Time to crown a new SDI DVD king! - Page 14  

Enough with the X-files type BS conspiracy theories, certain people wanted him basically to go through hoops to supply them with a modded player. Where if they really wanted get one *in time* to do a review during the PB, all they had to do was buy one outright. But instead they continued to make unreasonable demands, that no other vendor of SDI modded players would have agreed to do either. Gary's own review, was really nothing more than him saying a certain player was better for SDI mods than some others. And that it can outperform 480i output via HDMI under certain conditions. But he never claimed that it would be a night&day type difference that would hit you like a club upside the head, in fact he was quite clear on the fact that it was not, and that you may not even really see any of it with certain equipment. Sooner or later in audio and video you reach points where the next increase in quality may only be a very slight one, and possibly a costly one, that often depends a lot upon the equipment you already have and use in your own setup to gain anything from it. And adding a SD SDI player to what you already have, can be one of them.

Johnla: Your comparison with Gary and JVB Digital or MSB Technology isnt an accurate one because:

A. They do not post on this site
B. They are companies that offer a service without comment or opinion
C. They make no suggestion that SDI is better or worse then HDMI
D. They are not forming a "powerbuy" to AVS members
E. They did not post a review with screenshots for comparison

I will repost what has been said throughout this thread, if Gary would have just offered his services without comment then no one would be on his back. If he just refrained from comment then many SDI owners could and would have posted in the thread about their players. To post dozens of times mentioning an upcoming powerbuy, then post a new sticky thread about the powerbuy, then post photos showing why HIS modded player is better than all other modded players AND better than ANY HDMI player..well that opens up a whole new can of worms.

But, he did what he did and a dozen or so of us said "ok, put your money where your mouth is". No one in this thread claims that SDI WONT be better, we just want to have an independent review not performed by the players vendor to determine for ourselves. We didnt make that challenge to JVB Digital or MSB Technology because they didnt jump through hoops BEGGING us to buy their product or CRAMMING down our throats the obvious improvements in picture quality from SDI over HDMI.

Only after we went around Gary to get a player, rather than your suggestion of paying $600 without proof, warrantee or ability to get a refund, did he then realize that this is gonna go down with or without him. The backpeddling and damage control begins with parameters that a 120 inch screen with front projection system will be the only display device capable of revealing these differences, only using HIS modded player because other mods may be inferior, only using an Oppo 891 because that is superior to all other SDI players he has modded and so on.

I offered to buy one provided he would accept it back if it was proven to be inferior and he said NO. I offered to pay for Mdrews unit to be modded so it could be shipped to me and still be protected by Paypal and he again said "NO" even after Mdrew agreed to this and was willing to contact Paypal to indemnify Gary, and again this too was unacceptable.

I understand Gary is a long standing member with thousands of posts, hundreds of satisified customers and an honest man. Can you understand that AVS members want to see a review/comparison between todays 480i HDMI players with the already proven 480 SDI players to determine if a digital signal like HDMI is still inferior to the SDI signal? Previous shootouts compared SDI to S video and analog component video not to HDMI. Can you also understand that anything a vendor states when comparing their product with all other products will be questioned and subject to scrutiny? Is it so unheard of and unusual for us to want someone other than Gary to show screenshots and give opinion on the merits of one over the other?

In the end, Gary may have been unfairly singled out in this thread and that is unfortunate but, he is the only member on this forum that profits from modding SDI players so I think that questioning the improvements of SDI over HDMI is something that would be better left to anyone that doesnt benefit from SDI being superior. Perhaps in the end it will be proven to be but, because Gary has bent over backwards to keep this from happening further reinforces mine and others opinion that there is something to hide or perhaps SDI mods are no longer needed with todays digital HDMI 480 players like they were years ago when only analog was available.

If that proves to be the case, who do you think stands to lose? Think about that.

Wow Gary! Labels/generalizations based on the number of posts someone makes can also be viewed as one form of bigotry.

Your credibility can only increase if you were to steer clear of hurling barbs and just stuck to facts.

I am no noobie but, that aside the people coming to the shootout are long standing AVS members with thousands of posts so, leaving my status out of it, they will post their findings which I am certain you will find some other reason to question.

Once again, the SDI opinions of past have been based on SDI vs every other connection BUT HDMI so, they are meaningless as is my position on your ignore list.

That just cracks me up.

Too bad for Gar that each of his potential customers that read this thread will see what he does not (thanks to his use of the ignore button):
1) that Gar is selling a mod that may (or may not) be better than the base player that sells for 20% of his price,
2) that Gar seems to be afraid of an independant review / shootout,
3) that Gar will stoop to lies about what Paypal will allow,
4) that when faced with criticism, his only recourse is to fall back on cries of "newbie", followed by the injudicious use of the ignore button.

Unfortunately for him, post count alone does not prove a point.

It seems the person who needs a large dose of "get real" will be the person who can't read my post (or, apparently, the post of any other AVS member who doesn't believe him based on his word alone.

Too bad for Gar he won't be able to see the review, but if it comes out as I expect it to, even he should be able to guess what the result was when his orders trickle to a halt. That's "one darn thing (I expect) will change if" SDI is not seen as an upgrade in the shootout! lol

There is of course the possibility that the shootout will reveal that SDI on the 981 (the others have been discounted already) is indeed superior enough to be a "night and day" difference ...

Absolutely true! Gar himself seems to have distanced himself from that possibility with the "really high end system with a FP of no less than 120" qualifications, but that's one reason I'm eagerly anticipating the shootout.

let the games begin!

SDI has merits, I'm afraid that people who do not recognize that need to review what HDMI does and doesn't bring to the table. Whether those merits are of interest to specific customers is a discussion beyond my own personal scope. I'm not really sure if SDI has significant differences in PQ, but there are slight differences. If those merit the extra cost of the mod (assuming that's what people want the mod for) is a question for each customer (as is the question of any accessory and mod).

I don't see anyone (including Gary or any of the SDI mod companies) stating otherwise (whereas snake-oil cable companies definitely claim something that's contrevercial).

Want the mods? Get 'em. Don't want them? Don't get 'em.

Don't bash. This forum has been bash free for a record number of months.

Just as I thought this thread was going in a productive direction, it has returned to the ways of the darkside (flames & bashing). As a moderator, I'm afraid I'm dissapointed with all this cross bashing.

This thread is closed.