[Med Chief Kirok]

I have the Mag 2160 recorder (which is great) but I also wanted to be able to make anamorphic DVDs from what I record from the Comcast box. So I also picked up a Component to S-video Converter (item MR-YPBPR-AV from s-video.com). For the most part this setup of going from the cable box to the down converter and then to the recorder works fine. However when I record something which has a bright image, the recorded image will have a flickering effect to it. This is something I have particularly noticed lately during the Olympics because of all the snow, ice, etc. I don't get any flickering of bright images on the Mag 2160 if I connect purely using a s-video cable from the cable box straight to the recorder. It only happens when I go from the component output of the cable box to the s-video input of the Mag by way of the converter.


I contacted s-video.com about this issue but they didn't have an answer. So I am turning to minds far greater than mine to help me understand what is going on, and what I can (or can't) do about it. Thanks in advance for any help you can pass along!

 

[7558037]

Try the Composite output from the converter to see if it reduces luminance (by compositing it) in the bright snow scenes while preserving acceptable quality? (Switch the 2160's Video Input setting, of course.)

 

[Med Chief Kirok]

Thanks for the advice but unfortunately I have tried that and I still get the flickering. But I appreciate your help!

 

[7558037]

One other person who was getting hot luminance cut it down by passing the S-Video signal thru another DVDR (Panasonic with input controls). Maybe you've got another device you could try passing the signal thru, even if it doesn't have any special input settings?

 

[Med Chief Kirok]

Hmmm...I haven't tried anything like that yet. I don't have another DVDR sitting around but I do have a LG DVD burner/VCR combo that I can use. I'll probably try your suggestion out either later today or sometime tomorrow and then let you know if it does the trick. Thanks!!

 

[Med Chief Kirok]

Okay, I tried your helpful suggestion. Your were right -- by passing the down-converted s-video signal through a DVDR/VCR combo unit it did indeed remove the luminance flickering of the image. Unfortunately another image problem resulted from this setup. (!) There now appears a wavering of the image at the bottom of the screen. The best way to describe it would be that it is almost like the kind of image wavering you would notice from a VHS tape that needs some tracking adjustment. (Remember those fun days?) Anyway, the wavering is quite persistent and sometimes it actually takes over the entire screen image for a few seconds. As before, if you have any suggestion at all, please feel free to pass it on.


BTW I also wanted to give you a big thanks for your thread about the Mag H2160! It was really based on your insights, etc from that thread that convinced me to pick up the unit. THANKS!

 

[7558037]

Unfortunately, it may be the LG... I didn't know until someone posted that some (or all) LGs don't have coax passhtru like most other DVDRs... they can apparently be "set" for passthru or not? I'm wondering if there's something else a LG does that's "different" in a line passthru as well?


If you just had any other brand of VCR/DVD machine that has line passthru, you might be closing in on a solution... except the Olympics might be over before then and all that'll be on will be dark and dreary swamp movies!?

 

[Med Chief Kirok]

Oh man! I'm going to look around and see if I have anything else I can use for the passthru but I'm doubtful. And If I don't get this resolved until after the olympics that's fine, it's just that the problem is more obvious when watching the olympics because of the bright backgrounds of snow, etc. Maybe I should just stick to the dark and dreary swamp movies. (To be honest just yesterday I picked up the book "Features From The Black Lagoon" which is a reference book about the Creature movies!!)

 

[7558037]

I don't think you said how your 2160 is connected to the TV yet. If it's HDMI, there are some HDMI controls that might help... brighten or darken the pic, as described under "Format - YCbCr" here.

 

[Med Chief Kirok]

Yes the Mag 2160 is connected via HDMI. I had already tried using the various HDMI options to adjust the image but, unfortunately, they didn't solve the problem. And although I hate to say it, I feel as though I've run out of options so I guess I'll just have to get used to the flickering when the image is bright. Thanks again for all your suggestions and help!!