[spatz]

Ok,


we did it....


The new DUNE will ship in 4-6 weeks and it has what all of you have desired for such a long time.

The FLI2200 deinterlacer combined with the FLI2220

enhancer chip.

I am testing currently the prototype, which is connected via SDI and I can only tell that I cannot imagine any other unit having this image quality. The enhancer chip really kicks ass out of the high res SDI signal. 3 dimensional ultra sharp. The fact that the enhancer chip has it all, also allows now Saturation, Brightness and Contrast control of the SDI signal as well.

So stay tuned for first impressions and the tests that will follow that some of you will probably perform ........

 

[Luca]

Uwe, great news but you cannot throw the stone and hide the hand.

Tell us more and more and more.......

Thanks.

luca

 

[Dennis Ho]

May I know what will be the price difference for the new model?


It would be great if there is even a further price reduction with the new chip.


-Dennis

 

[Tom Cambell]

will it be priced as agressevly as the new FE box?


sounds like faroudja isn't in control any more. maybe now we can all expect more video processers to have DCDi?

 

[Luca]

Tom, I'm almost sure the price cannot be the same or cmaparable with the one of the Centerstage CS-2 simply because they use different deinterlacers and, IMHO, are on different planes.

However much I may know it will cost about 7.000,00 Euros.

Best regards.

Luca

 

[Craig Robertson]

7000 euros is approx $6400 US.

 

[Joel]

Here's the 64,000 question: does the new Dune scale from the FLI2200 chip? Or does it only have 480p output? All other FLI2200-based units from anyone besides Faroudja are limited to 480p. Multiple refresh rates too? All the aspect ratio stuff?


Also, Uwe, you are no doubt aware of the various issues with the FLI2200 chipset -- ringing, y/c delay, etc. How have you managed those.


"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"


Congratulations, Uwe!


Cheers

 

[sspears]

It scales.

 

[J.Mike Ferrara]

Quote:

It scales.

I remember reading somewhere that Faroudja would stop making "consumer" video processors but continue to develop DCDi (and other) chipsets for others.

 

[spatz]

oh yes,


there are always "issues" but so far the F-chipset gives you an image quality that you cannot believe. The NRS seriese that we have compared and are using the same combination FLI2200 and FLI2220 clearly leaves a lot of space for us to improve the programming of the chipset.

Finally we will offer most of the enhancement settings to be programmed by the user and not as simple as the DETAIL function of the NR processors.

So you may finetune any setting to your personal preferences.

The full digital link via SDI in and DVI out is something that may beat the best out of digital porjectors....

 

[kjohn]

Sounds good but from previous pricing on your processors I think Focus CS 1 and 2 will definitely be a contender if it can do 90% of what the Dune can do price to performance the Focus is a no brainer and as far as price goes you are knocking on the heal of Faroudja to be its baby brother in price to performance the Sil504 chip is very good and I wonder if twice the price to say I have the Faroudja chip is worth it maybe to some but not me.

 

[davidfr]

At the present time, I use a Dune serial # higher than 1000.

I bought it recently.

I just hope it will be possible to upgrade for the new one !


David.

 

[Frank]

In a world evolving from NTSC to HDTV we need a better way to scale 1080i.

It sure would be nice to be able to plug in any source up to 1080i, autodetect the scan rate, deinterlace it all the way up to 1080P with 2:3 pulldown detection.


Frank

 

[snaggs]

Sounds great, any chance of some regional pricing (Australia) for those who don't enjoy a dollar as strong as the US ?

 

[Tom Cambell]

how much is the three input SDI? I called avs and jason told me that on the current dune the tripel input SDI adds another $1000. if the new Dune is $6400US will this mean with SDI it will be $7400?

 

[Health Nut]

Spatz,


This is great news. Finally, sounds like what we've been waiting for.


The question remains: How about Meridian 800 owners! Now more than ever we need an SDI output card...


Congratulations on accomplishing the new DUNE!

 

[ccooper]

I am a Dune "legacy" owner. I would like to upgrade to the new device, but only if it has these characteristics:

• 72 Hz refresh rate (in addition to 60 Hz, etc.)
• 1920 horizontal resolution when using 1080p output

Otherwise, I might as well just keep what I have, and use my HTPC for critical DVD viewing.

 

[Health Nut]

It is true that with D-VHS now starting to roll-out pre-recorded movies, the need for 1080i to 1080p de-interlacing has grown even further.


As far as 72 Hz capability, that is not a part of the Faroudja chip capability or design, so that would not be possible, at least in the sense of avoiding 3:2 pulldown.


We are reaching the point where we cannot do much more with de-interlacing. De-interlacing will never be a perfect process. This is one of the reasons we were hoping that for HD-DVD, they would put the 1080p right on the disc. It is also one of the reasons I wish there was more native 720p that does not require de-interlacing.


The bottom line is that right now, Faroudja apparently has the best de-interlacing algorithms utilizing 3:2 pulldown which runs at a fixed 60 Hz. So far the other de-interlacing methods which can run at 72 Hz (using 3:3 pulldown or such? --avoiding judder) have not surpassed Faroudja's de-interlacing.


1080i to 1080p deinerlacing with downscaling to 720p/768p is also needed for best display of 1080i onto HD1, HD2 DLP projectors as well as 7 inch CRTs and most HDTVs produced so far. We can only hope more display devices capable of 1080p continue to be produced.

 

[ccooper]

That is disappointing to hear that you can't get Faroudja interlacing combined with 72Hz processing (to avoid judder). In my current setup I have a HTPC at 1440x960p72 which displays a very nice picture, better than my DVD player going via SDI to the Dune in LQ mode at 60Hz. Of course, the Dune is still useful for SVHS and HDTV.


On the other hand, when Faroudja comes out soon with a combination DVD/NRS scaler, perhaps that will avoid the judder and I won't need to use an HTPC to watch movies.

 

[ericbee]

While it WAS true that Faroudja only worked with 60hz, the new dvd/nr combo is said to be capable of higher refresh rates but, this is an off the record comment. They are having major problems implementing 60hz with plasmas, especially the Pioneers. Add to that the issue of DVI compatibility and Faroudja HAS to adapt to current stanards, or risk not selling any scalers due to incompatibility issues. They are currently working on a DVI fix as well as different refresh rates, exactly which rates I don't know byt 72 makes the most sense.