[FE]

Hi everyone,


Focus has decided to start shipping all QuadScan Elite processors without input or output filters. This will give you a much sharper picture! For anyone that already owns a QuadScan Elite you may contact Mike Brown at our tech support center (408)866-8300 ext 156 to make arrangements to have the filters removed for a cost of $100.00. All new Elites shipped will already have the filters removed!


In addition to this we are shipping a new version of the QuadScan Elite called the QuadScan Elite PDP (for plasma displays) this unit will be the same price as the regular version the main difference is that we will support 42", 50" and 61" plasma display panels. We are accepting orders through our authorized dealers (including AV Science) now and plan to start shipping in a few weeks. The SKU#'s for the PDP version are as follows


444-5601 QuadScan Elite PDP desktop SRP $1699

444-5623 QuadScan Elite PDP 19" Rackmount $1899

 

[DanHouck]

Hey Shaun:


The filter removal is mainly for CRT projectors, right? I have an XGA LCD, should I turn my filter switch on or off?


Now, whenya gonna give us an Elite with on-screen, real time user interface and Faroudja/Sage? I'll buy one NOW!


Dan

 

[dkolb]

Why would you want to remove the input filters? Doesn't that help prevent color sampling errors? I hope your decoder has a filter.


I can see why you'd want to remove the output filter for CRT displays, but what about aliasing on LCD's, DLP's and Plasmas? Are you assuming your output pixel clock is more than two times the sampling frequency of my NEC MT? Are you guys assuming that all your customers have CRT displays?


I think you are making a bad move if you do this across the board.

 

[joswig]

Far more important:


When will the Quadscan be able to do a 2:2 reverse pulldown for Pal-sources?


I would order today!

 

[FE]

I can not talk about our future products that will have all these new features. There are still filters in the color decoder we can not disable those. The filters that I mention for input are to filter out noise coming from the source. The filters are limiting the sharpness of the picture. The reason that everyone thinks that disabling the output filters is mainly for CRT's is because the output filters are higher frequency filters so you will get high frequency roll off with higher resolutions more noticeable in output frequencies of 48khz and higher. Most CRT displays output higher than 48khz. However now that higher resolution fixed pixel displays are becoming more common and lower priced it makes sense for us to not limit the sharpness of the picture at higher resolutions. As far as new scaler products are concerned all I can say is please stay tuned and be patient it will be worth the wait.

 

[smitty]

Shaun, I sent you and Mike Brown an email almost two months ago asking why the output filter on my Elite had not been removed when I sent it in for the filter removal (only the input filter had been removed), and I never received a reply. I do recall you responding in an subsequent thread on this Fourm, though, that Focus believed that only input filter removal was necessary. I'm glad to see that Focus has changed its position, as several others I have spoken to have said all along that both input and output filters should be removed. In the meantime, I have sold by Elite and moved on to the Rock+, but I'm glad to see Focus has finally figured out the filter issue.

 

[dkolb]

I don't think Focus has resolved their filter issue. They SHOULDN'T take out the output filter. They just need a better one. It is not a matter of sharpness, it is a matter of aliasing. If you remove the filters, you will have a sharper picture on CRT's, but you will most likely have aliasing artifacts on digital displays. Focus just needs to learn how to pick the right filter design. Why doesn't any other scaler have this problem? Almost all of them have output filters.

 

[FE]

There is still some filtering being done by a ferite bead on the output. And please if you have any input on how this should be done it would be better for all of us for you to share your knowledge on the subject rather than criticize us.

 

[dkolb]

Sorry Shaun,


But like Smitty, I got rid of my Focus after no responce from you guys. I'm currenty happy with my DVDO.


Duane

 

[dkolb]

Shaun,


One last thing. If you honestly think that a ferrite bead has the proper roll off characteristics of a finely tuned reconstruction filter, that explains why your stock has gone from 10 to 1.21 in the past year and a half. I wish you the best of luck.


Duane

 

[mark haflich]

I hate to sound like Alan. I really hate it. BUT. You guys are getting out of line. Shaun is one fine fellow and has been very helpful to most of us here on the forum. He is sales manager for the product line that includes the QS pro and elite. The company he works is very much larger than the company which brought out the QS, and the company has many many products other than the QS. The company's stock value has very little to do with QS sales. Shaun is not an engineer. The Rock Plus and other $5K processors are indeed better than the QS, as they should be considering the retail and selling prices for the QS elite. But the QS with the input and output filters removed is one fine scaler for a 7 or 8 inch CRT. FE has been very responsive to its customers. In general, service and mod departments for scaler companies (or in a very large company with a small (by comparison) scaler division) consist of 1 or 2 techs and can easily get overloaded. The tweaks (I am one of those who tweak) fiqured out how to improve the product for CRT use by input and output filter removal. We shared that knowledge with all here and made the mod available for a nominal cost. FE put the filters in for use with other types of projectors. I think they underestimated how many of their units would be used with CRTs. They are trying to react as best they can to changes in markets and I expect lots of good things to come from them in the future. They are learning and have a great set of ears in Shaun. The rules of this forum are to be constructive. If you think something is wrong with a product from a company or in the way it treated you, it is Ok to state it. But as moderator Steve B might say (and I do not mind for the least bit in emularting him) act like menches please. A discussion of what happened to a company's stock prices over the last six months and an attack on Shaun have no place here in this HT Coffee House.

 

[Irv Kelman]

Shaun and his co-workers at FE provide an exceptional level of service and support.


I have never experienced a question unanswered or a concern with product not resolved quickly.

 

[FE]

Thank you Mark,

everything that you said is correct. I would like to continue supporting this forum any way that I can. I do not mind taking a blow once in a while but I don't find that type of communication productive. Maybe I should have just come out with a comment like "We made some improvements to the QuadScan ELite to offer a sharper picture" Instead I gave some detail that I probably won't offer in the future. I am sure that our engineers are more than capable since most are from Textronics and have over 20 years of experience. Mark is correct when you look at the whole company the QuadScan Elite is just one of many products not to mention all the Chips that we have designed and sell to OEM. By the way we didn't make this decision without consulting with some digital projector manufacturers first. We will continue to be responsive to our customers and continue to make product improvements and develop new products based on market demand.

 

[cpete]

Sean,


I've had my QS Pro since day 1 and been through all the mods, except for these latest filter changes. FE has been excellent for support. Thanks again.


Now that I've buttered you up, are you also doing the mod for QS Pro?


Thanks, Chris

 

[FE]

Yes we can do the Mod for the Pro as well.

 

[cpete]

Very cool. I love the fact that FE moved right down the street from me. It's a 5-min drive to just hand it to Mike Brown. Should I give FE a call, or just drop it off?


Chris

 

[FE]

I suggest calling Mike First. Thanks.

 

[Tim Hamdorf]

OK, now that we've killed the messenger, doesn't Duane have a point? I have an electronics background and what he is saying makes sense. If you don't add a filter after your D to A, you may have sampling errors when the signal is A to D'd in the display that you can't totally correct for with the projectors phase adjustment. The projector may try to sample on signal edges. That would cause flickering.


I'm not an expert on this. I thinking I may have more information in an old text book. I'll look for it this weekend.

 

[FE]

Ok I will make this real brief, some of you don't know all of the history with the QuadScan. We made some filter changes back in version 2.10 of the QuadScan Pro. Since then we have had many complaints about the picture being to soft or in some cases blurry (with all digital and CRT display customers). All we did was go back to the original amount of output filtering. I am not able to give exact details, all I can say is that without the additional filters the picture is much sharper. As far as sampling goes (noticable as vertical lines) I was able to adjust the frequency of my projector so that this wasn't noticable. If for some reason someone wants to have the additional filters on the output we can do it. In any case we will try to satisfy as many customers as possible, that is a strong statement considering that the product sells for less than $1700 on the street.

 

[fulabeer]

I've just received my QE yesterday."Hooray!"

Barcodata 808s being installed Tuesday."Whoopee!"

Right thats enough emotion, back to the british reserve.

I live in England and the Unit came from Owl Video. I assume the filters will still be in my unit. Who do i contact in the UK for this mod to be done?.

ANY info will be gratefully received!!!.


PS it nice to see somebody from Focus willing to give this type of update. It bodes well for any plans i may have when it comes to upgrade time!.


Paul...