Anthem D2/D2v/AVM50/AVM50v/ARC1 tweaking guide - Page 251

Just give Anthem tech support a call, let them know what you are trying to do with the PS3, and they will likely email it to you.
--Bob

As a new D2 owner, I have a question:

I've got an ancient Sony DVD player sending 480i (interlaced, not progressive) to the D2 over an analog component input, and then the D2 converts this to 1080p60 over HDMI to my JVC RS-1 projector. Everything works properly and my DVD player's output has never looked better.

So how come the D2 video processor "info" screen says my source is "480i x 1440"? This seem strange because DVDs are really only 480 x 720 pixels.

Is this because the D2's video ADC is oversampling (x2) its analog component input from the DVD player?

How does the D2 determine what sample rate to use on analog video inputs like this? There doesn't seem to be any way to control it.

- Dave

If you search back in this thread - you will see this is a
software bug that Bob and Others have identified and
Anthem has fixed in newer software than you have.

As DRHANKZ notes, this is a bug that has affected some people with Component 480i input devices. It's not certain how long this bug has been around, but it is certainly present in the V1.10 and V1.11 software releases.

So far, every report says this is accompanied by noticeable problems in the D2's video output when fed Component 480i input -- problems that at first glance appear to be de-interlacing errors but are actually something else.

You say your video looks great from your DVD player, so you may have a variant case where the input resolution is being reported incorrectly but the video defects aren't appearing (which would be a surprise to me), or it may be that you just haven't noticed the video defects since you are comparing against your memory of your prior DVD setup which may very well have had real de-interlacing errors that looked similar. I.e., you don't realize what you are missing!

In either case, this is fixed in "test" software version V1.11g. It is also fixed in the latest, Beta "test" software versions, V1.12q and V1.12r. Folks who have reported this "480x1440i" symptom have invariably said their Component 480i video was much improved once they installed this fix.

If you give Anthem tech support a call, they will likely email you one of these software versions to install. Or if you are happy with your current DVD video, you might want to wait a few weeks more for the official, next software release.
--Bob

In response to SHN750:


Steve, I think I need to add something to clarify here.

If all you want is a spot-on 16:9 crop of your 4:3 SDTV then you can simply set Crop Input = 16:9, and Scale Out = Anamorphic. You don't have to fiddle with the Custom crop setting (unless you want to play around and see what it does).

But if you want an INTERMEDIATE setup -- one that partially stretches left and right and partially crops off a lesser amount of the top and bottom of the image to fill the screen with somewhat less stretch distortion and somewhat less image loss top and bottom -- then you can accomplish that using a Custom crop input setting (Horizontal at max and Vertical somewhat less than max) along with Scale Out = Anamorphic.

So you have complete flexibility here to determine how much stretch you want vs. how much of the image is lost top and bottom -- while always filling your 16:9 screen.

You can set the Custom crop setting you prefer and then switch between HDMI Auto, or 16:9, or your preset Custom crop setting using the Mode button.

Press and hold Mode until the current Scale Out setting appears. Release the Mode button, pause briefly, and press it again. The current Crop Input setting now appears and you can cycle between the Crop Input choices using the Up and Down arrows.
--Bob

Levesque
I know you are the Anthem person. I have been reading for the last two weeks and you guys have cost me a lot of money. I was reasonably happy with my Denon 5700. After reading all the reviews and comments on line I had to jump in.
Yesterday I bought the D2 and could not justify the p5 and P2. So for the moment I bought the A5. I will wait on getting the 7.1 and decide whether to get the A2 or P2 for the left and right front speakers.

Any comments on why you went with the P5 and P2. I only have Thiel 2.3 for the front and CS1 for the center and power points for the surrounds. Sunfire for the subwoofer, and Marantz S3 for the projector on a 110 inch Dalite.
Are you all using balanced cables between the D2 and the amps? Comments. Any length restrictions?
Also, is anyone using the D2 With the Harmony universal remote?. I have the 890.

I'm using the D2 with a Harmony 880 remote. It works fine.

Balanced cables look cool (make your friends envious!), and for some folks it adds piece of mind, but in reality, most home theater setups don't really need them.

The idea of a balanced cable is that the signal is sent two ways -- balanced either side of ground. At the destination the two sides of the balanced signal are subtracted one from the other to get the "real" intended signal. In doing this, any interference that entered the signal as it passed along the cable automatically gets zeroed out since, in theory, it enters both sides of the balanced signal to the same amount and you just subtracted one side from the other.

That's why balanced cables are a natural fit for professional studio use where you often have very long cable runs and lots of electrical interference.

But for typical home theater cable runs between the Anthem and the amps (3 to 6 feet) and for typical home theater electrical environments, decently made, shielded RCA cables will work identically well.

I'll leave it to others who want to comment on the amps you asked about.
--Bob

Nick has sent me V1.12s beta software to install. Hopefully I can find time tomorrow to install it and it will fix my issue with the Sony BDPS-300.

V1.12s? Yet another version heard from! Let us know how it goes, and also if there are any notes on specific items fixed compared to V1.12q and V1.12r.
--Bob

I love Anthem. Looks to me like the 1.12s may have solved the inverse telecine for 24p playback from various sources. I've watched about 15 minutes of Chronicles of Riddick on HDDVD at 24p and didn't see a glitch. I also watched a few minutes of an SD DVD at 24p with the same results. I'm fairly excited about this as I wasn't expecting this so soon. I don't know if it is glitch free on 24p, but it has been for the short times I've watched. I've only tested at 1080i. My frame lock also works again, but it doesn't seem to be needed for 24P playback.

I haven't checked my BDP HD1 yet to see if it has corrected the locking up problem, because mine hasn't been locking up since I tried to reinstall the old firmware on the
Pioneer. Well, that's about it for now, I need to watch some more movies to see if I can find anything wrong. I also want to test 480i output at 24p. Oh, I did get a pink screen again the first time I turned on the XA2.

THAT'S GREAT NEWS! --Bob

This is the e mail Nick sent me:

Hi,

v1.12q fixed many things but created new issues for some, v1.12r fixed some
of those but created others. Thanks to all who sent us feedback whether or
not there were issues - "no issues" is also important feedback so we don't
break things that are working.

v1.12s narrows the gap with minor HDMI changes and major power-up sequence
changes.

Also in v1.12s:

Improved support for 1080p24 in to 1080p24 out such that frame lock can be
turned off if you were using it. Using dual video-out configs instead is
recommended, with 1080p60 for video 1 and 1080p24 for video 2 - assign video
2 for your Blu-ray input (if the player outputs 1080p24) and video 1 for the
rest.

Note that this is also a step towards 1080i60 and 480i60 in to 1080p24 out
(it may work in your system if display accepts 1080p24) although this still
needs an *unknown* amount of work to be stable... please hold off questions
about inverse telecine availability.

Best Regards,
Nick P., Technical Support

I have the 890 and the D2 works perfect.

Jeremy

This is working great so far. I watched about 20 minutes of A History of Violence on HBO HD at 1080i , output at 1080p/24 and I didn't see a glitch. Even if we find some minor glitches, this is great progress. I am very excited about this. I was tired of waiting for Toshiba for 24P playback on HD DVDs. Now it seems I may have 24P playback for most all film sources. I'm going to need to set up overlays for my HD DVD player and my 8300HD with one for 24fps and one for 60fps.

I'm using balanced connections from my D2 to my amps and also to my Velodyne SMS-1 subwoofer EQ. The runs aren't that long (15 feet or so), but they do run close to power cords. Also, theoretically, balanced cables help prevent or lessen ground loop hum problems. Balanced cables do cost more, though (but if you have a D2, the delta cost for balanced cost is relatively low). I got the Belden 1800F from Blue Jeans Cable:

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/...udio/index.htm

I searched around for a while, and relative to other places, I found their price to be reasonable. There may be cheaper places where you can get them (particularly from places that don't market specifically to the home theater/audiophile crowd), but as far as audiophile type retailers go, I found Blue Jeans' balanced cable to be good.

Ditto.

If the basics are working, the glitches are going to be at places where the cadence changes in an unusual manner (i.e., bad edits), and also where video-based content is spliced into what's otherwise film-based content.

The bad edits should be just a matter of how quickly the D2 picks up the cadence again. The Gennum stuff seems very fast at that. So that should not be a problem. The problem up to now appears to have been that when the Gennum lost the cadence then, for some reason when generating /24Hz output, it didn't find it again.

But films with video-based clips inserted in the stream can be more of a problem. That's because content that originated as /30Hz or /60Hz can't really be presented smoothly at /24Hz. If you are watching a film that happens to have a lot of that, you will likely be happier using /60Hz output from the D2 since normal cadence judder of the film-based portions is so easy for the brain to ignore anyway.

There may also be a problem from stuff with unusual cadences.
--Bob

Well, if you do find a noticeable difference between the A2 and P2, and you wind up liking the P2 over the A2, not sure you should necessarilly get the P2 if you already have the A5. Theoretically, you would want the front 3 speakers to sound as similar as possible, and they should ideally use the same amps (and speakers, but that usually isn't possible). In reality, the fact that the center speaker is different (even in orientation) than the Front L/R speakers might negate the argument that it's best to use the same amp for all 3 front speakers.

I'd also be interested to hear from D2 owners who have compared the A5 and the P5. I'm still using two Rotel RMB-1095 amps with my D2 (I used to use the Rotel amps with a Denon 4802, and folks in this forum were also a bad influence and made me spend lots of $$ to get the D2; actually, I've heard great things about Anthem for many years, and I would have gotten the Anthem 20 many years ago instead of the Denon, but it didn't have as much component inputs as the Denon did, among other things.... I would have been better getting the Anthem 20 in retrospect).

Marc,
You are a great guy to share such an experience.

Noted 7.1 and seeing more and more 6.1 DTS and Dolby EX encoded rear software coming out. Need 7.1 PCM (chant, chant, chant)

I'm using balanced cables, but I have 70' cable runs (incl. vertical) for L/C/R channels from my equipment rack in the rear to the L/C/R amp up front. Using BJC, they seem to work well - no hint of a 60Hz hum.

12s is a winner. Fixed the startup issue that pushed me from 12r back to 12q.

Great stuff, looks very close to showtime on a production release.

Tim

Agreed!! Chant, chant, chant!

Keep it up Randall! This is just tremendous news. Like you said before "I love Anthem". Keep us advised as to what kind of success you have over the next few days. Hopefully you will get the chance to watch an HD-DVD all the way through this weekend to see if there are any glitches, and spend more time with 1080i via the 8300HD.

Those overlay options look like they are going to come in very handy!

Rob, don't you think it's about time for you to jump in.

Let's just say with these recent reports, I have never been any closer!

So far I'm loving my D2! Although still in the showroom (The HT at home ain't ready yet ), It's almost identical to my setup, a pair of Energy's RC-70s, and 2 pairs of RC-Rs, plus one Energy XL-s12. Although their amps are abit better than mine :|.

Compared it to the Krell HTS and our mascot was the winner. 480i upscaled to 1080p from the DV-79 to the DLA-HD1 (Also mine)(Somehow I think the showrrom is my second home now :|) SD-DVD has never been so gorgeous, it's watchable!

Thanks for making this thread, and poisoning me into buying this masterpiece.

Thank you for your contribution!

Anyone in the Chicago area that wants to share with me their D2 stories and what equipment they are using. I thought since the center speaker is mainly for dialogue, it would not matter if the big amps are on your left and right speakers. In my case the Thiel 2.3.
I will probably not be set up for another two weeks in the HT. The D2 is in stock but the A5 is on order for delivery end of next week.
Has anyone compared the A5 and A2 with the P5 and P2? Do most of you have a 5.1 or a 7.1 setup? And do you believe the 7.1 is worth the investment, since in most cases it is artifically produced?

Gerry

I think the cadence problem is still there. I watched most of one of the Matrix movies tonight and it lost cadence twice while I was watching. I had to reset it by changing back to 1080p/60 output and then returning to 1080p/24. I don't know if this will happen in most movies or not, but if it does, then it is still a problem. I've been spoiled by watching Blu Ray 24p and tend to notice irregular motion a lot more than I used to.