FleaHDMI - Time to iron out the facts? - Page 2

I did that yesterday. What equipment is needed for the firmware upgrade? Just a PC and a serial or usb cable?

Thanks for the correction. I wasn't thinking about HDMI, which would pass audio. I was looking at the analogue Flea, which doesn't do audio.

My apologies for confusing anyone.

You have another option: http://www.digitalconnection.com/pro...kdsdi1080p.asp

This will do the same thing (and more), without crushing blacks. It will output 480i over DVI with latest firmware.

I have used KD SDI to DVI converter in the past & returned it as it softened the picture a bit & colors were a bit desaturated, especially reds. I do wish that hopefully Algolith will fix the black crush problem on their SDI-HDMI converter.

looks good, but only need a SDI to HDMI 480i/576i converter ( no fancy

scaling)


Thanks

Michael


I'm really disapointed in Algolith not responding to my question on their website,

no customer service I guess

I would be happy in a Flea or Mosquito or Elizio accepting SDI/HD-SDI


Michael

Hello Nidi,

The Blacker than black issue originates in the silicon image encoder device used on the SDI option. There is, unfortunately, no fix available from them. We, at Algolith, will ensure that some of our future products will use devices that support Blacker than black.



Thank you

Anthony M
Tech Support
Algolith Inc.

A PC and a USD cable

Regards,

Anthony M
Tech Support
Algolith Inc.

Dear Nidi,

Your question has been answered.
Customer service is very important to us, this is why I'm helping AVS members on this and other threads.

Kind Regards,

Anthony M
Tech Support
Algolith Inc.

never got a response e-mail, could you resend it , please ?

Thanks

Michael

Ok, Algolith sent me an e-mail explaining that the current chipset used in it's SDI-HDMI converter has the BTB problem.

Michael

And how is that done exactly? Im intrested in buying one!

IMO Algolith should have done some testing before shipping the SDI-HDMI converter rather than blaming HDMI chipset after the fact.

Look up Jason Turk at AVS and send him a PM.

how much do they charge for it, anyway ?

Michael

vinodk,

true enough, but that box was created as an interim solution to SDI player owners wanting to use Algolith's products. There are other solutions out there, but SDI is getting quite rare again for the home market.

We should really applaud the fact that they have actually invested the effort to create such a product, IMO.

I saw one of these today and the difference on HD-DVD is VERY BIG! much more so then you would ever think, since HD-DVD is so good source to begin with
but I saw better black, brighter and more punch to the image, much better contrast, MUCH sharper without any ghosting, incredible depth, and much more sense of presence.
the total experience was fantastic!
and I was looking at a HC5000 perfectly calibrated on a studiotek 130, and thought it looked amazing even before the flea did its wonders.

looked at SD-DVD also, and it cleaned up the picture very nicely, but the biggest difference was the improved depth!
but HD-DVD was bigger difference between before and after.

so if you have HD-DVD or BD... BUY THIS, you havent seen HD until you have seen what this thing can do! its amazing!
had a pearl in the same room, and that looked more like SD-DVD compared to the HC5000 with the flea! it was just so much more details in the picture!
dont just use it on your cable, the better the source, the better this flea makes it!

Regards
Beagle

Does the FLEA pass the audio? I just received mine and I get a picture over HDMI but I'm not getting any audio. This is of no use to me if I can't pass the audio.

Also why does it keep saying the colorspace is RGB. Prioe to putting the FLEA in the HDMI chain my TiVos were not outputting RGB but the status shows RGB. If this doesn't pass the audio I don't know what I'll do. I have no desire to run optical cables to my components, that is what HDMI is for so you have one cable to carry audio and video. Why would you only want it to carry video? This has not been a good evening.

it is compatible with audio, it should just pass through, so something must be wrong

Something is wrong with this unit. When I try the second input with the same source it won't stay locked on the picture. This is frustrating.
I did get the audio to work. It wasn't working with the monoprice switch for some reason. Everything else works with it. The Flea doesn't have enough inputs. I guess I need to findout what the return process is.

I noticed another problem. The FLEA isn't passing the HDCP flag either. Is the FLEA supposed to be HDCP compliant? The one I have isn't. It won't pass the HDCP flag with an S3 TiVo, an HR10-250 TiVo and the Comcast cable box. So without the flag I can't view any On Demand or Premium channels.
I connected each box straight to the Tv and it is fine. Then when I add the FLEA between the TV and the source it loses the HDCP flag. It's not the cables, TV or my sources. I definitely need to return this for an exchange or refund. I hope it didn't damgae any of my devices. this is really frustrating.

Excellent customer service from AVS and Agolith. I've talked with a rep from Algolith a couple of times in the past few days and he worked with me to get things straightened out with the HDMi FLEA. I ended up flashing the FLEA HDMi with the earlier firmware and it is now stable with my setup. When They have a new firmware version available I will try that. The FLEA also wouldn't work with the first three ports of the Monopirce HDMI 5 port switch. I beleive those ports are cascading ports while ports 4 and 5 are not. The FLEA works fine in my setup with ports 4 and 5. Now I just need to get a remote for the HDMI FLEA. It does an excellent job on broadcast HD and SD. I am very pleased with it so far. It was so frustrating the first night I had with the unit.
I want to thank AVS and Algolith again for their excellent customer service.

there doesnt seem to be very many flea HDMI owners so could you please take screenshots to show others how great this thing really is?
would be great, espescially if you could take them when having the splitvision up so you could see on the pics before and after.
and would you say that you experience with your flea is similar to what i wrote above?

I'm not sure you're really going to see anything going from a large screen, to a compressed 5" digital web photo, but good luck.

Here is a link to some pictures taken from Headline News on DirecTV.

http://hdpics.aaronwt.com/FLEAHDMI/

The best one is probably Flea5. It shows some text in a commercial and you can see the mosquito noise reduction in the processed image on the right. I'll try and take some HD pictures later this week. The only reason I have these was because someone sent me a PM asking for some pictures of SD material off DirecTV, But the still pictures really don't show the pronounced difference that you see while watching live. It really does a good job on HD which is what I watch 95% of the time. Although I'm only using it with broadcast sources. I don't have the HD DVD player connected to it.

Flea5 shows dramatic improvement. Why are the colors so different though?

thanks!
but you really should see what this baby can do for HD-DVDs! its fantastic!

I think that's just from the camera and the fact that it is a DLp with a color wheel. The colors do look the same Live.

http://www.minhembio.com/bild/130687.jpg

here is a little crappy picture taken by me today of how it improves a HD-DVD, pretty much sharper, and gives more depth and clarity.