Anthem D2/D2v/AVM50/AVM50v/ARC1 tweaking guide - Page 1306

a question primarily for Bob, as he has been (is?) an Oppo resource.
RE: chips: Who has the better video chip, D-2 vs: oppo93 and D2 vs: oppo 103
the same question can apply to the d2v, but i have the D2
Does the D2 pass 3-D, or just the d2v
many thanks
Walt

Not Bob but I can tell you the D2 does not pass packed frame 3D i.e. 3D Blu Rays.
I'm also pretty sure Bob will give the edge to the Oppos over the D2 too. I know I'm slowly but surely bypassing the D2 video processor with my video sources.

^ I would recommend using the D2 or D2v for upscaling 480i SD TV broadcasts and 1080i HD TV broadcasts (rather than passing the signal through the HDMI Inputs of the 103/105). For a TV set top box, set it to "native" output so that it sends out 480i, 720p or 1080i according to what channel you are watching and let the Anthem take it from there.

For the OPPO 103/105 use 1080p for everything. The D2 and D2v are as good but not better and letting the OPPO do the scaling means you can use the convenience features in the player such as DVD 24p Conversion.

For the OPPO 93/95 you might like it better to let the D2 or D2v upscale SD-DVDs. That's a little more complicated to set up properly for 4:3 SD-DVDs since if the OPPO is sending out SD resolution it should not also be set to generate the pillar box bars.
--Bob

Ideally, I'd let my TiVo Premier XL4 output native resolution, but it takes my Anthem D2 to "resynch" whenever the output resolution changes. The Anthem D2 loses the picture for more than long enough to be annoying. It's painful when channel surfing between channels tha that've. 480i, 720p, 1080i and 1080p (TiVo can output 1080p native for Internet sources, another irritation I have with the D2 since it doesn't work with the TiVo when using HDMI). So, I configured my TiVo to output a fixed resolution, and any hypothetical decrease in quality by having the TiVo do this is way more than compensated for by getting rid of the annoying resynch when switching between different resolutions. But kind of defeats a main benefit of the D2. Aside: my latest generation TiVo still has HDMI handshaking problems with my D2 (latest non-beta firmware from a while back). However, I have 2 other TiVo's in other rooms connected directly via HDMI to plasma TVs outputting native resolution and those TVs have no HDMI handshaking and long resynch problems.

How does theD2v compared to the D2 when switching output resolutions? Does TiVo work via HDMI with the D2v? Although now that Anthem no longer provides upgrades from D2 to D2v, the point is moot.

That is sad! It is a basic HDMI rule (although it makes no sense) that both manufacturers should know. Glad you got it working though.

By the way, Bob and even Nick @ Anthem are always recommending that none of the HDMI-related settings be left to AUTO in the Anthem, especially when debugging issues. If you make the decisions yourself and use EXPLICIT settings it speeds up the handshake and reduces chance of glitches.
Edited by AVfile - 12/14/12 at 8:33am

You mean input resolutions?

Yes, I meant "input".

A Simple question.
The sub cutt off in ARC . Dos it affekt redirectet bass from the main/surrounds . Or only the LFE Channel ? I Can see that it have being discused before . But i cuddent find at ansver......that i could understand .

All my speakers is set to 80hz and my sub Cut off to120hz. If if also affekt redirectet bas's from the main/surround, there Will be a overlap of bass in the 80 - 120hz region

I don't have the D2 to compare the the v with latest firmware is pretty quick at taking to different inputs, say max 2 sec. since the output is held steady the display doesn't scramble which takes much longer in my case.

An HDMI handshake is required each time the input resolution changes.

The minimum time for an HDMI handshake is right around 2 seconds. This is due to delays that are designed into the HDMI spec to give the equipment at each end of the cable time to get its act together.

If the handshake doesn't complete normally, then a "handshake retry" happens. Thus the delay becomes longer in additional 2 second increments depending on how many retries happen.

Now, there's nothing you can do do eliminate the handshake in the first place -- short of always sending the same resolution. And there's nothing you can do to shorten the 2 seconds per handshake. But there's PLENTY you can do to reduce the chances that HDMI handshake retries will be needed!

First and foremost is to see to the quality of your HDMI cabling. Marginal cabling is the single most common reason for handshake retries. The cable carries both high and low bandwidth signals and either type can be marginal separately. So even though video is stable AFTER the handshake, a marginal cable can still cause problems DURING the handshake.

If you have any adapters, wall plates, daisy-chained cables, HDMI switches, or additional HDMI processing gizmos in the signal path, they alone can be the cause of handshake problems, particularly for 1080p video and even more so if you are using Deep Color for video.

Second, simplify the negotiation that happens during the handshake. At the source end of each cable, select explicit settings for the HDMI output format rather than Auto settings.

Keep in mind that HDMI is an end to end protocol, so the problem can be anywhere on the path from the Source device all the way through to the display. This is true even if you are only having problems from one Source device. This is also why Source devices with flaky HDMI implementations have more trouble going THROUGH a processor like the Anthem than when connected directly to a display. Indeed, we are not so far removed from when cable and satellite TV set top boxes were totally incapable of setting up HDMI through a processor. Those older boxes ONLY worked when directly connected to a TV.

The HDMI handshake is driven by the Source, so check to make sure you have the most up to date firmware in each Source.

If your problem is with a cable or satellite TV box, consider using HDMI only for video. Use Optical/Coax digital audio from the box to the Anthem. Optical/Coax carries the same digital audio as HDMI for TV programs.

For folks with the original D2 or AVM 50, Anthem states that you will have BETTER HDMI performance using the Official V1.33 firmware than with the "test" V1.47f firmware. That's true unless you have one of a small set of problem devices that V1.47f was designed to try to work around.
--Bob

The value you should be looking at is not Cutoff but the Sub's Crossover as uploaded by ARC into Setup > Speaker Configuration.

Think of the Sub's Cutoff, rather, as kind of like Max EQ Frequency for the Subwoofer.

Also keep in mind that the actual transition from main to Sub for each main speaker is a combination of the Crossover settings and what ARC is doing with the Room Correction parameters. And LFE is handled specially. I.e., trust ARC to have done it right according to the Target settings in effect.
--Bob

Help
I have the DV2 and have upgraded to the latest software the input is the kaleidescape system through HDMI
When I play a DVD 5.1 it is fine until I press pause Once I try to play again I get this high pitched screech through the system if I play another source and the n come back to the dvd it plays properly
Any help will be gratefully received

There is nothing to be gained by using the Anthem to process the video signal from a OTA TV station or a cable system.
Their signals are so poor to start with and are a highly compressed signal at either at 480i, 720p or 1080i. Nothing more is currently available.

You can eliminate your problems by having your Tivo or whatever set top box you have set to always output 1080i to the Anthem.
Then have the Anthem set to also send out the 1080i to your TV set on that selected HDMI output port you have for TV ( Not. DVD or Blu Ray)
If your TV is 1080p it will internally process the 1080i signal to 1080p without any delay .
This should make TV channel changing a smooth invisible process.
Mind you now, I am only recommending this for OTA TV or Cable not DVD or BluRay.
Test it. Check the video quality. You will not see a difference in the OTA TV or cable video picture quality.

Peter

Your main and all your surround speakers should be set to SMALL as in the ARC setup instructions.
The signal then sent to the sub woofer is a combination of everything below the main speaker lower cutoff and the LFE.1 signal

The bass crossover as described and explained by Anthem is a smooth transition from the main speakers to the subwoofer as it is a gentle slope not a sharp cutoff.

thanks for the reply (s)
valuable info, as always
walt

In the speakers setup the valmue for the sub is set to 80 hz . But from what i have understand , it Will bee bypassed when ARC is activ. Is it wrong to say that the sub Cut off is very similar to the low pass filter on the sub?
Edited by p.las - 12/14/12 at 4:50pm

Okay, need help... I have my BluRay and Xbox set up, although the Xbox gave me some audio fits for a while today... a constant frequency static noise. Through trial and error, I have that resolved for now. The problem I'm having now is that with my Moto Cable box I can't get anything but a green screen, with an error message sometimes that says something along the lines of "the HD content of one of your devices is compromised" or something similar to that. I called Comcast, hooked the HDMI cable up directly to the TV and no problem. Problem only exists when hooked up to the AVM50v.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Sorry Stew but I have to disagree. In my experience just the opposite is true. Cable/Satellite is pretty much the last source that benefits significantly from processing. I currently have three video processors (D2, Oppo 103, and Lumagen Radiance) well four if you count the one in the projector, in all cases the external processors do a better job then the various cable STBs (Cisco/Sci Atl) I've had in my system. If I let the cable box upconvert to 1080i or 1080P for the most part it is crap especially 480i channels, no where near as nice as any of the other processors. I even see artifacts in the 720P channels when the box is upconverting. Maybe I've just had bad luck with cable boxes but I really don't think the Satellite and Cable companies are putting much effort into their onboard processors.

I been experimenting a lot lately running my cable box through the Oppo 103 and it is really working quite well, even dare I say better then the D2. The key for me and I believe Bob mentioned this is to use toslink or coax for the audio. I was never able to get my cable box to consistently output HDMI audio to the D2, it actually works pretty well with the 103 but I'll keep it on Toslink since it simplifies things and there is not loss in quality at this point. Another option is to run component into the D2 from the cable box but I refuse to convert a digital signal to analog only to go right back to digital. I should also add I'm probably pickier then most about video but the scaling and de-interlacing differences are pretty prominent in my case.

Okay, now the static noise is back intermittently on my Xbox input. Anyone have any ideas what my two problems might be?

1) Green screen/HD Content Security Comprimised on my Moto DCX3400 HD/DVR
2) Intermittent static audio (no actual game audio at all when it does it) via HDMI with Xbox. The static sounds like digitized static.

Bob? Stew? You guys are the gurus.

BTW, the AVM50v sounds and looks friggin incredible with Bluray/lossless audio!

Okay, Xbox issue seems to be because the AVM50v sometimes diagnoses the incoming audio signal as "PCM 6 Channel" without categorizing it correctly as DD5.1. Cycling through the inputs back to the Xbox solves the problem.

Weird.

still fighting with my D2v
last night I had only sub from my NMT - no LCR - instead of no sound all together (running 3.0f again)
tried all sorts of things, but nothing brought it back
funny thing was I could pick some shows & the audio was fine, then I had 1 that was fine while testing, but when I went to watch, only sub
switching to cable box was fine every time
finally watched from my netbook using the same file on the NMT that had problems (Netbook=HDMI3)

my main concern is the slight crunching when navigating the GUI on either the NMT or STB (NMT=HDMI1, STB=HDMI5, so not on the same card)
I never heard if before 2 weeks ago - any theories on why navigating the GUI (changing the video) could result in audio?
to me it smells like a hardware issue
I am going to check all the HDMI inputs again for bent pins and change the HDMI cable on the NMT box & try 1 source at a time
I have a friends D2v to test too if all else fails

mark

Sorry for all the questions today... red-eye flight, no sleep...

One of the things I can't seem to figure out is how to lock the "mode" to "Dolby D" and "none" for addition processing. The AVM seems to default to a DSP setting on every input. I have played with "modes" in the setup menu with no success.

I'd like to defeat the DSP settings for all inputs as the default, but be able to cycle through them if the mood strikes me.

In mode Presets item 7 in the setup menu choose Last used

I have tried that, but it's not working for me for some reason.

Please
Please :-D

Just found this nice review of the AVM 50v 3D:

http://www.soundstagexperience.com/index.php/equipment-menu/388-anthem-avm50v-3d-audio-video-processor

I answered your question above but again here I will repeat it.

Peter

Your main and all your surround speakers should be set to SMALL as in the ARC setup instructions.
The sub should be set to bypass as in the ARC instructions

The signal sent to the sub woofer is a combination of everything below the main speaker lower cutoff and the LFE.1 signal

The bass crossover is described and explained by Anthem as a smooth transition from the main speakers to the subwoofer and it is a gentle slope not a sharp cutoff.

If you need a further explanation let us know
Edited by thestewman - 12/15/12 at 4:54am

Last Used doesn't work very well. I've reported to Anthem but they haven't addressed it.

So the sub Cut off have the same funktion A's the low pass filter on a sub?

In my speakers setup in anthem. The subwoofer lowpass - is it by passed or not , when ARC is active?