Leeza Testing:
I wanted to put the Leeza through all sorts of tests before posting this final section of the review. I will break down the review into sections based on the viewing material so, if you are only interested in how it performed on DSS, you can just go to the DSS section.
Let me begin by saying that my monitor, a Pioneer 1000 plasma, is said to have a 60hz refresh rate, so optimally, the picture should look best with the Leeza set to 60hz. After days of testing on ALL material, I found that 72hz is the best setting for MY plasma, your viewing may be different. At 72hz, all graphics (Directv guide, commercials, sporting scores, CNN overlays etc.) looked rock stable, had no shimmer or flicker and appeared normal. On 60hz, graphics were shaky, shimmered and moved rather than remain stationary as graphics should. Also, movement and motion was much improved with 72hz and people and motion looked more natural and fluid when set to 72hz. For this reason, all of the testing below was done at 72hz.
There are some things potential buyers of the Leeza should know. It does not scale HD. What that means in layman’s terms is that if it receives an HD signal, it cannot and does not scale that signal to the rate you select, or any rate for that matter, it just “passes through†the signal. On all other signals, if you set the Leeza to 1280x768 for example, it will take Cable or DSS and output it to the rate you chose for optimal viewing on your specific display. On HD signals, whether through cable, over the air or from Directv, it will only pass the signal through at whatever rate it is being broadcast. From what I have seen, this isn’t a big deal and scaled HD sometimes looks worse. I have no problem with the current quality of HD and with the limited programming available, I am not so concerned about this feature, although you may want HD scaling. If you do, look elsewhere.
A more troublesome feature for me regards the DVI output. There is no question that the DVI output cleans up the image significantly. The difference between running DVI out when compared to 5 BNC out and D-sub15 out was not subtle and was quite dramatic. All static, wavy lines, snow and miscellaneous crap just disappeared and what was left was clear “pure†signal. Even my TWC looks good now through DVI, unbelieveable. The problem I have is that when outputting through DVI, you cannot watch HD broadcasts. Apparently, the HD signal cannot be broadcast through the Leeza’s DVI output, only through one of the analog outputs. So, if you want to watch ANY HD, you must run 2 outputs from the Leeza. One will be the DVI and the other, as in my case, is D-sub15. You can use component out or 5 BNC outs as well, I chose D-sub 15 for the fact that I had the cable, the plasma had the input and it was all done with 1 wire rather than 3 or 5 wires. This means that when watching HD material you must now change inputs on your monitor instead of having everything go through 1 wire and 1 input. Not a tragedy but, definitely something potential buyers should know.
CABLE: I have tried many scalers and have found that nothing cleans up Cable TV. It is just crap and no matter what I did, remained crap. When testing the Leeza through 5 BNC’s, the cable looked better but, no better than it did when run through my Faroudja NR. I would say the image went from a 4 to a 6, a big improvement but, 6 isn’t so great. So the answer to the question: “will a scaler improve my Cable broadcast?†is YES it will, but don’t expect miracles. However, the miracle isn’t in the scaling, it’s in the connection and DVI is the holy grail, for now anyway. When connecting my cable via S-video to the Leeza, scaling it to my plasmas native rate AND outputting the signal through DVI, the image was excellent, far better than anything I have seen from TWC or from any other scaler. I would say the signal is more like an 8 now, which is twice as good as without a scaler and that’s a major improvement. Local channels that looked so bad on plasma I couldn’t watch are now watchable. Decent and good channels look very good and the premium channels that always looked good, now look great. It’s all in the connection, 1 minute in my home will prove that DVI is the ONLY way to go if you have the connections available to you. Movies looked great and so did sports. The 72hz refresh rate, while better than 60hz, shows only a hint of shudder and “robotic†movement. I am very particular and no one seems to notice but me. It is difficult to describe but, at times people look frozen for a split second and then back to normal. At 60hz, it’s very robotic, at 72hz hardly noticeable and occurs very infrequently. The other refresh rates did not improve on the 72hz rate so, it is as good as it can be. This “shudder†effect occurs on all types of programming, video and film based, fast and slow moving action. It is not bad but, it is there if you look for it and are reviewing it.
DSS: Watching about 6 hours of movies on Saturday, 10 hours of football on Sunday and 5 hours of basketball on Tuesday, I can say without hesitation that the scaler looks real good. Deinterlacing and scaling on video and film based material is excellent. I can say that it is almost as good as the Faroudja with the exception of the aforementioned “shudderâ€. The lines on the football field are solid, not wavy or jagged. Colors look excellent. Detail, oh my the detail. Between the 3rd gen plasma, digital broadcast from DTV, scaling and deinterlacing the signal, THEN outputting the image “dot for dot†at the plasmas native rate through DVI, well I am happy now and my ass stays on the sofa a lot. The picture is not grainy, it is clear and bright, very detailed and natural, dare I say “almost†HD quality. No, not that good but very close, as close as I have ever seen standard DTV look. I must explain why. When your monitor does the up and downcoverting, it just is never as good as even a DVDO outboard scaler that is designed to do nothing but scale. Going external hopefully bypasses the internals of your monitor and leaves all of the tough work to the scaler. When you have the ability to match your monitors native rate, nothing can be better, that is the optimum rate. Throw in some high quality scaling and deinterlacing and you are in business. The final factor is the connection. Composite is the worst, then S-video. Stepping up from these 2 will give you significant improvements. Component is next followed by D-sub15 and 5 BNC’s. I have heard arguments that 5 BNC is better than D-sub and vise versa but, it’s a close call. Moving to DVI, or perhaps SDI, is like moving from composite to 5 BNC’s, it is dramatic and easily discernable for anyone to notice, not just a reviewer or AV geek. This connection is truly magnificent and I could not be more happy with the way things look. All of these factors contribute to the final image which is stunning. If only I had a 100†screen with projector, I would never leave home.
DVD: This is going to be a 2 part review, one with scaled component video and one with SDI. As I write this, my SDI player is on it’s way to me but, I have not yet tested the SDI with the Leeza. The following is for component scaling from a Panasonic RP-91. The Leeza only accepts interlaced video, not progressive so the RP-91 was outputting an interlaced signal to the Leeza. For all of the same reasons mentioned above, DVD looks awesome. To see it at it’s native rate through DVI is unreal. Using all of the standard test discs and scenes, the Leeza passed them all.
TOY STORY: No chroma issues, tinkertop lid does not flcker or bleed
GLADIATOR: Entrance to Rome: no flickering or deinterlacing issues, smooth and film like.
AVIA: No Y/C delay, no ringing, slightly less resolution than I have seen on the 6.75 patch but, the vertical lines are visible
VIDEO ESSENTIALS: The flag has some jagged edges as did the lamppost scene. Both video based material and not as good as Faroudja but, better than anything else tested.
On tests, I have seen other scalers look better. The video based tests in particular, look better on the Faroudja. However, as previously stated, this does not present a problem in actual viewing. Hours of video based sporting events produced no jagged lines, stairstepping or wavy boarders, just clean solid lines. These are torture tests, the most difficult to pass. In real life, very few broadcasts will have the type of video image that will present a problem, I have yet to see even one example in actual viewing. The same goes for the resolution test. I have seen the 6.75 test circle look better and sharper, but no DVD is capable of that frequency anyway so, it is of little importance. I must restate that the circle looked good, just not the very best that I have seen.
SDI DVD: Review to come soon.
Final Thoughts: The On Screen Graphics are personal, you may love them or hate them but, they work fine. I don’t think the Leeza is perfect but, it has the features I need and no other scaler does. It outputs a 1280x768, apparently not the easiest rate to find. It is remote controlled. It has an SDI input and a DVI output, go make a list of who else has this combo..no one. It has the ability to pass through 3 HD sources, most scalers can only pass through one. A multitude of input rates, output rates and refresh rates, something NO Faroudja can offer. Then you have the standard scaler features like: color control, saturation, noise reduction, the ability to assign any type of connection to any input (s-video, composite, component), the ability to output via s-video, composite, component, 5 bnc, D-sub 15 and DVI. There is more but, you get the idea. This scaler can be tailor matched to almost any system, however, it does not have 1365x768 which I feel is a terrible omission based on all of the Fujitsu, Panasonic and all 61’ plasma owners. Get on Key Digital, I can’t imagine that they wouldn’t create this rate if people wanted it.
I wanted to put the Leeza through all sorts of tests before posting this final section of the review. I will break down the review into sections based on the viewing material so, if you are only interested in how it performed on DSS, you can just go to the DSS section.
Let me begin by saying that my monitor, a Pioneer 1000 plasma, is said to have a 60hz refresh rate, so optimally, the picture should look best with the Leeza set to 60hz. After days of testing on ALL material, I found that 72hz is the best setting for MY plasma, your viewing may be different. At 72hz, all graphics (Directv guide, commercials, sporting scores, CNN overlays etc.) looked rock stable, had no shimmer or flicker and appeared normal. On 60hz, graphics were shaky, shimmered and moved rather than remain stationary as graphics should. Also, movement and motion was much improved with 72hz and people and motion looked more natural and fluid when set to 72hz. For this reason, all of the testing below was done at 72hz.
There are some things potential buyers of the Leeza should know. It does not scale HD. What that means in layman’s terms is that if it receives an HD signal, it cannot and does not scale that signal to the rate you select, or any rate for that matter, it just “passes through†the signal. On all other signals, if you set the Leeza to 1280x768 for example, it will take Cable or DSS and output it to the rate you chose for optimal viewing on your specific display. On HD signals, whether through cable, over the air or from Directv, it will only pass the signal through at whatever rate it is being broadcast. From what I have seen, this isn’t a big deal and scaled HD sometimes looks worse. I have no problem with the current quality of HD and with the limited programming available, I am not so concerned about this feature, although you may want HD scaling. If you do, look elsewhere.
A more troublesome feature for me regards the DVI output. There is no question that the DVI output cleans up the image significantly. The difference between running DVI out when compared to 5 BNC out and D-sub15 out was not subtle and was quite dramatic. All static, wavy lines, snow and miscellaneous crap just disappeared and what was left was clear “pure†signal. Even my TWC looks good now through DVI, unbelieveable. The problem I have is that when outputting through DVI, you cannot watch HD broadcasts. Apparently, the HD signal cannot be broadcast through the Leeza’s DVI output, only through one of the analog outputs. So, if you want to watch ANY HD, you must run 2 outputs from the Leeza. One will be the DVI and the other, as in my case, is D-sub15. You can use component out or 5 BNC outs as well, I chose D-sub 15 for the fact that I had the cable, the plasma had the input and it was all done with 1 wire rather than 3 or 5 wires. This means that when watching HD material you must now change inputs on your monitor instead of having everything go through 1 wire and 1 input. Not a tragedy but, definitely something potential buyers should know.
CABLE: I have tried many scalers and have found that nothing cleans up Cable TV. It is just crap and no matter what I did, remained crap. When testing the Leeza through 5 BNC’s, the cable looked better but, no better than it did when run through my Faroudja NR. I would say the image went from a 4 to a 6, a big improvement but, 6 isn’t so great. So the answer to the question: “will a scaler improve my Cable broadcast?†is YES it will, but don’t expect miracles. However, the miracle isn’t in the scaling, it’s in the connection and DVI is the holy grail, for now anyway. When connecting my cable via S-video to the Leeza, scaling it to my plasmas native rate AND outputting the signal through DVI, the image was excellent, far better than anything I have seen from TWC or from any other scaler. I would say the signal is more like an 8 now, which is twice as good as without a scaler and that’s a major improvement. Local channels that looked so bad on plasma I couldn’t watch are now watchable. Decent and good channels look very good and the premium channels that always looked good, now look great. It’s all in the connection, 1 minute in my home will prove that DVI is the ONLY way to go if you have the connections available to you. Movies looked great and so did sports. The 72hz refresh rate, while better than 60hz, shows only a hint of shudder and “robotic†movement. I am very particular and no one seems to notice but me. It is difficult to describe but, at times people look frozen for a split second and then back to normal. At 60hz, it’s very robotic, at 72hz hardly noticeable and occurs very infrequently. The other refresh rates did not improve on the 72hz rate so, it is as good as it can be. This “shudder†effect occurs on all types of programming, video and film based, fast and slow moving action. It is not bad but, it is there if you look for it and are reviewing it.
DSS: Watching about 6 hours of movies on Saturday, 10 hours of football on Sunday and 5 hours of basketball on Tuesday, I can say without hesitation that the scaler looks real good. Deinterlacing and scaling on video and film based material is excellent. I can say that it is almost as good as the Faroudja with the exception of the aforementioned “shudderâ€. The lines on the football field are solid, not wavy or jagged. Colors look excellent. Detail, oh my the detail. Between the 3rd gen plasma, digital broadcast from DTV, scaling and deinterlacing the signal, THEN outputting the image “dot for dot†at the plasmas native rate through DVI, well I am happy now and my ass stays on the sofa a lot. The picture is not grainy, it is clear and bright, very detailed and natural, dare I say “almost†HD quality. No, not that good but very close, as close as I have ever seen standard DTV look. I must explain why. When your monitor does the up and downcoverting, it just is never as good as even a DVDO outboard scaler that is designed to do nothing but scale. Going external hopefully bypasses the internals of your monitor and leaves all of the tough work to the scaler. When you have the ability to match your monitors native rate, nothing can be better, that is the optimum rate. Throw in some high quality scaling and deinterlacing and you are in business. The final factor is the connection. Composite is the worst, then S-video. Stepping up from these 2 will give you significant improvements. Component is next followed by D-sub15 and 5 BNC’s. I have heard arguments that 5 BNC is better than D-sub and vise versa but, it’s a close call. Moving to DVI, or perhaps SDI, is like moving from composite to 5 BNC’s, it is dramatic and easily discernable for anyone to notice, not just a reviewer or AV geek. This connection is truly magnificent and I could not be more happy with the way things look. All of these factors contribute to the final image which is stunning. If only I had a 100†screen with projector, I would never leave home.
DVD: This is going to be a 2 part review, one with scaled component video and one with SDI. As I write this, my SDI player is on it’s way to me but, I have not yet tested the SDI with the Leeza. The following is for component scaling from a Panasonic RP-91. The Leeza only accepts interlaced video, not progressive so the RP-91 was outputting an interlaced signal to the Leeza. For all of the same reasons mentioned above, DVD looks awesome. To see it at it’s native rate through DVI is unreal. Using all of the standard test discs and scenes, the Leeza passed them all.
TOY STORY: No chroma issues, tinkertop lid does not flcker or bleed
GLADIATOR: Entrance to Rome: no flickering or deinterlacing issues, smooth and film like.
AVIA: No Y/C delay, no ringing, slightly less resolution than I have seen on the 6.75 patch but, the vertical lines are visible
VIDEO ESSENTIALS: The flag has some jagged edges as did the lamppost scene. Both video based material and not as good as Faroudja but, better than anything else tested.
On tests, I have seen other scalers look better. The video based tests in particular, look better on the Faroudja. However, as previously stated, this does not present a problem in actual viewing. Hours of video based sporting events produced no jagged lines, stairstepping or wavy boarders, just clean solid lines. These are torture tests, the most difficult to pass. In real life, very few broadcasts will have the type of video image that will present a problem, I have yet to see even one example in actual viewing. The same goes for the resolution test. I have seen the 6.75 test circle look better and sharper, but no DVD is capable of that frequency anyway so, it is of little importance. I must restate that the circle looked good, just not the very best that I have seen.
SDI DVD: Review to come soon.
Final Thoughts: The On Screen Graphics are personal, you may love them or hate them but, they work fine. I don’t think the Leeza is perfect but, it has the features I need and no other scaler does. It outputs a 1280x768, apparently not the easiest rate to find. It is remote controlled. It has an SDI input and a DVI output, go make a list of who else has this combo..no one. It has the ability to pass through 3 HD sources, most scalers can only pass through one. A multitude of input rates, output rates and refresh rates, something NO Faroudja can offer. Then you have the standard scaler features like: color control, saturation, noise reduction, the ability to assign any type of connection to any input (s-video, composite, component), the ability to output via s-video, composite, component, 5 bnc, D-sub 15 and DVI. There is more but, you get the idea. This scaler can be tailor matched to almost any system, however, it does not have 1365x768 which I feel is a terrible omission based on all of the Fujitsu, Panasonic and all 61’ plasma owners. Get on Key Digital, I can’t imagine that they wouldn’t create this rate if people wanted it.
