For those of you with both an iScan and an LT150, you may have encountered a problem outputing a component signal to the projector via standard VGA 15 pin cable. The obvious advantage to sending a component versus an RGB signal to the LT150 is that you get aspect ratio control, color adjustments, etc., with the former but not the latter. If you're like me and have an interlaced DVD player, you obviously want to run the DVD player through the iScan and then into the projector to take advantage of the iScan's superior deinterlacing capabilities.
Trouble is, the LT150 (and other NEC projectors I'm told), gets confused when the iScan tries to output a component signal to the projector with a VGA cable. The resulting picture is green and gray.
After talking with Baptiste (sp?) at iScan, he said he's unclear as to why the NEC has trouble with the component output of the iScan since it's a standard component signal, but he did acknowledge that accepting a component signal via VGA connector is unusual and may be the problem. He then offered a workaround that a customer with a VT540 came up with. Hypothesizing that the projector's confusion is caused by information travelling through the VGA cable that would otherwise be unecessary for a component signal (ie., the H and V sync on pins 13 and 14, possibly the Data Clock on pin 15 etc.), the solution is to stop transmission of all superfluous information on the VGA cable when outputing component. This means that you disconnect all but pins 1,2,3,6,7,and 8 (which are all that component utilizes).
I tried this experiment on a $15 VGA cable from Radio Shack by breaking off pins 4,5,9,10,11,12,13,14,and 15 on the end I connect to the iScan. Voila! It worked! I can now feed all video sources (DVD, DBS, S-VHS) through the iScan and then to the LT150, and still get aspect ratio control, color adjustments etc. This is a much better solution for me than buying a VGA breakout cable since I can run the DVD player through the iScan and I don't need to physically switch cables at the LT150 when I change video sources.
FYI, I also just ordered a custom Silver Serpent VGA cable from Better Cables and instructed them only to solder pins 1,2,3,6,7, and 8 (leaving the others free so that I could have them modify it back to a true VGA cable at a later date if need be). This is, in my view, preferable to breaking pins off at the connector.
So there you go. DVDO owners rejoice.
Kirk
BTW, I think Darian or someone may have suggested that something like this would work in an earlier thread.
[This message has been edited by Kirk (edited 08-10-2001).]
Trouble is, the LT150 (and other NEC projectors I'm told), gets confused when the iScan tries to output a component signal to the projector with a VGA cable. The resulting picture is green and gray.
After talking with Baptiste (sp?) at iScan, he said he's unclear as to why the NEC has trouble with the component output of the iScan since it's a standard component signal, but he did acknowledge that accepting a component signal via VGA connector is unusual and may be the problem. He then offered a workaround that a customer with a VT540 came up with. Hypothesizing that the projector's confusion is caused by information travelling through the VGA cable that would otherwise be unecessary for a component signal (ie., the H and V sync on pins 13 and 14, possibly the Data Clock on pin 15 etc.), the solution is to stop transmission of all superfluous information on the VGA cable when outputing component. This means that you disconnect all but pins 1,2,3,6,7,and 8 (which are all that component utilizes).
I tried this experiment on a $15 VGA cable from Radio Shack by breaking off pins 4,5,9,10,11,12,13,14,and 15 on the end I connect to the iScan. Voila! It worked! I can now feed all video sources (DVD, DBS, S-VHS) through the iScan and then to the LT150, and still get aspect ratio control, color adjustments etc. This is a much better solution for me than buying a VGA breakout cable since I can run the DVD player through the iScan and I don't need to physically switch cables at the LT150 when I change video sources.
FYI, I also just ordered a custom Silver Serpent VGA cable from Better Cables and instructed them only to solder pins 1,2,3,6,7, and 8 (leaving the others free so that I could have them modify it back to a true VGA cable at a later date if need be). This is, in my view, preferable to breaking pins off at the connector.
So there you go. DVDO owners rejoice.
Kirk
BTW, I think Darian or someone may have suggested that something like this would work in an earlier thread.
[This message has been edited by Kirk (edited 08-10-2001).]