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Anthem D2/D2v/AVM50/AVM50v/ARC1 tweaking guide - Page 6

post #151 of 40747
4/15/06 at 11:22pm
I think Levesque is your man. He's got the same gear and is a font of info.
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post #152 of 40747
4/16/06 at 6:15am
I am considering ordering a D2, but I don't know much about video processing or scaling, so forgive the rookie question ahead of time.

Will the D2 take a 480i DVD filmed in an aspect ratio (say 2:35) that unprocessed does NOT fill the full screen of my widescreen HDTV, and not only upconvert it to 1080i, but make it fill the whole letter box screen, with no bars on the top or sides and still improve the picture quality? My current equipment will scale these movies to fill the picture, but the PQ suffers so I don't do it.
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post #153 of 40747
4/16/06 at 6:18am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by FilmMixer View Post

Sold my Denon 5805 and 5910ci and will probably have my D2 next week... I cannot wait!!!!

Bold, and surprising move! Not a single review on the D2 and you made a jump like that?

Quote:
Originally Posted by FilmMixer View Post

I was wondering if somebody could post a quick cheat sheet for setting up the 79avi and the D2... vid settings for both, etc... for best upscaling of that setup.. this will be feeding a Sony Ruby......

I have the exact same set-up. We did calibrate everything with a Minolta spectro, Colorfacts and OpticOne.

79AVi: "Component 12 bit" (so YCbCr 4:2:2), 480i out, then copy "Direct" settings to "Memory 1". O IRE, and black level bump 1 notch to the right. Everything else is at default.

D2. Menu Video 8 Video output: HDMI, 1920X1080p60, ColorSpace: HDTV, YCbCr 4:2:2 out.

In the Gennum menu: contrast 40, Brightness 51, Color and tint at 50 (note that those settings are with my projector, and after doing a full-blown calibation, so maybe not good with yours...). Film mode "on", CUE bug filtering "on", Y/C delay adjustment with AVIA.

Sony Ruby: everything at default in the user menus (I mean contrast 80 brightness 50 color and hue 50). Sharpness at min (plus EE removal tweak in the user menu), black level off, Iris Auto, custom gamma curve (if you can't do one, then you can use gamma 3 for SD and gamma 2 for HD).

Advanced settings in the Ruby's factory menu. Most of the time I'm using "Darin's" iris tweak: other/43:140 and other/44:650 to maximise contrast. And sometimes "Alan's" tweak at 43/44 376/100 to maximise brigthness.

And at 110 hours on the bulb. Gain R 103 G 124 B 127 and Bias R 133 G 124 B 123. You can try those values just for fun, but you definitely want to have it done by an ISF calibrator, or buy a good analyser to find your values.

We also did 2 RCP custom settings: one for SD (rec 601) and an other one for HD (rec 709). It's your call here. For some material I prefer accuracy, and for other type of material I prefer more saturation (RCP off). You need precision tools to measure those tough.

Have fun!
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post #154 of 40747
4/16/06 at 7:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mlbrand View Post

Will the D2 take a 480i DVD filmed in an aspect ratio (say 2:35) that unprocessed does NOT fill the full screen of my widescreen HDTV, and not only upconvert it to 1080i, but make it fill the whole letter box screen, with no bars on the top or sidesand still improve the picture quality?

What you are trying to do is fit a square peg into a round hole.
Don't know if the D2 has this capability but most scalers I have owned do have it. Now the question becomes why would you do such a thing? In your example above you have two ways of doing it neither very pretty. You can zoom the picture which means you will lose part of the sides of the image or you can squish the image in which case people and faces will look long and skinny. Most "zoom" functions do a combination of both. What I'm trying to say is no scaler in the world can fill your screen without losing part of, or distorting the picture.
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post #155 of 40747
4/16/06 at 9:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LEVESQUE View Post

Bold, and surprising move! Not a single review on the D2 and you made a jump like that?

I have the exact same set-up. We did calibrate everything with a Minolta spectro, Colorfacts and OpticOne.

Thanks for the detailed reply..... What can I say... I am very impulsive, but I used to have an AVM 30 and know how great the Anthem is... And Denon's 1080p implimentaiton is not anywhere near what Anthem is doing...

My Ruby was cal''d by umr, so hopefully the settings should get us in the same ball park...
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post #156 of 40747
4/16/06 at 10:54am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by FilmMixer View Post

My Ruby was cal''d by umr, so hopefully the settings should get us in the same ball park...

So no problems then. Umr is one of the best. Did he create different custom RCP settings to match rec 601 and rec 709?

The only problem is that your video chain has changed, so you should ask Umr to come back and do a little "touch up". Changing the player and adding a scaler will need minor calibration again.

Or you should ask him to come tweak everything when you will buy your HD-DVD player soon...
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post #157 of 40747
4/16/06 at 1:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LEVESQUE View Post

So no problems then. Umr is one of the best. Did he create different custom RCP settings to match rec 601 and rec 709?

The only problem is that your video chain has changed, so you should ask Umr to come back and do a little "touch up". Changing the player and adding a scaler will need minor calibration again.

Or you should ask him to come tweak everything when you will buy your HD-DVD player soon...

I will..too bad he was just here this week caling my RP set... next go round.. Thanks for all of the help...
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post #158 of 40747
4/16/06 at 5:08pm
Quote:


originally posted by obie_fl What I'm trying to say is no scaler in the world can fill your screen without losing part of, or distorting the picture.

Thanks for the answer Obie, that makes sense. So it appears that the main benefit of a "scaler", is to upscale lower quality images, and/or better match them to the native resolution of the video display. Still a very substantial benefit if the scaler does as good a job as the D2 Gennum appears to.

Mike
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post #159 of 40747
4/17/06 at 8:08am
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 08:55:57 -0400
To: sfitech@sonicfrontiers.com
Subject: D2 480i Question

Hi Nick,

One question relating to the new Toshiba HD DV player. Early reports
indicate that it does not output at 480i over hdmi. But it appears
that it does output 480i over component. What happens with the
scaler in the D2 if you are not using 480i via hdmi from the player?
And will the 480i over component upsample to the hdmi output?

Thanks,
Stan

I received the following answer today from Nick: Hi Stan,

If the player can't output 480i from HDMI (when playing SD discs), try using
its component output at 480i, and compare with HDMI output.

When the player is outputting 480p, it uses its own deinterlacer. When it's
outputting 480i via component, the D2's deinterlacer will be used, however,
component connection may have more noise and/or non-picture garbage around
the edges. In the latter case, use the Edges function in the video
processing menu.

Either way, the D2 sends the picture to the display via HDMI.

Nick
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post #160 of 40747
4/17/06 at 10:48am
Here is a key question for many of us, which I don't remember seeing in this thread yet (unless I missed it).

Will owners/early adopters of HDTV's that only have component inputs benefit from the D2's Gennum scaler? I have several input sources with HDMI and component outputs, like the Pioneer 79AVi, and an HDTivo. I'm hoping that the D2 can take these sources and still improve P.Q. significantly while outputting through component to my Pioneer HD RPTV.
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post #161 of 40747
4/17/06 at 10:54am
Yes it can and it will. The D2 can output its scaled video in either Component or HDMI. In fact, if you are using the HDMI or Main Component outputs for Zone 1, you can even output a second processed output via the second set of Component outs.

You've got quite a few options here.
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post #162 of 40747
4/17/06 at 11:07am
Sorry if I missed this, but is there a planned upgrade path when HDMI 1.3 arrives? Or will this require a new D2? Thanks.
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post #163 of 40747
4/17/06 at 12:13pm
Ok, I've got my HD-DVD player but only a D1!

I'm about to start taking hostages

The D2 has to be the perfect processor for this player. Hi-rez audio over HDMI, Proper deinterlacing of 1080i over HDMI. Only the D2 AFAIK has exactly what it needs.

Ken
(will work for D2 upgrade)
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post #164 of 40747
4/17/06 at 12:30pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by KenLand View Post

Ok, I've got my HD-DVD player but only a D1!

I have a D2 but no HD-DVD player!

Quote:
Originally Posted by KenLand View Post

The D2 has to be the perfect processor for this player. Hi-rez audio over HDMI, Proper deinterlacing of 1080i over HDMI. Only the D2 AFAIK has exactly what it needs.

Exactly. Perfect timing. Everyone was complaining about the "delays" for the D2 to come out, but the D2 is the ONLY pre/pro on the market that was ready for the Toshiba HD-DVD players. Alot of people should remember that...

Alot of delays, yes... but still in front of all the other high-end companies building pre/pros out there. Lexicon, Theta, Parasound, Intgra Research, Rotel and all the rest. Not a single one of those was ready for HD-DVD. Only Anthem... ready with HDMI 1.1 AND real 1080i de-interlacing.

And there is also not a single receiver on the market, with video processing (HDMI switching and the like), that was ready. There is not a single receiver out there that can properly deinterlace 1080i.
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post #165 of 40747
4/17/06 at 12:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KenLand View Post

Ok, I've got my HD-DVD player but only a D1!

I'm about to start taking hostages

The D2 has to be the perfect processor for this player. Hi-rez audio over HDMI, Proper deinterlacing of 1080i over HDMI. Only the D2 AFAIK has exactly what it needs.

Ken
(will work for D2 upgrade)

Can't the D1 be upgraded with all the features of the D2 or are they only upgrading by putting in the HDMI and no scaler?
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post #166 of 40747
4/17/06 at 12:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dinger23 View Post

Can't the D1 be upgraded with all the features of the D2 or are they only upgrading by putting in the HDMI and no scaler?

The D1 will be exactly like a D2 after the upgrade... the only thing "missing" will be the logos on the front plate.
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post #167 of 40747
4/17/06 at 1:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dinger23 View Post

Can't the D1 be upgraded with all the features of the D2 or are they only upgrading by putting in the HDMI and no scaler?

Exactly, but noone is telling me where and when to send my D1 + check to get the upgrade. And LEVESQUE won't even help me, even though I've been the biggest supporter here on the forum.

(other than him and Kris of course, but they're different)

Ken
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post #168 of 40747
4/17/06 at 2:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LEVESQUE View Post


Quote:
Originally Posted by Dale Adams View Post

Question: Does the D2 accept a PAL or 576i input?

I'm not sure for now. But since they want to reach the european market, I would think so. I will ask Nick monday morning. But I think it does.

Hi,
I'm FRENCH and it's been a long time since I expect the AVM 10-20-30... D1 and now D2 or AVM 50 to reach the european ground...
Do you have any information regarding beeing compatible with European requirement such as 110-220v support, Pal video...
Regards
FRED
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post #169 of 40747
4/17/06 at 2:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by fhoude View Post

Hi,
Do you have any information regarding beeing compatible with European requirement such as 110-220v support, Pal video...

Yes. I did confirm with Nick and the D2 does accept a PAL or 576i input.

Si le D2 t'intéresse, il m'a d'ailleurs fournie les coordonnées du distributeur d'Anthem en France:

Distributor: HAMY/sound
Contact: Pierre Chabert
Phone: 01 47 88 47 02
Fax: 01 47 89 48 72
Email: pichabert@noos.fr
Website: www.HAMYsound.com
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post #170 of 40747
4/17/06 at 2:32pm
Excellent !!
Thanks LEVESQUE !
I'll Email this man asap.
FRED
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post #171 of 40747
4/17/06 at 3:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KenLand View Post

The D2 has to be the perfect processor for this player. Hi-rez audio over HDMI, Proper deinterlacing of 1080i over HDMI. Only the D2 AFAIK has exactly what it needs.

Ken
(will work for D2 upgrade)

Ken.. I'll let you know on Friday

LEVESQUE - I'll finally have you beaten with a piece of gear
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post #172 of 40747
4/17/06 at 6:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ManWithAPlan View Post

Yes it can and it will. The D2 can output its scaled video in either Component or HDMI. In fact, if you are using the HDMI or Main Component outputs for Zone 1, you can even output a second processed output via the second set of Component outs.

You've got quite a few options here.

Is the above true even if the source is HDMI? If so Anthem would be in violation of the HDCP license, which I doubt.
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post #173 of 40747
4/17/06 at 8:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FilmMixer View Post

Ken.. I'll let you know on Friday

LEVESQUE - I'll finally have you beaten with a piece of gear

I'll be happy to hear how it goes, but Kris Deering has beat us all to it.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...35#post7498135

The D2 is really strutting its stuff. The Tosh with at least some of the release titles is having audio problems/oddities over Toslink, Coax, and even 5.1 analog but... NOT OVER HDMI INTO THE D2 'Tis all niceness over HDMI 1.1.

I think I'm going to write an auto mailer to ask Nick how the upgrades are coming about 10X a day

Ken
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post #174 of 40747
4/17/06 at 8:10pm
Yes, even with HDMI sources, you can view them processed through Component Output or HDMI output from the D2 to a monitor for Zone 1. For Zone 2, you have the additional option of utilizing a second set of Component Outputs for just simply Zone 2 (Unprocessed), or Processed Main Zone...this might be nice if you wanted to A/B test the difference between your HDMI output with processed video and your Component output with processed video, on the same TV, including the abliity to freeze frame, picture in/on picture, or at least flip back and forth between inputs, to get a feel for PQ.

I cannot comment on any violation of HDCP as I haven't read the specs, though it strikes me that there is nothing Wrong(TM) with what Anthem is doing by allowing a second set of Component outputs for various inputs. After all, that is the entire concept of a multizone pre-amp, in this case, 3 audio/video zones plus Record. There are plenty of AV receivers that allow multiple sources, including HDMI, to be output over Component or HDMI, etc. It is called video transcoding I believe, and there are several folks doing it.

Perhaps I misunderstood the question?
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post #175 of 40747
4/17/06 at 8:22pm
Let me get this straight if I hook up my Pioneer 79AVi via the HDMI at 480i to the D2 and output it via component at 1080i/720p to an analog display it will work? If so this is a first for a video scaler and definitively a violation of HDCP. I don't see how the HDCP handshake would get validated unless the D2 is "cheating".

(EDIT) Can you point me to another device that can take an HDMI/HDCP source and output hi-res component? This flys in the face of everything I have encountered regarding HDMI/HDCP. HDCP is supposed to shutdown any component output if the source is HDCP.
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post #176 of 40747
4/17/06 at 8:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by obie_fl View Post

Let me get this straight if I hook up my Pioneer 79AVi via the HDMI at 480i to the D2 and output it via component at 1080i/720p to an analog display it will work? If so this is a first for a video scaler and definitively a violation of HDCP. I don't see how the HDCP handshake would get validated unless the D2 is "cheating".

(EDIT) Can you point me to another device that can take an HDMI/HDCP source and output hi-res component? This flys in the face of everything I have encountered regarding HDMI/HDCP.

Ahh, now that I slow down and read thoroughly, I'm not 100% sure of the answer to your question. Sorry about that. I know that in order for Zones 2, 3 and Record to have independent switching of all source components, they need to be connected via the same input connection as they will output. What I don't know, is whether Zone 1 has to live by the same rule. If so, then your suspicions are correct, you would need to also connect the 79avi via Component as well as HDMI in order to take advantage of both outputs.

By the way, the D2 manual makes note that if your ONLY connection is HDMI from a source, and if the source material is copy-protected with HDCP, then you will ONLY have HDMI video output active at that moment.

What makes this confusing in my case is that I utilize every available video and audio connection from every source I have to the D2, because I am using it as the centerpiece of a 3 Zone house system. So, in my case, my 79avi is connected via HDMI, Component, SVideo and Composite video to my D2. I am outputting 480i to the D2, and letting the D2 output processed video via HDMI for Zone 1, Unprocessed Component for Zone 2, Composite for Zone 3, and SVideo for the Record Zone.

Not sure this helps you out at all yet, but I wanted to clarify my earlier post. I know it will take a Component input and process it and output it via HDMI, but not sure if it works the other way around.
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post #177 of 40747
4/17/06 at 9:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ManWithAPlan View Post

By the way, the D2 manual makes note that if your ONLY connection is HDMI from a source, and if the source material is copy-protected with HDCP, then you will ONLY have HDMI video output active at that moment.

Ahh now that makes sense...you were getting my and all the other CRT FPTV owners hopes up. I suspect if your only source is HDMI you will get nothing on the component of any zone. The trouble is I've yet to see an HDMI device that didn't have HDCP enabled.
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post #178 of 40747
4/18/06 at 12:02am
Hi,
I read many post with the D2 but I did not find so much about the new Digital Image Processing.

I have a Vigatec V1280 right now that feed an analogic Barco Cine7 and I'm wondering how the D2 perform regarding to this stand alone scaler.
Is there any test that compare the D2 Scaler and another Scaler ? (even if not the Vigatec)

Also perhaps I miss anything but, I'm wondering if the D2 could convert HDMI to Component (I dont know if it look better than direct component feed) and also could we scale a component input and output the result on the component Out ?
Exemple: Input(component 480P) output(component 720P)

YC could be scaled but not the Composite if I read the manual well enough

I also want to know the delay between input & output. As a Gammer myself I love playing various consoles but V1280 insert to much delay and the PAD controller does not match what you seen on the screen... Sometime we need reflex in games and to many delay kill the Gameplay

In fact I want to see if this vigatec coud be replace or not.
D2 is pricy so...

Regards,
FRED
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post #179 of 40747
4/18/06 at 1:39am
Quote:


Originally posted by ManWithAPlan By the way, the D2 manual makes note that if your ONLY connection is HDMI from a source, and if the source material is copy-protected with HDCP, then you will ONLY have HDMI video output active at that moment.

So... will the HDMI Audio still be able to output from the HDCP copy protected source, and if so will the D2 let you listen to the audio from that HDMI input and view the video from another (component) input at the same time?

(and yes, us component input only HDTV owners are desperate to stay current!)
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post #180 of 40747
4/18/06 at 5:58am
I got my D2 yesterday with no wait. I called my out of state dealer on Thursday to ask when he might get a D2 in. He said that he had several on order and one had just arrived. He put it in the mail that day and I got it yesterday.

We haggled a bit on price but he has always treated me fairly. I traded in my AVM 20 and a PS Audio P600 and paid less than half the list price for the D2.

It took me about 45 minutes to set it up. I have three main video sources, my high definition cable box, an Arcam FMJ DV27 DVD player, and my XBOX 360. The scaler is awesome. My DVD's look much better than I remember, even than what I remember with my top of the line Lumagen scaler. High Definition is improved as well. Standard Definition is a little softer with the processing engaged, but again this is what you would expect. The best thing is that I now have only one cable to my TV, and don't have to switch inputs going from standard def, 480P, or 1080i.

Overall I am very happy with my unit.

Troy
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