses to convert the signal to 1080p60; very strange.

well in my case I was obliged to give up on the 24hz setting of the ps3 to avoid my snow problems...
very annoyed with "investing" in the 4310 and get those pbs

thanks for the precision. Means that my problem is different. still has to do somewhat with the communication between the receiver, the player and the display as passthrough is working fine.

TMo70 -- that sure looks like the kind of artifacts you get from a bad HDMI cable. an entire chunk of the digital signal is missing, I would try swapping HDMI cables.... and if that doesn't help it I would want to swap the unit. That's definitely not normal!

the small "sparkles" could also be a bad HDMI cable...

Well, I've tried 3 different cables, albeit, cheap ones. The flickers are intermittent, so that pattern isn't constantly there. If I disable 1080p on the PS3, and then reselect 'auto' resolution again on the PS3, I can usually get the problem to go away (sometimes takes 3-4 attempts). This is what makes me think it's not a cable. But I suppose I can try another one. I'd be thrilled if a cable fixed the problem so I don't have to keep resetting the PS3 resolution.

Is this true of the 4310 as well?