I have upgraded my Sony 10HT to a brandnew Marantz VP-12S2 and I'm lovin' every minute of it! However, having only 1 component input and 2 possible sources (Nintendo GameCube and DVD player via HTPC) and after reading the immensely interesting thread about the processing on the component input on the S2 (and not the RGB and DVI), I'm wondering about connection options:
1) I could buy a component switcher and leave both sources connected to the component input, thereby making use of the excellent Faroudja processing for both sources.
2) I could connect my DVD player via RGB or DVI and use component for the GameCube. My HTPC already supports RGB, and DVI setups are becoming more do-able every day. Connecting DVD via RGB or DVI however means that the DVD player will need to do all the high-end scaling, deinterlacing and processing, as all the Faroudja circuitry is bypassed on the RGB and DVI inputs on the S2. However, after reading Dan Miller's comments about the THREE Faroudja chips being used in the S2, I doubt if a DVD player can be found that can match such performance. I don't think even the new Marantz DV8400 can do that, on the DVI-out that is.
I also thought about transcoding the GameCube's component to RGB, but that just doesn't make sense as it's equally expensive to a component switcher and on RGB I won't get the Faroudja processing. And I checked: component 480i from the GameCube deinterlaced by the S2 looks nicer than 480p (also component).
This leaves the argument that DVI (let's just forget about RGB) CAN be better than component (and RGB for that sake). CAN be, however: not having A/D and D/A conversions and having 1-to-1 pixel mapping are distinct advantages, but the image that is output on the DVI-out on the DVD player needs to be the best it can be to surpass the 480i->FLI2000->FLI2200->FL2220 route you can have with the component input on the S2. My guess is that the best all-digital data path (for DVD) is:
DVD -> FLI2000 -> FLI2200 -> 1280x720p -> FLI2220 -> DVI -> DMD -> Screen
But how on earth can you create such a solution?! The Samsung 931 will have the FLI2300 chipset as well as DVI (so it's close), but the FLI2300 chipset is only 8-bit, while the FLI2200 is 10-bit. Furthermore, the Samsung will probably only have the FLI2300 DCDi chip, and not the FLI2000 video decoder and the FLI2220 (or FLI2320 ??) enhancer. So it may have pretty good scaling and deinterlacing, but the great processing the makes the Star Wars II DVD look like HD is not in there...
Looking at the HTPC route, I see the same problem with, for example, the H3D: it only has the FLI2200, not all 3 as is used in the Faroudja NRS series. But using a Faroudja NRS ALSO doesn't seem to be the way to go, since how will you get the DVD data to the NRS? Using SDI can only take you so far, as I have seen that with high-end players (like the Marantz DV8300), the component 480i output surpasses the SDI output on the same player.
Well...everything I learned the last few months compressed into 1 post. Pfff.
You tell me... What's best? I think I have the best data-path figured out pretty good, but how to accomplish it, or anything that's close (and somewhat affordable)... I love the pj, but having great circuitry onboard makes choosing to bypass those chips just that much harder!
Kevin Reeuwijk
1) I could buy a component switcher and leave both sources connected to the component input, thereby making use of the excellent Faroudja processing for both sources.
2) I could connect my DVD player via RGB or DVI and use component for the GameCube. My HTPC already supports RGB, and DVI setups are becoming more do-able every day. Connecting DVD via RGB or DVI however means that the DVD player will need to do all the high-end scaling, deinterlacing and processing, as all the Faroudja circuitry is bypassed on the RGB and DVI inputs on the S2. However, after reading Dan Miller's comments about the THREE Faroudja chips being used in the S2, I doubt if a DVD player can be found that can match such performance. I don't think even the new Marantz DV8400 can do that, on the DVI-out that is.
I also thought about transcoding the GameCube's component to RGB, but that just doesn't make sense as it's equally expensive to a component switcher and on RGB I won't get the Faroudja processing. And I checked: component 480i from the GameCube deinterlaced by the S2 looks nicer than 480p (also component).
This leaves the argument that DVI (let's just forget about RGB) CAN be better than component (and RGB for that sake). CAN be, however: not having A/D and D/A conversions and having 1-to-1 pixel mapping are distinct advantages, but the image that is output on the DVI-out on the DVD player needs to be the best it can be to surpass the 480i->FLI2000->FLI2200->FL2220 route you can have with the component input on the S2. My guess is that the best all-digital data path (for DVD) is:
DVD -> FLI2000 -> FLI2200 -> 1280x720p -> FLI2220 -> DVI -> DMD -> Screen
But how on earth can you create such a solution?! The Samsung 931 will have the FLI2300 chipset as well as DVI (so it's close), but the FLI2300 chipset is only 8-bit, while the FLI2200 is 10-bit. Furthermore, the Samsung will probably only have the FLI2300 DCDi chip, and not the FLI2000 video decoder and the FLI2220 (or FLI2320 ??) enhancer. So it may have pretty good scaling and deinterlacing, but the great processing the makes the Star Wars II DVD look like HD is not in there...
Looking at the HTPC route, I see the same problem with, for example, the H3D: it only has the FLI2200, not all 3 as is used in the Faroudja NRS series. But using a Faroudja NRS ALSO doesn't seem to be the way to go, since how will you get the DVD data to the NRS? Using SDI can only take you so far, as I have seen that with high-end players (like the Marantz DV8300), the component 480i output surpasses the SDI output on the same player.
Well...everything I learned the last few months compressed into 1 post. Pfff.
You tell me... What's best? I think I have the best data-path figured out pretty good, but how to accomplish it, or anything that's close (and somewhat affordable)... I love the pj, but having great circuitry onboard makes choosing to bypass those chips just that much harder!
Kevin Reeuwijk