Review of ABT102 Precision Deinterlacing Card for DVDO iScan VP30 - Page 3

That sounds like a very nice plan to me. Nobody did this before for VP deinterlacing capability. I think it would really help.

Btw, what is ABT-103? Is that the name of the HD version of the ABT102? Or is it a newer revision of the SD version?

Also never heard of Reon yet! And also I didn't know that National Semiconducter had a next gen chip available. Seems I learn something new every day...

I would refer you to the VP30 thread for information on that.

The short answer is that SD is not HD. You can improve SD performance in a number of ways including better deinterlacing and scaling, but it will never be a match for true HD. The difference in real picture detail is very significant and cannot be artificially added.

That said, watching DVDs upscaled via the VP30 on a large screen can be very impressive.

I believe Kris meant ABT102, given that there is no ABT-103, and that he is talking about using the VRS and HQV DVDs for testing.

The ABT-103 is a prototype bloody mary made with clam juice, grated horse radish, and kentucky moonshine, hold the tomato juice.

I think we need a deinterlacer/scaler special olympics. I suggest we hold it in Rio. BTW steroids are allowed if applied to any gated chip.

Mark,

Thats some funny poop!

Watched my first video last night with the abt102 installed. Overall very impressed with the quality of the picture. One strange symptom I did notice watching SD satilite is when there was what I guess in a error in the transmission (not that uncommon with their service) the abt really seems to have a hard time adjusting or ignoring the error. It's what I can best describe as a large color band in the effected area where as before without the abt102 you just had a small fragment on the screen. I'm not sure exactly how to describe as it's something new I've never experienced before.

Anyone else run into this?

I meant the 102, sorry about that! Typed too fast I guess!

I completely agree. It almost never breaks up, DVDO did a fantastic job on this unit.

Perhaps a dumb question: Is there somewhere in the VP30 user menus than can confirm that the ABT102 is installed and working?

Firmware 1.07 works with or without the ABT102. To confirm that the chip is actually seated and installed properly, are there certain user functions that would be grayed out if the chip weren't connected and the scaler was still using the Sil504?

The Info page will have ABT102 on it and the extra options under deinterlacing (I think) will be un-greyed, i.e. game mode etc.

So I'm told.

It definitely says ABT102 on the top of the info screen.

But does it say that with this firmware even if the chip isn't installed?

dunno that, Joshua, but you will definitely have the whole gamut of deinterlacing choices if the 102 is properly installed. (and if it is not functioning properly, in my case the VP30 would not handle or deinterlace 480i at all.) But I installed V1.07 first - the deinterlacing menu option was there, but you couldn't choose anything. After the ABT was installed, and finally functioning, with an interlaced input, you can go to the input adjust (?), go to Deinterlacing - which is at the top, and choose one of the many options mentioned before.

The info screen will only say 'ABT102' at the top if the ABT102 is installed.

Thanks for the confirm. Just making sure.

I'm still wondering whether to call this new combo the VP30+ or the VP40, though.

No, it performs much like the HQV on the Hockey. Take a look at the markers on the ice, they are jagged on the HQV and Gennum. They are clean on DCDi and the ABT102.

I have tested multiple HQVs, Gennum, National and FLI2310. Not all HQVs are equal. The 5910 is the best performing HQV. The NEC and Yamaha perform a lot worse than the 5910. They will only lock on 2-2 and 2-3 high detail clips. They drop on the others. They also drop on the bad edits test. I tried both force film and auto.

I tried on VHD. For the high detail clips it locks on all, although not as quickly. All of them locked at the point when the car reaches the middle yellow seats. Does this mean anything ?

althogh for the synthetic wedges it fails on all of them. only the ABT102 maintains all the stright lines of the wedge except the tips, for all cadences. (also just for the kick tried on a lumagen hdp and no surprise it obviously failed everything)

Perhaps I'm doing something wrong: I don't notice any difference in the picture quality before and after installing the ABT102. I'm testing with a DVD player at 480i using the component input and while playing one of my DVDs.

Does the 102 card provide better resolution overall or does it only help with displaying scenes that contain motion of some sort, in better resloution?

The DVD that they send along with the 102 card does show the demo loop quite well and it seems the resolution is true 720P. However, while playing one of my dvds, I don't notice any difference. Please tell me that I'm doing something wrong. Yes, I did verify that it's installed properly - ABT102 appears next to the v1.07 in the info screen and I've confirmed the additonal options found under deinterlacing.

...Rohit

RNaval, you need to differ between video and film content. Most DVDs are film content and the SIL504 was already quite good in NTSC film. The ABT102 will only add some better "bad edit" handling on top of that and more robust cadence detection. But apart from that the difference for NTSC film content shouldn't be big. The major improvement can be seen in video content and in content with strange cadences like Anime.

Actually it locks on the vertical wedge but fails on the horizontal wedges.

Oliver

Thanks for that explanation. So, is the diner scene on the demo dvd, Video content? If so, it is impressive.

Stacey, would you happen to have the firmware version numbers of the HQV scalers? Sometimes the latest version is not the best.

What's a good example of a popular DVD with video content?

Many performance art DVDs (concerts, etc.) and many TV show DVDs are video-sourced. Sports and documentary DVDs can be video-based as well. Most mainstream movies are film-based, and aren't too challenging for most video processors.

--Andre

rohit - if you have it, try Eagles Hell Freezes Over; look at the diagonals - guitar strings, boom mikes. I'm also waiting for the Yankees to be on again - over ESPN SD, the base lines look terrible - like stairsteps. I am expecting the ABT to do a much better job of rendering them.

Most anime (especially older programs) requires good video deinterlacing.

Most Anime requirse odd cadence detection vs. good video deinterlacing. The 6-4, 5-5 and 8-7 cadence detection will cover a lot of your Anime.

Stacey has it right, I think. With older deinterlacers which did not detect the odd anime cadences, the video deinterlacing performance was indeed the important thing. However, if the deinterlacer can detect and lock to the anime cadences then it isn't operating in video mode.

- Dale Adams

I could be wrong, but I think some of the early Smallville seasons on DVD are in video (i'm judging by the jaggies I see in the opening montage).